The world of shirtings is not as confusing as suitings.

As outlined in two Permanent Style pieces (on English mills and Italian mills), there is a huge variation of mills, brands and integration in tailoring cloths that can be very confusing.

Shirtings are simpler. But it’s still probably worth setting out who the players are, how they interact, and whether you should consider any of it when looking through books at a bespoke shirtmaker.

Founded in 1876, it has gone through a period of expansion since the 1990s under Silvio Albini.

It bought British brand Thomas Mason in 1992 when the shirting mill (the last significant one in the UK) closed down. It has since also acquired David & John Anderson and Albiati.

The four brands are presented today as distinct collections:

• Albini: Italian style, lightweight cloths, subtle patterns
• Thomas Mason: English style, often heavier cloths, bolder patterns
• Albiati: Younger style, denims and flannels
• David & John Anderson: Luxury line, Giza 45 cottons, mostly plains blues and whites

The company has more recently had a policy of vertical integration, buying up some of its partners for spinning and dyeing, for example, and looking at making its own products.

“This started off slowly and accidentally,” Silvio Albini said when I talked to him last month. “We initially just wanted to get greater control over some supply problems.”

“But over time we have realised this is best way for us to safeguard our product, to help the industry, and to enable us to experiment and innovate at every stage of the production cycle.”

Monti (founded 1911) has gradually moved a lot of its production to India, but still makes some in Italy. It also includes both shirting production and garment manufacturing under its group.

The brand most consumers will see from the Monti group is S.I.C.Tess, which does often do some interesting and unique cloths.

Canclini (1925) is perhaps a third of the size of Albini in terms of production, and doesn’t own all of its looms - designing some to be made elsewhere.

It is located up near Como, with origins as a silk weaver rather than in cotton.

Canclini consistently has interesting designs on the casual side of the spectrum - such as my grey brushed cotton I had made up by Simone Abbarchi. (Other Abbarchi shirts in Canclini cloth shown above.)

It was also one of the first to offer a large part of its shirting collection as cut lengths to bespoke makers - which most of the other mills now also do.

It is both a mill and a merchant, weaving everything itself (although no one outside Albini has the same degree of vertical integration).

Alumo produces some very fine shirtings, but tends to be more classic in its collections and less experimental.

The first is Grandi & Rubinelli, which weaves from just 15 looms. It uses this size to help small brands looking for small runs and sampling.

Bigger mills such as Albini have increasingly moved towards this end of the market, by introducing smaller dyeing minimums, for example.

Then there is Solbiati, a linen specialist that is always worth looking at for that fibre. It was recently bought by Loro Piana.

And finally there is Carlo Riva (above).

Riva fabrics have done a good marketing job in recent decades, becoming known as the finest and the silkiest shirtings.

It largely uses vintage looms with lower speeds and narrower widths (75cm or 90cm rather than the standard 150cm). These do produce particularly smooth, silky cottons, although generally not to my taste - they have a tendency to look too fancy and wrinkle easily.

Riva cloths are also produced in smaller numbers by Bonfanti, which got part of the production when the original company was split in 1995.

And then the big competition comes from Turkey, China and India. But nothing that should really be considered by bespoke shirting customers.

On that point, I tend not to favour the superfine shirtings (such as the Giza 45 or Riva fabrics) because they are so dressy (and therefore only suited to the most formal outfits) and expensive. The issues are similar to superfine suitings.

But, the standard qualities of the mills mentioned here will generally be a step above cheaper cloths from Turkey or Asia, and worth buying over them.

For example, many ready-made denim shirts are made with single-ply rather than two-ply yarns. This can make them look more distressed or worn-in, but two-ply denims will get softer and more comfortable with time - rather like Scottish cashmere.

And having said that, I would conclude that while it’s worth buying this level of quality, I wouldn’t recommend selecting shirting cloths based on the brand or mill.

As with tailoring, it is the fundamentals of fibre, weave and finish that are important. The size and structure of the mill shouldn’t be a factor.  

Suiting mill articles:

• Italy's mills and merchants explained
• Huddersfield's mills and merchants explained

Shirting mill sites: 

• Albini: www.albinigroup.com
• Alumo: www.alumo.ch
• Bonfanti: bonfantitessuti.com
• Canclini: www.canclini.it
• Grandi & Rubinelli: www.tessitura-gr.it
• Monti: www.monti.it
• Somelos: www.somelos.pt

I'm pleased to say that the short-sleeved permutation of our highly popular Friday Polos are available again in the Permanent Style shop. 

It's been a year since these were available last - and like last time, only 100 have been made, so they're likely to sell quickly. 

The shirts are available in navy and light grey (again, like last time) and differ only from the regular Friday Polos in having short sleeves and a slightly shorter, squared-off bottom. This enables them to be worn pretty well either tucked in or tucked out. 

Friday Polos have been a perennial favourite on Permanent Style since they were launched in 2015, and frequently sell out within a few weeks of launch. 

The short-sleeve version has only been available once before, in July 2016. This year it has been produced earlier in the summer, in reaction to customer requests.

The shirt was created to work perfectly with tailoring, and therefore has a high, two-piece collar and a hand-attached sleeve. The short-sleeve version also has nice sartorial details like a simple turned-back finish to the sleeve - rather than the tight ribbing that other polos frequently use. 

They are all made in Naples, in a workshop overseen by bespoke shirtmaker Luca Avitabile. 

We did consider changing the Caccioppoli pique cotton to a more traditional, thinner version, but the samples lacked the body and feel of the Friday Polo we love so much.

I also tried last year's version on several hot days we've had in the UK so far this year, and didn't notice any significant difference from those samples.

Details:

• Two colours available: Navy and Light Grey (as pictured)
• Four sizes: Small, Medium, Large and Extra-large (see table below for dimensions)
• Price £150
• Available solely through Permanent Style
• Buy from the shop page here  

Shipping

• Postage is £9 in the UK, £12 in Europe and £16 anywhere else in the world
• Packages sent by FedEx from Naples (tracking number available on request)
• Returns and refunds available if the product is in a resellable condition, although we do not cover the cost of return postage 

Product details

• Mid-weight Caccioppoli pique-cotton fabric
• Hand cut and partly hand sewn, all in an atelier in Naples that makes for several big designer brands
• Cutting and work overseen by Luca Avitabile, bespoke shirtmaker
• Mother of pearl buttons
• Stand collar, like a shirt, to help it sit under tailored jackets
• Slots in the collar for shirt-stays
• Squared off tail and front, but a touch longer than most polos
• Shirts will not shrink when washed, but should expand slightly in the waist. Do wash cool and line dry

Sizing

• The shirts have a moderately slim fit
• I am wearing a medium and have a 38-inch chest
• If you are unsure about fit, we recommend comparing the measurements below to a polo shirt you currently own. They are in centimetres.

            Chest      Waist         Yoke        Body length

S           102             92                40                  70

M          106            96                 44                 71.5

L           116             106               48                  73.5

XL        124            114                50                   75

Photography: Jamie Ferguson

Tokyo is arguably the most varied, creative and stimulating retail experience in the world.

Not only is the city huge, but each area has a distinct feel and atmosphere, reflected in its shopping.

There are small, niche brands everywhere, as well as workshops and artisans. Many of those are unique to Japan, but even the designer brands up their game - often with striking stores and developments.

There are simply too many to list here, but these 15 should provide a good starting point for the sartorial shopper. And as with previous guides, we have focused on stores that are pretty much exclusive to Tokyo.

I recommend looking up the various stores on the map and grouping them into areas: the size of Tokyo means it could take a while to get from one area to another.

And once in an area, whether glitzy Ginza or funky Daikanyama, take the time to wander around and see what else pops out. You might wander into Tsutaya books, for example, and end up whiling away most of the afternoon.

It’s also worth saying that unlike London, most bespoke artisans are in small studios on the first or upper floors of buildings. They don’t have a storefront, as they usually don’t offer ready-to-wear, and you should try to make an appointment in advance.

1 Isetan

isetan.mistore.jp

Department stores in Japan do things very well, from the brand mix to the merchandising. But the thing that will set them apart for most readers is the presence of bespoke and made-to-measure clothing, from all around the world.

Isetan is worth seeing for the pure department-store experience, but also make sure to visit the made-to-measure area, and look out for any trunk shows going on at the time. Oh, and there’s a whole building just for menswear.

2 Strasburgo

strasburgo.co.jp

Strasburgo takes this a step further. With a more select range, and slightly more sartorial approach than the other department stores, it has several branches around the city.

I recommend the Minami Aoyama branch, for both the RTW selection and the Tailor’s Lab that was established here on the third floor a couple of years ago. There you will find a workshop housing artisans such as shirtmaker Masanori Yamagami and tailor Noriyuki Higashi (Sartoria Domenica). Trouser-maker Igarashi also started out here.

