How to buy a quality rug
July 30th 2021Here's some information and a little story from a recent visit. The biggest factor in a rug's quality is being hand knotted. Familiar territory, really, for men used to thinking of hand-sewn shoes and hand-padded jackets. It's fairly easy to tell i...
How to buy a quality rug
Match in comments:
You haven't mentioned it but it bears emphasizing: not all "wool" rugs are all wool. Many will use cotton too. Cotton is to be avoided if one wants a rug that lasts. One can often identify cotton content by checking the ...
The menswear merger: Sportswear and tailoring
July 28th 2021Sportswear brands are adding tailoring to their collections, perhaps as they feel a need to dress up after so many years of sneakers and sweatpants. Tailoring brands - from the opposite direction - are incorporating more sportswear. This has been ha...
The menswear merger: Sportswear and tailoring
Match in comments:
Yes, that’s precisely what I need! I have bought one black and one grey overshirt from Laboureur now and I think that is preatty gender neutral workwear. I am considering wearing a grey herringbone tweed sport jacket s...
Being yourself: How to dress like Gianluca Miglia...
July 21st 2021Scrolling through the swathes of social media, I recently came across the image below of friend Gianluca Migliarotti – the filmmaker and co-founder of Pommella and PML . For me, it encapsulated everything I love about Gianluca’s style...
Being yourself: How to dress like Gianluca Miglia...
Match in comments:
So I love the green trousers. So much so that I have commissioned a pair myself. But I have just seen him on Instagram in a pair of lemon/ acid yellow trousers. They look amazing. What do we think? Too much? Or quirky an...
New black bullskin tote, and angled DBs
July 16th 2021A new black version of our bullhide tote, a collaboration with Frank Clegg, goes on sale today. It’s available on the Frank Clegg site (not ours) alongside a restock of the dark brown. I shot some pictures of it with Alex last week, and it re...
New black bullskin tote, and angled DBs
Match in comments:
For some combinations of those things, no it would be fine. But probably not for all of them. Eg black jeans, nice ecru knit, white tennis shoes, would be lovely with it. But less so blue jeans and an old T-shirt. So it'...
Should you dress for yourself, or for others?
July 14th 2021Should you dress for yourself or for others? Unsurprisingly, the answer is both. Anyone that dresses without any regard for people around them is probably being rude, and certainly inconsiderate. Dressing purely to conform, other the other hand, i...
Should you dress for yourself, or for others?
Match in comments:
Yes I'd say so...
The craft and beauty of Navajo weaving
July 9th 2021“Each coloured section of a blanket has natural variation. That’s the organic dyes: each yarn is slightly different. “Then there’s the different types of dye. The weaver might deliberately mix together natural dyes like a co...
The craft and beauty of Navajo weaving
Match in comments:
Pleasure Shelley, really pleased you liked it...
Revisiting Thom Sweeney casualwear
June 28th 2021I’ve been spending more time in Mayfair in recent weeks, as restrictions have eased here in the UK and businesses have opened. It was on such a visit that I went into Thom Sweeney recently, really out of a desire to see everyone I could. Havi...
Revisiting Thom Sweeney casualwear
Match in comments:
Really, is that what they said? I'm surprised if that's correct...
Introducing: The PS linen overshirt
June 25th 2021For a long time, my favourite linen overshirt has been an old model from Drake’s - readers will have seen it previously here , and it’s been worn continuously and lovingly since. One of the reasons I liked that model was that it had jus...
Introducing: The PS linen overshirt
Match in comments:
I would second this. I regret not picking one up last year....
Behind the scenes: The design work at Ralph Lauren
June 23rd 2021I 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 part of the reason is...
Behind the scenes: The design work at Ralph Lauren
Match in comments:
Apparently, the Castleberry surname is synonymous with being a lowlife. Well done, Lifshitz! https://nypost.com/2022/12/09/nyc-luxury-designer-fred-castleberry-jailed-over-child-support/...
Interwar art, posters and menswear – with F...
June 2nd 2021The most elegant advertising of the past was produced in the 1920s and 1930s by lithograph - often carved onto stone rather than metal, before being printed. They were incredibly over-resourced. Train companies like LNER hired commercial artists to...
Interwar art, posters and menswear – with F...
Match in comments:
Good point - the loafer is a design of Fab's, basically his perfect loafer. Lower vamp loafers have been more popular in the past, particularly in the US, but even then it went through its own phases and fashions. The th...
What is French Ivy?
May 31st 2021By Tony Sylvester “A few years back, I posted a photo of Paul Weller on my Instagram (above). It was taken in 1984 in his Style Council era, where much to the consternation of the Mod faithful, he was constantly tinkering with his attire - ali...
What is French Ivy?
Match in comments:
Patrick, thank you for sharing your obervations on this wonderful timeless style. Compared to "London Ivy" this interpretation of Ivy style seams to be more elegant and chic. Do you happen to remember the predominant col...
New comments functionality
May 22nd 2021We deployed a new comments interface last night on Permanent Style, with the aim of adding useful functionality. The new system allows: Posting of images in comments These should appear as thumbnails in your comment, once the image is uploaded and w...
