Brand: Gaziano and Girling

For the next in our series of practical videos, I wanted to tackle shoe polishing. But, also to present it in a way that was more discursive, and explained rather than just taught. Most videos on polishing just show one...

A few shoemakers have launched unlined or softer versions of their shoes this year, in order to try and make something more comfortable in hotter weather. Of course, completely unlined shoes with cemented soles will alw...

I don't tend to wear brightly coloured ties. Too often they’re brash and loud, where a dark simple tie would be more tasteful. The only time I’ve regularly worn them is in unusual colours like lime green, ra...

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 unusua...

I had this tweed jacket made by South Korean house B&Tailor over the past 18 months, using Robin Petterson - a Swede who does their fittings in London and at home in Stockholm. Unfortunately, although the end result...

The hatch-grain loafers I commissioned with Gaziano & Girling back in 2012 have consistently been among my favourite shoes - both for me and for readers. The mid-brown colour is tremendously versatile (everything fr...

These bespoke suede loafers from Gaziano & Girling have been a while in the make - I last covered the first fitting back in September 2016. It hasn't taken over a year to get from that fitting to now, however. They...

As the last post on building a wardrobe - focused on Neapolitan tailoring - proved popular, I thought I'd do a second looking at shoes. But rather than look at my whole shoe collection, which numbers more than 40 pairs ...

Dear Simon, I recently read your 2014 article, ' The staples of a good wardrobe' and was wondering how you would modify it for warmer climes like Hong Kong and Singapore? Grey flannel isn’t a great option for mos...

The older I get, the more I wear well-made clothes, and (most importantly) the more I think about clothes, the simpler I seem to dress. I am rarely without my navy grenadine tie. I now have Crispaire trousers in three ...

Launching a brand is not hard. Someone does it in our area every week, and is nice enough to email to let me know. However, launching a brand, making it a success as bespoke, then launching ready-to-wear, setting up yo...

Several readers asked what I was wearing in the video we produced recently for Begg & Co scarves. So here they are, one by one. In the jacket shots, above: Navy cashmere jacket by Solito. Not a great level of fin...

There are just 19 of our cashmere squares left – the beautiful collaboration we started a few weeks ago with Begg & Co. The colours have sold pretty evenly, with 9 navy and 10 ‘natural’ (pictured...

  This is the first in a series of videos – made in conjunction with Richard Anderson – on maintaining, brushing and pressing a suit. [It’s worth enlarging to full screen if you want to watch it a...

In the spirit of our recent posts on assembling outfits, here’s the process that put this one together. Originating idea: I’ve always liked the way this pale, silk tie from Ralph Lauren goes with my Rubin...

I’ve had quite a few requests by readers over the past year for city guides, so this is the first in a series. In London, there are so many options that it makes sense to group some together. Also, if I leave t...

Four things contribute most to the formality of an outfit: shine, darkness, contrast and desaturation. We see all four of them in formal outfits such as black tie. Dark black or midnight blue is contrasted against sta...

Laces are to a shoe what buttons are to a jacket. Often ignored, but with a disproportionate important effect on the overall look. The most attractive buttons, for me, are always matte horn with a touch of contrast i...