3 Beams F and International Gallery Beams

www.beams.co.jp

Beams is also a smaller, more curated store (or rather, series of stores) and is worth visiting for both the taste level and the comprehensiveness of great American and European brands.

It never fails to depress me how many great Italian brands, for example, don’t get stockists in London. New York is better, but Tokyo is the best. Both stores mentioned here are worth a visit: Beams F for more sartorial European brands, and International Gallery for more casual and designer clothing.

4 Tomorrowland

www.tomorrowland.jp

Compared to the stores above, Tomorrowland is more fashion-focused, but the men's side tends to be fairly classic and have some interesting variants on menswear staples.

It carries its own brand as well as range of others, including Acne Studios, Dries Van Noten and James Perse. It also opened a branch in New York’s Soho a couple of years ago, so is no longer exclusive to Japan.

5 Bryceland’s Co

www.brycelandsco.com

Bryceland’s Co is a niche menswear store opened in 2016 by Ethan Newton, one of the founders of cult menswear store The Armoury in Hong Kong. It mixes soft Italian tailoring with American workwear, with a good deal of vintage pieces to purchase as well.

Ethan has a very particular outlook on both design and fit, with jackets tending to be large in the sleeve and chest to give a classic, masculine look. Also worth highlighting are the Saint Crispin’s shoes and Ambrosi trousers. Tailor Anglofilo works out of the back.

6 Bespoke shoemakers: Yohei Fukuda, Marquess and others

yoheifukuda.tumblr.com

marquess-bespoke.blogspot.jp 

Japan has a huge number of bespoke shoemakers, perhaps more than the whole of Europe combined. They are largely young, working in small workshops, and good value for money - though the small size can mean there are long waiting times. Most importantly, their quality is amazing, often excelling those European masters they learnt from.

There are too many to try and recommend any specifically, but it is certainly worth trying to see Yohei Fukuda and Shoji Kawaguchi, the latter operating under the brand Marquess.

7 Sartoria Ciccio

www.ciccio.co.jp

There aren’t quite as many new tailors as shoemakers in Japan, but the quality of the work is still very high. They are largely influenced by the soft tailoring of the south of Italy, although some also trained in Florence or Milan. English influence is felt only in the older, more traditional tailors.

Noriyuki Ueki, who runs Sartoria Ciccio, trained in Naples and cuts a soft-shouldered suit with a Japanese level of precision. He moved into new, larger premises last year, where you can also see the shoes of Hidetaka Fukaya, a Japanese shoemaker who works out of Florence, Italy.

8 Igarashi and Osaku

igarashitrousers.jp

There are a couple of workshops making only bespoke trousers worth highlighting: Igarashi and Osaku. Of these two, Igarashi is in the centre of Tokyo and is therefore easier to visit. Osaku works from a small town outside of the city, and comes in for appointments.

There is a similar level of precision to their work as there is with the rest of Japanese craft, and a focus on details such as curved waistbands and neat pick stitching.

9 Ortus

www.ortus-bag.com

Of the bespoke menswear craftsmen listed here, leather master Naoyuki Komatsu probably has the most stellar reputation. He runs a small workshop called Ortus, which does 90% bespoke pieces such as day bags and wallets.

Everything is entirely hand sewn - in fact, Komatsu even goes as far as to make the brass hardware himself, crafting these additions small works of beauty in themselves. Trade mark designs include the ‘music bag’ - a briefcase made of one piece of leather with a brass bar securing the single handle.

10 Motoji

www.motoji.co.jp

Those wishing to see traditional Japanese craft in Tokyo should consider visiting Motoji, the most famous of the kimono makers in the city. Although none of the work is done on-site (fabric is produced all round Japan, and tailoring done outside the city), the shop, its bolts of cloth and finished kimonos are a virtual museum of craft in themselves.

Keita Motoji, son of founder Komei Motoji, is doing much to increase awareness of both Japanese kimono traditions and the weavers they use in different parts of the country.

11 Okura

www.hrm.co.jp/okura

Shifting our focus from tailoring to workwear, Okura is a great stop for anyone that loves indigo-dyed clothing.

The shop in the Daikanyama area of Tokyo is stocked floor to ceiling with indigo-dyed jackets, T-shirts, sweatshirts and kimonos, both from brands like Blue Blue Japan and cheaper variations not made domestically. Look out for pieces in sashiko cloth in particular.

12 UES

ues.co.jp

Around the corner from Okura is a tiny outlet for UES, a Japanese brand inspired by the lack of waste - of wearing, repairing and re-using - in traditional Japanese and American clothing. (The word ‘ues’ is a Japanese pronunciation of ‘waste’.)

Specialist pieces include western shirts, deck jackets, chinos and T-shirts made from a mix of standard organic cotton and Desi cotton. Make sure to take advice on sizing, as pieces can be either ‘shrink to fit’ or made to grow out with wear.

13 45 RPM

www.45rpm.jp

This is largely included for the beauty of the shop itself, although I’m sure there will be fans of 45 RPM’s denim and workwear that want to visit the mothership as well.

Located in a largely residential area of Tokyo, the store is up a small path that is easy to miss. At the end is a wooden Japanese home, raised off the ground, that you have to climb a steep set of stairs to access. Inside customers must take off their shoes (as in some other Japanese stores, or changing rooms), don slippers and browse the handful of beautiful rooms. There is both men’s and women’s clothing, mostly with an influence of denim and indigo dyes.

14 Ring Jacket

www.ringjacket.co.jp

Ring Jacket is the first Japanese tailoring brand to have achieved serious recognition around the world, largely thanks to the promotion of The Armoury in Hong Kong and New York. There are two stores in Tokyo, in Ginza and Aoyama, and it is also stocked in Isetan.

The style is Italian and soft-shouldered, although there is a range of models (a decent reason to visit one of the standalone stores rather than just Isetan) and they also offer accessories and leather goods, all with rather Italian styling as well. The tailoring is well made and good value, particularly in Japan compared to imported Italian brands.

15 Arts & Science

www.arts-science.com

Arts & Science is a small chain of stores in Tokyo founded by stylist Sonya Park. It is an interesting crossover between Japanese crafts and modern, minimal sensibilities, with accessories, menswear and womenswear.

Although the clothing offering is pretty small, it is a good place to find unusual (if expensive) homewares and accessories, in simple styles and colours. Look out for loose linen jackets, wooden boxes and leather pouches. We recommend both the Aoyama or Daikanyama branches.

Photography: Jamie Ferguson @jkf_man

It is the time of year for wedding preparations, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to share images of my friend Oliver's wedding last year.

He is wearing probably my favourite groomsman's outfit.

First, the colour. Pale grey is suitably serious - being plain and monotone - that it befits the formality of almost any wedding.

(And remember this is an important event, and therefore to at least some extent serious.)

But, the grey is pale enough that there is no chance it could be mistaken for a business suit. Mid-grey and darker, yes. Pale grey, no.

Second, the style. A double-breasted jacket is slightly unusual, but only slightly.

That means it's unlikely anyone else will be wearing the same thing; you will feel satisfyingly stylish, and sartorial; and you'll stand out without resorting to bright colours or a silly waistcoat.

A double-breasted pale-grey suit also stands a slight chance of being worn again - which is understandably a desire for most grooms, given it may be their most expensive piece of tailoring.

You're unlikely to wear it to the office, but it would be good for any other formal day event.

If you want something more office-suitable, make it a mid-grey, and/or single breasted.

Third, the shirt. Only white will do really, being more formal than blue or any pattern.

But take the opportunity to wear one with double cuffs, so you can have cufflinks. There may even be an old family pair that would bring a sense of tradition.

Fourth, the tie. A small black-and-white check is a traditional pattern for a wedding tie, for formal for similar reasons to the rest of this outfit: it is monotone and discreet.

The style is often called a Macclesfield tie (the British home of silk).

The shoes have to be black oxford - the most formal colour, and the most formal style. 

You could get away with a very dark brown, if black shoes are just too office-y, but black suits the refined elegance best.

Plus a white-linen handkerchief. 

The only thing I'd personally change from Oliver's outfit is a smaller boutonniere, inserted through the buttonhole.

But that can be specific to the event: remember, this is no way your day; it is your bride's. You are merely elegant support, which is another reason a subtle and refined outfit works so well.

The suit, by the way, was made bespoke by Whitcomb & Shaftesbury. Smith Woollens, Gilt Edge range (SW 6114), 8/9 oz pure merino. 

Double-breasted jackets are so hard to fit well off the rack, and so are another reason to have one made for a wedding.

This also fits beautifully - snug at the neck and through the top of the back, smooth drape through the chest, and a lovely pitch on the sleeve. 

