Summer was heralded for me in a subtle, sophisticated way by the palate of Paul Stuart, as reported in previous post A Fresher Take on Summer. In that article I compared the subtlty and still unusual colour combinations of Paul Stuart with the bolder, and certainly no less inspiring Ralph Lauren approach. Fortunately for me and the style world at large, Paul Stuart’s autumnal suggestions are just as sophisticated and ennervating as those for … [Read more...]

As a final instalment to my report on after-sales service at Ralph Lauren, I thought it would be useful to recount some of the tips and lessons that Jaan, the in-house tailor at the flagship store, had to offer. I had written in a previous posting that shoulders are the hardest thing to alter on the suit. This is partly true, according to Jaan. The shoulders are certainly much harder to alter than the jacket waist, sleeves or chest. This is … [Read more...]

In the previous posting on this topic, I explained that most ways to assess the quality of a dress shirt revolve around working out how many time-consuming details have been included. Each detail adds a few more precious seconds to the manufacturing time; fewer shirts can be made every day, and each therefore costs a little bit more to make. The first to consider was whether the side seam has two lines of stitching or one – one line taking … [Read more...]

Much is made of assessing the quality of a suit – its fineness of wool, cut and construction. But it is far easier to tell the quality of a shirt, largely because all its stitching and manufacture is open for all to see. You could also argue that, given you can buy a shirt for £4 in Primark, the price differential in shirts is greater than that in suits. After all, some designer shirts cost over £300 – 75-times the Primark option. It is … [Read more...]