Bags for the Weekend Break

The weekend break is such a reassuring thing. After the monotony of the workplace; computer screens, snatched lunches in overcrowded cafes, phone calls, emails and forced civility, there is the excitement of getting away to a different postcode, a different way of life. Whether you’re heading to country for walks, quaint landscapes and rural pleasantness, leaving the smoking metropolis behind you, or whether you are heading into town for a refreshing dash of culture, shopping and fine dining, looking snappy and stylish is essential. Your weekend wardrobe is prepared, your kit is together along with essential light reading and toiletries, but then you realise; ‘Ah, what sort of bag can I take this stuff in’. For a weekend break, a suitcase looks excessive. Unless you happen to be hosting an awards ceremony, taking a vast trunk with you looks absurd. The best way to transport your clothing is in soft and stylish leather.

The inventory for weekend luggage should be short; jeans, undergarments and socks are easily packed into a holdall, and if you’re taking a suit, a garment bag is the best way of transporting it. Soft luggage is less cumbersome and its softness makes it appropriate for placing on car seats and on train racks. When it ages, leather looks spectacular, so it’s unnecessary to worry about the bag getting ‘scratched’ or de-shined by other luggage; it’s all about character, and journeys add character to luggage.

However, leather is not for everyone; many people will choose not to buy leather luggage simply for cost reasons. This is understandable. A good stretch of leather is not cheap, and even when it is, you’ve possibly been ripped off in terms of build quality and are more likely to have found a bargain in another fabric.

If leather is for you, then a lovely brown or black leather holdall is just the thing for a weekend sojourn. Vintage designs of old-fashioned holdalls are still the best; the large Gladstone with its peaked profile and metal spine, or the subtle luxury of a suede explorer, a holdall of classic design and warm walnut tones will serve you well for the years to come.

If you prefer something a little more modern and sleek, a look at Aspinal of London’s collection might whet your appetite. Though they do offer traditional luggage, Aspinal also offer a range of black and white for the minimalist at heart.

For the buyer of canvas holdalls, there are few established manufacturers equal to Pickett. The highest grades of materials are used; tough, durable canvasses and fine, supple leathers for the trim and they are available in eye-catching colours.

For the man of style, a sensible navy blue or a bright red are arresting enough without causing too much distraction at check-in. The offsetting of the hardwearing canvas with the charming leather trim makes the bag seem established and luxurious. Canvas bags without this attention to detail can look like camping accessories or military surplus.

Leave a Comment

The Belts and Braces Approach

Of all the items populating the gentleman’s accessories drawer, the belt and the braces (suspenders) are two of the most overlooked in terms of importance both aesthetically and in terms of quality. Of course, there are those chaps, anxious to impersonate a billboard, who select their belts very carefully and order them by size: size of designer logo. And naturally, due to their appearance on the slick runways of Paris on the malnourished figures of Dior Homme models, there are the fashionistas who have, temporarily of course, taken braces quite seriously. However, the man of style needs to consider such items as seriously as his walnut-toned Oxfords or his herringbone blazer, for you understand, nothing is amusing or frivolous when it comes to style. No indeed, for even though Fashion dances through materials and design wantonly and quite irresponsibly, laughing hysterically, Style stands quite still, like a sentry on duty; with silence and old-world permissiveness, Style allows Fashion to create a drunken mess and then, dutifully, cleans up after it.

Braces


Braces to the Brits, suspenders to the Americans, the practice of securing the trousers to the shoulders has faded with time. It is considered that braces are now unnecessary and outdated; clothes have come a long way and hoisting trousers with elastic now belongs, largely, to circus characters.

It’s such a pity as although they were introduced, quite humbly, to be merely functional and concealed, they became eye-catching and rather charming. They were the acceptable image of the jacket and waistcoat-less man; the exhausted yet svelte investment banker, the powerful and shrewd lawyer: braces may be associated with clowns, but they were never seen on fools.

Bright red on mid-blue shirts, gold on white, bright blue on pink; braces shout loudly, they do not whisper timidly. Noted wearers of braces include chat show impresario Larry King (pictured), who boasts a fine collection in many colours. Patterns are wisely avoided, and illustrated braces (Donald Duck figures and the like), are the very end. Keep them simple, grosgrain but colour is up to you: the more daring the better. For evening wear, try something like white moiré silk as seen on Daniel Craig in Casino Royale. The silk is an upgrade from the normal material and the moiré effect, necessary for tone on tone, is appealing.

