Bocache & Salvucci, Rome: Bespoke shoes and ...
August 19th 2022Bocache & Salvucci was a bit of a surprise when I visited last month. I’d come across the shoemaker at Jean-Manuel Moreau, in Paris, and had assumed that in Rome I would find a small (because relatively unknown) bespoke craftsman. Wh...
Bocache & Salvucci, Rome: Bespoke shoes and ...
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Excellent, many thanks Peter. Wellies starting the week after that late summer I guess :)...
How Florence changed with the pandemic: Abbarchi,...
August 8th 2022“It was really eerie, Simon, with all the tourists gone." “I know that was the same everywhere," says Simone Abbarchi (above), "but seeing the Piazza della Signoria empty made it feel like we’d gone back in time. Like the Medici co...
How Florence changed with the pandemic: Abbarchi,...
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Not yet, sorry Tim, but I will try and take one for the site some time...
La Manual Alpargatera: How espadrilles are handmade
July 8th 2022By Manish Puri I’m sitting at a round wooden table in the back office of La Manual Alpargatera. The owner, Joan Carles Tasies, is holding a chilled bottle of ratafia in his thick right hand and pours a measure into a glass in front of me. &ldq...
La Manual Alpargatera: How espadrilles are handmade
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Hello Eric. I just bought my first pair of Black Espardenya in size EU 43 / US 9 / CM 26,7 https://diegos.com/collections/men/products/black-espardenya-for-men. My feet size is 27 CM and I had heel slippage out of the bo...
Summer Top 10: Polos, more polos, and espadrilles
July 6th 2022I wasn’t going to do a ‘high summer’ version of our seasonal Top 10. After all, the spring edition back in April included such things as panama hats and boat shoes. But everyone’s stock has been arriving so late that the int...
Summer Top 10: Polos, more polos, and espadrilles
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No worries Frank...
Reader profile: Cedric
June 17th 2022Cedric works in the art world, and as such is rarely formal. But he retains an interest in tailoring, has childhood memories of going to Huntsman, and is even talking to Fred Nieddu about his first bespoke. He also has a depth of interest in Americ...
Reader profile: Cedric
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I know what you mean Leif. I would say that, at least in my context, it's more swinging towards the seventies when done well, as basically no one does. If the fit and cut are done well, and perhaps there's a little extra...
Acme split-toe shoes: Review
June 15th 2022Everybody loves a bargain. I think one reader referred to it as the ‘siren song’ of cheaper-but-quality clothing. The reference is often apt. Enthusiasts of anything expensive are drawn to the idea - like hypnotised Greek sailors - that...
Acme split-toe shoes: Review
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Amazing! Thanks for letting me know John. I always wish I was there for these chance meetings......
Rain: Cap and cordovan, or felt and suede
May 9th 2022This may be a little niche, but it’s something that often stresses me out in the morning, so hopefully it will be of some use to others. My plans for what to wear on a particular day usually don’t account for rain. I might be going int...
Rain: Cap and cordovan, or felt and suede
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Hey Jack, No, it's a rubber sole but a thinner one...
The Spring Top 10: Fun, paper and lavender
April 20th 2022It’s that time of the year again. Brands have been receiving all the spring clothing they ordered last year, even though they weren’t quite sure whether it would arrive, or be swallowed by an unexpected lockdown. So rejoice, there are n...
The Spring Top 10: Fun, paper and lavender
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Regarding Trumpers. Apart from ordering a tub of Almond Shaving Cream which is utterly superb and highly concentrated in a very generous 200g tub... probably the best value of all the prestige London barbers, I asked for...
Le Vif: A vintage shop like a regular shop
April 11th 2022Le Vif in Paris is one of the most curated vintage stores around. What do I mean by that? Well, it has a particular view on the clothes it offers - in terms of quality, style and origin. It sells Americana, normally American-made. There’s no...
Le Vif: A vintage shop like a regular shop
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Yes, like a lot of that 16th experiment, it's moving to a more standard part of town. No actual location yet though I don't think...
The Alden modified last, and Anatomica sizing
April 1st 2022Alden has this particular shape of shoe, on what is referred to as the ‘modified’ last. It’s unusual, almost orthopaedic in appearance, with a narrow waist that hugs the middle of the foot and rather bulging sides to fully accommo...
The Alden modified last, and Anatomica sizing
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My top recommendation is a tongue pad, to push the foot back in the shoe....
Reader profile: Andy
March 25th 2022This is Andy. A long-time reader and customer, Andy had led, shall we say, an interesting life. Currently a hydrographic surveyor, he has also been a pilot, a mountaineer, and dabbles as a model (fashion and life). He is passionate about clothing, ...
Reader profile: Andy
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Thanks Willie my man. Appreciate your comments mate, I'll have to give you a big hug as you are sitting only about 10 feet away from me in the offline room just now. Top hat and goggles - Its the way to go and of course,...
Anatomica, Paris: The clothes and the history
March 23rd 2022Anatomica is one of my favourite shops in Paris. It’s unique, with a range of menswear that’s often exclusive to them - whether under their brand or others’ - and always centred around quality. In fact it has such a reputation - of...
Anatomica, Paris: The clothes and the history
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No problem, and sorry about that Alex...
A view on emerging Chinese shoemakers
March 16th 2022Over the past two or three years, a group of mostly Chinese shoemakers has come to prominence for making high quality, usually hand-welted shoes at relatively cheap prices. I’ve experienced some of these, and talked to those in the industry ab...
