Your Survival Guy visited my friend Marc Streisand this week, owner/proprietor of Marc Allen Fine Clothiers, Custom Suits, and Imported Sportswear, to pick up my handmade, bespoke cashmere sport coat. It’s such a beautiful piece, I can’t wait to put it on when we hit Paris for three weeks in October.
Every time I leave Marc’s, I feel like a million bucks—and almost as poor—but you can’t replace the feeling of dressing well and feeling good about it. Yes, it’s easier said than done. What Marc brings to the table is irreplaceable service and know-how. He knows all my measurements and calls me when a new product is available that he knows I’ll love.
Years ago, when he was living in Manhattan and fitting power players there, he would visit a handful of them every Sunday to lay out their attire for the busy week ahead. Imagine having your personal valet from Downton Abbey. He laid their clothes out for the week ahead, helping them Monday-Friday mornings be as quiet as possible so as not to wake up the rest of the household. Pretty nice, don’t you think?
Marc’s store is located right down the street from Brown University in Providence, RI—a much easier city and street to navigate than Newbury in Boston. Plus, lunch at Hemenway’s next to your valeted car is a cinch where you can slurp down some oysters and beer to ease the financial pain.
Dressing well is as much about you as it is about the company you keep. When you look and dress nice, you’re telling your acquaintances and loved ones how much you care about them without saying a word.
In a world where it’s just as easy and acceptable to fall out the front door in the same clothes you went to bed with, it’s the little things that matter. The bonus here being that you feel better about you. Making a little effort isn’t going to kill you.
You know how Your Survival Guy feels about spending. Many of us don’t know how to do it well. We get stuck in our little lives, and that’s ok. I understand it’s hard to act. I know inertia is tough to overcome. But when you do act, you commit to investing not in some fabric, but in my favorite investment of them all: Y-O-U
Action Line: If you’re in town for the Newport Boat Show this weekend, then take some time to head up to Providence to see my friend Marc. You can always see him next week too, if you’re in town for the Newport Mansions Food and Wine Festival. Check out what’s coming to Marc’s by clicking here: Custom Suits & Imported Sportswear | Marc Allen Fine Clothiers | United States (marcalleninc.com). You’ll be glad you did.
