As any of my friends will testify, I am not adverse to something playful draped around my midriff. These belts by Swiss born Betty Galizzi (short for Bettina) certainly fit that bill. Betty actually lives in South London, and she and her friends Javier and Agata quietly work away churning out these handmade belts. And what are they made of? Bicycle tires. There is in fact more to the humble bicycle tire than you might expect, some are very … [Read more...]

In a bid to avoid repeating the advice of others, I spent this week looking through past Men's Flair posts. This one, by Winston, advocating patterned trousers chimed with me. I have a surfeit of jeans and chinos for weekends and casual wear. In many ways I’m comfortable in my uniform of odd jacket and denim. But as I plough on into my thirties I feel my tastes maturing slightly. Time to experiment with trousers. Previously I’ve found … [Read more...]

I spotted this jacket on a recent visit to Nino’s. I liked it straight away. Made in Italy it’s pure linen with a floating canvas, working button holes, satin lined and hand finished. I also like the contrasting dark brown piping on the pockets and stitching around the button holes. When Nino told me the price of £560 I instantly thought, ‘But it’s not bespoke. Is it worth it?” I suspect my reaction would be a common one.  Perhaps … [Read more...]

I ought to start my first column by thanking the team of MensFlair for inviting me onboard. I’m looking forward to working with them, and writing for you. So what might you expect from me? Well, my passion is independent menswear retailers, and I spend much of my time trying to track them down. You might be thinking I’m just another scribbler advocating bespoke. Not true. There are basically three types of independent retailer: -The … [Read more...]