The tie was from Tom Ford, shirt from Eton, and shoes from Foster and Son (ready to wear). 

I'd recommend it to grooms everywhere. 

Photography: Graham Warrellow

During an event in Brussels last year I met the young glasses-maker Ludovic Elens, who runs Lunetier Ludovic just off Place du Sablon.

Ludovic is worth highlighting for many reasons, but most obviously because he is the only bespoke glasses-maker in Belgium, and has a particularly in-depth consultation and creation process.

Ludovic’s first job was in a high-street glasses shop, but he disliked it so much they asked him to leave. “It was all about sales numbers, margins and volume,” Ludovic remembers.

Disheartened, he went abroad, eventually spending a year living in Togo before he returned home.

Again, he worked in a glasses shop - but this time at designer Hoet, which also did custom frames.

“It was demi-mesure, I guess. We took existing designs and tweaked the width, the height etc,” he says. “We used a factory in Germany that could do it quite efficiently.”

Ludovic asked his boss whether there was a glasses maker in Belgium they could use for full bespoke, but was told there wasn't one. He hunted around for a while, but couldn't find one.

Ludovic eventually decided to take time off and learn the art in Jura - the area of France that is the historic home of spectacle makers. (‘Lunetier’ is such a better word than 'glasses maker'. I do wish there were an English equivalent…)

There, he trained in an informal school and moved between workshops, learning both how to make different types of frames and how to fit them to the face.

“These old men make for so many of the top French brands, and the have gold in their fingers - they really do,” says Ludovic.

“They know so much, so many little techniques, that just aren’t appreciated today.”

Traditionally, the French houses encouraged makers not to share knowledge. “But now they’re all 60 or 65 and don’t care any more - they want to pass it on,” says Ludovic.

In January 2015, Ludovic quit his job and began a business plan for his own bespoke business.

In September 2015 it opened (shown above) and the business plan quickly went out of the window.

“I had estimated that we would make one pair of bespoke a month, with the majority of the business being ready-made,” he says. “But I was out by a factor of 10 - we made 120 bespoke pairs in our first year.”

The volume of work has led to Ludovic taking on an employee just for bespoke, and for the ready-made taking a bit of a back seat.

“I also bought ready-made glasses at the start that were probably a little too cheap, not special enough,” he admits. “I’m slowly improving that, bringing in some interesting brands.”

I can attest to the latter point, having picked up a beautiful pair of brown-and-gold metal frames from Japanese brand Eyevan when I visited Ludovic last.

I have not experienced Ludovic’s bespoke process, but it sounds more involved that any I have tried elsewhere. (I have tried Tom Davies, Maison Bourgeat, Cubitts and General Eyewear.)

First there is the normal, initial consultation, where Ludovic and the customer discuss lifestyle, models of glasses, and measurements are taken.

“How long this takes really depends on the customer,” he says. “I had one customer, an architect, who wanted to talk about anything and everything - that appointment took four hours. Others are more happy to follow my lead.”

At the second appointment, Ludovic has six options to present to the customer. These have been sketched by hand, scanned into a CAD machine, and then printed onto cardboard.

Once one is selected, a rough cut is made of the frame, and the customer comes in for a third appointment - downstairs in the basement workshop.

“This is normally their favourite stage,” Ludovic says. “We have the rough frame and we talk about how it will be finished, the lines, the little details. And of course the fitting is checked again.”

My experience of having glasses made is that it is safer to start with an existing model and refine it - the margin for error is so small on glasses and it is very difficult to imagine or describe what you want.

But I’ve never been through as involved a process as Ludovic’s, and certainly seeing more options helps.

Ludovic’s prices also reflect that process - acetate starts at €800 and buffalo horn €1500, compared to General Eyewear (the most recently reviewed service) at £450 for acetate.

Perhaps the latter would suit someone that wants fewer changes, as I often do, while Ludovic is particularly good for someone looking to be as creative as possible.

On that point, Ludovic once made a pair for a man with one ear. You can see the resulting design on his blog here.  

He also designs his own rivets (they can have letters cut into them…) and is the owner of a collection of cabinetry wood going back three generations - which he glues into multiple layers to make wooden frames (from €2500).

He also went back to France to learn how to make metal frames last year (part of the process requires heavy machinery, and has therefore to be done off site), and he restores silver frames he finds in the Sablon market. 

Ludovic is considering starting trunk shows, and has worked with customers abroad - doing appointments by video. But these are never quite as good as meeting in person.

If you have any interest in glasses, it’s worth stopping by if you're in Brussels.

Photography: Permanent Style and Lunetier Ludovic, except those watermarked by Lillo Mendola

Last night was the (soft) opening of Anglo-Italian, the new shop in London being run by ex-Armoury buddies Jake Grantham and Alex Pirounis.

It’s been a long time coming. Various events have slowed things down, and even last night the mirrors were going up a few minutes before everyone arrived.

The shop will officially open to the public in June. But this was a first chance for friends and family to get a look at what Jake and Alex have put together.

The focus - in the charming shop off Marylebone High Street - is Italian tailoring and things to wear with it.

The jackets and suits are all made in Naples, with soft shoulders and a tiny hint of rope in the shoulder. They have a 3-roll-2 button configuration, patch pockets, and a generous lapel.

There is lots of handwork: hand-fixed collar, hand-sewn buttonholes, hand-attached lining, and most usefully of all, a hand-padded lapel (though not chest). All have a full, floating canvas.

The plan is to offer a lot of made-to-measure tailoring, with try-on samples of the various sizes - and here there will be two styles of shoulder, one roped and one Neapolitan-style shirtsleeve.

The price is good given the amount of handwork: around £990 for a jacket, £1300 for a suit, with a small uplift for made to measure.

The two themes of tailoring and customisation extend into the casual clothing.

The stand-out piece here is a suede bomber jacket, available ready-to-wear in tan and dark brown.

Cut in an aviator style similar to the Valstar, its distinctive feature is a high collar of ribbing that can be flipped up or down - the latter being warmed and having a lot more swagger.

These will be available made to order in seven different suedes, zip or button front, with simple changes to the pattern like body length and sleeve length.

There is also a navy-nylon field jacket, to wear over the tailoring, a range of odd trousers, to wear with the bombers or the tailoring, and a selection of crewneck knitwear.

Throughout, the aesthetic is relaxed and muted. The jackets are in faded checks and the trousers come in soft browns and greens; the ties and scarves too are muted and versatile.

As Jake puts it, “like chucking talcum powder over the normal bright colours of summer”.

This aesthetic carries across into the jeans - perhaps the most interesting category of the lot.

Made in Kyoto, they have a relatively high rise and a subtle taper. Unusually, Jake and Alex were able to experiment with their own washes - and that is the emphasis here, with just one fit but three current washes, and more to come.

As much as I love raw denim, and would pretty much always prefer it, you can never get the same colours as the lightest fades here. And they are useful, particularly in the summer.

The shop is still work in progress. The shirts haven’t come in from Germany yet, the basement isn’t done, and nothing has been completely styled out as Jake and Alex will want.

But Anglo-Italian already has a nice vibe: a 1930s Italian feel that can be seen in the signage, the decoration and (last night) the catering of the wonderful Bar Termini.

It is fantastic to have another independent menswear store in London, doing well-considered, quality clothing, that is highly wearable and relevant to a modern man.

I wish Jake and Alex all the best, and look forward to seeing the shop develop.

This week, Thursday June 1st to Saturday 3rd, both Agyesh of Stoffa and Marcus Malmborg for Eidos will be back in London.

I’ve written previously about the wonderful colours and design sense of Stoffa, but not about Mr Malmborg (above).

Marcus runs a showroom in Stockholm that offers clothing from Eidos, AW Bauer shirts and Christian Kimber shoes, as well as hosting Stoffa’s trunk shows.

He has worked in menswear for a while, but his particular strength is as a personal consultant and stylist - so the showroom, which is private and gives a focus on customer service, suits him well.

In London (this is his third visit), Marcus focuses on made-to-measure Eidos tailoring.

He is currently the only one that can offer this worldwide, so there is a genuine difference from the Eidos pieces a London reader might have seen at Trunk, or a US reader at Barney’s, Gentry or No Man Walks Alone.

Eidos, for those not familiar with the brand, is part of Neapolitan brand Isaia but the brainchild of Antonio Ciongoli - a wonderfully talented New Yorker and ex-Ralph Lauren designer whose family were from the Naples region.

For the full background, check out Jeremy’s interview with Antonio on Blamo!

Although Eidos’s collections have varied since it was launched in Autumn/Winter 2013, the theme has been clothing that attempts to bridge sportswear and tailoring - and all made in Italy.

So the tailoring tends to use interesting, more casual fabrics and be relatively unstructured.

