Norman Vilalta is one of my favourite bespoke artisans. Enthusiastic, talented and down-to-earth. His creations can often be fantastical, but he also does a nice line in conservative shoes with little touches of personality. Earlier this year we ...

The Rake’s online shop has grown so much in the past year that it’s been hard to squeeze things into their pop-up space. Even though they’re focusing on exclusives. The nice thing about this range is there’s something for everyone. So even ...

As mentioned on Monday, last week I was in Madrid to speak at a meeting of the El Aristocrata gentleman's club. Speakers below, left to right: tailor Jose Maria Reillo, shoemaker Norman Vilalta, me, Jose Maria (El Aristocrata) and Luca Rubinacci. It...

With his customary humour, Norman Vilalta has created a (very) little video to announce his trunk show at Leffot in New York today and tomorrow. Go say hello if you can.  

As the last post on building a wardrobe - focused on Neapolitan tailoring - proved popular, I thought I'd do a second looking at shoes. But rather than look at my whole shoe collection, which numbers more than 40 pairs and would take a long time to...

Stefano Bemer, a great man and shoemaker, died yesterday. I had the privilege of knowing and working with Stefano earlier this year. He was, as is probably obvious from the tributes that have followed his death, a wonderfully warm and welcoming man...

Not much of an excuse to post this, except to celebrate being on holiday.The nearest I can get is the Rapha gear, which is performing very well. There is some geeky satisfaction in demonstrating that wool (mix, jersey) and leather (shoes) perform bet...

 I do like it when readers suggest posts. You feel you’re fulfilling a need. Two weeks ago, on Five Tips on Bespoke Suits, a reader requested a similar post on bespoke shoes, so here it is.1 Be conservativeI know it’s the same as the first suits...

 During a sunny, late lunch in Madrid last month, Norman Vilalta and I spent some time talking about his experiments with new materials, and ideas on working with high-technology companies like Nike. It occurred to me that one of the reasons I enjoy...

This article was originally written back in 2014. Back then I had tried seven bespoke shoemakers, and nothing in Japan. Seven years later, the number has more than doubled, and the spread is wider - also encompassing some semi-bespoke and some remo...

Last Saturday was the Super Trunk Show in London – an event for shoe brands and enthusiasts that has been in London twice before. (It was originated in Stockholm, where the sixth iteration takes place later this year). Super Trunk is great fun, an...

 These past few days I've been in Madrid, speaking at the Aristocrata club meeting and seeing a few of the tailors and shoemakers I know (Langa, Reillo, Calvo de Mora, Norman Vilalta).  I invited Elia Caliendo and Luca Avitabile of Satriano Cinque...

 At the next Pitti Uomo in January I am organising a shoe symposium, together with Stefano Bemer and Bespoke magazine, with the intention of showcasing the work of some of the best men's shoemakers in the world. We will have Cleverley, Corthay, Bes...

 At one point in the evening, I introduced John Carnera to Pierre Corthay. These two titans of bespoke shoemaking - and gentlemen both - yet of course they had never met. Later, at the Villa Cora party, it was introducing Edward Sexton to Luca Rubin...

Today we launch something rather different on Permanent Style: a live Trunk Show Calendar.The calendar is a central, coordinated listing of bespoke menswear trunk shows around the world. It lists, month by month, who is visiting which city, when, an...

Good things are happening in London at the moment. There was our pop-up shop, of course; the new Drake's shop looks amazing (do visit if you haven't already); and an increasing number of artisans are coming to London. The latest development in this...

 Well, you asked for more pictures... First, the speakers.    

The biggest potential pitfall with tailored dressing is looking fussy. Fussy is not sexy; it is not attractive. It is closely related to appearing ‘affected’ or ‘mannered’. Looking relaxed in clothing, on the other hand, is very attractive. I...

 Over the past couple of years I have got to know several of Spain’s leading tailors fairly well, particularly Langa, Reillo and Calvo de Mora.Spanish tailors can be characterised as flexible and value for money, particularly given the amount of h...

The hatch-grain loafers I commissioned with Gaziano & Girling back in 2012 have consistently been among my favourite shoes - both for me and for readers. The mid-brown colour is tremendously versatile (everything from cream to mid-grey trousers...

As with the first in our shoe polishing videos, this film is more discursive than most, with context and analysis around both the talk and the demonstration. Most videos on polishing just show one person doing what they do, and coming up with a grea...

What's your favourite retail store in the US? Who produced the most inspiring lookbook of 2019? And who was the best-dressed on Instagram last year? These are the categories in this year's Permanent Style Awards. Plus the artisan of the year award wh...

There is one way in which this review is necessarily unfair. The vast majority of my shoes are at a higher quality level than these Carmina chukkas, and therefore my context will be different to many potential customers. However, I have owned cheaper...

I think when craftsmen are doing remote fittings, they err on the safe side.  That’s one consistency I can draw from my online bespoke over the past year.  Whether it’s with WW Chan, Massura or Ferdinando Caraceni in tailoring, Carreducker, Car...