Belts

It is unlikely that any of the valued readership is inexperienced in the cause and purpose of the belt. Belts are ubiquitous and, like braces, they are often worn for ornamentation rather than practicality. I use them superficially, but I often wear them simply to keep my bally trousers from falling to my ankles. Not that I wear excessively baggy clothing, far from it. It’s basically because I have a tiny waist that no high street store ever had in their imagination when creating their ‘smaller’ sizes. It’s not tiny per se, only very small for a 24 year old man, and though it’s useful when it comes to the discount sales, it’s frightfully frustrating most of the time.

I have belts of different uses and types, and generally separate them into ‘soft’ and ‘formal’ categories. The ‘soft’ belts are, unsurprisingly, of a softer construction. They are sportier, more colourful belts more likely to be worn in the spring and summer months, with more casual outfits. ‘Formal’ belts are leather and darker in colours like brown, black, and the odd patent white; they’re for wearing with smarter outfits all year round. It’s useful to obtain a decent mix of belts as complementing belts are ever so recherché; stand out with stripes in summer, and keep different widths and types of belt for different uses. Wider belts look better with less ceremonial clothing; boots, jeans and casual items. Thinner belts are more subtle and should be worn, discreetly, with smarter outfits. Also, to smarten up a favourite pair of denim jeans, there’s nothing quite like a great belt and a decent pair of shoes in a complementary tone.

Leave a Comment

Out With the Old, In With the New

Something I really enjoy about the month of December is that within a week of nostalgic reminiscences of the previous twelve months, gorging on goose, turkey, fruit puddings, wines, and all sorts of extravagant comestibles, a shiny new year is being welcomed in and the portly merriment of Christmas becomes a joyful espousal of the coming year. Vows for personal betterment are made, and though old acquaintances be not forgot, the 31st of December is very much about the future; a positive and hopeful future.

And there is hope, hope that the coming year brings happiness and prosperity; friends yet unmade and love yet unspoken. All symbolic action, even the unwrapping of a calendar, feels right and good after the contemplative feast of Christmas, and even man’s wardrobe should not be shy of an annual renewal and upgrade.

Psychologically, it is an excellent time to pluck up the courage to discard rarely worn or damaged items; creating space for future purchases may sound like a bad idea, but keeping what you enjoy wearing and discarding what you do not will give you a pretty good indication of what you need, and what you desire. Hoarding is not practical and not attractive; keeping clothing wrapped up for posterity will become a nuisance the longer it continues, so begin the New Year with a good deed and donate items to charity shops.
If you can’t quite bring yourself to simply give things away, but you can’t bring yourself to wear them either, EBay is useful for creating a little revenue for the new wardrobe.

If you’re interested in trends, 2008 is promising to be a good year for grey. With diverse designers like Dior, Ralph Lauren, Burberry Prorsum and Gucci offering a good number of grey options, the style seems to be schoolboy preppy with a dash of sixties Martini-swilling-bachelor panache. Darker greys have a cocktail-lounge sheen to them, whereas the lighter greys are flannel-like in texture.

Patterned trousers and suits are making more headway, so expect to see window checks, Prince of Wales checks and country checks aplenty.

Feverish anticipation of spring also seems to have designers covered in a rash: a rash of brightly coloured accessorising garments. Bright greens, reds and yellows dominate.

For those more interested in evergreen style, there are some safe and sensible purchases to make at the start of 2008.

Firstly, for a New Year, buy yourself a new white shirt. It doesn’t have to be a fantastically expensive one, decent white shirts are widely available. Make sure it’s versatile; not button down and not double cuff, and importantly make sure it’s the right fit for you. White shirts, even when washed, can look tired soon enough, and it’s another of those psychological boosts to gaze upon the crisp whiteness of a new shirt in your bedroom mirror.

Secondly, a good cricket jumper will serve you well for spring, summer and even autumn. The simpler the better; keep crests and stripes to a more subtle minimum. It’s youthful, sporty and yet utterly timeless.

