Middleburg’s Highcliffe Clothiers Makes a Timely Move to a New Location ML
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here’s a story behind the name,” said Mark Metzger, proprietor of Highcliffe Clothiers on West Washington St. “Just as I was starting the business, my father purchased a clock that had been in Highcliffe Castle in Dorset, England. It just seemed like a good name to use.” In an unrelated but nonetheless intriguing connection, Highcliffe Castle is known as the “very British home of Mr. Selfridge,” the American credited with revolutionizing the British way of shopping and the founder of Britain’s popular Selfridges department stores. Metzger describes Highcliffe Clothiers as an “old school haberdashery for men and women,” focusing on clothing made in the U.S. and Europe. The shop specializes in both custom clothing and men’s and women’s readyto-wear collections in styles that embody both eclectic and traditional style. Highcliffe’s custom clothing is made in workshops in the U.S. Highcliffe Clothiers started out in the District of Columbia, where Metzger had a shop for many years on 20th Street NW. “Finally, it was just time to leave D.C.,” he said. “Things were beginning to change there. Men had stopped wearing suits for the most part and it just became more acceptable to be dressed casually.” In 2007, Metzger was introduced to Middleburg by designer Wendy Pepper, who gained national attention as a finalist on Bravo cable channel’s “Project Runway.” “Wendy was working for me in D.C.,” said Metzger, “and she kept saying, ‘You need to
talk with Punkin Lee at Journeyman Saddlers.’ And so I did. I had never even set foot in Middleburg up to that point, but when I came out here, I liked everything I saw.” Metzger rented space in Journeyman for several years before moving into the current shop across the street from the Middleburg Bank in October, 2014. “Each client has subtle irregularities that makes clothing fit them differently,” Metzger said. “We pride ourselves on attending to such areas as posture and other individual differences.” As an award-winning fitter and designer with over 30 years of experience in custom clothing and tailoring, Metzger describes his clients as “knowledgeable. They have experience with world-class clothing.” Highcliffe’s customers have access to more than 5,000 fabric swatches to choose from. “Our custom shirts start off as bolts of cloth in the finest mills around the world,” said Metzger. Highcliffe also specializes in alterations and offers a collection of hand-picked accessories. In 2013, Highcliffe Clothiers was named the Best Men’s Clothing Store in Northern Virginia by Virginia Living Magazine, chosen over many fine department stores and specialty men’s stores in the Washington metropolitan area. The award acknowledged Metzger’s decades of experience in custom fitting and designing, as well as the high level of personal customer service. Metzger is a two-term past president of The Custom Tailors and Designers Association, founded in 1880 and the oldest trade organization in the U.S. He previously taught classes in New York City on the subject of custom clothing and worked with the U.S. Marine Corps’ transitional assistance program, where he taught Marines about the importance
Photo by Richard Hooper
Mark Metzger.
of dressing for success. Prior to Highcliffe, Metzger served as senior vice president at the Custom Shop, with several locations around the country “I have really come to love this community,” he said. “It is such an incredible mix of residents, along with all the visitors coming through Middleburg. I have certainly learned that you can never judge a book by its cover.” When Metzger closed his Washington store, he was surprised to see some of his regular customers show up at his Middleburg shop. “Some of them actually had homes out here,” he said, “and I never even realized it at the time.” The clock that would become Highcliffe Clothier’s namesake sat in Highcliffe Castle
M i d d l e b u r g L i f e
By Dulcy Hooper For Middleburg Life
for many years before it was purchased by Metzger’s father, who was past president of the Musical Box Society International and an expert in restoring early examples of mechanical music. And only two months after Mark Metzger moved into his current location in Middleburg, a Sotheby’s auction featured a sale that included “property from the Automata and Mechanical Music Collection of Frank and Lore Metzger.” In December 2014, the Highcliffe clock, described as “a very fine large and rare ebonized ormolu mounted parcel gilt ebony and ebonized organ clock with automaton, circa 1765,” sold like clockwork, fetching $60,000. n
Trunk Show May 1-2 Make Your Appointment Today America’s Finest Handmade Goods Oxxford Clothes & Rancourt Shoes From Cashmere To Shell Cordovan Custom Made For You www.middleburglife.net • April 2015
112 West Washington Street Middleburg, VA 540-687-5633 Mon - Sat 10-6 | Sunday 12-5 www.highcliffeclothiers.com
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