Category: Knitwear

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

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...

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 ...

The colour combinations that we discuss every week in regards to formal wear, can be applied just as readily to casual wear. Although there will always be elements that don't crossover (such as the immense versatility ...

Yesterday's post raised a few questions about other aspects of the outfit - specifically the black suede shoes and cream-coloured cardigan. I think it's interested to discuss both together, for stylistically they have ...

Long-time readers will know how much of a fan I am of Loro Piana. In particular, of their marked commitment to quality compared to other designers – even if that comes with the same big-brand prices. I’ve w...

German brand Merz b Schwanen has changed quite a lot since it was taken over Peter Plotnicki (below), having been bought up, moved production and overhauled its product. But thankfully the changes have been in cut and ...

It would be easy to ignore the difference between fully fashioned and normal T-shirts or polos. There aren’t many around, and the distinction is subtle. But good examples of the former create a very distinctive ...

Walking along the River Tweed, wearing tweed that (is it just me?) is rather reminiscent of the colours of the landscape. Of course, it’s Harris tweed and we’re in the Borders, but it seems fitting nonethel...

As part of the series on new shop openings in London, today we’re focusing on Private White VC – the British factory and brand founded by James Eden in 2007, but with a new shop on Duke Street and a much-ex...

Readers will not be surprised that I consider the John Smedley fine-gauge knitwear the best available for wear with tailoring. Cashmere is often too delicate at this level of thinness, and fine merino is versatile enou...

As regular readers will know, the Anderson & Sheppard haberdashery launched by Anda Rowland and Audie Charles on Clifford Street is one of my favourite shops in London. Possibly the best single shop to open in whol...

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 p...

Johnston’s is one of Scotland’s best-known and oldest knitwear companies. Most of its production is for third parties – it is the preferred supplier to several of the biggest men’s luxury brands...

THE FINAGON CARDIGAN WAS PUT INTO SMEDLEY’S PERMANENT COLLECTION FOLLOWING THIS COLLABORATION. YOU CAN BUY IT ON THE SMEDLEY SITE. – Following Monday’s post on the cardigan we have developed with John ...

THE FINAGON CARDIGAN WAS PUT INTO SMEDLEY’S PERMANENT COLLECTION FOLLOWING THIS COLLABORATION. YOU CAN BUY IT ON THE SMEDLEY SITE. – Last year I began working with John Smedley on our next project – t...

I’ve known Lino Ieluzzi, the proprietor of Al Bazar in Milan, for a few years now and always admired his style. I wouldn’t wear it; I wouldn’t recommend it; but it is unique, personal and consistent. Th...

Several readers commented in last week’s post on trousers that they would appreciate something similar on cardigans in such outfits. So here we go. I will largely be talking about sleeveless cardigans (although gi...

I’ve always loved little jobs that can adapt a piece of clothing or improve it. I’ve adjusted knitwear in the past to narrow it, as well as put darts in shirts, and it’s probably the reason I love pol...

– NOW SOLD OUT – As flagged up last week, we are now offering a new edition of the Dartmoor sweater – the long-sleeved polo shirt I designed with John Smedley. You voted for our second edition to be in...

– VOTING CLOSED! (Wednesday, 5pm) After a last-minute rush, grey (silver) is the winner. Thank you to everyone that voted. Orders for our exciting new grey Dartmoor – the perfect polo – will start on Mo...

Most shops do not redesign the knitwear they stock. They pick colours and models, and decide which sizes to carry, but the overall design and fit is left untouched. This is perhaps understandable: they do the same with o...

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 picke...

– NOW SOLD OUT – For anyone who likes bespoke or made-to-measure clothing, knitwear can be frustrating – particularly for wearing with that bespoke clothing, where you want the fit and finish to be as ...

Fans of traditional weaving and knitwear brands are funny about old machines. They often equate old machinery with superior techniques, when the new machines usually do at least as good a job – just faster. Usually...

This is the drum of the old John Smedley silver band, which sits in the newly opened Smedley archives and is the focus on my favourite anecdote from the factory’s history. Smedley was known around the region for it...

Last week I visited the John Smedley factory in Matlock, and it has quickly become my favourite anywhere. The oldest factory in the world still in production, it is nestled in between Derbyshire hills, with a babbling br...

One of the disconcerting things about the growing popularity of Permanent Style is the regularity with which readers find old posts – usually via search engines – and question me about them. I dislike being c...

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It is perhaps understandable to assume that the new Anderson & Sheppard store on Clifford Street is expensive. Bespoke suits round the corner certainly aren’t cheap, while in Clifford Street the trousers are ov...

Normal.dotm 0 0 1 325 1855 Euromoney PLC 15 3 2278 12.0 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false I’m always interested in clothing that is different. Other than the fancies of fashion, very little changes in mensw...

Normal.dotm 0 0 1 390 2227 Euromoney PLC 18 4 2734 12.0 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false We’re starved of good, independent shops in London. It’s great for fashion brands – if there’s...

Good knitwear needs to be looked after, tempting though it is to think that it rarely needs cleaning or anything else. A regular clean does more than just stop the piece smelling: it also brings up the fibres, brings bac...

My favourite room at the Loro Piana facilities was the first one they took us too: a vast warehouse, 50 metres or so high and stretching perhaps a hundred off into the distance. We stood on a metal viewing gallery about ...

Anderson & Sheppard is opening up new premises on Clifford Street. And my, hasn’t there been a fuss. Those that have fussed the most might have done well to remember that A&S used to do ladies’ wear...

I was horrified to discover at the weekend that one of my Loro Piana Roadster sweaters had a moth hole in. Two, in fact. Despite the various moth products and regular airing. The experience, however, had an upside. I bel...

I’ve always liked shawl-collar cardigans. One reason is that I have a long neck, which benefits from a collar. T-shirts and round-neck sweaters tend to make me look scrawny. Shirts, polo shirts and polo-collared sw...

There is such pleasure in looking after good clothes well. One of the reasons shoes are my favourite piece of clothing is they actually get better with age: the upper shapes to your foot; perhaps more importantly, the in...