Review: Salt + Dapper
Recently, I came into contact with Jack Fischman of Salt + Dapper. After some discussion, he decided to send me a few products for review here. Rather than letting me pick anything specific, I asked him to surprise me by sending styles that represented his aesthetic. The package that came recently did not disappoint.
Salt + Dapper debuted back in late 2013. When I first heard about it, I was intrigued by their unique styles and approach to accessories as well as how affordable the prices were. Jack has been in the menswear industry for just over a decade, having been a co-founder at The Knottery (whose grenadine tie I reviewed here) previous to striking off on his own.
Because of his connections in the industry, he is able to offer good quality products at fair prices due to sourcing the best components he can for the lowest cost yet keep it all made in the USA. That is admirable, and something I also like about The Knottery.
The tie I was sent is simply referred to as plaid cotton in the description, yet it seems awfully madras-like to me in both look and feel. Had I not known better, I would have simply called it that. It's a great spring tie regardless of what it technically may be. My misgivings about cotton ties were that they'd wrinkle too much and not drape well. I'm glad to say I was proven wrong on the latter. While it does wrinkle around where you knot it (as cotton will undoubtedly do), the drape is excellent. They use just the right thickness and stiffness of interlining so that it isn't droopy and knots well. I was also pleasantly surprised that, since the interlining is robust, the 58" length isn't too long as it usually would be on me. It falls to just the right length when using a decent sized four in hand knot.
I was also sent a pair of their signature grosgrain braces. Unlike the majority of braces out there now, they are made with cream corded ends rather than the common leather ends. These are typically only used on braces meant for black and white tie. However, Jack feels that this lightens up their look a bit from a stereotypical Wall Street yuppie to something you could wear with a narrow silk knit tie if desired. Light is also a good term to describe the grosgrain ribbon used, because it is quite different in feel from the heavy barathea braces I have from Brooks Brothers. I barely noticed it when wearing them to work yesterday, yet the ribbon is quite strong enough to hold up one's britches all day. (Not too surprising considering grosgrain ribbon is used for casual D-ring belts all the time.) Naturally, they also come in black and white flavours for your formal needs.
Rounding out the package was a rather nice looking pocket square made of navy and white mini-gingham seersucker. I'll be the first to admit that I'm addicted to white linen pocket squares in a "boring" flat fold, only recently adding light blue to my collection. However, I was instantly inspired to puff this bad boy into my chest pocket upon seeing it. It's just that kind of pocket square. I love the texture and pattern, but my only wish is that it had a hand rolled edge. While the serged edge does an adequate job, it would look nicer to have it hand rolled if you were a fan of putting the points up or another type of puff or fold that exposes the edge. It would also make it just that much more luxurious in feel.
All told, I'm pretty impressed with what I'm seeing so far. I think Salt + Dapper is going to be a household name in the #menswear community soon enough and highly recommend them to anyone who wants decently priced men's accessories made in the USA.
DISCLAIMER: Nouveau Vintage received material compensation for this review. However, every effort has been made to remain objective.
Salt + Dapper debuted back in late 2013. When I first heard about it, I was intrigued by their unique styles and approach to accessories as well as how affordable the prices were. Jack has been in the menswear industry for just over a decade, having been a co-founder at The Knottery (whose grenadine tie I reviewed here) previous to striking off on his own.
Because of his connections in the industry, he is able to offer good quality products at fair prices due to sourcing the best components he can for the lowest cost yet keep it all made in the USA. That is admirable, and something I also like about The Knottery.
The tie I was sent is simply referred to as plaid cotton in the description, yet it seems awfully madras-like to me in both look and feel. Had I not known better, I would have simply called it that. It's a great spring tie regardless of what it technically may be. My misgivings about cotton ties were that they'd wrinkle too much and not drape well. I'm glad to say I was proven wrong on the latter. While it does wrinkle around where you knot it (as cotton will undoubtedly do), the drape is excellent. They use just the right thickness and stiffness of interlining so that it isn't droopy and knots well. I was also pleasantly surprised that, since the interlining is robust, the 58" length isn't too long as it usually would be on me. It falls to just the right length when using a decent sized four in hand knot.
I was also sent a pair of their signature grosgrain braces. Unlike the majority of braces out there now, they are made with cream corded ends rather than the common leather ends. These are typically only used on braces meant for black and white tie. However, Jack feels that this lightens up their look a bit from a stereotypical Wall Street yuppie to something you could wear with a narrow silk knit tie if desired. Light is also a good term to describe the grosgrain ribbon used, because it is quite different in feel from the heavy barathea braces I have from Brooks Brothers. I barely noticed it when wearing them to work yesterday, yet the ribbon is quite strong enough to hold up one's britches all day. (Not too surprising considering grosgrain ribbon is used for casual D-ring belts all the time.) Naturally, they also come in black and white flavours for your formal needs.
Rounding out the package was a rather nice looking pocket square made of navy and white mini-gingham seersucker. I'll be the first to admit that I'm addicted to white linen pocket squares in a "boring" flat fold, only recently adding light blue to my collection. However, I was instantly inspired to puff this bad boy into my chest pocket upon seeing it. It's just that kind of pocket square. I love the texture and pattern, but my only wish is that it had a hand rolled edge. While the serged edge does an adequate job, it would look nicer to have it hand rolled if you were a fan of putting the points up or another type of puff or fold that exposes the edge. It would also make it just that much more luxurious in feel.
All told, I'm pretty impressed with what I'm seeing so far. I think Salt + Dapper is going to be a household name in the #menswear community soon enough and highly recommend them to anyone who wants decently priced men's accessories made in the USA.
DISCLAIMER: Nouveau Vintage received material compensation for this review. However, every effort has been made to remain objective.
Comments
Post a Comment