Arnaldo Vincenzi wears the same clothes to work every day – a sweater vest, a maple leaf tie and a collared-shirt, sometimes with rolled up sleeves.
He wakes up at 5 a.m. and in the 50 years he’s lived in Hudson, he’s almost always hung his green feathered hat on the same hook at 80 Cameron Street.
“I think my job, my customers keep me young,” he tells Global News.
Vincenzi is the pre-eminent tailor in Hudson, still working his needle mostly by hand.
He came to Montreal back in 1960 shortly after graduating from fashion school in a town about an hour north of Venice, Italy.
He sought his fortune in Canada, looking for a better life away from post-war Europe.
One day in 1963, he tailored clothes for the girlfriend of a close friend for a formal party.
The woman’s parents told him: “If you wanted to work as a tailor in Hudson, you could make a living,” he recalled.
His wife, Pierrette Sigouin, was reluctant, but the two moved there the next year.
The couple has two children and three grandchildren, all of whom are now grown.
Vincenzi said he suffered a terrible blow when his wife passed away in 2013.
“I still miss her,” he said.
In her absence, the Hudson community has embraced Vincenzi.
“He does amazing work,” said Katrina Lowe, a customer who drove from Saint-Lazare to have her 13-year-old son’s pants adjusted.
“He’s very meticulous, he’s very reasonable in price and as you can see from the shop, people bring him everything.”
Even in his third language, Vincenzi is an inveterate conversationalist.
“When I come, it’s usually not a short visit,” she said.
At 79 years of age, Vincenzi said he has no plans to retire – and it’s not because he needs the money, it’s because he loves the work.
“The money’s important,” he said. “But it isn’t everything.”
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