Some call it the ‘dollop of whipped cream’, others consider it the only sensible option for a suit’s top pocket but all would be willing to acknowledge that the plain white pocket square is the most common adornment of its type. Even if a gentleman is wearing a blue shirt, pink tie and a grey suit the safest, and most predictable, choice of top pocket accessory is a simple white cotton, linen or silk hank. Perhaps unsurprisingly, plain … [Read more...]
American Gigolo (1980) stars Richard Gere as Julian Kay, an escort for wealthy women who is framed for the murder of one of his clients and the theft of her precious jewels. The movie was written and directed by Paul Schrader (of Taxi Driver fame) and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. American Gigolo is often listed among the top style movies of all time. The movie burst on the scene at the end of the bell-bottom disco era and stood as a preview … [Read more...]
As the advertiser is wont to say, ‘there are some things that money can’t buy.’ When I bought my beloved dark tortoiseshell Wayfarers from Ray-Ban, I had conducted a parallel search for another pair of Wayfarers; the yellow tortoise. Enquiries in even the most vaunted of department stores, including ‘the world’s best department store’ Selfridges & Co, led to embarrassed smiles from staff, furtive gazing at computer screens and the … [Read more...]
A number of stylish examples of male clothing and accessories can trace their humble origins to the military. One such item is the useful and ubiquitous duffle bag. The first recorded use of the term “duffle bag” is credited to the poet E. E. Cummings who used it in a letter he wrote in 1917 while working in France as an ambulance driver during WWI. The bags take their name from Duffel, a town in the Belgian province of Antwerp, where the … [Read more...]
Over the weekend I popped in to see my shirt maker Erlend at Stephan Haroutunian Shirts – now shortened to Stephan Shirts, presumably because no one can pronounce the surname. It is a bit of a mouthful. One of the nice things about what I do is that many of the people who run the independent menswear retailers I highlight eventually become friends. A shopping trip often results in a pleasurable few hours chewing the cud. On this … [Read more...]
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