Support our shops. At least the real ones
April 14th 2021It is genuinely important that - if you can - you visit a UK shop and support it now they’re open again. Why? Because good retail offers something distinct that could easily be lost. Let me explain the difference between a good menswear store...
Support our shops. At least the real ones
Match in comments:
Can't believe I forgot about Blackhorse Lane - such a pleasure to deal with. Discovered them before I heard about them here, just stumbled in there not knowing what they were about. Long may they thrive....
Do you care about packaging?
March 5th 2021A new customer over at the PS shop recently wrote an email to the support team that surprised me. In it he said he was ‘shocked’ that such luxurious products didn’t come in better packaging. He said he almost returned them on that ...
Bemberg, cupro, ermezine: The guide to linings
March 1st 2021“And what lining would you like in the suit?” “Oh I don’t know, just something to match the cloth.” This is as far as most people go with selecting the lining of their jacket or suit. And with good reason. Coloured or p...
Bemberg, cupro, ermezine: The guide to linings
Match in comments:
Not sure about being a deal breaker, but I'd really want to avoid them if I could...
Best e-commerce (and video) 2021: The Armoury
February 24th 2021Best e-commerce: The Armoury Runners-up: Mr Porter, Luca Faloni Mark Cho and I have been playing e-mail tag for a while. First he had to move the call, then I did, and when we finally connect, he’s in the back of a cab on his way home. &ldquo...
Best e-commerce (and video) 2021: The Armoury
Match in comments:
Ah, nice to hear that Leo. I do it really just to keep myself entertained, so good to know when readers like it too!...
Giving to charity: No Man Walks Alone, Covid and ...
February 17th 2021Charitable giving: No Man Walks Alone Runners up: The Anthology, Private White VC I was a little surprised by the cynicism of around this award. Clearly, people are seeing more brands than me using charity (at least partly) as a form of marketing. ...
Giving to charity: No Man Walks Alone, Covid and ...
Match in comments:
I agree, I find the uncomfortableness from some of the posters is privilege manifested....
The joy of cordovan – and how to wear and m...
February 3rd 2021I'm a relatively recent convert to cordovan, but have come to love it as I've started to wear more casual clothing, and darker colours. It also added a layer of love visiting the Horween tannery in Chicago last year (shown below). That’s worth...
The joy of cordovan – and how to wear and m...
Match in comments:
1) Yes - I'd see it as an interesting alternative to black, but in those kinds of outfits in can work very well 2) I don't think there's much difference between calf and cordovan, but if you want more casual you could tr...
How clothing kept me sane
February 1st 2021Something that has consistently surprised me over the past year of this horrible pandemic, is the friends - especially in the menswear industry - that have lost some interest in what they wear every day. I offer no kind of opinion on that choice, a...
How clothing kept me sane
Match in comments:
Good article but then again I find all of them enjoyable..enjoy your day.......
My shirt collars
January 27th 2021When we published our recent article on the types and styles of shirt collars , a reader requested a follow-up piece on the precise dimensions of what I wear. In fact, this has come up a few times over the years, particularly as we’ve talked...
My shirt collars
Match in comments:
Yes, it's often something I play about with during an appointment with a bespoke maker. It can work affectively - buttons tend to be set the same for different sizes of shirt even, but of course we are all quite differen...
John Simons – the shop, the history, the in...
January 25th 2021In normal menswear - not even classic menswear, but everyday, everybody menswear, everything outside big fashion brands - retailers can often have more influence than designers. People like Charlie Davidson of The Andover Shop, Isabel Ettedgui of Co...
John Simons – the shop, the history, the in...
Match in comments:
Hi Yvonne - this is not the John Simons website. You'll need to contact them for inquiries like this. Thanks...
Brexit: Don’t worry, nothing has changed
January 24th 2021We've had a few questions from readers in the past fortnight about Brexit, and they've all contained misinformation, or been plain wrong. So I thought I'd publish a simple breakdown (here and on Instagram) to explain what's going on. The most import...
Brexit: Don’t worry, nothing has changed
Match in comments:
Yes it will. We've looked into this and think the concern is exaggerated. These seems to be generally the accepted view now as well - most are now shipping having paused temporarily...
Bruce Boyer’s A&S jacket: How great th...
January 15th 2021When Bruce read our article on Nicoletta Caraceni’s 50-year-old jacket recently, he was spurred to send an example of his own: the Anderson & Sheppard jacket worn above. And really, there are few people better placed to talk about how ...
Bruce Boyer’s A&S jacket: How great th...
Match in comments:
Hello Bruce. Great article and wisdom “That’s a shame because cheap clothes are so much more expensive over a lifetime.” My father worked at A&S in the '60s & '70s, he was a cutter, but mainly front of hous...
The Permanent Style Awards 2021: Charity, e-comme...
January 11th 2021It’s hard to use terms for this past year that haven’t already been overused, and lost most of their meaning along the way. But there are certainly several issues and trends that have naturally emerged from it, and which I wanted to refl...
The Permanent Style Awards 2021: Charity, e-comme...
Match in comments:
Hi Z S, thanks for sharing. I am quite interested in the Yukata wearing but do you recommend any places to purchase?...
