Category: Casual wear

Good trunk shows pick good locations. Not necessarily fancy, but convenient and in a space that shows the product in a good light. This is particularly true with ready-made or made-to-measure brands, where customers are...

As regular readers will know, I am a big fan of leather and suede outerwear - whether from the superfine Seraphin, historic Chapal or uber-modern Stoffa. I have tried, used and love them all. When it comes to tailored j...

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 abou...

As mentioned on my ‘What I pack’ post, I’ve been travelling a lot in high heat recently. There was Pitti in Florence, where the temperature topped out at 37 degrees. Naples in July was very similar. An...

Finding new colour combinations I like makes me disproportionately happy. I know this doesn’t apply to every menswear enthusiast, but for me the interrelationship of colours is one of the most enjoyable and creati...

As I return from two summer trips - one for a week in Florence, the other a week in Naples - it seems a fitting time to run through what I pack for trips such as these. I know readers have asked about it in the past. Of...

Connolly, which opened on Clifford Street at the end of last year, is one of the most interesting new menswear stores London has had for a while. It offers luxury clothing, both under its own name and a few European bra...

A slightly smaller set of reviews in the brand round-up this month, with more focus on the details. Rubinacci suit carrier, £1200 therake.com/brands/rubinacci/bags First up is this leather suit carrier - or garmen...

Readers will be familiar with how excited I was about trying Stoffa - the made-to-measure company run by ex-Isaia man Agyesh Madan - now he is doing trunk shows in London. Agyesh's aesthetic is beautiful, simple and mo...

Last night was the (soft) opening of Anglo-Italian, the new shop in London being run by ex-Armoury buddies Jake Grantham and Alex Pirounis. It’s been a long time coming. Various events have slowed things down, and...

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. Th...

As is now customary (after three seasons we can say that, right?) I picked out my favourite 10 pieces from No Man Walks Alone's stock last week. I took advantage of being in New York to go through most things in person...

The Style Guide has been wonderfully received so far - at the launch events in London and New York, but also online and through personal messages. Thank you all. There are a few things I realise I haven't emphasised so...

It never fails to surprise me how little magazines analyse product when they cover a brand. An article is more likely to be about the founders and their story than the product itself - setting it in context, comparing i...

He looks pretty suave doesn't he? Got a good lean on. Patrick at Swedish shoe shop Skoaktiebolaget recently posed for an article of mine, above, in How To Spend It magazine. (A supplement of the Financial Times, and ar...

The attraction of denim for the modern, sartorial man is easy to understand. In an age when clothing is increasingly casual, making tailoring less formal through the use of casual cloths is attractive. It retains the ...

Many thanks to everyone for the response to The Finest Knitwear since it went on sale, and to the continuing popularity of the Friday Polos. Stock is running short, with just 28 pieces left and crewneck the most popula...

1 R. Culturi There are many brands launching ties or handkerchiefs online these days, given it’s an easy area to try and express something new - and the lack of sizing makes it relatively easy to sell online. One ...

I've always rather liked domestic fixes to knitwear. Darning holes, removing pilling, slimming bodies: I've consistently practiced and written about them all over the years. (Posts at those links). But being introduced...

Last week, Agyesh Madan of Stòffa visited London for the first time, in a trunk show alongside Marcus Malmborg (Swedish agent for Eidos made-to-measure, among other things). Eidos is more of a known entity, and w...

For many reasons - personal, business, product, sheer beauty of execution - I’ve long been a fan of The Armoury. They were therefore one brand I was particularly excited to get into our Savile Row pop-up shop. How...

Although some Permanent Style collaborations have been rather esoteric (purple slippers anyone?), the most satisfying have always been those that go on to become wardrobe staples. Our next - available exclusively in the...

In the realm of classic menswear, silk is usually restricted to discussions of ties and handkerchiefs. There is the occasional silk facing, and silk-mix jacketing, but it rarely features alone in clothing. It was fasci...

At the end of last year I got to know the new owners of the General Leather Company on Chiltern Street - now renamed Cromford Leather. This was exciting because they not only make leather and suede jackets on the premis...

Permanent Style has never been about the numbers. It is about a highly engaged, (scarily) loyal, knowledgeable group of readers that want to dress well and understand quality clothing. But it's always nice to see that...

