Bespoke basted alterations: Chittleborough &...
One of the biggest things that affects how great clothing ages, is the extent to which it can be altered and repaired. The best things for repairs are often casual clothes, like jeans, where visible repairs can even be seen to add to their character...
Bespoke basted alterations: Chittleborough &...
One of the biggest things that affects how great clothing ages, is the extent to which it can be altered and repaired. The best things for repairs are often casual clothes, like jeans, where visible repairs can even be ...
Video: How to deal with stains on tailoring
This video, the latest in our series on how to care for your tailoring at home, looks at stains. Cutter Ben Clarke, from Richard James in London, suggested this as a topic a while ago, but I wasn't sure. I thought we'd want to talk to a dry cleaner ...
Video: How to deal with stains on tailoring
This video, the latest in our series on how to care for your tailoring at home, looks at stains. Cutter Ben Clarke, from Richard James in London, suggested this as a topic a while ago, but I wasn't sure. I thought we'd ...
Video: How to hem trousers, like a Savile Row tailor
Fixing the hem on trousers is a fairly easy - and satisfying - thing to do at home. It also enables you, should you want to, to alter the length of trousers (though it's much easier without cuffs). In this video I talk to Ben Clarke, cutter at Richa...
Video: How to hem trousers, like a Savile Row tailor
Fixing the hem on trousers is a fairly easy - and satisfying - thing to do at home. It also enables you, should you want to, to alter the length of trousers (though it's much easier without cuffs). In this video I talk ...
How to sew a button – like a Savile Row tailor
Dressing well is not just about buying clothes, but about looking after them well, and responsibly. Caring for things so that they last longer, and you need less. In the past we’ve covered quite a few aspects about caring for clothes, includi...
How to sew a button – like a Savile Row tailor
Dressing well is not just about buying clothes, but about looking after them well, and responsibly. Caring for things so that they last longer, and you need less. In the past we’ve covered quite a few aspects about ...
How to darn socks and knitwear
On Permanent Style we often recommend to buy less, but buy better. Just as important, however, is to recycle well (finding a good home for things you don’t wear) and to look after clothes well. They are three sides of the same approach - and...
How to darn socks and knitwear
On Permanent Style we often recommend to buy less, but buy better. Just as important, however, is to recycle well (finding a good home for things you don’t wear) and to look after clothes well. They are three side...
How I store my clothes
Being at home more has given me time to write about something readers frequently ask about: how I store my clothes. The short answer is, with difficulty, particularly given how much I care about looking after them. Tailoring cannot be too cramped, l...
How I store my clothes
Being at home more has given me time to write about something readers frequently ask about: how I store my clothes. The short answer is, with difficulty, particularly given how much I care about looking after them. Tail...
How to deal with moths: Cleaning and smoke bombs
This is a personal article about the journey I’ve been on to counter clothes moths, and the regimen I’ve found that works. For anyone that would like a quick summary, it comprises: Fumigating at least once a year, using something like Pe...
How to deal with moths: Cleaning and smoke bombs
This is a personal article about the journey I’ve been on to counter clothes moths, and the regimen I’ve found that works. For anyone that would like a quick summary, it comprises: Fumigating at least once a year, u...
Shoes in wet weather: How to deal with rain and s...
In the past week, perhaps as it has been particularly wet here, I’ve had three comments from readers on old posts about dealing with soaking-wet shoes. Those old posts were never very comprehensive, so here is something fuller - dealing with ...
Shoes in wet weather: How to deal with rain and s...
In the past week, perhaps as it has been particularly wet here, I’ve had three comments from readers on old posts about dealing with soaking-wet shoes. Those old posts were never very comprehensive, so here is somet...
Video: How much can you alter a suit?
One of the reasons a bespoke suit can last a long time is that it is easier to adjust, and the tailors that made it are better at doing so. It's easier to adjust because more cloth is left in the seams, and in more places, than anything made in a fa...
Video: How much can you alter a suit?
One of the reasons a bespoke suit can last a long time is that it is easier to adjust, and the tailors that made it are better at doing so. It's easier to adjust because more cloth is left in the seams, and in more plac...
Video: How a bespoke suit can be repaired
How a suit lasts - and can be repaired over time - doesn't get much focus in bespoke. The craft, the history, the style: they're all talked about more, and understandably so. They're a good deal sexier. But it's a shame, because a benefit of the way...
Video: How a bespoke suit can be repaired
How a suit lasts - and can be repaired over time - doesn't get much focus in bespoke. The craft, the history, the style: they're all talked about more, and understandably so. They're a good deal sexier. But it's a shame...
Dealing with losing and gaining weight
I've been on holiday for the past two weeks, swimming every day, and have noticeably lost weight. I'm tightening the side adjustors on my trousers where I didn't before. It reminds me how frequently readers ask about such fluctuations in weight, and...
Dealing with losing and gaining weight
I've been on holiday for the past two weeks, swimming every day, and have noticeably lost weight. I'm tightening the side adjustors on my trousers where I didn't before. It reminds me how frequently readers ask about su...
Buttons online – Bernstein & Banleys
It has always surprised me how many Italian tailors say they can’t source good, unpolished horn buttons. Particularly because, since its launch last year, even customers can buy them from UK distributor Bernstein & Banleys ( TheLiningC...
Buttons online – Bernstein & Banleys
It has always surprised me how many Italian tailors say they can’t source good, unpolished horn buttons. Particularly because, since its launch last year, even customers can buy them from UK distributor Bernstein &...
Michael Norman dry cleaning (previously Press2Dress)
*Michael now has a basic website with contact details at www.mnbespoke.com* There are precious few dry cleaners out there that understand bespoke tailoring. They are likely to clean suits in bulk, with everything going into the vat together and no a...
