Expressing yourself: How to dress like Milad Abedi
February 15th 2023The photographer Milad Abedi is someone whose style I’ve liked for a long time, but in a quiet way. Whenever we’ve shot together I’ve been interested in what he’s wearing and found something I liked, but he wasn...
Expressing yourself: How to dress like Milad Abedi
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Do you mean the shoulder was squarer, more pointed? I think they used to be cut more like that because they were universally worn over tailoring, whereas that's much less the case these days...
Subtle vs showy: A way to think about casual clot...
February 1st 2023There is an important factor in how we dress that I don't think we’ve ever discussed explicitly on Permanent Style, which is how subtle or showy an outfit is. When we talked almost entirely about tailoring, worn largely in offices, it was cle...
Subtle vs showy: A way to think about casual clot...
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A bit of a late comment, but: Perhaps instead of comparing dressing to cooking, a better analogy is comparing dressing to eating? You have to do both - eating for obvious reasons, and dressing because not doing so will c...
Some interesting Pitti picks: Mixing patterns, la...
January 20th 2023As we did last year, during Pitti I picked out a few people and outfits that I really liked, but that could have been missed - because they’re not Ethan, Jake or Tatsuya Nakamura. They’re deliberately a mix of smart and casual, tailoring...
Some interesting Pitti picks: Mixing patterns, la...
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Patterned trousers are hard David. No, I would go plain shirt, knit, jacket, anything on top....
Proportions and high/low: Lessons from womenswear
January 9th 2023By André Larnyoh The world of women’s fashion is huge. In variety, scope and scale, it towers above menswear. Yet, usually, men keep women’s styling at arm’s length, because it seems so different to what we know, and because...
Proportions and high/low: Lessons from womenswear
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I think there's a key point here, André. There's a fine line between loose fit and too big, just as there is with slim vs skinny/too right....
Reader profile: David E
December 19th 2022David is an example of a reader that has been into clothes for a long time, and now looks back on it from the perspective of a professional and father, fitting that interest into a life that has changed dramatically. A resident of south-east London...
Reader profile: David E
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I see your point, but it also seems like you wear them in a very limited amount of occasions, or at least very limited for me as I don't go to church and I don't go to the opera that often, so it would leave me with the ...
Collectable cards show the ages of British Costume
December 2nd 2022Near where I grew up in Mortlake, south-west London, there is an incredible antiques shop. ‘Memories of Mortlake’ is the life’s work of collector Elke Crowther, who sadly passed away last year, after decades of selling anything an...
Collectable cards show the ages of British Costume
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Hi Jonathan, You could look at Cordings. I cannot say that they are made in the UK but their RTW tweed suits are of an English cut and very good quality...
Double brown: Just a touch less subtle
November 7th 2022I think there's a useful variable in considerations of how we dress that we haven't talked about explicitly before: how subtle or showy clothes are. I might write a longer piece on it at some point, but I think it's essentially a spectrum from the v...
Double brown: Just a touch less subtle
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If it's an outfit like this, where they're virtually the same, I don't think it matters which way round they are. But as I say in the article, this isn't a normal tonal outfit - you'd normally want more contrast...
The dilemma of associations
October 28th 2022By André Larnyoh If you know the photographer Alex Natt (above), you’ll know that he has his own somewhat distinct uniform: a loose oxford shirt, wide jeans or chinos, well-worn cordovan loafers and a baseball cap of some kind. Simple, ...
Reader profile: Shun
October 17th 2022With the PS reader profiles, we’re always looking to add something different - a different style, a different age, hopefully at some point a different location. Although Shun’s love of classic menswear will be shared by many, he is a li...
Reader profile: Shun
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Many thanks for this thoughtful and honest response Andrew, much appreciated!...
Women and clothes: An interview with Emilie Hawtin
October 7th 2022It’s not uncommon to hear men complain that they don’t know what to wear anymore, particularly to the office. Or that there aren’t any good mid-market brands, just cheap high-street and high-end luxury. But no matter what our issue...
Women and clothes: An interview with Emilie Hawtin
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In my trawl of the internet for quality womenswear, I came across this article. Like many women, I'm interested in wearing all kinds of clothes and unlike some commentators assume, could quite happily wear a tomboyish ta...
Sartoria Giuliva and Giuliva Heritage: Inspiratio...
October 3rd 2022Gerardo Cavaliere is someone whose style I've admired for a while, but rarely had a chance to talk to for more than a few moments at an event. While Milad and I were in Rome recently, therefore, I spent some time with Gerardo and his partner Margar...
Sartoria Giuliva and Giuliva Heritage: Inspiratio...
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Yes, absolutely...
Video: Tony Sylvester, style and subcultures
September 19th 2022Can subcultures ever exist in this century the way they did in the last? Why are logos better on some clothes than others? Why do French men dress like happy Englishmen? When I introduced this talk with Tony Sylvester I promised a wide ranging mens...
Video: Tony Sylvester, style and subcultures
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It is, but I don't know more than that....
The three wardrobes that define my week
September 14th 2022Broadly speaking, I dress in one of three ways during the week. They are defined quite clearly (to simplify the process, as much as anything else) and represent three general levels of smartness. I know readers will be interested in having these set...