The trousers might be high-waisted and side-tabbed, but they will use a biscuit-coloured, slubby linen rather than a traditional, hard-pressed cream.

As Marcus is doing made to measure, he can of course offer a range of materials.

But they tend to be of this modern Eidos aesthetic; even the large presence of Isaia-designed cloths are the more subdued end of that sometimes hyper-coloured brand.

You can see that with the range of ready-to-wear Eidos suits that Marcus has on his site: brown tropical wool and slubby tan, plus three shades of mid-blue/grey. Conservative offices are not the target market.

Marcus brings try-on garments to the trunk shows, and takes measurements from those as well as the individual. (We are making a pair of linen trousers currently - shown above.)

There are two models of jacket:

• Tenero: Soft shouldered, and cut quite slim
• Ciro: A little more padding in the shoulder, extended shoulder, broader lapel

• UAB: Mid-rise
• Sal: High rise (on the natural waist)
• Lorenzo: Same as Sal, but with double inverted pleats

The customer can then mix-and-match between the style they want in the jacket and in the trouser.

Tuxedos have been particularly popular with Marcus’s customers in Sweden, and when I saw him in London he had several on display.

These are all made in barathea cloths, and tend to be in the Ciro style.

I cannot comment on anything regarding the fit of the Eidos MTM yet, but the quality is good for the price - and the key selling point will be Antonio’s modern aesthetic, which there is precious little to compete with in London.

Suits start at £1380, jackets at £1130 and trousers at £340.

Photography: Jamie Ferguson @jkf_man

It's hard not to feel that the future of the suit lies in more practical cloths than the fine worsteds of the past 30 years.

We may move towards a situation where these cloths will be reserved for formal wear, while everyday suits and jackets are made in more hardy tweeds and woollens - suited both functionally and aesthetically to modern lifestyles.

You can see this today in mills pushing more ‘performance’ materials, and in the collections of people like Ethan Newton at Bryceland’s with its super-heavy hopsacks.

And it is, of course, a return to more traditional materials of suits in the first half of the twentieth century. When a labouring man might only have one or two suits, and they had to last.

It was with these ideas in mind that I commissioned this suit last year in green/grey covert cloth from Sartoria Vergallo.

Covert is a steeply woven twill cloth made from a tightly spun yarn. It is mostly associated with the classic covert coat, which is top-coat length, with a fly front and short lapel. 

The density of the cloth makes it more wind and water resistant than other weaves, and generally harder wearing. 

This covert from Vitale Barberis Canonico via Drapers is not coat weight, at 14oz/440 grams. But it is heavier than most suit cloths, and the weave will make it pretty robust.

Certainly better for cycling around town on a Boris Bike than any fine worsted.

The other reason I was interested in covert cloths was the colour mixes.

Coverts are usually light brown or dark green - fawn or olive - but have at least two colours in the mix, sometimes three.

The proportions of those can make for some very different effects.

This one (8743 in the Salt and Pepper & Covercoat bunch) was picked to be a dark brown/green combination, but it has turned out more green than expected - and that a rather greyed green.

That suits me fine, as it looks rather more urban and might even be wearable in the office. But it should serve as a warning to be careful if picking similar covert cloths from bunches.

I used Gianni from Sartoria Vergallo because he is always interested in new ideas (see my adjustable half-belt loden coat, and vintage-silk houndstooth with leather undercollar) and because is very good value: two-piece suits start at €2200 still, including VAT.

He does a very natural shoulder option too, which I chose here. Not really Neapolitan, but very soft in the shoulder padding and dropping off immediately down the sleeve.

The finishing isn’t of the same level of other top tailors - as can be seen in the lapel buttonhole above - but still decent.

This is actually part of a three-piece suit, as I hope to also wear the waistcoat alone with the trousers (but not with the jacket).

That waistcoat has a self back and central box pleat, which I will show separately at some point.

The jacket may also be casual enough - thanks to its rough material - to be worn on its own.

In the images here I’ve combined the suit with a rather striking (and perhaps more evening-y) combination of grey brushed-cotton shirt and charcoal club-stripe tie. (From Luca Avitabile and Ralph Lauren respectively.)

Readers will be familiar with my liking for grey shirts, given how non-traditional and non-corporate they normally appear.

But a olive covert works equally well with blue shirts, and rather more traditional silk ties.

If the jacket were single breasted, it might even be a nice option for a more casual office - clearly not a business suit, but a big step up from chinos as well.

Dark-brown alligator shoes from Gaziano & Girling.

Photography by Jamie Ferguson @jkf_man

Friend and author Bruce Boyer recently penned a startlingly ambitious piece on the importance of clothing, for US Catholic journal First Things. 

I have obtained permission to reproduce a section of it here. 

It argues that caring about the way we dress, with consideration of the people and events around us, is no less than necessary for an appreciation of life.

And further, that a society which does not will never be one capable of humility or equality. 

Whether you agree or not, it makes some powerful and eloquent arguments.

Dress up

By G. Bruce Boyer

In the early years of the nineteenth century there had been what fashion his­torians have called the “Great Masculine Renunciation” in Western male dress, as men turned their collective backs on all the silks and satins, buckled shoes and powdered wigs of court dress, and assumed the Victorian black worsted suit and cotton shirt of bourgeois middle-class business attire and propriety.

The theory, first popularized in 1930 by the psychologist J. C. Flügel, attempted to account for the radical shift that men made to more sober attire after 1800, and the shift is usually seen as an expression of the triumph of the middle class, ­enlarging democracy, and the Industrial Revolution.

A more ornate and chivalric ideal was replaced by the modest masculinity of a bourgeois gentleman in a democratic society. A gentleman’s clothes became more sober and standardized, his manners more reserved and proper. The very idea of a “gentleman” seems stuck in the nineteenth century.

At the end of the twentieth century, dress underwent another great change; call it the “Tailored Renunciation” or the “Casual Revolution.”

Underlying it is not the triumph of one class but rather the loss among all classes of a sense of occasion. 

By “occasion” I mean an event out of the ordinary, a function other than our daily lives, an experience for which we take special care and preparation, at which we act and speak and comport ourselves ­differently—events which could be called ritualistic in matters of ­propriety and appearance.

There used to be many of these events, social rituals that filled our non-working lives: weddings and funerals, going to church, restaurants, parties, and theaters.

Meeting important people of various stripes, people who had greater social standing than we did, was an occasion for our parents and grandparents to dress up, and that included going to the doctor’s office when you were sick, because the doctor was thought to be an important person worthy and deserving of that outward sign of respect.

Respect for the event and those in attendance was what made the occasion special.

It can now be said that this sort of an outward sign or almost any of the older outward signs of ritual are considered pure snobbery. After all, wasn’t the Edwardian Age the last time the really rich could hope to think that showing off their wealth in public display gave the poor a nice bit of entertainment and ray of sunshine in their drab lives? 

But then, if these outward signs are socially discouraged today, what makes an occasion special? And how do we know? Can an event be an occasion if there’s no attempt to outwardly manifest it? ­

Ritualized behavior of one sort or another may be considered an outward sign of our inward disposition. But how complete can this be if it is not expressed in our appearance? We need not agree with Nicolás Gómez-Dávila’s claim that evening dress is the first step toward civilization to think that something has gone amiss.

Is it possible to believe that when we now wear polo shirts, khakis, and hyper-designed athletic shoes to weddings, funerals, and graduations, it’s a sign that we have forgotten how to enjoy the events by which we measure life?

...Bruce concludes: 

Occasions are shared public realities, rituals in which we recognize something other than private expression.

C. S. Lewis thought about this idea of occasion in terms of solemnity.

For Lewis, solemnity is a public joyous propriety in which we humbly give up our private selves to the ritual: “The modern habit of doing ceremonial things unceremoniously is no proof of humility.” Wearing one’s Sunday best, as much as kneeling, was a visible sign of a humble heart. 

If Lewis is right that a sense of occasion encourages humility, we should not be surprised to find that a society that no longer wants to dress up also gives more leeway to the strong than it does support to the weak.

The full piece, available here, also includes a nice potted history of casualisation during the past century, and is worth a read.

Photograph: Myself and John Happ of Alden, shoes side by side. By Jamie Ferguson @jkf_man

First off, I would like to apologise to readers that this review has taken so long. There has simply been so much going on that it has been hard to find the time to prioritise it. 

Now, to Charvet.

I had this shirt made last year, following two visits to Paris - one to be measured, and one for a fitting. 

It was made in a fine cotton with a subtly shaded, closely patterned blue stripe.

The cloth is exclusive to Charvet, as most of the hundreds of bolts in the shop are, and this is undoubtedly one of the big selling points of the house. 

You have to really care about your shirtings to want something that none of the standard books, offered by most shirtmakers, have available; but if you are one of those people, few places in the world compare to Charvet. 

