Threads by Joseph Abboud

This is another of the summer sewing-related reading selections mentioned by Barb (I ordered almost all of them!)

I was drawn to Threads - My Life Behind the Seams in the High-Stakes World of Fashion because Joseph Abboud is Lebanese, and he's a menswear designer. My grandfather was Lebanese and I'm currently very interested in traditional tailoring methods so how could I resist?

But the book is a fantastic read on so many levels. I think one needn't be related to his story in any way as specific as heritage or career. His very human journey and his easy, witty way of relating it are immediately engaging. Take this passage, early in the book, referring to the Italian tailors running his plant in New Bedford, MA -

God does all these wonderful things with Italians. He makes the country gorgeous, he makes the people beautiful, he makes the food fabulous. But just to prove that Italians are human and not divine, he makes it so they can't sew on a button.

You have to love that right? (Did I mention my grandmothers are both Italian?) I mean, I read all weekend, and I could not help at times laughing out loud and then reading certain passages to my family, interrupting their movie and not caring. By the time I was done with this book, there were a dozen little sticky notes protruding from the pages marking things that I just had to share with you....far too many!

Mr. Abboud relates what it's really like to be a designer. What goes on behind the scenes. The back stabbing, the egos, the competition. And though those are surprising and exciting, they are only a small part of this story of a Lebanese kid from South Boston who loves clothes, loves looking good, wants us all to look good.

We learn that it can be tricky to be a straight designer in the world of fashion, or in the gym. That models tend to traipse around mostly naked between walks. Tie-jackings are commonplace. And there really are little old ladies in the British Isles knitting those expensive designer sweaters -

"Peggy, where are the sweaters?"
"Oh, luv, there's a terrbile blizzard here, and the truckers can't get to the houses."
I had Saks and Louis choking me - "Where are they?" - and I'm explaining, "Well, they didn't shovel the path so we can't pick them up."

There is also quite a bit of interesting, insightful, and hilarious comparing and contrasting of the worlds of men's versus women's fashion. Abboud has done both though he is now in men's exclusively. I do have to admire him for his preference to use mature male models, i.e., men, rather than teens or 20-somethings. It's what his clothing is all about...dressing confidently as a man who has come to be comfortable in his own skin, in charge of his own life. A man who knows who he is.

In fact, I'd love for my son, 17, to read this book and I told him so though I doubt he'll take my advice. There is a lot of advice for projecting style and confidence, never going overboard. How to look good, damn good, never clownish, never trying too hard. How to wear clothes like Hemingway. How, basically, to look cool.

But even the Great Designer has made fashion faux pas and he generously shares those with us that we might learn from his mistakes. He has also dropped pizza on his tailored trousers just as he was approached by a fan, and had a fresh jacket shat on by Yankee birds. (It's hard to be a Red Sox fan in New York City.)

I think the irresistible charm of this book is just that Joseph Abboud is a regular guy. Behind the impeccable dress, the masculine confidence, is a guy who considers himself fortunate to be doing what he loves, wants to honor his parents, and loves the women in his life. I think we all can learn something from him. Do what you love. Respect those around you. Keep a sense of humor. Be thankful.