The rules and how to break them 1: Trouser length
September 15th 2008Rule 1: Trousers should have one clean break at the front, and none at the back Rules are there for a reason, but there is nothing wrong with breaking them. These statements are not contradictory. That is one of the most important things to understan...
The rules and how to break them 1: Trouser length
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Yes I think that's fair. It's very much driven by your style - I still like a neater look and so wouldn't have a half break, but previously I might have had no break at all....
Step by step: The odd waistcoat
September 11th 2008Picking out and wearing an odd waistcoat with a suit needs a little more explication. The previous post on this topic produced some surprise and scepticism, both among friends and on my blog ( Permanent Style). The reaction, I find, is similar to tha...
Step by step: The odd waistcoat
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I'm afraid to say I am even more sceptical about odd waistcoats with casual trousers, even if they are not jeans. However, once we remove most of the aspects of formal style, clothes are more and more a case of personal ...
Reader question: Odd waistcoats
September 3rd 2008Arctin Pengiun: Do you feel that a vest patterned to match slack or the rest of a suit is too much and that a vest should always contrast the rest of the outfit? Does this fit into your definition of ‘costume’? I am curious about your tho...
Reader question: Odd waistcoats
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Thanks James. I think it depends rather on people's context - in most business settings here, for example, it would be rather eccentric. But you have much more freedom I presume being retired...
Report from Moscow
August 26th 2008Moscow is the most capitalist city in the world. Ironic, but true. The only thing that reminds one of communist times is the metro system, all monumental marble and statues of Chekhov. The rest of the city is a grubby struggle for money, from chic ba...
Report from Moscow
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Very useful and interesting! Thanks John-Paul, and nice to have the reminder of being there all those years ago...
Reader question: Office casual, part 2
August 20th 2008[In the first part of this post, I answered a query from Ed about how to dress up at work while remaining a little casual – getting interested in dressier clothes without going all the way to a suit. My first reply dealt with leather shoes and ...
Reader question: Office casual, part 2
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Yes, either would be good...
Reader question: Office casual, part 1
August 16th 2008Ed, London: Office attire where I work is very casual – a lot of jeans and t-shirts, with only very senior people wearing suits. I’d like to incorporate some more formal or dressy items into my work attire but don’t want to stand ou...
Reader question: Office casual, part 1
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So glad you think ties are desirable. The tieless-but-jacketed look always looks sloppy and unfinished to me....
The newsreader look
August 4th 2008He was obviously very pleased with his look. And mid-grey was a good choice of odd jacket to go with the blue jeans. The tie was new, and the white shirt was clean and crisp. But somehow it didn’t work as a casual outfit, not with the jeans and...
The newsreader look
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Here in America the "Sid Mashbur" look is all the rage in the North Eastern part of the country. Google Sid Mashburn and see how casual chic can be done right....
A sliding scale of formality
August 1st 2008Edward Green Falkirk – casual, in its wingtip layers and punching You see quite a few bankers around this part of London wearing driving shoes with their suits. They presumably think they’ve stumbled onto a great thing – like lo...
A sliding scale of formality
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It can, but you're right it's not easy. Generally cottons are best, then linens. A pure summer-weight cotton suit is a good option...
Whether you suit pink, white or blue
July 7th 2008Tradition has it that when British men came back from the war they only had two ties they felt they could legitimately wear – that of the military regiment they belonged to and that of the club they were a member of. Both were relatively plain,...
Whether you suit pink, white or blue
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" It looks best on high-contrast complexions – broadly speaking, those with darker skin." Wouldn't people with dark skin have last contrasts? I thought high-contrast would be like me; dark eyes and hair but light skin....
A fresher take on summer
July 1st 2008Now, don’t get me wrong. I love a Ralph Lauren summer. The current run of ads featuring bright ties, bright trousers and pops of handkerchief colour were some of the most inspiring of the season. At one point they almost convinced me I would we...
A fresher take on summer
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Don’t become a snob
June 29th 2008Badly dressed people sometimes make me angry. I wish they just made me frustrated, or feel sympathy. But all too often they make me annoyed and shout silent commands in my head (“button that jacket up”, “your tie makes you look like...
Don’t become a snob
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Man, this is a fantastic blog. I just discovered it. Completely agree with you about the joys of taking an interest in how you dress, the importance in using the right sartorial language, the fine line between snobbery a...
New York men shine in the sun
June 16th 2008New York puts London in the shade. The hot weather (it’s been above 30 Celsius all this week) brings out the city’s hidden peacocks. Walking down Fifth Avenue this morning, almost every block presented a summer delight. Several seersucker...
New York men shine in the sun
New York puts London in the shade. The hot weather (it’s been above 30 Celsius all this week) brings out the city’s hidden peacocks. Walking down Fifth Avenue this morning, almost every block presented a summer delig...
Windows on a designer’s mind
June 10th 2008Window dressing performs a very different function in men’s and women’s clothing stores. In a women’s shop, its primary purpose is to showcase items that the store contains. It seeks to shows that its pieces are attractive and possi...