Finally, take your favourite black shoes to the cobbler for a fresh sole and heel. Or if your current shoes are looking like they’ve seen better days, keep the poor things off the pavement and make a visit to a good shoe store for a classic Oxford shoe. Black shoes are indispensable, but they are common, and they are also commonly ugly. Choosing a good shoe, and taking good care of it, will make you stand out from the crowd.

Leave a Comment

Style Pet Peeves and Personal Partialities

At this merry time of year, it is custom to reflect on the past 12 months. Men huddle together in jolly groups and share stories, jokes and memories, comforted by spiced wine and the universality of aging. It’s an informal review; usually rose-tinted ruminations full of good humour and innocent machismo; “A toast to women!” or perhaps “May our poor cricketers rot in hell!” In fact it is these rather polar assessments that characterise our seasonal commentary, and as I sat in contemplation of my experiences over the past year, I discovered I too had a tendency to review the state of the world in this monochrome way; good and evil, the adversaries of yore, thrash it out in my mind’s eye like tireless samurai warriors. And so, in this tide of Yule, I feel it is appropriate to share with you some of my musings. More particularly, my sartorial pet peeves and personal partialities.

  

     Pet Peeves

Rucksacks with suits

The rucksack, or knapsack, is a very useful item of luggage. It’s practical for when you wish to transport things from one place to another without the need of inconveniencing the poor old hands. For climbing, the rucksack is indispensable. Ditto cycling. However, I grumble audibly when I see suited chaps wandering down Regent Street, crushing their Super 100’s covered shoulders with a distinctly ugly and unfitting poly-something creation with an appropriately European sounding manufacturer such as Berghaus or The North Face. It’s not only cycling commuters who do this. Plenty of moderately well-dressed men climb on and off public transport with these nylon cysts on their backs.
This ‘uglification’ of the City gent is a sad sight indeed and I wish, with all my heart, that it would dashed well desist.

The schoolboy’s tie


Relieved as I may be to see more and more people embracing the necktie, it’s a crying shame that such embracement is often completed with a glance at some obscure imaginary manual, doubtless entitled ‘The Footballers Way to Tie a Tie’. Short and fat are ugly words, and appropriately they connote something ugly indeed, so it is incredible how, when given a stretch of fine silk, some people produce a cumbrous creation that has the look of an overfed sea bass. With a shapeless and flat knot, the ‘schoolboy attempt’ at a tie is often seen on older men who should know better. Keep the length sensible and the knot a discernible shape and voila, you’ll look thirteen no longer!

The Metropolitan mountain ranger

As with the rucksack, something I cannot abide is the practice of wearing an outdoor activity jacket over a suit. I would never contemplate wearing a covert coat in the Himalayas, so I cannot fathom how someone can conscience wearing a ski-jacket in London. It may be warm, but so are plenty of smart overcoats on offer at countless stores all over the city. The shape, if it has one, is grossly unflattering for the purposes of the metropolis and despite its useful number of pockets and zip-up practicality, it is a quite terrible thing to be seen in when strolling into a restaurant for a business lunch meeting.

 

     Personal Partialities

Co-ordinating pocket squares


The pocket square, though it is experiencing a revival, is still rarely seen. The glorious silk versions, never used for their intended purpose, look fabulous when worn with complementary-coloured shirts and ties. I saw an elegant gentleman wearing a green paisley pocket square with a green tie and a violet and white striped shirt; a wonderfully rich combination that also complemented his midnight blue pinstriped double-breasted suit. Co-ordinating can go too far but generally, ‘supporting’ colours have a smartening effect and make the gentleman look organised and interesting.

Tasselled loafers

I adore very smart and graceful shoes. Punch-cap Oxfords, patent shoes; there’s nothing that lifts a dull outfit more than a pair of fabulous kickers. Tasselled loafers are a personal partiality of mine. They are individual and natty and the gaiety of the tassel is appropriate for formal and casual wear; jeans with chestnut tasselled loafers look quite brilliant.

Coloured socks

May the Gods of decorum strike me down, for I heartily approve of wearing richly coloured socks even with formal suits. Reds are a favourite, and bright blues are certainly arresting. The childlike optimism of colouring the ankles is what I find most appealing. Though it is de rigueur to match sock with pant, a stunning contrast marks out the man as an individual.

