Paris: A menswear shopping guide – 2024 update
Quite a lot has changed in the five years since we last updated this Paris shopping guide (and yes, I know just as much as changed elsewhere – we will also update the others!). Kenjiro Suzuki has left, the Viaduc des Arts has dr...
Paris: A menswear shopping guide – 2024 update
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Hey Robert, There is a comment above about that actually - in most cases, no, I don't think it is. It's only in quite particular styles and worn in specific ways (as a lot of Husbands things are)...
Cifonelli cashmere overcoat: Style Breakdown
This cashmere coat from Cifonelli, which I’ve had now for nine years , is similar in many ways to the two coats we’ve covered previously in this series – from Ciardi and from Liverano . There are some technical di...
Cifonelli cashmere overcoat: Style Breakdown
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Hey Jack, Yes it's basically a tonal look, grey and grey, which makes it more unusual and slightly more fashiony. We talked about it a bit here. No I wouldnt' do it with a navy jacket, I don't think...
Cifonelli jacket: Finding a new home for good things
One topic I thought it would be good to cover during Dry January was giving away clothes that you found - for whatever reason - no longer worked for you. Finding good homes for good things, essentially. A good example of this is the suede jacket th...
Cifonelli jacket: Finding a new home for good things
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It’s useful to note that almost everything we humans do is a form consumption construed in the very broadest sense of the concept (meaning: a use of planetary resources). Even the posting of that original comment was, ...
My bespoke bow tie, from La Bowtique
Back in December we covered the various styles of bow tie , from batwing to butterfly. Learning about the traditions and conventions helped me clarify which style I prefer for myself, and today I’ll be covering which one I had made, and why. ...
My bespoke bow tie, from La Bowtique
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Good to know. Many thanks Lindsay...
The styles of bow tie – and why they matter
I rarely wear a bow tie. Certainly never casually, and the number of black tie excuses has dwindled since I left my job in legal journalism. Back then there were several award ceremonies a year - we even threw four ourselves - but those have gone a...
The styles of bow tie – and why they matter
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Thanks...
If you had five coats: A versatile selection
As with our previous article in this series – on bags – five coats might seem like a lot, but actually chances are many readers already have that in their wardrobe, if they account for smart and casual coats, for warmth...
If you had five coats: A versatile selection
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I think green would be, yes. I also wouldn't worry too much about orange. If you really do like it (obviously, ideally try it on) with other things you own, it's not like you'll be wearing it all the time...
My favourite outfits
In our recent article ' Outfits that I got wrong', a reader commented that he would be interested in the opposite post. Not outfits I got right - hopefully there are lots of those - but ones I got the most right, or I like the most. Perhaps, those t...
My favourite outfits
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The Galway just about, the Ambleside yes with the storm welt etc...
Outfits I got wrong
Everyone gets stuff wrong. We all have outfits we look back on years later, and cringe. Fortunately, I believe this is something where you learn and progress. It is not a cycle of fashions, where every few years you wear something different, and di...
Outfits I got wrong
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yes I would Jack...
Tengri: Sustainable, luxurious yak fibre
Anyone that has been on or around Savile Row in the past year would have likely come across the force of nature that is Nancy Johnston (above), founder of Tengri, and her yak fibre. Nancy is a social worker, traveller and campaigner, who founded Te...
Tengri: Sustainable, luxurious yak fibre
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Hi Simon, hope your coat is holding up and keeping you warm this winter. Phong, Khangai yak fabrics is relatively new to the world, so it hasn't been wear-tested for years but I can say all our fabrics are heavily tested...
Grey and lilac: Ralph Lauren style, in Cifonelli
I’ve been looking at a lot of old Ralph Lauren imagery in recent months. Because of the 50th anniversary, but also because of the Ivy Style talk we did in New York , where everyone admitted some kind of debt to Ralph, and reading In His Own Fa...
Grey and lilac: Ralph Lauren style, in Cifonelli
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I'm afraid I don't know Dan, sorry...
The velvet jacket and modern evening wear, in Cif...
This article concerns two things. First, the pluses and minuses of the Cifonelli 6x1 style, as this is the first jacket I’ve had from them in their well-known cut. And second, the benefits of a velvet jacket without silk facings - and how it...
The velvet jacket and modern evening wear, in Cif...
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Sorry, I don't have any more pics of them. It's a mohair mix cloth though...
Asking the next question: An interview with Kirby...
I recently did this interview with Kirby Allison of The Hanger Project, as part of his Shoe Shine Sunday series. It's a little bit meandering (and my shirt seems determined to reveal more chest than anyone would want) but I think there are some inte...
Asking the next question: An interview with Kirby...
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"...if you are buying an expensive pair of shoes, why not ask the salesman to observe if they fit you well or not?" A good suggestion, but unfortunately there are a lot of people working at shoe stores - even expensive o...
Cifonelli navy suit: Style breakdown
Cifonelli is one of the three best-known tailors in Paris – the others being Camps de Luca and Smalto. (Though Smalto’s influence has rather waned in recent years, as the others’ has waxed.) It is best known for the style of its...
