Tan shoes make such a lovely complement to grey flannel, don't they? And we know why the socks are green.  But of course the most beautiful thing here is the lines of the shoe. The tight waist that causes the sole to virtually disappear in the mi...

An archive-trawling reader recently reminded me that back in November 2011 I wrote about my new Edward Green Top Drawer boots, concluding that perhaps it would be best to wait two years and then see how the boots had worn. So what have I learned in ...

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...

If you love clothes, it’s not easy to resist the call of a new season. As much as you know the value of what you own, and want to wear it forever, shiny new things are tempting. The best defence, I find, is to invest time and energy in your existi...

 Projects begun long-ago all seem to be rushing the finishing line at the same time. First it was the pea coat, and now these much-anticipated reindeer monks from Cleverley.Lovers of bespoke shoes will be familiar with the Russian reindeer story - h...

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...

Cedric works in the art world, and as such is rarely formal. But he retains an interest in tailoring, has childhood memories of going to Huntsman, and is even talking to Fred Nieddu about his first bespoke.  He also has a depth of interest in Americ...

I wasn’t going to do a ‘high summer’ version of our seasonal Top 10. After all, the spring edition back in April included such things as panama hats and boat shoes.  But everyone’s stock has been arriving so late that the intervening months ...

By Tony Sylvester. I used to travel to Oslo regularly for a decade or so. A beautiful city, but not one abundant with window shopping options for those interested in menswear. One of the exceptions was Cavour; slap bang in the well-heeled part of tow...

The pop-up shop we did last year with Rubato and Taillour went really well, so we're coming back to New York in October, with the addition shoemaker Seiji McCarthy (shoes below). This time we'll be on Christopher Street, with J Mueser kindly letting ...

My day begins around 6:30am, when my three-year-old starts shouting over the monitor that she wants to get up. That’s my job, in the highly organised division-of-labour that is our family life. I have to coax her out of her pyjamas and downstairs f...

There have been quite a few queries about unlined shoes, particularly loafers, in recent months. Ones about longevity and fit specifically have come up multiple times. I thought it would be good therefore to do a post summarising answers to them, in ...

Espadrilles are my preferred, casual summer shoe. I’ve always liked their clean lines and simplicity, which make them more elegant than pretty much any other option. I also quite like the massage-like feeling of walking on rope. They’re cheap, ea...

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...

These are my finished western boots from Parker Boot Company in Houston, Texas. I’ve had them for a while now, but various other things (mostly Japan) have got in the way of coverage.  As I wrote in my first article on Zephan Parker - ‘Would you...

This probably won’t surprise readers, but when I started looking to buy a significant piece of jewellery last year, I wanted something personal, bespoke and handmade. I don't have anything particular against friendship bracelets; when I was a back...

Foster & Son is one of the great names of British bespoke shoemaking. In recent years, that reputation was largely founded on master lastmaker Terry Moore. I only got to know Foster’s relatively recently, after Terry retired. Changes of owners...

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...

Stivaleria Savoia is an old Milanese bespoke bootmaker (stivaleria means bootmaker, and the company was founded by craftsmen who made for the Savoia, or Savoy, cavalry). The designs are classic and practical, and unlikely to set any Instagram feeds...

Getting out of Naples early in the morning is not easy. Traffic is intense: bumper to bumper around the mountain roads leading out of the city, and through long, dark tunnels. By far the best way to get out is by scooter, rather than car. And that??...

I have written previously about the boots being made for me by Cliff Roberts, an old hand of Northampton shoemaking who started making his own shoes from his conservatory recently. Well, I finally took delivery of them this past weekend.Cliff was kin...

Back in October last year I was introduced to a new/old shoe brand called Rivolta. A Milanese name that goes back to the 1880s, it was forced to close down in the seventies, only to be restarted last year with an interesting twist – they proposed t...

These are my latest Gaziano & Girlingbespoke shoes, waiting to be made ready for a fitting (hopefully next week). They are a St James style (semi-brogue adelaide) in vintage cedar. Interestingly, Tony has changed his fitting process recently, mostly ...

In the UK, good shoes split into two very clean categories: benchmade and bespoke. With the former, workers use a series of hulking Victorian machines to make the shoes. Each applies force in a different way, whether stretching the upper over the las...

 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...