LUXURY CLOTHING STYLED IN YOUR HOME BY BARDS

At Bards, dress makes the environmentally-conscious man

Matthew Banever is one sharply-dressed man.

His go-to look is a stylish tailored suit, matching vest and vivid paisley tie — or jeans and a chic knit jacket in a hue far more vibrant than your basic ho-mum navy or grey.

BY STACEY DRESNER

That’s what happens when you have an eye for fashion. And, when it comes to fashion, Banever is all eyes. Now, he’s turned his passion for beautiful clothing into Bards, a men’s luxury clothing biz that offers American-made, sustainable garments.

But don’t go looking for the Bards store nearest you. Bards doesn’t do

bricks and mortar. Instead, the company offers direct-to-the customer service. Meaning Banever meets with his clients in their comfort zone — i.e., their home or office. Banever arrives at an initial meeting fabric books in hand. When the client has poured over the books and made his choice, Banever takes the measurements himself. The visit takes

about 90 minutes.

“Sustainable clothing is a big part of the conversation in the fashion industry, and direct-to-consumer custom clothing is really sustainable and eco-friendly. There’s no waste,” Banever said, noting that Bards also offers clothing for all genders – chic men and chic women, transgender – anyone

seeking a good quality, hand-made, sustainable garment.

“I want to be environmentally conscious. I don’t want to make clothing just for the sake of trying to sell it,” he adds.

That’s because Bards’ mission is to “Tell Your Story.”

As he explains on his website, “In

the beginning, I’m going to help tell your story, under the notion that your clothing is an expression of who you are without you even having to speak.”

A native of Farmington, Banever says his love of clothing grew in part out of his love of classic films, fostered by his parents.

“Every Saturday night my parents

would have us watch some old movie and it was terrific,” he recalls. “Gene Kelly in “Singin’ in the Rain,’ James Stewart in ‘Vertigo,’ Audrey Hepburn in ‘Funny Faces’ are iconic. Jack Dawson is going to go to dinner and Kathy Bates asks him ‘What are you planning on wearing?’ because the power of attire is transformative.”

Banever began working in retail at Express in the West Farms Mall after graduating from Marist College with a degree in history. When he broke from the usual jeans and a t-shirt attire of most Express employees and began wearing some of the retailer’s suits, he noticed a change in the way people approached him.

“Immediately, I saw how differently the world treated me. I was just a regular worker, but they were assuming I was the manager. From then on, I really began looking into suits and higher-end clothing,” he says.

Banever left Express to work at Jos. A. Bank, followed by a stint at a luxury men’s boutique where he headed up the custom department and worked under a master tailor.

“I started to learn much more about the fashion industry. I was going to trade shows; I was developing relationships. And that’s where I really began to understand my place in this industry and to look for the change that I wanted to make,” he says.

Then, last spring, just two weeks after he moved to West Hartford COVID-19 hit and he began sheltering at home.

“I really just spent those three months working on my future,” he explains.

Banever already had plans to build his own menswear business. While in quarantine he realized direct-to-customer was the way to go.

“It just made so much sense,” he says.

At Bards, Banever works directly with several mills that he has built relationships with and which he trusts. “I’m not going to use a fabric I don’t think is

aligned with a sustainable message,” he says.

One good example is Dormeuil, a wool mill in Paris, France.

“I can scan one of their fabrics using a QR code [a Quick Response barcode] and it will show me what farm the wool came from, the sheep it was sheered from, how the sheep is doing, the name of the farmer, the person who put the fabric together. You can see the entire supply chain.”

That “100 percent transparency,” says Banaver, allows consumers to really understand and feel that “they are buying a fabric that’s actually doing good work.”

Bards offers 200 fabrics in different weights, different patterns, and different blends, which allows him “to actually give a client the item they need,” he says. “I can actually provide a garment directly built for their lifestyle…The customization is endless. You choose your style. You can change up different fabrics -- maybe put a different fabric on the inside of a coat.”

Once Banever has designed garments to the customer’s liking, Banever works with a team of expert tailors to create designs specifically for Bards. More than 40 hours of handwork go into one jacket, and each hand-made garment is checked more than 200 times for quality assurance.

Bards’ suits start at $2,500, with the most expensive suit he has made to date carrying a price tag of nearly $10,000. Custom-made start at $225.

Bards’ clients, notes Banaver, tend to be in their early 30s — young people, says Banaver, believe a suit from Bards is worth it because Bard-designed clothes tell their story.

