A Suit for Mr. Biswas

Good afternoon,

Diving into V.S. Naipaul's 1961 novel A House for Mr. Biswas, we meet Mr. Mohun Biswas, a member of Indian diaspora in Trinidad on a quest for control over his own life. He is a henpecked husband who makes a modest living as a sign writer.

Mr. Biswas stubbornly claws his way to personal sovereignty. He graduates from sign writing and into journalism, and eventually into a prestigious government job. As aspiration becomes reality, he takes dressing himself more seriously. Naipaul writes, "Apart from the serge suit in which he had gone to funerals, he had never had a proper suit, only cheap things of silk and linen; and he ordered his new suits with love. He discovered he was a dandy."

This shift is less about the clothes themselves and more about Biswas asserting his identity. As we introduce this month's trunk shows, let's take inspiration from Biswas's journey.

This Month’s Calendar

The Anthology and L’Arte Nascosta in New York

Kamakura in Miami

Orazio Luciano in Hong Kong

See the dates and other details on Trunkville →

Moodboard

Reading

• Of course, A House for Mr. Biswas

• Menswear writer Derek Guy assembled a tailoring directory

• A short intermission with Philip Larkin’s short poem “This Be The Verse”

• “The Unlikely Return of Bespoke Suiting, Explained” from the Business of Fashion

• Savile Row tailor Richard James is back with a new £2m store, declaring that colorful suits are in (more on his Instagram)