The staff, particularly Jean-Claude Colban himself, are also extremely knowledgeable, and can help the shirting obsessive get deep into shades of blue and casts of white.

There is a clear attraction, then, in the materials and in the Place Vendome shop itself, which is one of the last great bastions of traditional menswear. 

Charvet are also unusual in not requiring a minimum order for bespoke shirts - many require three, four or even six shirts the first time, to effectively cover the cost of developing the customer's pattern. 

But beyond these points - and a last mention of how much I have appreciated the hospitality of Jean-Claude himself - it is hard to be that positive about the shirt. Particularly given the price point. 

The fitting process at Charvet was more involved than any I have experienced elsewhere - as mentioned in my first post.

There was a fitting shirt in a cheap cotton, but rather than just pinning the changes on it or marking them on in pen (as others have done), the cutter used shears to cut away at the cloth, slicing sections and taping them back together. 

This made it much easier to adjust the balance of the shirt - making sure the back and front were sitting at the same length. 

And there is a noticeable difference in the fit of the final result. The balance is probably better than any other first shirt I've had from a bespoke maker. 

But while the fit is very good, it's not perfect. The shoulders could do with being raised up a little, and being pushed back to avoid pulling slightly at the neck. 

(Please don't try to read anything as regards fit into these photographs; if photos of tailoring can be misleading, those of shirts always are.)

The area the shirt particularly suffers is make.

There is no handwork involved, either in terms of functional aspects (attaching collar, attaching sleeve) or aesthetic ones (buttonholes, attaching buttons). 

Aesthetic handwork is easy to dismiss - it is there to look pretty, and nothing else - but functional ones are harder.

Attaching a collar in the round doesn't make a lot of difference (and certainly less than equivalent handwork on a bespoke shoe or suit) but it does make some.

The reason Charvet shirts don't have any handwork, of course, is that the shirtmaking tradition is more akin to the English one than the Italian, where everything is about the cutter and the fit, rather than the make. English bespoke shirts usually don't have any handwork either. 

Lastly, I have some issues with the style.

We talked through many different spread-collar options - widths of spread, length of point, height of band - before settling on this one. Jean-Claude and his assistant suggested in suited the proportions of my face.

Having worn it several times, and considered their points, I believe it's a good option but I prefer my normal style with a higher band. You can see in the image above the height of the band, which is about 3mm smaller than my normal height. 

(Of course, I could have chosen anything I wanted, but in order to create a useful review I usually go with whatever the tailor/cutter/maker suggests. Most men won't have used several shirtmakers and have firm opinions on what suits them, so the maker's advice is important.)

Again like English shirtmakers, Charvet shirts usually have floating linings in the collar and cuffs. 

I tend to prefer the light fusing of Italian collars, because they are cleaner, no less comfortable, and adapt to how they are worn - a spread collar like this would roll around the collar of a jacket, for instance, and therefore look attractive even without a tie. 

Jean-Claude suggested I try the lightest of their floating linings. But if anything that was the worst of both worlds: it still had the disadvantages mentioned above but with a softer, less clean finish as well. 

Finally, the price. 

A Charvet bespoke shirt starts at €580 (made to measure €460). 

Not only is that objectively a lot of money, but it is more than all the English competitors, and a lot more than the Italians I usually cover. 

At the top end, a D'Avino shirt costs €350 (though with a minimum first order of three) and is simply a work of art in terms of the handwork involved. 

Below that, Luca Avitabile is around €250 and Simone Abbarchi €150. All different services, all good value for what they offer. 

Unfortunately, as much as I love Charvet and hope their Place Vendome shop is there forever, it's hard to say that about this shirt.

Photography: Jamie Ferguson @jkf_man

Shirt worn with navy-tweed jacket and grey Crispaire trousers from The Disguisery. Review of them coming soon.

This feature is the first in what will become a series on Permanent Style, in which we analyse the seasonal offerings of all the top menswear brands, and pick out our favourite ten pieces.

As ever on Permanent Style, there is nothing commercial about the Top 10.

No one can pay to be featured, there is no other way to be placed on the list, to feature a particular product, or to be considered in the first place.

It’s sad that we have to state that, but given the situation with online content today, I think we do.

The first installment is a list of our Top 10 clothing pieces for Summer this year. It is just clothing - no shoes, hats or sunglasses.

In compiling the list, we visited over 30 stores in London, and considered online offerings from anyone that shipped to the UK.

(Though of course, given the international nature of modern retail, most of these pieces are available through e-commerce to anyone, anywhere.)

We placed particular value on those things Permanent Style readers have come to value highest: long-lasting style, quality, and value for money.

But we also threw our net wide, considering both designer brands (Zegna, Canali, Tom Ford etc) and high-street names (Hackett, Aquascutum, Jaeger etc) in order to highlight things that make up for in originality or value (designers and high street, respectively), what they might perhaps lack in value or quality.

The fact that most of the winners are not from these brands only highlights how well our favourites are doing on all three counts.

Of those brands, two stood out in particular: Drake’s and Private White VC.

Drake’s has now emerged as a full-look retailer, offering everything from coats to knitwear, and doing most of it very well. They therefore had strong contenders in many areas.

Private White is similar, but particularly stands out for the range of its product - every coat for every occasion, in every material. Having your own factory helps there.

Private White are also good at curating partner brands - like Inis Meain, Bennett Winch, John Smedley - and picking pieces that suit the PWVC aesthetic.

A surprise winner was Jigsaw, whose menswear collection is not that well known, but is worth a look, particularly for basics.

We found solid versions of many modern-menswear staples (knitted blazers, capri-collar shirts, denim jackets and henleys) at very good prices. 

And finally a word should be said for Sunspel, whom we consistently rate but were unlucky to miss out in a few areas (shorts, lightweight jackets), pipped by perhaps more specialist brands.

1. Anderson & Sheppard silk Breton sweater

£265

Summer knitwear is an interesting and practical category.

Interesting because it involves adapting standard menswear designs to new fibres - such as linen and cotton - and practical because it is a way to dress up shorts in the summer without overheating.

It’s unusual for such pieces to be made in silk, but this Breton-style striped sweater from Anderson & Sheppard is beautiful, has no silky sheen, and doesn’t lose its shape as cotton and linen are wont to do.

I bought one last year and have worn it regularly - particularly with shorts in the summer. The Haberdashery also does cotton versions (in a greater number of patterns).

If you like unusual materials for summer knits/T-shirts, also check out the paper (yes, paper) shirt  (£175) from Kaptain Sunshine on No Man Walks Alone. The material is both comfortable and gives the shirt a unique stiffness to the way it drapes.

2. RRL shawl-collar cotton sweater

£345

RRL is a great but often overlooked option for knitwear. One nice aspect of their summer pieces  is that the cotton is often tightly knitted - in common with the vintage pieces that inspire it - and this stops it being loose and shapeless.

This shawl-collar style was our favourite of the heavier cotton knitwear we tried, for its subtle blue melange, slightly slim cut, and double buttons to roll up and fasten the neck.

Private White’s pieces from Inis Meain also deserve a mention here, particularly the ‘sunray’ sweater in navy (£195), which has a beautiful knit detail along each shoulder. PWVC consistently pick out the best pieces from the artisan Irish knitter.

3. Jigsaw cotton Milano trucker jacket

£149

As mentioned earlier, Jigsaw offers some well-made versions of several menswear standards.

The most useful knitted piece is its Milano blazer - a piece of knitted merino cut like a single-breasted jacket. Several other brands have versions, and they are great for the guy who wants something dressier than a sweater but just as comfortable.

More summery, however, is the brand’s ‘trucker’ jacket, which is cut like a shirt with a short collar, and (unusually) a raglan sleeve. It is also in cotton rather than wool.

On our travels around Mayfair we also liked the simple cotton knitwear at Dunhill (£150). There is a range of crewnecks in a sweatshirt style, nicely fitted, in a lovely fine cotton. Bottle-green, navy and grey.

4. Drake’s linen and linen/cotton trousers

£235 and £185

Drake’s trousers have become a staple in recent seasons, and the availability of both linen formal trousers and garment-dyed linen/cotton ones this summer really sets them apart.

The more formal ones (also part of suits) have side tabs, which the cotton/linen chinos have belt loops.

Both have unfinished bottoms to be taken up to length by the store. Quite a high rise, quite narrow in the thigh. My personal favourite is the blue cotton/linen.

A strong runner up for trousers was Thom Sweeney, which has a few pairs in lovely muted colours. Flat fronted, sharply tapered. Also one cream pair in a slightly wider leg and double pleats. Rather more expensive though (£395).

5. Zanone ice-cotton polo

£165

Zanone (part of the Slowear group) does great summer polos in what it calls its ‘ice cotton’.

