We haven't one of these for a while - the last was Lucas’s canvas bag from Charlie Borrow - so I thought it would be good to do one on a recent acquisition of mine.  I loved Lucas’s bag; I even prefer the way the canvas has aged to my Filson...

At the beginning of the year, I asked readers if they had a Wax Walker we could feature as part of our ‘Dry January’ project. We were focusing on how things age and become more beautiful with wear, and wax jackets are particularly nice in that re...

Lucas has had this canvas bag from Charlie Borrow for years, and I’ve always admired its rugged quality, particularly when we’ve traveled together. So I thought it would make a good entry in our How Great Things Age series, which of course has pa...

For the next in my series on How Great Things Age, here are my beloved gommino driving shoes from Tod's. I've had them for three years and wear them almost every day. They are my default shoe when I come home from work and usually for any time aro...

When Bruce read our article on Nicoletta Caraceni’s 50-year-old jacket recently, he was spurred to send an example of his own: the Anderson & Sheppard jacket worn above.  And really, there are few people better placed to talk about how tail...

Of all the things we cover in the ‘How great things age’ series, a bag such as this probably has the most potential - because it is made of canvas, leather and brass.  All those three materials age differently.  Brass, presuming it’s not ...

I have had these Doek canvas trainers - what could usefully be called tennis shoes - for five years. They have been worn once or twice a week, every week, during that period. So hundreds of times.  With bare feet in the summer, they've occasionally ...

In the coming months I will be writing more posts again in our ‘How great things age’ series, which aims to illustrate the beauty of quality clothing over time.  Basically, it’s an antidote to the new clothing that it’s much easier to wri...

This Anderson & Sheppard jacket is part of a suit I had made over 10 years ago. When I wrote back in January about my ‘favourite clothes ever’, I named it my favourite ever piece of bespoke.  It is therefore a good candidate for our ‘Ho...

On Permanent Style we have always pushed the intelligent, considered acquisition of a quality wardrobe. This has many advantages. But it also has a large disadvantage: it removes, or at least makes less frequent, the unique adrenaline ...

   The 'How Great Things Age' series celebrates and examines how quality menswear ages over time. Often, it becomes more beautiful, though different materials from leather to cotton to board age in very different ways.  The last two we featured ...

I think this Chapal jacket holds the record for the review most frequently requested, yet never fulfilled. I do apologise - the past two winters I have meant to shoot and cover it, and things have always got in the way.  The upside of the delay i...

One of the great attractions of buying classic, handmade items is how they age; true investment pieces that last not just more than one season, but more than one generation. However, few articles are written about aging. Understandably, most are writ...

  Last week, I realised I had worn my Belgravia loafers three out of the five working days.  Ever keen to look after them, I never wear them on consecutive days (the leather will not fully dry out - and wears quicker when damp)...

This post could come under the ‘How great things age’ or the ‘Reflections on bespoke’ heading. Whatever the category, readers have asked frequently about this pea coat, how it has held up and - more specifically - whether I ever changed t...

 Denim is really beautiful in the way it frays and fades. Most cotton twills used for workwear age in this way – losing their saturation at wear points as the surface dye rubs away. But the thickness and indigo dye of denim make it particularly at...

  During my recent series of posts on Levi’s bespoke jeans, a reader commented that he didn’t like denim because it didn’t drape like wool, linen or other materials commonly used for suiting. He’s not wrong, but denim and other cotton mater...

Three years ago I met Judy Bown, a bag designer who had left her previous career working for companies such as Mulberry, Asprey and Tanner Krolle to set up her own label. The make of her bags was superb. The edges were inked by hand, for example, whi...

We all know different materials age in different ways.  Leather is probably the most beautiful, and certainly the most varied. As a skin, if untreated it darkens when exposed to dirt or hands, yet lightens where it’s exposed to sunlight. It wil...

Over the winter, quite a few readers have asked what I wear for very cold weather.  If it’s formal, the answer is a simple variation on the coats we’ve already featured: a heavyweight overcoat like my 30oz from Sartoria Ciardi, for instance, ...

A reader commented recently that if you don’t feel comfortable in a piece of clothing, it’s clearly not for you and you should move on.  While I agree that feeling comfortable in your clothes is important to looking good - more than many peop...

    There’s no getting away from it, this is a dinky man-bag. It’s made from stiffened vegetable-tanned leather, and so has a rigid and natural appearance, but it is still a small bag for me to put things in. Technically, it is called a p...

Several readers asked how my bespoke jeans, made by Levi’s in London, have aged in the four years I’ve had them. To answer, I decided to do a shoot at the new Levi’s bespoke workshop on Great Marlborough Street, showing in detail the ageing...

Following on from my recent post on Globe-Trotter suitcases, this is a look at how my Edward Green Oundles are being refurbished at the company’s factory in Northampton. They were probably my first pair of really good shoes, bought about five ye...

Usually it’s pretty hard waiting for your favourite things to come back from being repaired. But unlike the Edward Greens I reported on last in this series, my Globe-Trotter suitcase hasn’t really been missed. There were two weekends away in that...