“Your appearance is the first thing that people see, especially in such a digital world where you are photographed and your pictures are put up on social media,” says Banever. “It’s really important to me to tell your story.” n

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A Quick Getaway Weekend

When you are trying to reconnect with your loved one and with nature, you want to get away from all of the noise in your life. On top of that, you might only have Friday afternoon until Sunday night to do it. If this sounds familiar, this fall travel expedition might be just what you need.

Two of my clients had been living apart from each other, and wanted a quick getaway weekend to reconnect. We looked at a few areas in northern New Hampshire and Vermont, but that would have required too many hours in the car. This couple wanted to get to their destination and enjoy it! After some consideration, they chose the great outdoors and lovely town of Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

FRIDAY: After lunch at home, they headed up to the Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott in Great Barrington, Lenox/ Berkshires. Their room was complete with a king-sized bed and a gas fireplace designed to look like a cute log fire, which made the room extra cozy. The fireplace had a timer and was covered in protective glass so you could turn it off at any time. This location was within

walking distance of a wide selection of shops, restaurants, antiques stores, and even the Barrington Brewery right down the street. Downtown Great Barrington was a ten- to fifteen-minute drive from the hotel, with even more shops, boutiques, outdoor vendors, and restaurants. Restaurants in the area included Thai, Mediterranean, Mexican, and American food - including some farm-to-table featuring fare from local farms. They were quiet and quaint, with a lot of local spirit and personality.

The Norman Rockville Museum in Stockbridge was just a fifteen-minute drive from the hotel. The compound features his small studio and a museum building that looks like a library. Downstairs the “Reimagining the Four Freedoms” exhibition included Rockwell’s original artistic interpretations of FDR’s famous speech during the WWII era. These Four Freedoms were reimagined and reinterpreted by contemporary American and Canadian artists who reflected on their “observation and concerns about freedoms found and lost in our times.” The downstairs also includes all of the covers of the Saturday Evening Post – the series for which he was most famous. The upstairs housed many of Rockwell’s most famous and iconic paintings – the couple was shocked to see so many pieces that Rockwell had created seemed to be stitched into the history and consciousness of American life. The couple learned how Norman Rockwell used sketches, photos, variations of facial expressions, lighting, and color, to create these iconic paintings. This property included Rockwell’s final studio - it was disassembled, moved from its original location on South Street and rebuilt on the museum’s property. The museum also includes a nice little gift shop, with brilliant reproductions of Rockwell’s best-known pieces, and more obscure ones as well.

After walking around the Rockwell Museum and enjoying the fall breeze, the couple went to Prairie Whale – a farm-to-table restaurant founded in 2012. I heard so many positive comments about this restaurant that I decided to call up Steven Browning, the Head Chef, to learn more. To begin their meal, the couple started with some Old Fashions to pair with their appetizers. The first appetizer was the “St. Stephens” cheese, a buttery and milky hand-crafted triple cream, from the local Four Fat Fowl specialty cheese shop in Stephentown, New York. The country bread that complemented that cheese is from a wood-fired, fresh stone-milled production bakery which specializes in naturally leavened bread made with fresh milled flour - Sparrowbush Farm. The cheese and bread were plated with Green Tomato Jam, homemade with their garden tomatoes, Concord Grapes grown on the property, and homegrown habaneros mixed with honey.

The second appetizer was crostini with smoked blue fish cream cheese, trout roe, and radish which was unexpectedly well-balanced and brimming with flavor – one of the tastiest highlights of the weekend. Dinner included red fish sourced by Berkshore, a company that drives to the Boston Fish Pier five times a week and does not store any seafood themselves to ensure freshness, with cranberry beans, kale and romesco sauce – described as a true symphony of fresh flavors. Lamb shank was accompanied by labneh, a sauce made of strained yogurt that has a consistency between yogurt and cheese. According to the taste buds of this couple, lots of love was put into the food, the highlight being the way all of the various dishes seemed to complement each other, especially the romesco and smoked blue fish! After dinner, a walk around town led them to a local spirits store where they picked up Prosecco to bring back to the hotel before relaxing in the hot tub. SATURDAY: After a neatly prepared breakfast-to-go at the hotel, the couple drove to the Beartown State Forest for some scenic hiking. They headed to the Benedict Pond Loop to hike near water, where they were able to breathe the fresh air, and stop, listen, and enjoy the smell of the woods. There were a few other folks on the trail, but most of the time they were by themselves. At that time, the leaves were just beginning to change color, revealing a satisfying blend of warm oranges, yellows, reds, and deep greens. After the hike, they checked out a few cute antiques stores by the hotel before heading out to the Berkshire Fishing Club. This is a private club complete with its own private lake, so they paid for a trial membership which gave them access to the Palmer Brook Reservoir for the day. First, they went out on the lake in kayaks, exploring the lake and watching the weather overhead. The lake was so big they couldn’t see or hear anyone else on the lake, so it really felt like they had the whole lake to themselves. After getting to the

