Five years ago, in 2018, we began the PS awards series by asking about favourite brands, shops and stylists.  This year I'd like to invite everyone to do the same, but actively reflect on how things have changed in the past five years.  Five years ...

Is 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 when we featur...

In many ways, today's outfit is a natural extension of things we’ve been talking about recently.  There was, back on August 12, our discussion about wearing all black, which has some bearing here. The outfit is not all black, of course, but it is ...

Broadly 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 ...

Fifteen years ago today, I was sitting in my office in Playhouse Yard, next to Blackfriars station, writing an article about structured finance transactions.  I remember it was very cold, much like today, though there had been no snow. My seat was a...

Long-term readers will be familiar with my passion for Hermes silk scarves, which I’ve often bought over the years as a treat, and of which I now have a small collection (nine of them, since you ask).  I’ve found particular enjoyment this winter...

On a surprisingly warm, sunny day last January we visited the Art Deco villa that is Alfredo Rifugio's headquarters in Naples. It’s not what you expect for an Italian workshop. While there are lots of beautiful little tailors and cordwainers aroun...

Two new stripes in the PS Oxford shirt have been added to the shop today: a light pink and a pale green. As is often the case with PS products, they have been chosen as particularly understated, easy-to-wear styles.  The pink is the same as that use...

As has now become routine, here is a view into what’s arriving in the PS Shop during the rest of the year. There are some new products and restocks of favourites, for any that have missed them thus far.  We try to give an accurate month for launch...

Earlier this month I visited Seoul, to see some of the tailors I had been intrigued by but mostly seen from afar, and to visit some of the shops and brands. My impression was of a dynamic city – new development, new retail, every shop with a dis...

Readers have asked for a while for this post: something recommending a core, versatile shirt collection. The idea of suggesting such ‘capsule’ collections is that they help a newcomer build a wardrobe, prioritising the things that will give them...

Dear Simon,??I hope that you don't mind me emailing you, but I have a few questions regarding bespoke and made-to-measure suits that I need to ask someone who knows about style, and you seem to be one of the most knowledgeable on the subject.??...

  In comments to Friday’s post on my ‘go-to’ clothing, readers said they would like to see a post suggesting which types of clothing it is most worth having made bespoke.In order to set out my views on this, I have listed five items that are ...

  At our book launch in Stockholm last week, Konrad Olsson (above) – editor of Plaza Uomo magazine – asked some rather stimulating questions.Such as, what is quality? Well, for me quality (in clothing) is aspects of manufacture that lead to p...

As mentioned in our post on Marco Cerrato last week, much of the sartorial industry in Naples occurs outside the city - in the suburbs and towns of the surrounding area.Much of this is in the north-east, just above Mount Vesuvius, the still-active v...

Last week a reader stopped me on the street. He asked me why a certain tailor, who will remain nameless, hadn’t yet returned to London for his next fitting – and wasn’t answering emails. I understand why he asked me. I had introduced him to the...

On the final day of the pop-up shop back in October, it occurred to me to bring in my blue PS Oxford shirt - to show how it had softened with age.  The response was telling. Half of the people that felt it bought one on the day, and several of the o...

Dear Simon,  I believe that I’ve read every post you’ve written about shirts. Italian, Spanish, British, even the one on Charvet in How To Spend It. I'm always looking for the same thing but still haven’t found it. Maybe I missed one, maybe I...

As 'heritage' has become more popular in recent years, brands have increasingly emphasised their longevity, their history and their traditions. This has several issues.Most obviously, the brands that push this hardest often have the least to shout a...

Ten years ago, I started a blog. It seems odd to call it a blog now - given how much Permanent Style encompasses today - but back then it was definitely a blog. It contained a lot of rants. About how there were no good magazines; about how men wo...

This is the first in an occasional series on shirtings, following a similar model to our Guide to Cloth on tailoring fabrics. As with that, we start with the basics here and will then burrow ever deeper in the coming months... ...

I’ve always found that an oxford shirt fills a very specific gap in my wardrobe. Smart enough for almost any sports jacket - from cashmere to corduroy - it is also the perfect partner for jeans. It might bridge formal and casual perhaps better tha...

Tailored cotton trousers are, in my experience, an absolute bastard to get right. I had my first pair made with Anderson & Sheppard seven years ago. The colour was perfect (a light stone grey), as was the cut. But they always felt like old man's ...

The Permanent Style Awards this year are about pieces you love, value and would recommend. Plus local shops and the feminine eye.  There are two awards intended to create a pool of ideas for everyone else: the value or budget piece you would most re...

A reader gently mocked me when I wrote about the white version of this shirt and included styling advice. It's a white shirt after all - how hard can it be?  I still defend that guidance: a white oxford is more useful than some people realise, parti...