Windows on a designer’s mind
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I believe displays created for men are more about educating men on how to put an ensemble together. I noticed on more than one occasion how a man upon seeing a well dressed mannequin will remark that they want to purchas...
Balancing the dandified and the formal
June 8th 2008Much of what a man considers appropriate or pleasant to wear is dependent on his circumstances and taste. But there are still rules or guidelines that can govern what he should wear. The key is to formulate a rule that includes the individual’s...
Balancing the dandified and the formal
Much of what a man considers appropriate or pleasant to wear is dependent on his circumstances and taste. But there are still rules or guidelines that can govern what he should wear. The key is to formulate a rule that i...
The real innovation of Tom Ford
June 4th 2008The greatest contribution Tom Ford’s new eponymous line has made to menswear is nothing to do with design – it is the creation of a compromise between bespoke and made to measure. Bespoke, as regular readers will recall, involves creating...
The real innovation of Tom Ford
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For any decent quality brand. Kiton can make a lot of adjustments, but they're not MTM really. They're not going to adjust the length of the jacket, for instance....
The contradiction of wedding dress
May 26th 2008Many of those attending a wedding this summer will feel they should have some sort of summery outfit, a linen suit perhaps, or at least something sporty in pale grey. Those who turn up in their dark blue business suit will probably feel a little unde...
The contradiction of wedding dress
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I agree with Simon to state what you want guests to wear in plain english: e.g. suit and tie. I similarly love the morning dress, but as you note, it will never have any other use. Aside from a bespoke suit (as Simon rec...
The menswear poll
May 20th 2008Thank you to all who took the time to fill out last week’s menswear survey. At almost 400 respondents, it was great to see so many involved in a poll of what today’s men are wearing, and what they think about what they are wearing. There ...
The menswear poll
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Thanks so much Simon, most informative as ever. HB...
The tricky in-between
May 19th 2008In a recent post, my fellow blogger Chris Hogan referred to my distrust of the boat shoe. He suggested that one reason for this distrust was that “for some men the space between formal and casual is much tighter – like Simon or my father....
The tricky in-between
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Interesting post. The original boat shoe the Sperry Topsider is extremely comfortable (v. many imatators that use a very inflexible plastic-like sole). It is worth recognizing that, at heart, it is a sporting shoe (yacht...
Fit above all else
May 15th 2008Several men’s style websites run forums that ask ‘what am I wearing today?’ Several blogs out there do the same. A few days ago I made the mistake of perusing them, looking for inspiration. In my mind, the people on the site would l...
Fit above all else
Several men’s style websites run forums that ask ‘what am I wearing today?’ Several blogs out there do the same. A few days ago I made the mistake of perusing them, looking for inspiration. In my mind, the people o...
The loci of style satisfaction
May 13th 2008There are few things more satisfying than raising your arm to read the time, and being presented with a perfect triplet of complimentary colours: on your jacket sleeve, on the inch or so of cuff, and on the watch strap. Today that is tan (a houndstoo...
The loci of style satisfaction
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The mentioned triplets are a permanent source of sartorial pleasure. The one involving socks, shoes, and trousers are for logical reasons the one I most appreciate, for, as you noted, it does not require a mirror. As to ...
Odd colour combinations
May 12th 2008There are a good few ways to stand out in a suit, almost as many as the chapters of a style book: cloth, cut, pattern, accessories etc. But one of the most rewarding and hardest to master is colour. It is so easy to get wrong – everyone can sum...
Odd colour combinations
There are a good few ways to stand out in a suit, almost as many as the chapters of a style book: cloth, cut, pattern, accessories etc. But one of the most rewarding and hardest to master is colour. It is so easy to get ...
Thanks, and the influence of others
May 6th 2008Thank you to all of you that took the time to respond to the question I posed in my last posting, on the best material for odd trousers – something between flannels and jeans. You’ll be pleased to hear that I found a good compromise in a ...
GQ Style: Intelligent but not fashionable
April 26th 2008GQ Style is an intelligent magazine. It contains erudite, original writing and is actually what it’s parent publication claims to be: the magazine with an IQ. It does not, however, live up to its own stated ambitions: to be the definitive guide...
GQ Style: Intelligent but not fashionable
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Have you searched the magazine Menswear?...
Enjoy your fashion cycle
April 17th 2008Everyone knows fashion is cyclical. But the key to understanding its enduring appeal is that people don’t live through that many cycles. Slim trousers have been in the ascendancy in men’s fashion for almost a decade now. From their first ...
Enjoy your fashion cycle
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I only recently came around to slim (not skinny... Christ, never skinny) trousers, many years after the style became so popular it was difficult to find anything but. I rebelled against the slimmer line all through my tw...
The Italian Background
April 13th 2008The generalisation that the English experiment with their shirts and the Italians with their jackets broadly holds, particularly in business wear. While the English tradition of checked and plaid wools is a fine one, it was always largely restricted ...
The Italian Background
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Absolutely. Must say something good about it...