Some old, some new in this year’s round-up of Autumn/Winter products. These articles are a nice way to mention brands on the edge of our radar (Bally) as well as to discuss new releases from favourites that wouldn’t otherwise get a full article (...

“It was really eerie, Simon, with all the tourists gone." “I know that was the same everywhere," says Simone Abbarchi (above), "but seeing the Piazza della Signoria empty made it feel like we’d gone back in time. Like the Medici could just step...

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 year Karl Chu offered to make me a pair of shoes under his Ascot Shoes label for review.  I had known Karl (pictured below) for a while, but mostly through his hosting of bespoke shoemakers in London - such as Masaru Okuyama - in his old space ...

People did different things over lockdown. Talking to Tommaso Melani, owner of Stefano Bemer shoes, it turns out he started resoling trainers.  Stefano Bemer has a talented in-house team of shoemakers. They’ve made me three pairs of beautiful besp...

My post just over a week ago on the possibilities of finding cheap bespoke shoes by separately arranging for a personal last and a maker has drawn a lot of comment, both on the sites and privately through email or meetings. To respond to one point qu...

By Manish Puri I’ve been commissioning made-to-measure and bespoke garments for six years.  In any other sphere, that amount of experience might qualify me as an expert. So, it’s telling about the nature of bespoke - the slow production times, ...

Ferdinando Caraceni is one of the world's best-regarded bespoke tailors, based in Milan. It has been run since his death in 2004 by Ferdinando's daughter, Nicoletta, and they have made me three jackets over the past 10 years. You can see them and oth...

We probably spend a little too much time talking about how great products are on PS (even though we're more critical than most) and not enough talking about ones that didn't work out. Here's a summary of three I've tried recently, which for various r...

I thought it would be interesting to do a post on what clothing I packed for my recent Japan trip. People always seem to like these capsule pieces, although this trip was particularly challenging for a couple of reasons.  First, I needed a full rang...

Tokyo is one of the most varied, creative and stimulating retail experiences in the world. Not only is the city huge, but each area has a distinct feel and atmosphere, reflected in its shopping. There are small, niche brands everywhere, as well a...

Five or six years ago, it was easy to find young people that wanted to be shoemakers in Japan. The wave of enthusiasm for both craft and menswear elsewhere in the world had washed up here just as strongly.  Today, with Covid having only just effecti...

This coat from Liverano & Liverano in Florence has had a bit of an after life, being imitated in this tweed a fair bit, as well as spurring some to have the same coat from Liverano (despite the high cost).  It remains one of my absolute favou...

The first fitting is where the craft of bespoke tailoring most reveals itself.  Imagine lifting up the point of one shoulder. That shortens that side of the jacket, so it will have to be lengthened. It changes the angle relative to the other shoulde...

James is a reader I met in Korea last year. A friend of our host Sam Ahn, he joined us for dinner on the last night with Assisi.  James has been a customer of various bespoke tailors for about 10 years, but has largely settled down to using Sartoria...

The various parts of the front of a bespoke jacket are normally sewn together by hand. This hand 'padding’ attaches the canvas that give the chest its structure, and hand sewing shapes the lapel too.  It's often used as a sign of ‘real’ bespok...

I'm back! Hello everyone, I hope you had a nice week in the amiable arms of Manish, and you haven't all decided he is better in every respect than me. Although even if you have, fear not - he will be writing again very soon, including the second part...

Sebastian has an interesting story - a clothing story with distinct phases. He’s a long-term reader (just over 10 years) and has worn many different styles, many different brands. But he's another PS reader in essence - always a little similar to t...

We covered the Korean outfit B&Tailor in some detail here at the beginning of the month. For details on them, their history and their style, please read that article.  It might seem a little odd splitting things up like this, but I find it makes...

The Valet has become an all-round care and repair location in the past couple of years, which is great for our general push to encourage readers to look after their clothes better. Having started with pressing, then adding dry cleaning and shoe care,...

By Manish Puri There’s not exactly a shortage of quality secondhand and vintage stores in Stockholm. Take a stroll along Hornsgatan for example - a busy road running through the Södermalm neighbourhood - and within just a few hundred metres you’...

1 Double-breasted towelling robe Anderson & Sheppard, £395 The sartorial design of this robe from Anderson & Sheppard is so satisfying. It basically has ulster-coat lapels, with one buttoning under the chin when the collar is up. Good pocket...

Alden has this particular shape of shoe, on what is referred to as the ‘modified’ last.  It’s unusual, almost orthopaedic in appearance, with a narrow waist that hugs the middle of the foot and rather bulging sides to fully accommodate the joi...

Entirely handmade shoes are not cheap. The high-end benchmade shoes are hand-clicked and hand-lasted, but not hand-welted. In this country, most of the entirely handmade ones are made bespoke. And that makes them even more expensive, as the shoe is b...

Our ‘complete capsule’ article last month went down particularly well with readers. Setting out a concentrated, versatile wardrobe, I think it provided both a good starting point for new readers and a way for older ones to realise gaps in their...