The three wardrobes that define my week
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Hello Simon, Love this post. Chic look is my favourite. Grey cashmere rugby has some jen se quois panache. This gentleman here shares his version of the same philosophy, I thought you would appreciate his philosophy. It'...
Wearing all black
August 12th 2022I’ve been playing around with black so much in recent years (note, this is classic menswear - it’s years/decades, not weeks/months) that I thought I’d try out wearing nothing but black. This was during Pitti at Florence, on a rela...
Wearing all black
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Things like that certainly can be, Markus, but I think it's fairly universal at a more professional level with tailoring. In some.countries there is a more fashion influence, eg in France, and there is more black. Your l...
Some interesting Pitti picks
July 1st 2022It was nice to see Pitti back in some kind of working order recently, when I attended for the first time in two years. Attendance was still down, with many brands absent and indeed an entire building empty. That was a little shocking to see - just ...
Some interesting Pitti picks
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The fact is some do look good but if lm honest and with respect l didn’t see very much that was interesting at Pitti . Lots of it is “ look at me “ and some is very ordinary . Apart from that occasionally where l l...
Can you look good in cheap clothes?
May 20th 2022Is it possible to look good in cheaper clothes? Absolutely. But that doesn’t mean you can’t look better (in some ways) with better quality ones, or that there aren’t other reasons for choosing them. This question often comes up wh...
Reader profile: Patrick
May 4th 2022Patrick Dawson is a retired news correspondent, now living in London. During his career he worked for ABC, CNN and NBC and covered the Balkans War from Kosovo, the Gulf War from Kuwait, and was the first NBC correspondent on the ground during 9/11. ...
Reader profile: Patrick
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Pat Dawson has -always- looked great. He and I competed in local news in NYC back in the late 80s, and even then he was the best-dressed man I knew. I'm not at all surprised it has continued....
This feels like me
May 2nd 2022I get a lot of joy out of wearing this outfit, though I’m not quite sure why. It might be that it’s clearly dressed up – tailored jacket, tailored trousers – but not that stuffy. No tie, and not even a proper shirt, just a po...
This feels like me
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Ecru as a colour would - navy is harder, as we covered here. Chinos as a whole with jackets is a tricky one though. Better with a Drake's style (very unstructured and casual), harder with a more tailored one...
So close and yet so far: TV pundits at the FA Cup
April 18th 2022The tailoring that four TV presenters were wearing this weekend - to host the first FA Cup semi-final - were an interesting illustration of what I think men find challenging in tailoring today. For non-English readers, the FA Cup is the big knockou...
So close and yet so far: TV pundits at the FA Cup
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Oh good. Do leave other comments in the future if you ever have other inquiries...
Smart/casual and high/low: How to dress like Oliv...
April 8th 2022I was surprised when I realised we hadn’t ever featured Oliver Dannefalk in our ‘How to dress like’ series, given I’ve admired his style for years, particularly since he launched Rubato with Carl Per...
Smart/casual and high/low: How to dress like Oliv...
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Sounds interesting Gulliver...
Reader profile: Andy
March 25th 2022This is Andy. A long-time reader and customer, Andy had led, shall we say, an interesting life. Currently a hydrographic surveyor, he has also been a pilot, a mountaineer, and dabbles as a model (fashion and life). He is passionate about clothing, ...
Reader profile: Andy
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Thanks Willie my man. Appreciate your comments mate, I'll have to give you a big hug as you are sitting only about 10 feet away from me in the offline room just now. Top hat and goggles - Its the way to go and of course,...
A collared cardigan under a jacket: Ciardi and Co...
March 9th 2022In recent weeks I’ve been playing around with this button-through cardigan from Colhay’s. Initially I was sceptical as to whether I’d ever wear it tucked in - and afraid it was a little lightweight to wear untucked. The same fear ...
A collared cardigan under a jacket: Ciardi and Co...
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This is a beautiful jacket - I’ve been looking over your Ciardi pieces over the last few days and love the style + the fabrics you’ve had them made up in. 2 questions if you’d indulge me :) 1) Do you know of any go...
People to follow: Lesser-known Instagram accounts
March 7th 2022The search function on Instagram can be a bit useless. No matter how many great, quality brands I engage with, most of what IG pushes at me is men in suits so tight they can barely breathe, and people doing silly stunts. Far more useful, often, is ...
People to follow: Lesser-known Instagram accounts
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Any Southern Hemisphere suggestions? Looking at everyone’s tweed in the middle of our summer has been making me sweaty....
Sex appeal: Between vulnerability and confidence
February 28th 2022*Updated: We've added a couple of images of creators rather than models - Luke and Nicolas* By André Larnyoh Over the Christmas holidays, I was stressing about what to wear to an event where the dress code was ‘cocktail attire’. I...
Sex appeal: Between vulnerability and confidence
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I have to say I dislike the way this site assumes the financial capacity of its readership to "go out" regularly. The number of us wearing velvet and dining out in London is shrinking rapidly....
Reader profile: Daniel
February 14th 2022Meet Daniel. A regular at the pop-up shop, and a man who knows more about wine glasses than you’d care to ask. It’s fair to say that Daniel appreciates good clothes, and knows what styles he likes. But he doesn’t obsess about it. ...
Reader profile: Daniel
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I like that look as well. However, what colour are the trousers - dark navy, dark brown, dark green? Surprisingly difficult to tell from the photos....