F.L. Dunne and Company, New York and Boston

In an article paying homage to one of his New York tailors, Richard Merkin wrote, "What he did was make me a wonderful suit, one that expressed the very contradictions that I have harbored in the labyrinths of my psyche. I cannot image a bolt of cloth being treated with greater empathy, nor, for that matter, whimsy." In this instance, cloth was fashioned into a dream thanks to the skillful hands of a tailor, but it also reflected Merkin's own appreciation of the concordance of mind, body, clothing, and creativity. Merkin's suits were individually patterned and crafted to express his personal vision and originality. Merkin's friend Tom Wolfe praised this quality, saying, "Even the smallest detail, a Turkish cigarette, a glove, a capped-toe shoe, a walking stick-and no artist on this earth has ever had a more exquisite eye for cigarettes, gloves, shoes and walking-sticks, not to mention tennis collars, center/ridge Panamas and boutonnieres-becomes a discreet element of design."