As 'heritage' has become more popular in recent years, brands have increasingly emphasised their longevity, their history and their traditions. This has several issues. Most obviously, the brands that push this hardest...

Although we discussed last week that the fit of a jacket is the most important - and flattering - part of tailoring, a waistcoat is in some ways the most satisfying. Of all the tailored garments, it is the one that sit...

We took this picture of Patrick Johnson, founder of P Johnson, last month. It occurred to me at the time how hard it is to wear a sweater over the shoulders, as Patrick does. It's something I rarely do, and it's probabl...

I don’t write about Private White anywhere near enough. I did a piece last year on their outerwear, which remains their best category, but frankly you could a separate post on almost every coat they sell. The Twin...

This outfit, which was shot for the recent cover story of Plaza Uomo magazine, is probably one of the most casual ever featured on Permanent Style. Much like the first image of our popular ‘ Which office are you?&...

Earlier this week, No Man Walks Alone published a piece I wrote for them while in New York, selecting my favourite pieces from the stacked shelves of their NY showroom. This is something we started with the Spring/Summ...

The next in our regular installment of small brands doing interesting things looks at some ties, handkerchiefs and knitwear. Viola Milano x Alexander Kraft First up is a collaboration between Alexander Kraft and online ...

A couple of months ago I started the process of trialling Craftsman Co, a new and small Hong Kong-based company that is making leather and suede jackets. The process was smooth and well run, but the end results were a l...

I was quite intrigued to see Ethan Newton’s Bryceland's store in Tokyo when we visited a few weeks ago. In particular, how he is presenting his view on tailoring and how that mixes with the more casual americana s...

For the past four months I’ve been wearing and trying out the knitwear of Luca Faloni - an Italian with an online store based here in London. Luca offers quite a broad range of things, including leather goods, sca...

Few things given me more pleasure than looking after good clothes, and being rewarded with a better-lasting and even better-looking wardrobe. This happens most obviously with leather products like shoes and bags, and ar...

UPDATE: Original article published in 2013 The article in the bottom of this post was originally published in September 2013, when Berk in the Burlington Arcade was closing. Ballantyne, the factory, was shutting do...

I have a friend who wears what he calls ‘knockabout’ suits. How exactly he knocks about in them I don’t know, but the meaning is clear: these are casual suits, that don’t belong in a formal envir...

Fans of vintage clothing should love Chapal. They’re using the same leathers, the same linings, the same hardware they supplied to the French and US airforces 100 years ago. When I wrote about fellow French leathe...

Those on the Drake’s mailing list may have seen this outfit on Friday, accompanying an article on their new trouser range. To fill in the details: the olive Drake’s chinos were worn with a white lightweight ...

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 alte...

The following is an extract from my book Best of British: The Stories Behind Britain’s Iconic Brands , published by Prestel. Dedicated copies are available to buy here – Johnstons of Elgin It has survived tw...

A brief post today, with some pictures from holiday. Casual but still classic in cut and colour, and catering to the heat. First, above, 'Dani' espadrilles from La Portegna. I'm still in two minds about these, after a...

One of the central themes of Permanent Style over the past nine years has been the desire to make tailoring relevant to a new generation. To explore the ways in which the suit or jacket can transition from formal busine...

* For stock availability, please check the Shop page of the website* A new iteration of our Friday Polo is available from today on the Permanent Style shop: a short-sleeved model for the summer. It is made in the same ...

For a long time, men's running clothing has been pretty poor - dominated by a few big brands, with few design options and sold largely off the basis of celebrity endorsement. That has started to change in recent years,...

In case anyone's interested in my views on cycling and style - particularly the crossover between technical innovation and luxury - here's a video of an interview I did with Konrad Olsson during Pitti. Konrad is the edi...

Simon, Would you be willing to do a post on (casual) summer dressing? It’s the area of dress I struggle with the most. Every time I go on summer/spring holidays I find myself browsing through the internet looking ...

Our latest brand round-up includes some positive and some mixed reviews - reflecting both the quality of new things seen and tested by Permanent Style, and their originality. 1 Inhedited www.inhedited.com From £25...

Two years ago, I wrote enthusiastically about the launch of Levi’s bespoke denim service - Lot No.1. Here was the prospect of getting perfectly fitting jeans, in exactly the cut you wanted, made by a Row-trained c...