Michael Norman dry cleaning (previously Press2Dress)
*Michael now has a basic website with contact details at www.mnbespoke.com* There are precious few dry cleaners out there that understand bespoke tailoring. They are likely to clean suits in bulk, with everything going ...
Video: How to press suit trousers
This is the last instalment in our series on looking after suits at home. The first showed how to brush and generally maintain suits, and the second how to press a jacket. You can see them at those links. It’s been an interesting process...
Video: How to press suit trousers
This is the last instalment in our series on looking after suits at home. The first showed how to brush and generally maintain suits, and the second how to press a jacket. You can see them at those links. It’s...
Video: How to press a jacket
Our latest video on suit maintenance may be the most useful of the lot: How to press your a jacket at home. In the video, Richard is at pains to point out that a lot of the pressing process cannot be replicated at home. Customers would need a hig...
Video: How to press a jacket
Our latest video on suit maintenance may be the most useful of the lot: How to press your a jacket at home. In the video, Richard is at pains to point out that a lot of the pressing process cannot be replicated at...
Five tips on suit alterations
A few weeks ago a reader asked about tips on having a suit altered. As often happens, this came up in the comments to a post – some of the best information is in there! I always recommend having a suit altered of course, if you have boug...
Five tips on suit alterations
A few weeks ago a reader asked about tips on having a suit altered. As often happens, this came up in the comments to a post – some of the best information is in there! I always recommend having a suit altered...
Little things every day: How to maintain clothing
When friends ask me about looking after their clothes, it always strikes me that their questions come too late. They’ve trodden down the heel cup of a shoe, and want to know if it can be repaired; a suit is looking old and grimy and they wan...
Little things every day: How to maintain clothing
When friends ask me about looking after their clothes, it always strikes me that their questions come too late. They’ve trodden down the heel cup of a shoe, and want to know if it can be repaired; a suit is lookin...
A great suit cleaning option: Press2Dress
In the search for decent sponge-and-press services, I recently tried Press2Dress, a dry cleaner based in south London and run by Michael Norman. Michael is developing an online service that specialises in cleaning and pressing for bespoke clothing. H...
A great suit cleaning option: Press2Dress
In the search for decent sponge-and-press services, I recently tried Press2Dress, a dry cleaner based in south London and run by Michael Norman. Michael is developing an online service that specialises in cleaning and pr...
Having a suit dry cleaned: Jeeves of Belgravia
Suits should not be dry-cleaned very often. For some I know on and around Savile Row, that means once every six months. For others, it means never. The exact amount, of course, depends also on how often and in what manner you wear your suits. When th...
Having a suit dry cleaned: Jeeves of Belgravia
Suits should not be dry-cleaned very often. For some I know on and around Savile Row, that means once every six months. For others, it means never. The exact amount, of course, depends also on how often and in what manne...
How to pack a suit jacket: Reader question
Hi Simon, First of all let me say I’m a massive fan of your blog. In fact I’ve even cancelled my GQ subscription because of your blog. Doesn’t mean you should start charging us though! I was wondering if you could do a p...
How to pack a suit jacket: Reader question
Hi Simon, First of all let me say I’m a massive fan of your blog. In fact I’ve even cancelled my GQ subscription because of your blog. Doesn’t mean you should start charging us though! I was wondering i...
Seasonal sponge and press: Burford Valet
I’ve never been great at looking after my suits. Shoes, yes. Brush them down at the end of every day, before the shoe trees go in; give them a wipe in the morning; regularly polish and, slightly less often, a treatment with cream. But I don&rsq...
Seasonal sponge and press: Burford Valet
I’ve never been great at looking after my suits. Shoes, yes. Brush them down at the end of every day, before the shoe trees go in; give them a wipe in the morning; regularly polish and, slightly less often, a treatment...
Altering the neck of a suit
This is an alteration to an old flannel suit, pinching in and raising the neck of the jacket slightly to correct a collar that currently stands a half inch away from my neck. This, of course, is one of the last alterations you should have done. It ca...
Altering the neck of a suit
This is an alteration to an old flannel suit, pinching in and raising the neck of the jacket slightly to correct a collar that currently stands a half inch away from my neck. This, of course, is one of the last alteratio...
The search for a sponge and press
Most men destroy their suits by having them dry-cleaned too often. That much is uncontroversial. A high-street dry cleaner will stick your suit in a large drum, soak it with chemicals that spread the dirt around more than they get rid of it, and then...
The search for a sponge and press
Most men destroy their suits by having them dry-cleaned too often. That much is uncontroversial. A high-street dry cleaner will stick your suit in a large drum, soak it with chemicals that spread the dirt around more tha...
A step further in suit alterations
One true hallmark of a bespoke suit is the size of its armholes. Most armholes in ready-to-wear suits (and made-to-measure patterns, to a certain extent) cater for men with larger arms and shoulders, in order to be on the safe side. As with so many o...
A step further in suit alterations
One true hallmark of a bespoke suit is the size of its armholes. Most armholes in ready-to-wear suits (and made-to-measure patterns, to a certain extent) cater for men with larger arms and shoulders, in order to be on th...
Tips from Jeeves
As regular readers will know, the search for truly old-fashioned craftsmen is one of the purposes of this blog. And while I would never recommend or compare services I had not personally experienced (an area where some of the style forums fall down),...
Tips from Jeeves
As regular readers will know, the search for truly old-fashioned craftsmen is one of the purposes of this blog. And while I would never recommend or compare services I had not personally experienced (an area where some o...