Links: Made-to-order shoes, horizontal stripes, sunday best…

• Round up of favorite made-to-order shoes at Leffot. (leffot.com)

• Experimenting with horizontal stripe shirts. (parisiangentleman.co.uk)

• Clothing-wise, churchgoing and horse riding are not that much different. (themidwestyle.com)

• The most imitated shirt - candy stripes. (heavytweed.blogspot.com)

• Collection of seasonal photos from Tommy Ton. (gentsdresser.blogspot.com)

• Probably the best guide to men’s hairstyles. (ivy-style.com)

• Forum discussion on practicality of traditional leather bags in modern life. (styleforum.net)

Links: Jacket Buttons, Women in Menswear, Exotic Leathers…

• A short overview of jacket buttons. (asuitablewardrobe.dynend.com)

• Nothing looks sexier than a woman in a man’s shirt. (thetrad.blogspot.com)

• …Or in a menswear from head to toe. (advancedstyle.blogspot.com)

• Exotic leathers in shoes. (the-shoe-snob.blogspot.com)

• A visit to Maurice Sedwell on Savile Row. (gentlemansgazette.com)

• A new great accessories webshop find: Exquisite Trimmings. (thesilentist.tumblr.com)

• Surrender to the holidays spirit. (afistfulofstyle.tumblr.com)

Links: Oversized Suit, Bow Tie Rules, Alterations…

• Rehabilitation of an oversized suit. (sleevehead.blogspot.com)

• 5 rules for the bow tie. (theatlantic.com via voxsartoria.com)

• When alterations are more expensive than the garment itself. (anaffordablewardrobe.blogspot.com)

• Review: Howard Yount lambswool sweaters. (thesilentist.tumblr.com)

• The Lure of the Borsalino at JJ Hat Center (acontinuouslean.com)

• Modern British tailoring: Thom Sweeney. (dieworkwear.com)

• Shoe trees importance questioned. (styleforum.net)

Looking Ahead

As strange as it may seem this time of year the big labels and retailers preview their spring and summer collections.

As a blogger with a reasonably sized audience I get plenty of invites. For the most part I turn them down, BespokeMe isn’t really about labels. However, I do love my clothes and while the whims and fancies of fashion are hardly my concern, nevertheless, I can’t afford to buy all my clothes bespoke. I am dependent on the high street to an extent.

So there are one or two previews I like to go to. Of course you don’t need to be a blogger with invites to preview shows to get an idea of what is likely to come up in future seasons.

For many years now I’ve paid particular attention to those blogs that make a point of covering the twice yearly Pitti Uomo menswear trade show in Milan. Now, it’s not the clothes on the catwalk that are important. Being a trade show what you see on the street style blogs are some of the clothing world’s most influential people: buyers, designers, manufacturers and specialist retailers. Inevitably their personal style becomes the trends which in subsequent years the stores adopt. Follow them closely and you’ll get at least an 18 month heads up not just a season one.

There were two trends that came to the fore in the Pitti blogs of the last few seasons. One is the use of bold primary colours in the form of statement clothing and the second is the use of bold checks into linen suits. And this season, I’m pleased to say, these two trends will become high street staples.

For what it’s worth I reckon Gieves & Hawkes were head and shoulders above any other collection I saw for the coming seasons, and from where I got these pictures.

A rain Mac is a classic item and if your summers are like ours in England then it’s best to be prepared for rain. These bright colours add a summer twist to a wardrobe classic. A real statement piece, I’ve seen a few labels produce similar Macs for next season. Cobolt blue seems quite popular but I just loved these yellow and red versions from Gieves & Hawkes. I tend towards the double breasted yellow one at present.

In recent years retailers have got their act together and made an effort to add cotton and linen suits to their summer collections. However, any variation on navy or beige and you’re out of luck. Recent previews show retailers have gotten a little bolder and finally decided to experiment a little. As I mentioned in an article a while ago on The Weekend Suit (http://www.mensflair.com/style-advice/a-new-suit-the-weekend-suit.php ), checks make for a perfect casual suit providing the elegance of uniformity while at the same time appearing less ridged.

In the midst of winter it never hurts to have an eye for the brighter days ahead.

More than Movember

When I had shaved off my Movember moustache on the 30th of last month, I touched my naked upper lip with a sense of relief; as much as I admired the ‘real man’ aesthetic of it, the unusual discomfort it caused my upper lip made me yearn for December. Interestingly, I had received a wittily penned comment from a reader that very afternoon which provoked me to ponder the execution of the shave;

“A moustache should be for life. Not just Movember. Discuss.”

This particular reader had already provided a contribution on the topic to The New Gentleman, arguing that men who had so earnestly taken to a month of growth should “think twice before condemning the creature to the razor’s blade.” The reasoning implied was that fashion had maligned the moustache; it was clear that many men were enthusiastic about the challenge and the aesthetic of upper lip hair, so why did they not shun the female dislike and the current vogue of facial hair and simply keep it going?

There is much to recommend this point of view. Individuality and style is what these pages are (hopefully) all about; we are not preaching fashion codes here. How could we suggest the wearer of a Homburg ignore the ridiculing public and yet support fashion’s control of our grooming? And as much as there is to recommend the principle, there is much to recommend the style.

Aside from punctuating the face with a little hair artistry, the moustache also adds a tidy reminder of masculinity. Back in the 19th century, the clean shaven children of Regency England discovered that in India, the growing of facial hair, at the very least a moustache, was essential to being taken seriously in command. From there, they transported the fashion of the lone ‘tache back to Victorian London and from there, it reached the rest of the world. However, even during its high vogue, views towards the attractions of the ‘tache were divided; women’s views could be extremely positive and downright lustful or they suggested scorn and even fear.

Nowadays, isolated upper lip hair is universally disliked, which explains why ‘endurance’ charity campaigns like Movember are so successful; a similar charity based on men achieving a month of short back and sides is hardly likely to raise anything at all. However, the more I think about it the more I understand the attractions of not only the growth but the craft of moustache care. The soup-strainer, like ballrooms, pocket watches and walking canes, is the relic of an era; in my Movember guise, I was compared to Bogart gumshoes, Victorian gamesters and David Niven.

“You look” they said “less like a boy, and more like a man.”

Perhaps I should have kept it going.