I DON’T do winter. Not that I leave town, mind you, but I try to dress in February as I do in October or April, maybe hiding a layer or three. No cold snap can freeze my mind to the point where I feel like bundling up beyond all shape recognition. Bulk bad. Slim good.
I’ve bought exactly two winter coats in the last two decades: a military parka with scruff under the hood, around the neck and all over the lining; and a North Face puffy jacket, a classic purple and black, in a size that suggests a parade float, consistent with my college-era style choices. Both of them collect dust in my front closet, retained out of a sense of duty that’s duller than any of my other senses.
It’s a hard resistance to break. Maybe it was the gauche white ski jacket (thanks, Mom) that attracted unwanted attention on the medium-mean streets of the East Village sometime in the late ’80s. Maybe it’s the desire for more flexibility in snowball fights. Maybe it was the poor kid in “A Christmas Story.”
Yet and still, winter’s here — never mind the 60-degree days just a couple of weeks ago — and with it comes the annual reality check, this time in the form of a visit to the Dunderdon Workshop, a SoHo outpost of the Swedish company founded in Gothenburg in 1997 as the revamp of an old workwear brand.
Everything in the store screams sturdy, including the rigid pants that scanned as high-end Dickies ($119), the whimsically shaped gray wool field jacket with canvas pockets ($349) and the “grandpa fleece” ($99). Even the most delicate items had great bones. I loved a silky button-up shirt ($169) that was, in fact, made of brushed flannel, and the dark denim shirt ($129) was extremely wearable, while looking like rustic armor. Also sharp were gray suede chukkas made by Dunderdon in collaboration with Timberland ($189).
Some clothes had unusual proportions: a handsome navy sweater with phalanxes of red dots ($159) was about four inches longer than I’d expected, and not in a Rick Owens way. Same went for a couple of the work shirts, which could pass for smocks, if left untucked.
Workwear is meant to look timeless, but sometimes that can suggest antiquated. A suit, sold as separates ($249 for the jacket, $149 for the pants), in a mottled brown wool proved to be a bit too “Boardwalk Empire” vaudevillian. It would have been best paired with worn tap shoes and a bowler.
DUNDERDON carries items from a handful of like-minded brands: heavy wool and tweed neckties and bow ties by Aaron Michael, a Brooklyn company; quirky camping-related gear by Poler; candles by Delirium & Co. in scents like sweet tobacco ($40); gorgeous totes, briefcases and valises by Sandqvist, the most elegant things in the store, especially a canvas tote in a washed-out beet red ($219) and a handsome navy weekend bag with soft tan leather handles ($229).
I liked a heathered blue work shirt by the Myelabl Garment Co., at least until I tried to close it. The buttons were ridged, making them almost impossible to navigate and leaving scratches on my fingernails.
Maybe if I were a hardier person, little details like that wouldn’t trouble me. But my thumbs aren’t calloused, as I imagine they are on the sort of person who would be searching for the chunky mountain boots with super-wide lace loops and extra grip on the sole that are all the rage these days. (Paired with skinny pants, they give the wearer a clown affect.) Still, said clowns will be happy with the selections here from Danner, especially the one in blue suede ($310), the only fabric that even slightly balances out the artlessness of the rest of the shoe.
I suppose if function is a meaningful word to you, you could wear them with the Dunderdon pants that have oodles of external pockets in purposeful fabrics ($119 to $149), ideal for carpentry or mountaineering or for reframing the idea of what a fanny pack can be.
But I came for coats, not for a Men’s Journal photo shoot. And Dunderdon has some of the most handsome, and least invasive, styles going. On the clever side was a brown peacoat, double-breasted, with a collar that was effectively a circle. Though I’m pretty sure I recently saw it in a magazine, worn by a semi-celebrity I semi-know, with a nice Aztec-print scarf, and it worked well, it was an awkward look in person.
Better was a coated canvas parka that suggested a post-blue-collar Carhartt ($249) and was the most flatteringly cut coat in the store. Which is to say, it looked like a fall jacket, and what bliss that was. Were I to cave in to the cold, I thought, I would do it this way.
At least, until a better idea comes along. On four occasions when I was in the store, men attempted to try on a jacket from the women’s rack at the rear of the room and had to be brought back to reality by the attentive and good-natured salesclerk. An honest mistake, sure. That said, those coats did look pretty slim.
Dunderdon Workshop
25 Howard Street; (212) 226-4040; dunderdon.com.
ACCEPTANCE Dunderdon makes sturdy Swedish work wear recast with a fashion eye, clothes that would come in handy should you get dressed to be seen and accidentally happen upon some gainful employment.
BARGAINING The sales staff is knowledgeable and affable, and can help make sense of the store’s many styles, which may look alike from the outside, but which deliver function in many different ways.
DENIAL It’s getting cold, and Dunderdon’s stoic, utilitarian winter wear is handsome and, crucially, not overbearing in size and density, ideal for those who like to pretend that fall bleeds right into spring.
From :
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/29/fashion/dunderdon-workshop-in-soho-critical-shopper.html?_r=1&ref=fashion