I’ve worn them for the past two years, and they are incredibly lightweight and cool - indeed sometimes actually cold, if you make the mistake of wearing them for extra warmth on a cool evening.

Available at Trunk Clothiers in the collared style I prefer (in blue, green and white), as well as in the Slowear store on Marylebone High Street in a button-through style.

Also worth a mention in super-lightweight knitwear is the linen pieces from Massimo Alba. The range on Mr Porter includes linen/silk sweaters and my personal favourite, a linen grandad-collar long-sleeve T-shirt.

6. Orlebar Brown linen polo-shirt

£125

Much as I love our Friday Polos, I constantly try other brands’ versions. I’ve worn Orlebar Brown ones for years, and still wear them consistently for more casual occasions (eg beach) or plain sport (tennis).

This season they have linen versions, in navy and cream, which are lightweight and have a nice slubby texture - but aren’t transparent at all. I rather like the long-sleeved navy, often with the cuffs pushed back.

Elsewhere for linen, if you want a casual summer shirt then I’d recommend Luca Faloni’s range. As with his cashmere knitwear, they are well made and have a great range of colours. The Forte collection (£115) is shorter and designed to only be worn untucked.

7. The Armoury field jacket

$595

Everyone does a field jacket these days. You can see the logic: it’s lightweight, a classic style, and has enough pockets to accommodate everything a tailored man normally carries with him.

We tried many different versions on our trip, from Private White, Thom Sweeney, Drake’s and others. But our favourite was the Armoury version, made for them by Ascot Chang.

It’s very simple, with no drawstrings or lining, but has the nice stylistic details of a centre-back pleat and buttoned tabs at the waist. The linen is also fantastically stiff, which is what you need for such a jacket to retain any shape. In tobacco and navy.

A related theme is linen overshirts, which again everyone has. These are fantastically useful in warm weather, either over a shirt or a T-shirt.

Both Drake’s and Thom Sweeney versions are great. The latter has a slightly finer make, and a higher price (£235 rather than £155). They both come in the same colours (navy and green) and benefit from having two chest pockets but no hip pockets (something I should have done with my Budd bespoke overshirt).

8. Private White Harrington jacket

£375 to £1450

When it comes to more casual summer jackets, it’s hard to argue with the range at Private White.

The Ventile Harrington jackets come in seven different colours; the motorcycle Rain Rider style comes in suede, ventile and nylon; and there’s a moleskin bomber which is surprisingly summery and lightweight. All have nice little details like hidden ribbed cuffs, as well as the lovely and distinctive copper hardware.

The alternative - and probably more suited to the classically dressed reader - is the Valstar jacket in suede, with its button front and blouson shape. Fenwick’s has olive and sand colours, while Drake’s has it in tan (£745).

9. Udeshi linen work jacket (Duffle Corto)

£395

Worthy of mention in this list of summer jackets in the ‘Duffle Corto’ work jacket offered by Oscar Udeshi.

Inspired by a vintage piece, this is an unstructured jacket with a shawl collar, tabbed closure across four buttons (one at the throat) and patch pockets. The breast pocket has a nice ‘barchetta’ curve.

Some of the styles are too flashy for me, but the natural linen (pictured) is beautiful. It can also be altered and made to measure in-house (as with most of Udeshi’s offerings).

10. Shorts: Ralph Lauren, Rubinacci, Sunspel, Jigsaw

£65 to £225

I’ve always found shorts a difficult category, largely because modern versions tend to be low in the rise and almost comically narrow in the thigh.

We tried several brands on our tour and decided to recommend a few, with the styles largely varying in terms of length of leg, width of leg, and formal/informal style.

Ralph Lauren has the greatest range of styles and should be recommended purely on that basis. Across Polo and Purple Label there are some classic fits in washed styles, and more unusual styles/fibres, such as the Purple Label silk options.

Sunspel has a solid option, though slightly longer in the leg than I prefer (it is on the knee rather than just above it). Rubinacci’s gurhka-style shorts are nice, if expensive (as are Eidos ones, though they come up very small). And again, Jigsaw is worth a look for a solid, basic option.

Top, bottom and header images from Drake's

Readers will be familiar with how excited I was about trying Stoffa - the made-to-measure company run by ex-Isaia man Agyesh Madan - now he is doing trunk shows in London. 

Agyesh's aesthetic is beautiful, simple and modern, with jackets and trousers that all work well together and feel contemporary yet subtle.

Perfect for a man that cares about elegance but wants something other than tailoring. 

For more on the Stoffa range, and particularly colour combinations, see my previous post here. 

The purpose of this post, then, is to review the navy-suede jacket I bought from Agyesh on his first visit. 

As he brings a large range of models, I was already familiar with the quality of the lambskin suede (very good), of the hardware (nice, but modern not traditional) and the finishing (also very good). 

The questions, therefore, were really just how good the fit was on the jacket I received, and my observations on wearing the style. 

On fit, the jacket was perfect. Close but not tight on the shoulders, a nice line through the waist, good length on the hips, and sleeves perfect also. 

When something is perfect like this, my feeling is almost of calm, rather than excitement. Relief, perhaps, that the piece I was looking forward to doesn't have any issues, won't annoy me, won't have to go back for changes. 

It feels, perhaps most strongly, that this is how made-to-order garments should be.

It's not bespoke, it's not a blank canvas, so the small changes we are making should be executed perfectly. 

It was also useful to hear Agyesh's experiences around fit, and therefore what he recommends. The shoulders are likely to give a little, for example, being soft suede and put under a certain amount of pressure. But the waist is unlikely to. 

Finally, this is not the end of the fit process. Agyesh positively encourages people to come back in a few months' time and look at the fit all over again. 

There are a couple of make points on the make that we discussed. 

One is the lining, which is a fine cotton in both the body and arms. This is wonderfully comfortable over a T-shirt, but is difficult to get on over a shirt. 

Agyesh said they had looked at many different, silkier options (which would mostly be synthetics) but didn't have anything they really liked aesthetically, would be just as comfortable, and would wear well. 

I see his point, and it certainly suits the polo shirts he often wears his with; but personally I would go for a silk lining, or only silk in the sleeves. 

The other point was the hardware, which is a brushed, grey metal. This feels more modern than most aviators and bomber jackets we cover here on Permanent Style, and may also be more to the taste of many guys. But if I could choose I would probably prefer brass. 

There were far more manufacturing points that I absolutely love, however. 

One is the collar, which is oversized, has a properly collar stand, and a reinforced seam in the back.

These combine to create a collar which stays up, yet folds elegantly down on the points in the front. 

Another is the hip pockets, which are made of one piece of suede curving over the top and inside. (The body of the pocket, not the flap.)

It's a small thing, but this rolled finish means you appreciate the softness of the suede every time you put your hands in the tops. 

My last thought on the style - and one that will likely evolve over time - is whether the flight-jacket cut suits someone of my build. 

The cut is relatively short, close on the shoulders, and adds bulk to the waist with the oversized, bellows-style pockets. 

This has the effect of making the waist look bigger and the shoulders smaller - the opposite proportions of tailoring.

Even a traditional blouson is more similar to tailoring, as it sits tight and high on the waist, before ballooning in the chest and upper body. 

I think the Stoffa flight-jacket cut works well on Agyesh, and other friends I've seen that are shorter. But I'm slightly unsure of it on me. 

However, the double zip on the jacket does allow one to play with these proportions: creating a single-point waist as a jacket would have, or a long line; changing the length of that line and moving it up or down the body. 

So there are plenty of possibilities there. 

Oh, and I'd also highly recommend navy as a colour for a suede jacket.

Tan and dark-brown are far more common, but in an age when men might wear something like this to the office, navy is smarter and almost as versatile.

Stoffa will be back in London in around five weeks. Keep an eye on the Trunk Shows page for details. 

The jacket cost $1500. It would be less in cotton or linen (which both now come with half linings).

Photos by Karl-Edwin Guerre of Guerrisms. 

This is an update on availability of our book The Style Guide - with the sweet sweetener of an extract from the Accessories chapter. 

So far, The Style Guide has sold just over 1000 copies, out of a total run of 2000. So they're going pretty fast - you can buy online now in the Shop section of the website.

Since our initial launch, the number of shops carrying the book around the world has also increased. Eight have been added:

• Double Monk, in Melbourne and Sydney
• Crane Brothers, in Auckland and Wellington
• Decorum, in Bangkok
• Maison Chato Lufsen, online France
• The Hanger Project, online US
• He Spoke Style, online US

The following have also re-stocked in that time: The Armoury New York, Skoaktiebolaget, Pauw Mannen and Shibumi. See the bottom of this post for a full list of stockists. 

In fact, Shibumi in Florence just re-stocked this week, so anyone travelling to Pitti Uomo next week can pick up a copy at the Shibumi showroom.

