Brand: Gaziano and Girling

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...

  Next week there are two great events to get along to if you can: a trunk show by Saint Crispin’s and a drinks evening with Camps de Luca. The Saint Crispin’s event takes place in the Drake’s s...

Last year I interviewed Tony Gaziano for this video, created by Essence Lifestyle (the questions were deliberately removed to create a single narration). It was interesting talking to Tony in more detail about his earl...

A tailor commented to me recently that the problem with people today is they are too materialistic. I think this misses the point slightly – and an exploration of it highlights an important aspect of the approach...

Pierre Corthay Well, you asked for more pictures… First, the speakers. Tony Gaziano Tommaso Melani Phillip Car Norman Vilalta John Carnera Dean Girling Andy Murphy  ...

Continuing the shoe theme of recent posts, above are my Gaziano & Girling bespoke adelaides after repatination from Thomas at the Savile Row store. (Adelaide refers to the U-shaped section around the laces. The G&...

A reader recently asked for my advice on bespoke shoemakers, making me realise I hadn’t done an equivalent to ‘ The tailors I have known’ for shoes. This is the first part of the response to his quest...

By request, some of the lovely lovely people at the Gaziano & Girling evening last week. Not that many ties around, but some stunning Chittleborough & Morgan tailoring. Above, Michael Browne in his navy seersuc...

Last week was the launch of the new patina service at Gaziano & Girling on Savile Row. For anyone not familiar with the English shoemaking industry, this is a big step – for the first time, a Northampton make...

I do like it when readers suggest posts. You feel you’re fulfilling a need. Two weeks ago, on Five Tips on Bespoke Suits, a reader requested a similar post on bespoke shoes, so here it is. 1 Be conservative I kno...

Attire for flying out to Florence this week. Polo shirts make great travel items, particularly long-sleeved under jackets. They are comfortable, cool and versatile, and navy is the smartest option. Just make sure the c...

When was the last time there was a shop opening on Savile Row to get excited about? One making to the same standard as the great tailors already there? Exactly. Reason enough to shout about the new Gaziano & Girling ...

  Tan shoes make such a lovely complement to grey flannel, don’t they? And we know why the socks are green. But of course the most beautiful thing here is the lines of the shoe. The tight waist that causes th...

OK, it’s only a work site at the moment, but the Gaziano & Girling shop on Savile Row is looking exciting. At number 39, it might be the only shop on the west side of Savile Row that’s worth going into,...

Navy and grey are the kings of colour. They should be your first choice for almost every item of clothing – suit, jacket, trousers, overcoat, knitwear, even ties. Navy in particular for jackets and ties; mid-grey o...

An archive-trawling reader recently reminded me that back in November 2011 I wrote about my new Edward Green Top Drawer boots, concluding that perhaps it would be best to wait two years and then see how the boots had wor...

It has been a year since I began my column with How to Spend It looking at value in menswear. Nice as it was, we had covered most of the basics – so the editors and I decided recently to change tack. The new col...

Having tried so many tailors and shoemakers, I am often asked to compare them. With bespoke shoes, the most common question is which maker achieved the best fit. However, the fit often doesn’t vary that much, and m...

These photos were taken at the Gieves party for Rose Callahan’s book I Am Dandy last week. Michael ( Browne, Chittleborough & Morgan) and I were rather underdressed, perhaps deliberately so, for an evening of ...

The new Gaziano & Girling factory in Kettering is taking shape, and it’s a wonderful thing to see. An old Loake factory, where they used to do their bottom stock, it backs onto the Church’s closing facil...

These are my latest Gaziano & Girlingbespoke shoes, waiting to be made ready for a fitting (hopefully next week). They are a St James style (semi-brogue adelaide) in vintage cedar. Interestingly, Tony has changed hi...

“If you want to know if a guy is well dressed, look down.” So said US columnist George Frazier back in the 1950s, and his words have never been more true. Men who spend too little on their shoes end up wit...

This column in Japanese magazine Free & Easy is the result of the photo shoot I posted about before Christmas. I have no idea what the Japanese text says, but hopefully it faithfully reports my opinions on shoes and...

Hidetaka Fukaya, also known by his nickname Il Micio, is as much artist as artisan. Shoemakers tend to divide into two groups: those that are primarily driven by the artistic side of their work and those that a...

Photo shoot yesterday for Free and Easy magazine in Japan. They’re doing a special on English shoes, so shots of four pairs of my shoes from four different English shoemakers, and an interview/shoot with me. Phot...

This past few weeks on The Rake website I’ve written about my first bespoke fitting at Gaziano & Girling, the sensual pleasures of Santa Maria Novella and the reasons why The Merchant Fox has a unique selling ...

A Stefano Bemer bespoke solePlease remember, loyal readers, that I am now writing every week – indeed, twice a week – for The Rake online, which is expanding into a great source for international artisanal ar...

Good English shoes are pretty much always worth the money you pay for them. Three things reminded me of this in recent weeks. One was a friend’s wedding. After years of buying in the low end of the market, he bough...

It should have been obvious from my piece back in May on Gaziano & Girling’s new Deco line that I would be very tempted by them, and this is the result a few months later. They are gorgeous shoes, whole-cut Ox...

I contributed a fairly practical piece on buying good shoes to newspaper City AM a few weeks ago. Interested readers can find it here....

It’s time for US tours again. Doesn’t time fly? The full dates for two makers – Cleverley and Alfred Sargent Handgrade – can be seen on their sites at those links. And pictured we have some new st...

Latest from The Rake: Devils in Deco Five years ago Tony Gaziano and Dean Girling were a breath of fresh air in British shoemaking. Now, with the startlingly elegant Deco line, they’re determined to do it all over ...

Following several requests, here are a few more details on Gaziano & Girling’s new Deco line: – Shoes will only be available made-to-order to begin with – Retailers will be offered the option to ca...