Brand: Ralph Lauren

I don’t think consumers value design that much any more. They concentrate on price and (more justifiable) quality, but design often gets swamped by hype. What is fashionable rather than what’s well-designed. A large...

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 w...

  Shoes can be one of the trickiest areas for clothing in the summer.  Unless we require a jacket, it’s pretty simple to wear a well-cut polo shirt on top and drapey linen trousers on the bottom, and stay cool. ...

Every day, when I get dressed, there is something new I’m interested in wearing.  Not necessarily new clothing, but a new outfit, a new combination of colours, perhaps a mixing of styles. And sometimes just a combina...

Something that I find often surprises readers is how much the brands they admire are influenced by womenswear.  It’s a topic we discussed briefly with Saman Amel last year, with Dag and Saman talking about old collec...

I recently finished reading In His Own Fashion , the official biography of Ralph Lauren, which Alan Flusser kindly gave me last year.  I’d recommend it to anyone - it’s both interesting as a history of fashion in t...

    OK, so. Friend and photographer Jamie Ferguson has been locked up indoors for weeks, as we all have. And he’s gone a bit stir crazy. We had started talking a while ago about shoots we could do remotely. Perha...

Last week the weather in London turned from 12 degrees to 22 in a couple of days. It seems that what passes for the English Spring is finally here. Of course, with most shops and brands Spring/Summer collections arrived...

Last week a friend in the industry asked me what aspect of writing Permanent Style I like the most. It is always, easily, discovering a new tailor, cloth or product that is different and inspiring. That journey from dis...

Although casual clothing is far more susceptible to fashions than tailored clothing, it is possible to organize it into certain groups, or paradigms. These groups, such as preppy clothing or workwear, often have their r...

It’s so enjoyable writing good reviews. It is valuable to write balanced, semi-critical pieces of course, and this is a core part of Permanent Style. But you always feel very conscious of the effect the criticism will...

There are several ways to define the menswear world we write about. As classic style, for instance, or about quality and craft. Also as luxury, given such quality is expensive. But one aspect that is rarely emphasised, ...

The survey we did of Spring/Summer pieces in the shops was very popular back in June. This Autumn/Winter, therefore, we thought we’d do two separate ones - the first (today) on winter knitwear, and the second on casua...

Rather a contrast this to Wednesday's post on dressing for hot weather.  But it's good to look ahead to Autumn (God I'm looking forward to it - the coats, the knitwear, the hats!). And it's nice to be able to write ab...

  Shades of tobacco and tan are one of the loveliest things to wear in the Summer.  As the weather warms up, I've put together three outfits here - all somewhere in the 5 to 7 formality range - that illustrate this.Â...

Blousons come in many shapes and sizes, but they are united by a short length, fuller body and collar.  Blousons work particularly well with higher-waisted tailored trousers, and for that reason make a great casual alt...

   New York is a strange town for menswear. It’s a bit of a Wild West, without the same traditions of Europe and with bespoke largely undermined by visitors from Savile Row. If there is a tradition, it is for value: ...

    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 Rubinacci ...

  If you don’t own a shawl-collar cardigan, it’s the one sweater you should invest in this winter. No other knitwear is more versatile: its collar makes it the only style that works with T-shirts, shirts or polo...

A few of the pictures of me from Pitti this year. Above, in brown tweed Caliendo jacket (more on that in a couple of weeks), Anderson & Sheppard flannels and Ralph Lauren madder-like orange handkerchief.  Tweed such...

If I have an addiction outside of tailoring, it is not shoes or ties but outerwear. Leather jackets, suede blousons, trench coats: I love the ability of such big pieces to radically change a look and a silhouette. Leathe...

I’m not great at looking after anything apart from shoes. Suits I brush down occasionally, but certainly not after every use, and knitwear rarely gets much of a look-in. In an effort to change this I recently picked up...

  Men are not interested in the clothing of celebrities. At the most, the endorsement of a film star, a magazine or a fashion brand is an endorsement, a shortcut. A man’s number one priority is not looking stupid,...

This has been said many times before in more abstract ways, but it deserves to be stated distinctly. It is astounding how effective Ralph Lauren has been at selling a very particular dream over the past 45 years. This wa...

In case anyone’s interested, I’m selling a few lovely things on eBay over the next few weeks – essentially ready-to-wear jackets or suits from Kilgour, Ralph Lauren Purple Label or others that have had ...