In other news, we will be hosting a dinner in London in a couple of weeks, for many of the stars of the Guide. We will produce a film as part of it, around the theme of men's style, so look out for that. 

And on the subject of the stylish stars of the book, here are three of my favourites from the Accessories chapter, along with my notes on the things I find instructional about each.

Go big

Francesco Maglia

• So much colour – strong colour – with pattern and texture, and yet to a certain extent it balances.
• Shirt, jacket and handkerchief all have big patterns. Tie and waistcoat are strong plain colours.
• Even the handle of the umbrella is something to draw the eye.

Orange as accent

Fabio Attanasio

• Orange works well against a navy suiting, particularly if it is not too bright.
• Although the tie’s pattern is similar in scale to the suit’s pinstripe, they are effectively separated by the plain shirt.
• The brown coat, particularly with sartorial details like the sloping collar line, stops the overall look becoming too conservative and corporate.

Every detail works

Tony Sylvester

• Great, heavy texture. The woolliness and colour of the jacket draw you in, the cap and shirt provide effective foils.
• Also nice variations in texture that could work equally well in more formal outfits.
• The shirt and tie, for example, are standard sartorial colours, but with a casual finish in the denim shirt.

Stockists of The Style Guide:

• Australia
  • Melbourne: Christian Kimber
  • Melbourne: Double Monk
  • Sydney: Double Monk
• Belgium, Brussels:
  • Degand
• China:
  • Beijing: Brio
  • Beijing: Sartorial
  • Shanghai: NOOS
• France:
  • Paris: Cifonelli (bespoke)
  • Paris: Maison Chato Lufsen
  • Online: Beige
• Germany, Hannover:
  • Michael Jondral
• Hong Kong:
  • The Armoury
  • Attire House
• Italy, Florence:
  • Shibumi
• Japan, Tokyo:
  • Bryceland's & Co
• Korea, Seoul:
  • Unipair
• Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur:
  • WJ & Co
• New Zealand:
  • Auckland: Crane Brothers
  • Wellington: Crane Brothers
• Russia, Moscow:
  • L'Ago D'Oro
• Singapore:
  • Kevin Seah
• Sweden, Stockholm:
  • Papercut
  • Skoaktiebolaget
• Taiwan, Taipei:
  • Oak Room
• Thailand, Bangkok:
  • Decorum
  • Sprezzatura Eleganza
• UK, London:
  • Anderson & Sheppard
  • Drake's
  • Edward Green
  • Fenwick of Bond Street
  • Private White VC
  • Trunk Clothiers
• US:
  • Chicago: Leffot
  • Denver: Beckett & Robb
  • New York: The Armoury
  • New York: Leffot
  • Provo: Beckett & Robb
  • Salt Lake City: Beckett & Robb
  • San Francisco: Beckett & Robb
  • Seattle: Beckett & Robb
  • Online: The Hanger Project
  • Online: He Spoke Style

Tony's cuff and vintage watch are shown in the header image.

Photography: Jamie Ferguson @jkf_man

I recently took delivery of a set of linen shirts from D'Avino in Naples (it's been a good quarter...) and I thought the colour selection I ended up with was interesting. 

I'm increasingly moving away from the more corporate colours of white and light blue, in favour of more interesting tones such as these. 

It's a relatively easy way to add interest to a navy jacket or grey suit, and a subtler one than windowpane checks or bright handkerchiefs as well. 

The dark blue, indigo-like colour won't surprise many people, as I've worn similar colours in cotton before. 

It goes well under casual navy jackets and with mid-greys. And on a sunny day, is particularly nice with cream trousers.

There is a suggestion of a denim shirt - if in a relatively raw state - which helps it appear a touch rugged too. 

The green shirt, lovely as it is, I have found extremely hard to wear.

I was inspired by shots from Luca Faloni's campaigns, showing a rather good-looking guy wearing the same colour with white trousers in the full glare of Italian sunlight. 

Unfortunately, it turns out that's pretty much the only time it can be worn. Certainly, it is best with cream trousers or denim - perhaps navy chinos at the outside. 

The oatmeal colour, on the other hand, is extremely wearable. It’s also a great, casual alternative to white or blue.

Just don’t wear it with tan or anything remotely oatmeal in colour itself.

I think it’s worth taking this opportunity to highlight the fineness of the handwork in D’Avino shirts.

D’Avino is the most expensive of the three shirtmakers I normally recommend (Simone Abbarchi and Luca Avitabile being the other two) and has by far the most hand stitching – both functional and aesthetic.

Above you can see the hand-rolled bottom hem of the shirt, which is perhaps the most impressive point as it is the most time-consuming. (Also arguably the most pointless since no one will ever see it. 

Above you can see the gusset at the side of the shirt - and running upwards from it, the side seam, which is also sewn by hand (though also reinforced by machine).

Below, meanwhile, is the shirt cuff, where the sleeve has been gathered in gradually by hand all the way round. 

That careful gathering of fullness is what controls the distinctive ripples of a Neapolitan shirt at the top of the shoulder (below). 

Although most shirts from Naples have this touch, D'Avino exaggerates it slightly, which gives extra definition to the end of the shoulder. 

Finally, below, you can see the back part of the sleeve (running towards the bottom right) and the shoulder seam (running towards the left). Both with the tell-tale pick marks of the hand stitching. 

We've discussed before the benefits of different aspects of this handwork, but it's hard to deny the beauty of it - and it's nice to be reminded of how it turns an otherwise functional garment into one of real beauty.

D'Avino shirts start at €350 and the first batch has a minimum of three. 

Fiorenzo is not in London that often, but will be back in September. More details closer to the time. 

He also has a new email address for those wanting to get in touch: info@davinonapoli.com.

The linens, by the way, were sourced by a friend from non-bespoke stock. But there are similar colours in the Albini and Canclini bunches. 

This video, just completed by Charlie at Equus Leather, is a wonderfully expressive demonstration of leatherwork. 

I particularly like the sound detail - that sinewy scrape of knife cutting through alligator skin.

Watch the full 10 minutes and then tell me you don't want to invest in some hand-sewn leather piece or other.

You can see Charlie's earlier video, showing the making of a wallet, here.

I've always liked watches, but deliberately stayed out of the depths of obsessiveness that consumes some men.

Time and money restricts your hobbies, and I have preferred to acquire the odd piece that particularly takes me from an aesthetic point of view - rather than one based on historical significance or mechanical complications.

Read my previous articles and guides to watches here:

• How to buy a watch: Value 
• How to buy a watch: Style
• My watches

However, visiting my first watch manufacture - A Lange & Sohne in Glashutte - last month made me understand for the first time how such obsessiveness could start.

Indeed, I find it odd that so many men could become obsessive about watches without visiting a factory.

Many modern watches have transparent case backs, so you can see a certain amount of what's going on.

But that's like feeling the pin-pricks on the back of a hand-padded lapel, rather than seeing them put in first-hand.

It was only when I saw a watch assembled at Lange that the engineering appeal hit home.

Or rather, it was watching an English member of staff put bits in, take them out, test a couple of pushers, watch the results, try again, and smile when the glitch was fixed - every tiny wheel connecting in the right way, and two number plates clicking into place with perfect symmetry.

It is the appeal of car repair. Of mechanics.

A very different appeal to the craft of bespoke tailoring or shoemaking - with none of its creativity or style - but a deeply appealing one nonetheless.

The artistic side of Lange was in another building (there are several in the compound, in the village of Glashutte, in a wet, green valley outside Dresden).

Here, we saw the engraving of a balance cock (shown above).

Minute carving of rococo patterns on a thin piece of metal. Fascinating and nerve-wracking, but again a very different appeal to the engineering of a mechanical movement.

As described in my post 'How to buy a watch: Value', this is one of the details that separates some of the more expensive watches from cheaper, still automatic and highly complicated, brands.

You get what you pay for, and here it is all of complication, precious metal and artistic embellishment.

So, what else would a Permanent Style reader find interesting about a watch factory?

Perhaps that the average age of workers is very low, with many people in their 20s and 30s.

Several schools, competitions and apprenticeship systems help funnel the most talented people into Lange and other manufactures.

You can't help feeling that if tailoring had margins that approached watchmaking, it would be able to support similar schemes and the industry would be a lot healthier.

It would make bespoke less accessible to people, but perhaps more likely to survive for another generation.

I also found the clear division of roles interesting.

There is the design team, the watchmakers and the engravers. They are all separate, but all communicate continuously.

They are the equivalents, in some ways, of cutters, tailors and finishers in bespoke tailoring.

(Although obviously there is none of the bespoke fitting that is core to the cutter's trade.)

I often feel that it should be clearer that a cutter is not a designer (as they frequently make bad ones). Or indeed that a front-of-house is the designer.

