a clip from O'Mast, a documentary about Neapolitan bespoke tailoring

In Naples, a tailoring shop functions similarly to how Black barbershops function in the United States. They are not just places for service; they are community spaces. People hang out and talk for a while. They gossip and eat lunch. People form very long-term relationships. When bespoke tailoring was more common, it was customary for a tailor to make clothes for all the men in a family, going from grandfather to father to son, as each person introduced the new generation to the family's tailor. In fact, it's customary for every meeting to start with a small cup of espresso. When you go into a Neapolitan tailoring shop, they often ask: “Ve site giè pigliato o’ cafè?”(Have you had coffee?). I once had to visit six or seven tailors for a series of stories and ended up nearly exploding from caffeine by the end of the day. A particularly memorable visit was to Antonio Panico. He's a small, short man with a voice that sounds like an old engine running. He's also incredibly elegant. The first time I met him, he wore a navy suit with a light blue spread collar shirt, burgundy foulard tie, and black suede chukkas. When we went to get dinner, he threw on this tremendous navy double-breasted overcoat and flipped the collar. Dude looked like a 1950s movie star. When I was in his sartoria, two men came for a visit. Both were older, slightly heavy set, and tremendously stylish. They had been customers of Panico for decades. They came in and just sat around to talk for about two hours and left without ordering. This was customary: business only happens if the customer brings it up. Otherwise, the client and tailor are happy to just hang out and chat. During the same trip, I visited a younger tailor. The experience was a bit different. They didn't have a coffee machine. When you came in, they were happy to chat for a bit but expected discussions to progress to business. I asked about this tradition at other tailoring shops, and they said it's a generational thing. “We live in a much busier time now," this person told me. "I can barely get all my work done; I certainly don’t have time to have coffee with everyone. That kind of way of doing business is from a different time.”

His very last hand movement is great.

his final hand gesture...

Where does one watch it?

Damn! This is an ‘I’d like to report a murder’ type statement, if I’ve ever heard one.

The hand movement at the end- I fear the senator swims with fishes.

This is true across so many endeavors that require heavy one-off application of care and expertise. As an independent data scientist, I feel this big time.

His look after, “He was a bit heavy.” 😂