One of the things I enjoy most about Permanent Style is the comments from readers. 

It’s like each article is a new thread in a forum, with subject raised and then comments, experiences and questions all following, vastly enriching the article’s value. 

Over half of comments are on old articles – posted more than a year ago – which really shows how much a body of information is being built up. 

However, one disadvantage is that the comments are not very dynamic. The format limits the amount of back-and-forth that’s possible. 

So as a way to counter this, I thought I’d try a series of videos where a friend – Aleks Cvetkovic, founder of the podcast HandCut Radio – picks out some popular reader questions, and then we dig into them for 15 or 20 minutes. 

The result, I think, is a deeper and more dynamic exploration of the topic. 

This is our first one, where we talk about that old chestnut: dressing up in a dress-down office. Of course, few people are in their offices right now, around the world, but the advice applies to any situation where you want to appear a little more put-together, without wearing tailoring.

I hope you enjoy it.

Our main points are captioned during the video. But for those reading this before diving into the film, they are:

‘How can I dress up in a dress-down office?’

1: Upgrade quality, focus on cut

2: Play around with trousers

3: Wear non-corporate colours, like brown

4: Wear an unstructured jacket or overshirt

5: Upgrade your T-shirt or knitwear to a finer version

6: Think about details, like the shirt collar

7: Trousers and shirts can be dressed up or down

8: Dress down anything worn under a jacket 

Other videos we’ve produced recently are (also all on the YouTube channel):

• How a bespoke suit can be repaired
• How to look after tailoring
• How polish shoes part 1 and part 2
• How to fold a handkerchief
• How to look after suede jackets
• How to look after good shoes

Clothing shown:

• On me: White Bryceland’s Sawtooth shirt, under bespoke Loro Piana oatmeal-cashmere jacket by Elia Caliendo
• On Aleks: John Smedley merino mockneck, under double-breasted Offshore Bespoke suit by Edward Sexton, in Holland & Sherry 16oz corduroy