The distinguishing detail of the hand-rolled pocket square
The best things in life, as a wise man once told me, are rolled by hand. Like a fine Cuban cigar, for instance. Or oats.
So it is with a pocket square – that little puff of pulchritude in the breast pocket, so often overlooked as dispensable ornamentation (or worse, blasphemed against as a woeful ‘handkerchief’). No, we say: a truly exquisite hand-rolled pocket square, whether silk, linen, or wool, is fundamental to the bon vivant’s wardrobe.
The pocket square itself has had something of a lofty history, dating back to Classical Antiquity. Ancient Greek emperors wore linen pocket squares for important ceremonial occasions, while 14th century French aristocrats held to their upturned noses heavily perfumed silk handkerchiefs to mask the stench of the proletariat. (No, really.) Today, however, the only stench that a pocket square will likely mask is that rancorous mix of envy and embarrassment, when, on the world’s grands boulevards, pocket square-less dilettantes realize their sartorial wanting in the breast pocket department.
The question, then, is whether hand-rolled edges truly are essential to a good pocket square. After all, it’s such an unassuming part of a mere accessory, and if one doesn’t wear it with exposed edges, there really is no discernable difference from a machine-stitched one.
To that, we’d beg to differ. Purchasing a pocket square without hand-rolled edges is akin to buying a yacht without stocking the hold with a suitable selection of vintage wines: few will likely ever know the difference, but your conscience will gnaw at the fact. When deployed properly – whether artfully stuffed or smartly folded with edges aligned – a pocket square with gloriously nubby, uneven hand-rolled edges elevates unexceptional ornamentation to dandy mastery.
And unlike many other handcrafted products, whose edge over industrialized manufacture is negligible at best, the hand-rolled character of a pocket square truly cannot be replicated by machine. While the artisan creates a compact roll pinned together by a concealed network of stitches, a machine-created edge can only manage a loose roll with ungainly, exposed stitching. The infinitesimal tightness of the rolled edges lends the pocket square its distinctive character, but it is the fineness of the pick stitching securing the roll in place that gives the diminutive accessory its unparalleled elegance.
Much like ties, a few basic designs are absolutely essential to any wardrobe. Perhaps most flexible is the white linen pocket square, which works particularly well in a neat fold – as worn quite dashingly by the likes of Clark Gable. When lined with a narrow, coloured border – sometimes known as a shoestring trim – the square is best stuffed (with points showing) rather than folded, to highlight the visual contrast and intricacy of the rolled edges. On the other hand, a geometric madder print, with its small, repeating patterns and deep colours, is best worn in a puff (with only the centre peeking out of your pocket). Finally, the graphic pocket square, which has in recent times gained de rigueur status thanks to the likes of classic silk accessories purveyor Drake’s and Neapolitan house Mariano Rubinacci, exhibits its art best when worn as a puff with points showing.
At the end of the day, the pocket square remains one of the modern gentleman’s most overlooked, but easiest to wear, sartorial manoeuvres. Along with Cuban cigars (and rolled oats), one would doubtless do well to add hand-rolled pocket squares to his most prized possessions.
Some of the fine purveyors of hand-rolled pocket squares in the region:
Vanda Fine Clothing
Artisanal construction and a made-in-Singapore ethos meets rare fabrics – think vintage bolts of kimono silk – that make for natty pocket squares with some of the most compact rolled edges we’ve seen.
Vanda Fine Clothing
Hermès
The grand maître of silk printing, by far the most engaging of the French maison’s squares are the intricate, multicoloured prints, with each of the up to 50 tones individually silkscreened on, layer by layer.
Hermès
Era Ora
Fearless prints from this young local company make a slightly bolder proposition. After all, surrealist art splashed across its mulberry silk base is a distinctly dandy dash to an otherwise bijou accessory.
Era Ora
Etro
With delightfully bohemian paisley prints, the sartorial alchemy of Etro’s pocket squares lies in its psychedelic ethnic patterns, masterfully dusted with a touch of classic Milanese romanticism thrown in for good measure.
Etro