Slim-fitting clothing


Arguably the new modern classic cut of clothing is the slim-fit. It’s not so much an invention but a renaissance. Slim cuts of trouser, jacket and shirt have been very popular fashion styles of the past, but the fashion-trend of the Noughties seems to have created a lifestyle choice for the future. ‘Full’ clothing does not seem as appealing as it once was; I tried a classic cut jumper on in GAP only to recoil in horror. I looked immature and amateurish, whereas a slim-fitting version flattered me greatly. Of course, it helps that I am naturally emaciated, but there is no doubt, should it come to dilapidation of my metabolism, that I will endeavour to remain in slim-cut threads.

Leave a Comment

Building a Tie Collection

Collecting, a friend of mine observed, is a pastime of the idle. It is, so they told me, a sign of man’s excessive productivity. Unsurprisingly, my friend and I differ in our opinions regarding man’s wants and needs. Naturally, in a world without the paraphernalia we are surrounded with, I need merely shelter, an animal skin or two to keep warm and perhaps the Promethean luxury of fire. However, man has evolved. We don’t live in that minimalist culture. We live, in the western world, in a time of abundance. Whereas our ancient ancestors might have braved wind and rain for an uncooked bite of deer, we have not only beautifully cooked, and aged, meat, but meat substitute.

Through the centuries, man has added to his tastes and he has become accustomed to those things that my contrary friend observes as ‘luxuries’. Man has a habit of collection and consumption and I am no exception, especially when it comes to neckties. Though my collection of ties is entirely intentional (I don’t collect them in an accidental fashion), as deliberate as I am with my purchases, I am worried my tie-lust will spiral out of control. Therefore, I intend to employ a program of purchase for neckties. It works like an ordinary quota; regulating my purchase of check ties, red ties, polka dot ties etc and it restricts me from buying ties, no matter how little they cost, I might hardly use.

If you are, like me, a fan of the necktie and are keen to build up a respectable collection, then there are some things to consider. This guidance is borne of the successes and failures of my own experience.

Plains


Plain neckties, whether they be of cashmere or woven silk, are eminently practical. Check shirts and loud stripes call for plains like the hero Heathcliff for his darling Cathy; one simply cannot do without the other. It’s healthy to buy a decent number of plains in a variety of colours, although I would suggest buying woven ties over printed ties. The texture of a woven material adds depth to the tie and this makes a seemingly uninteresting item actually rather eye-catching. A good start would be a quadruple purchase of a Burgundy red, a royal or navy blue, an old gold and a plain black. These strong colours are classic and suit plain white City shirts as well as country Tattersalls. Once these staples are there, forest greens, ivories (for summertime) and light browns are good suggestions for future purposes.

Stripes


Striped ties are the next step up from the simple plain tie. Not as daring as a pattern and far easier to match with shirts and suits, striped ties boast versatility and an old-world, clubby charm. Plenty of the striped silk dripping from the racks in places like Tie Rack is pretty bad; I, personally do not think that there should be more than four colours on a club-striped tie and yet I have seen ties with six or seven colours and stripes of all different shapes and sizes thrown into one. Stick to classic two and three colour stripes. These look the smartest, and most established. Navy blues, reds, greens are well matched with pinks, sky blues, gold and cream.

Patterns


About three years ago, I was reading a male fashion column citing the death of, as the writer most appositely put it, ‘the Hermes tie thing.’ Well, the King is dead. Long live the King, for Hermes, and patterns, are back. With the reactionary plain thick silk tie now worn by all and sundry from winners to wannabes, patterns have a new future. And it’s a bright one. Formerly, polka dots were in safe navy and red, navy and cream combinations. Now, colourways like lime and mid-blue and canary yellow and apple green have been added to the mix and been anointed as instant classics. ‘Illustrated’ patterns; dogs, fishing tackle and pheasants are eye-catching and intriguing, but try to keep the objects small and tasteful. Excessive ‘artwork’ on ties looks twee and attention-seeking.

One last thing…

Resist the temptation of a cartoon tie. You know what I mean, those cheap silk things with images of a Simpson’s family member shouting ‘D’oh!’ They are ugly and not at all funny. If you are anti-tie and cite this as your reason for wearing this offensive accessory, do not wear a tie at all.

Leave a Comment