middle of the lake, they floated and enjoyed the fresh air and the stunning scenery. Returning to the boat launch they exchanged their kayak for a small fishing boat with an outboard motor and prepared for catch and release fishing on the lake. When they purchased the trial membership, they were told to bring their own rods, because due to COVID, the club would not be renting fishing poles. The club did help prepare the rods the couple brought with hooks and bait, which made the experience much easier for them. After a quick demonstration of how the engine worked, they headed off again. After a second or third cast, they caught a 14” fish – an hour or so later they caught another, for a total of two fish caught and released. After a few hours, at about 6:30 pm, the sun was setting, it was the golden hour, and this couple relaxed and meditated to the swaying of the boat, before returning to the dock to leave.

After all that fishing, the couple was craving fish for dinner. They were going to try the Salmon Run Fish House, but it was too crowded, so they tried the Morgan House Inn down the street. The Inn was founded in 1853 in Lee, Massachusetts and is a solid classic American Inn. They had onion soup, ham and baked brie appetizers, grilled salmon with couscous hash and fish and chips. The ambiance was relaxed and homey, a perfect warm spot to shake off the fall chills. After dinner, they drove back to Great Barrington and wandered around, met and conversed with a few store owners, and then settled down in the outside seating at Mexican Place Fiesta Bar and Grill, content with their Margaritas on the rocks as they were serenated by a classic ‘60s rock-and-roll Beatles/Rolling Stones band comprised of local legends.

SUNDAY: After waking up with another take-out breakfast from the hotel, they ventured out to pick apples at the Windy Hill Farm. The farm is situated on a steep hill, complete with rows of classic and modern apple trees, apple cider donuts, apple cider, and a full nursery. With all of those apple products and nursery, what better idea was there than to buy a young apple tree to bring home! They settled on a Spencer tree, a combination of Golden Delicious and MacIntosh – a firm, crisp, and very sweet variety great for eating and cooking. I wish them good luck with their new garden addition (hopefully I’ll get a chance to taste their next apple pie!).

After stocking up on cider, donuts, and a new baby tree, they ventured to nearby Monument Mountain for a hike. The woods were filled with cute chipmunks and magical trees. The trails were popular, with a fair number of other hikers, but social distancing was more than doable. The trail they chose was more vigorous than the lakeside hike, but totally worth it for the scenery and nature - taking them about one and a half hours to finish. After finishing their hike, they drove back to town to pick up some sweets at Robin’s Candy Shop for souvenirs – a fun and quirky candy store filled with old fashioned classic candies, as well as fun novelty candies, and some award-winning fudge.

The third adventure of the day was the Catamount Aerial Adventure Park. They decided on three hours at the park for a series of different obstacle courses suspended in the trees. After a quick safety class, they began on the beginner track – to see what they were capable of, and to prove their readiness to go on to the next level. Climbing up wood ladders, walking on wire bridges, sliding

down ziplines, all of it really fun, while they supported and cheered each other to success. They weren’t sure what to expect, or how difficult it would be, but found that they were more than able to have a lot of fun!

After they finished at the course, they drove five miles to dinner at John Andrews Farmhouse Restaurant. They were treated to mussels in chili butter, scallions and coconut milk, and whole roasted garlic with tomato, olive, and chevre for appetizers. The entrées were seared duck, crisp duck confit, mashed potato with balsamic maple syrup, and hanger steak and fries, with fresh parsley, scallion, and chili butter. The pork chop also looked great – it was hard for them to decide on what to choose. John Andrews is a farm-to-table restaurant that feels like a friend’s back yard, nestled in the woods surrounded by perennial gardens, dotted with multiple firepits, and filled with friendly faces.

After finishing their meal and watching the sunset, it was time for them to drive back home. On the way they stopped to get some pie crusts to make their own signature apple-lemon pie with the apples they picked at the Windy Hill Farm to complete the weekend with a tasty homemade souvenir. The couple enjoyed their getaway, not so far away, with a healthy balance of nature, adventure, and good food. n

Lisa Martin, Travel Advisor, Luxury Cruise Specialist, ACC, Cruise Planners; Land and Cruise 860.929.0708 lisa.martin@ cruiseplanners.com TotalTravelToday.com