A view on emerging Chinese shoemakers
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Hi David, There are very few in the US, but in the UK there are some. Not sure when all of them got into the business, but with most of them it would still have been fairly young, as it's an unusual trade to take up late...
Why buy ‘modern’ vintage?
February 25th 2022Rag Parade in Sheffield sells quite a lot of ‘modern’ vintage clothing (let’s call it 1980 onwards, for the sake of argument) as well as more standard militaria and workwear from earlier decades. I was interested to know what the ...
Would you (could you) wear a cowboy boot?
February 16th 2022A friend once told me that he gets a kick out of finding an unusual piece of menswear, and working out a way to wear it. Like a challenge: how can he make this esoteric bit of clothing wearable. I’ve never really taken that approach to clothe...
Would you (could you) wear a cowboy boot?
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It's something I should probably write a full post about. But in brief, absolutely you can protect designs, and people do. The IP right is usually a design, copyright or trade mark though, not a patent. And absolutely mo...
A day out at Rag Parade, Sheffield
February 11th 2022When you stare at a shop enough on Instagram - seeing new stock highlighted every day - it can seem bigger than it actually is. That was the case with Jojo’s General Store (or Rag Parade) in Sheffield, which myself, Alex and Lucas visited las...
A day out at Rag Parade, Sheffield
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It isn't, and I haven't really tried any others so can't give much advice. I would say, though, that while a fleece is attractive, it's really replacing casual outerwear which is such an amazing category for menswear. Mo...
Tonal dressing – with new Indulgent Shawl C...
January 21st 2022Our Indulgent Shawl Cardigan doesn’t need much introduction. Indeed, since this new grey colour was released to the waiting list yesterday, half have already sold. Quite a list had built up. Thank you everyone for your patience, and for ridin...
Tonal dressing – with new Indulgent Shawl C...
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Amazing, thanks Paul. I'll add that to this year's post announcing the restock if that's OK...
Reader profile: Mattia
January 17th 2022I met Mattia during our recent pop-up shop on Savile Row. A Permanent Style reader, he is also a fashion student, which gives him an interesting perspective on classic menswear. I enjoyed talking to him, and his friends, about their studies and the...
Reader profile: Mattia
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I loved reading this and I love Mattia's style. As someone who doesn't earn a lot of money most of my reading here is pipe dream stuff. But me and mattia are on the same boat - there is a way to dress well for under 3k! ...
Resoling sneakers and trainers: RforPeople and en...
January 3rd 2022People did different things over lockdown. Talking to Tommaso Melani, owner of Stefano Bemer shoes , it turns out he started resoling trainers. Stefano Bemer has a talented in-house team of shoemakers. They’ve made me three pairs of beautiful...
Resoling sneakers and trainers: RforPeople and en...
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There isn't on leather trainers, only the discussion here on canvas ones...
Christmas gift list 2021: Shawls, soap and Swan S...
November 17th 2021It’s that time of the year again. So, with both apologies and thanks to readers that bemoaned the lack of this list last year, these are just a few of my favourite things... In these lists we try to go beyond menswear into other beautiful, cra...
Christmas gift list 2021: Shawls, soap and Swan S...
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Hi Simon. This is very helpful indeed. Dry clean it will be. Thanks. Yash...
Crockett & Jones ‘Harvard’ loafe...
November 10th 2021I’ve always recommended Crockett & Jones to readers over the years, as a solid, good-value English shoe. But I’ve only briefly owned a pair. I had some when I was in my twenties, but bought the wrong size - so sold them within a ...
Crockett & Jones ‘Harvard’ loafe...
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I generally look to the Japanese brands like Rototo, AnonymousIsm etc - carried by Clutch, Trunk, End and many others. The only frustrating thing is they don't always have the same ones from season to season. Uniqlo is a...
Autumn/Winter Top 10: Wax, Ivy and secateurs
October 11th 2021This year’s A/W Top 10 list includes a sprinkling of new names, but a lot of familiar ones too. I don’t think this is unexpected or unwelcome. The world of classic, crafted menswear is not large, primarily because men still don’t ...
Autumn/Winter Top 10: Wax, Ivy and secateurs
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Hello Paul. I don’t know how easy it is to physically see C&J in Geneva so here is a close up of their rough out suede leather in brown if that helps, as sometimes official website pictures are met that helpful. I ...
What would I buy from Massimo Dutti?
September 1st 2021When is it worth buying the best possible quality, and when can you economise? This, of course, was part of the subject of my book The Finest Menswear in the World , which examined what constitutes ‘quality’ in various categories of clo...
What would I buy from Massimo Dutti?
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I can't really recommend them that much, because I haven't owned them - this post was more about the kind of things I would consider from a high-street brand, you'd need to try them out yourself. But at the higher end th...
Are bespoke shoes worth it?
August 9th 2021Every time I do a review of bespoke shoes, the question comes up as to whether they're worth the money. Whether bespoke shoes in general can really be worth it, given the little issues I often report. My short answer is that, in my experience , the...
Playing around with white bucks
August 4th 2021During sunny weather in the past few weeks, I've been playing around with these old shoes from Lodger, the shoe shop that used to be on Clifford Street in London, and where I first started writing about menswear . The shoes were a recreation of a 1...
Playing around with white bucks
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I have two pair of white BUCS. One is Nunn Bush and is a Derby style. The second is by Churches. It is a wingtips style. I have a Sperry trainer in white canvas. I think I am well represented here. I like my white shoes ...
