One of the most interesting comments I receive about my clothing is that for such an ostentatious person, my tie knot is perplexingly small. Puffs of silk; colour matching and contrasting; texture complementing and yet such a tiny knot. “I thought” new acquaintances often mumble “you’d wear a big Windsor knot.” I used to be a fan of the Windsor. Whilst at school, I trained myself to tie the perfect version and was very conscious at … [Read more...]

The waistcoat renaissance was rather rashly dismissed a few years ago as a passing trend. As with other trends, critics opined ‘that for which there is little need, there will be little life.’ Men’s clothing is different to women’s clothing in this regard. Women’s trends can be unpredictable, their longevity irregular. Handbags are never needed but simply ‘wanted’; the glum male faces in the mighty emporia of feminine clothing … [Read more...]

In my recent article on the velvet bow tie, I wrote of the antipathy of an acquaintance towards what Wilde famously referred to as the “only link between Art and Nature” - the buttonhole. What was once worn by all who could afford it is now merely an eccentric habit of a tiny few; spotting buttonholed gentleman on the streets should become a sport, so needle-like are these men in the haystacks of society. It is partly because of this paucity … [Read more...]