In quite a few European cities, including most in Italy I’ve visited, you see small, slightly old-fashioned shops selling underwear and nightwear, often with these little hand-written price cards.  Although charming, the quality in these shops is ...

Rome doesn’t have the menswear reputation of Milan, Florence or Naples. But there are some unusual little gems nestled in different parts of the city.  One of the most interesting is Atelier Bomba. Started by Cristina Bomba in 1980, it has a reput...

Bocache & Salvucci was a bit of a surprise when I visited last month.  I’d come across the shoemaker at Jean-Manuel Moreau, in Paris, and had assumed that in Rome I would find a small (because relatively unknown) bespoke craftsman.  What I ac...

By Manish Puri Whenever an article related to Rome is published on Permanent Style I’ve noticed there’s usually a reader comment or two about Sartoria Ripense – either asking about their style or praising their work. With this in mind, I decide...

Chez Dede is a lovely little multibrand shop in Rome. It sells clothing and accessories, books and furniture, including some familiar brands such as P. Le Moult and Camoshita. However, for me the most lovely thing about the store when we visited was ...

Tommy e Giulio Caraceni is one of the great tailors in Italy, but it’s fair to say they’re in a process of transition.  The shop is run by Andrea Caraceni, grandson of Tommy. His father retired last year, and now when in the shop you’re greete...

Gerardo Cavaliere is someone whose style I've admired for a while, but rarely had a chance to talk to for more than a few moments at an event.  While Milad and I were in Rome recently, therefore, I spent some time with Gerardo and his partner Margar...

I do not know Roman tailor Gaetano Aloisio. But I've heard good things, and seen one or two as well. So when Bruce Boyer told me he was having a suit made by Gaetano, I asked whether he would write something brief about his experiences.  It's not a...

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 ...

Jacques Tiberghien and Vincent Metzger discovered the small house of Gammarelli in Rome several years ago. Although only a small workshop, it makes all the outfits, from robes to mitres, for the pope, cardinals and bishops of Rome. Jacques and Vincen...

The reason Milan became the centre of Italian fashion was Florence and Rome couldn't sort out a fight.  Italian clothing itself became successful abroad because people were tired of the 'haughty, arty' French.  Spurred by our recent discussion of A...

In our recent articles on menswear destinations in Rome, a couple of readers asked about the outfit I was wearing for beating around the hot city.  The individual pieces should be pretty familiar:  cotton double-breasted jacket from Ferdinando Car...

* This article is the first in a series that will look at New York bespoke over the years* By Manish Puri. In the 1956 version of the song New York’s My Home, Sammy Davis Jr. is eager to address the crazy rumour that some foolhardy New Yorkers are ...

Like most Italian tailors, Sartoria Seminara is hidden away. There is no Savile Row grand entrance, just a name and a buzzer and a short walk up a flight of dark stairs.  The effect is all the greater because this entrance is on Via dei Calzaiuoli, ...

By Tom Mastronardi. Anyone that knows me appreciates my resolute affection for being well-tailored. Even as a kid raised in a decidedly blue-collar neighbourhood on Chicago’s South Side, I never required any coaxing to don a jacket and tie. But of ...

Among the many pocket-sized books on women’s style, dressing like a Parisian is a popular category. Many, it seems, find the idea of the Parisian woman who dresses fashionably but not fussily, in a way that is simple but chic, appealing. I was skim...

Naples has the biggest concentration of high-end handmade menswear in the world. Although not so much for shoes, for tailoring and shirtmaking this is the motherlode, with hundreds of tailors in the city and surrounding region, and thousands workin...

By Tony Sylvester This Autumn past, I took my first trip since before Covid. A short flight to Copenhagen, a city I know well. A very brief holiday, it served as a primer of sorts; a way to ease back into the idea of travel.  Everything was familiar...

 Although I decided to have my first Milanese suit made at Ferdinando Caraceni (see previous post), I've visited and got to know Carlo and Massimiliano Andreacchio at A Caraceni as well. Between them, they are the highest form of central-Italian tai...

Cifonelli Parisian tailors tend to be located on the first floor of big mansion blocks. Savile Row tailors are more likely to be on the ground floor of a terraced house, with workrooms underneath. Though certainly a generalisation, this is not an emp...

When I visited US tailor Chris Despos last month I was slightly surprised to find that his house cut was so Italian in style. I think in London we often forget the influence of the Italians on US clothing – due to immigration, the openness of the m...

  Back in February I began working on a jacket project with Nicoletta Caraceni, of Ferdinando Caraceni in Milan. There are, as you know, several tailors with the name Caraceni in Italy. They all stem from Domenico Caraceni, the founding father, a...

  So, how shall we tackle this one then? Look at house styles in turn, or body shapes? I suggest we should look at each major house style, and consider the effects that each has on the body - accentuating one aspect, minimising another. It can the...

Following on from Wednesday's post on the Symposium discussion, here are Mark Cho's specific responses to some of the questions.Mark wrote the below in preparation for the talk (bless him) and he makes some interesting points that never got to be ai...

The photographer Milad Abedi is someone whose style I've liked for a long time, but in a quiet way. Whenever we’ve shot together I’ve been interested in what he’s wearing and found something I liked, but he wasn’t the first person I thought...