Cifonelli navy suit: Style breakdown
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There are details on this original piece on the suit Henry. But I'm afraid I don't have the original reference, I just know it was a 9oz plain weave. I'd go for something more like 11oz at least today...
Optimo bespoke felt hat: Review
I'm not sure whether it came across, but I was almost surprised by how much I liked the Optimo hats I saw in New York last October. It was the first time I had seen them first hand, and the felt was noticeably different from what I had seen at other...
Optimo bespoke felt hat: Review
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Just let it dry naturally - felt like this is very robust. When you see some police wearing plastic covers over their hats, you can tell they must be pretty poor quality! Let it dry, then brush the nap of the felt back u...
Introducing: Everyday Lighter Denim
It's that time of year, and new things are all arriving at once. Today it's a new, lighter shade of the Everyday Denim. Everyday Denim shirting went down really well with readers, both as fabric and finished shirts, and several asked for other varia...
Introducing: Everyday Lighter Denim
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After ca. 18 months. The fading is more pronounced than I expected. Especially on my heat points, neck and chest. I still prefer it to a standard denim that fades less....
Video: In conversation with Lorenzo
As promised a while back, here is some video coverage of the talk Lorenzo Cifonelli and I gave at Attire House in Hong Kong last month. We cover a pretty broad range of topics, from how annoyed Lorenzo looks when he's doing fittings, to the various ...
Video: In conversation with Lorenzo
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Yes, it's easier to get good fit in RTW shoes than in RTW tailoring...
Unexpected texture and colour – Denim and l...
I think it’s telling that the thing that makes me happiest about this outfit is the oatmeal-linen shirt, a piece made bespoke by D’Avino. I’ve been doing this for a while - trying to combine pieces of classic menswear in ways that ...
Unexpected texture and colour – Denim and l...
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Thank Mike, but please refrain from talking to other commenters like that. Cheers...
The duffle coat
It was freezing in London last week. Temperatures below zero consistently; more snow than we’ve had in a decade. Of course, it’s nothing compared to the US east coast - or Scandinavia - but it was rather a shock. I had an odd feeling on ...
The duffle coat
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Hey Romain, Yes I think that could work well. Nice piece, nice being longer. And you're well aware of what it needs styling-wise it feels like...
Monochrome and concrete: Styling grey, charcoal a...
Although I love rich, natural colours (particularly in Autumn) I've always been fascinated by the subtleties of monochrome dressing. It has such strong style, and yet there is so little too it. It's striking and unusual, and yet quiet. These photo...
Monochrome and concrete: Styling grey, charcoal a...
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No worries Daniel. Dark-brown suede could be fine - rather like black jeans, when they're faded and have enough of that casual vibe as your charcoal linen sounds like it has, they work well. Also, I'd encourage you to co...
Bespoke commissions – What I should and sho...
Thank you everyone that responded to my ‘You are the interviewer’ post a couple of weeks ago. The number of variety of questions was staggering, and I will try to answer as many as I can over the coming weeks. It may take time, but I wou...
Bespoke commissions – What I should and sho...
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I don't know the exact history, but I think it came from English tweed jackets which themselves were derived from those made for riding...
Bespoke double-breasted denim jacket – from...
The attraction of denim for the modern, sartorial man is easy to understand. In an age when clothing is increasingly casual, making tailoring less formal through the use of casual cloths is attractive. It retains the benefits of tailoring - the el...
Bespoke double-breasted denim jacket – from...
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Thanks Chris. It has aged well, and I do wear it quite often. The only restriction is the weight, which makes it really just an Autumn/Winter piece. It's also the kind of jacket that leads everything else in the outfit, ...
The cap
If styled right, a cap is a wonderfully useful accessory. Not as formal as a fedora, yet not as casual as a beanie, it can bridge a greater range of outfits than any other hat. When the temperature is in single figures, and your lack of hair makes a...
The cap
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No worries Jay, no post is ever too old! It depends a bit on what else you wear, but I guess a dark-grey or mid-grey herringbone perhaps? Something with a little pattern but not too much, in a conservative colour, and pr...
A pale-grey jacket with green corduroy
This outfit was used in a piece written recently for Drake's regarding corduroy. The piece mentions some of the associations that corduroy often carries, and ways to avoid them; basically, keeping the colours dark and the fit contemporary. But you...
A pale-grey jacket with green corduroy
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Yes, it probably would, and wouldn't wear them together today - see article here on outfits I'd wear differently...
Japanese retail and the growth of bespoke
Our trip to Japan this week was meant to be roughly split into three parts: retail (for a shopping guide), bespoke makers (for a range of posts and freelance articles) and Japanese crafts (around Osaka and Kyoto). But strangely enough, it was the be...
Japanese retail and the growth of bespoke
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Good question Hugh - no idea though I'm afraid! One thing I do know is that tariffs are only one of the things that make such pieces expensive, or harder to import, so there's no guarantee there. And often stockists try ...
Five double-breasted styles compared
Last month we talked about how small changes in the proportions of a double-breasted jacket can have a radical effect on its style - and therefore on the people or situations it suits. This week I've used five of my own jackets to demonstrate these...
Five double-breasted styles compared
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Yes they are. If you want to see how the measurements are taken, see the Style Breakdown intro article...
