Commissioned by former Brioni executive Umberto Angeloni for his own company, the Uman essays are a newly released collection of commentaries from established authors covering the cultural influences and history of modern menswear. Information on the books are sparse and having no idea on what to expect out of these quality wise, I ordered just two of them: Cuba Libre, about the traditional guayabera by Nick Foulkes and the other, Franz Ferdinand by Joachim Bessing, which is all about the tracht.
Other books include one on golf jackets, another on gardening fashion, and the fifth one called Telemark, which I’m guessing is a reference to a region of Norway and could possibly cover the country’s bunad. The sixth essay, After Dark, is another one by Nick Foulkes and will be published later this year.
Back to the two books I ordered – while very short, both were very well written and informative and I’d recommend them to anyone interested in obscure clothing topics. A few photo examples are also included, and the Duke of Windsor makes several appearances (his extensive wardrobe included both a Tryolean suit and several guayaberas). My only complaint that should be noted – the page layouts are terrible as the publisher chose a large 20 point font for the text. The costs of the books individually are a bit steep as well for what you get and I do not think I will order anymore until they hit the bargain book sections or until a single smaller volume is released.
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