Artisan industries tend to underestimate the importance of good, original and relevant design. Clear separation might enable a profitable focus on it.

Finally, it was striking how much passion and tradition there was at Lange.

It's easy to be cynical about the watch industry, and there are some houses producing hundreds of thousands of pieces a year with largely automated processes. Their approach to heritage can be rather loose as well.

But even though Lange is a relatively young company (it was founded in 1845, but only re-started recently, in 1990), the enthusiasm of the makers was striking - no less than at any tailor or shoemaker I've ever visited.

And the heritage comes just as much from staff like Arnd Einhorn, the wonderful communications director who has been at the company for decades and seen it grow from nothing, as it does from the original designs and passion of Ferdinand Adolf Lange.

As we drove back to Dresden, light rain falling like a mist on the trees outside, I felt glad I'd taken the time to visit a manufacture outside our normal remit.

It had provided both inspiration and perspective.

Above: Lange 1815 Up and Down model in rose gold

Last year I got to know a group called The Disguisery, based in Fitzrovia. (‘Disguisery’ is a collective noun for tailors.)

A trouser workshop for many houses on Savile Row, they have been branching out into jackets and suiting, and creating their own brand.

We made the navy-tweed jacket and grey trousers shown here, experimenting in the process with a jacket that is particularly strong in the upper body - with extended shoulders and generous drape in the chest.

An extended shoulder uses a pad that is slightly longer than the person’s shoulder underneath.

It creates an impression of breadth in the upper body, but without the padding of traditional military tailoring.

Anderson & Sheppard and Florentine tailors like Liverano are the biggest proponents of the extended shoulder. It is the antithesis of the Neapolitan cut, which often has the upper arm pushing out into the top of the sleeve.

Drape, meanwhile, throws excess fabric across the chest and top of the back, to add to that impression of a large upper body.

It also has the advantage of being more comfortable than a closely fitting chest.

If you look carefully, you can see the chest of the jacket swelling outwards (trust me, my chest can’t do that on its own): either just next to the sleeve, in the front-on images, or in the profile of the chest in the three-quarters shots.

Indeed, such is the shape of the chest and breadth of the shoulders, that you could argue I need a tie with a larger knot. This slim knit from Shibumi is a little out of proportion. (Although a lovely coppery colour.)

It’s also interesting to note how sloped my shoulders are without any padding (which I don’t mind) but how they still give an impression of size because of the extended shoulder line.

These effects are accentuated, of course, by the two-button style and peak lapels, both of which create a stronger diagonal from shoulder to waist.

The Disguisery are Giles, Rebecca and Edita, plus the makers they manage in their workshop.

Giles’s aesthetic, and that of the house as a whole, is American modernism, with plenty of Ivy style, penny loafers and high-buttoned jackets.

But this is merely a personal tendency - they are open to any style, which is what led to our experimentation with shoulder and drape.

We had a couple of issues with the jacket, around the balance and proportions of the drape, but got to a strong result in the end.

I’m not sure I can unreservedly recommend it to readers, but at their price point (£1800 inc. VAT for a jacket, £2500 for a suit), it may well be worth a try for someone that is keen to try a particular style.

The trousers, on the other hand, were faultless, and again at the price point (£700) they are a good option for anyone wanting a Savile Row trouser at a lower price.

The finishing on both jackets and trousers was also good: fine, Savile Row-quality stitching and workmanship, without ascending to the levels of a Cifonelli or Chittleborough & Morgan.

I should also add that I have found the jacket (in W Bill tweed, WB12124 12/13oz from the Classic Shetland bunch) extremely useful.

It’s not quite navy in colour, but it’s dark enough to have the versatility of a navy blazer, with the tweed drastically reducing its formality.

For a guy that wants something to wear with casual trousers and light-coloured jeans, but also grey flannels, it’s a great option.

The trousers we made, by the way, were Holland & Sherry Crispaire, 9/10oz number 337052 CP.  

• Copper-coloured zig-zag knit tie from Shibumi.
• Striped bespoke shirt from Charvet.
• Brown alligator shoes from Gaziano & Girling.

Photography: Jamie Ferguson @jkf_man

Stivaleria Savoia is an old Milanese bespoke bootmaker (stivaleria means bootmaker, and it was founded by craftsmen who made for the Savoia, or Savoy, cavalry).

The designs are classic and practical, and unlikely to set any Instagram feeds alight.

But it is steeped in history and very good value, with bespoke shoes starting at €2000.

The group of craftsmen dates back to the 1870s, but the shop itself was founded in 1925, initially making boots exclusively.

Today only about 5% of orders are for boots, but they can still make them - the most basic models starting at €3600.

(They do not make cowboy boots, despite some lovely examples being on display.)

The business is largely bespoke, although there is also a ready-made line from Cheaney and made-to-order options done in Milan.

The bespoke designs are all fairly traditional and understated, with a range of round and square toe shapes, but relatively square waists and heels. Monk straps are particularly prominent.

Interestingly, Savoia do offer a narrower, more bevelled waist, but most orders are for the squarer, flatter styles.

Famous customers over the years have included Italian, Moroccan and French royalty, as well as film stars new and old - Sylvester Stallone has been a customer, as he has of a few other makers.

As is often the case with storied craftsmen, there is a beautiful book-based order system that involves one index volume and then several others containing measurements and order details.

Savoia has five craftsmen: managing director Fausto Risi (pictured above), who does all the measuring and lastmaking; his wife Silvia, who does all the cutting; head shoemaker Filippo Ballatore, and two other makers.

A lovely aspect of Savoia is that the workshop is right in the shop, with all the dust, grime and tools that prove you’re getting a handmade and highly sweated product.

It’s behind glass, so none of that can contaminate the wood-panelled shop, but customers are encouraged to step inside and see the work going on.

Several makers retain such visible workshops today, such as John Lobb Ltd on St James’s Street. But ideally anyone with that work going on should be displaying at least part of it.

Value is hard enough to communicate at the best of times; if some aspect of it is physical and as difficult to ignore as a man stitching a welt, it should be put front and centre.

Enchanted by the shop, and encouraged by Gianni of Sartoria Vergallo (who was there, as he conducts his Milan appointments there now, and whose assistant helped with translation), I commissioned a pair of dark-brown cap toes.

Let’s see how they turn out.  

For a comparison of different bespoke shoemakers, see the post 'The bespoke shoemakers I have known'

For a step-by-step guide to how a bespoke shoe is made - and therefore much of its value - see the series with Cleverley in London, collected here.

I recently remembered these shots we took last year in Japan - it was September, but Tokyo was hot and humid, as Europe has been in recent weeks.

Although wool, the checked jacket is 9 ounces and half lined, wearing pretty cool.

It was a useful piece, therefore, but also extremely versatile in its colour and pattern - which never fails to surprise me.

It is helpful if a sports jacket - that is, a jacket worn on its own rather than part of a suit - has texture or pattern to clearly distinguish it from the trousers.

Hence why so many sports jackets are checked.

However, if that check is large or bold, the jacket can become dandyish, striking and - perhaps worst of all - limited in how you can wear it.

Better a definite but subtle check, as we have here in black on green - with a faint overcheck of orange.

I still clearly remember the afternoon I selected this cloth, from the Caccioppoli jacketings bunch, in the Solito atelier in Naples.

Gennaro was watching over my shoulder; it was a baking day; I was sweating hard.

Having found out that the cloth I wanted - a much more standard blue-and-brown check - was sold out, I opted for the next one in the bunch without thinking it through.

I was convinced the green/black/orange combination would be unwearable, but it turned out to be one of the most useful things I own.

Much of that is down to the subtlety of the check, and general subdued tone of the jacket.

But black as a secondary colour has also proved to be surprisingly useful.

Black is generally a colour we avoid in tailoring, unless for evening wear, given navy is so close yet richer and smarter.

But in an accessory or secondary colour it can be nice. Generally black works best with shades of grey (eg black knitwear with pale-grey flannels), but it is also nice with dark greens. I have a black shawl-collar cotton sweater from Paul Stuart that always pairs best with dark-green linen or flannel trousers.

Green tartans or tweeds can be equally effective.

In these images, the black in my jacket is picked up by a black long-sleeved polo shirt.

Again, there are few things I would naturally wear such a colour of polo shirt with, other than greys and greens (and perhaps the right shade of tan).

The polo is from Testoria Korea. I continue to try and wear polo shirts other than the Friday Polos we sell - both for market research and because each has its own idiosyncrasies that can be nice to play with.

This model does use a great pique, but the lack of any buttons on the placket does give it a pleasingly unusual, clean look.

Elsewhere in the images, my grey-linen handkerchief with white border is a nice change from the normal white (and not as formal).

The pale-grey fresco trousers are my pair from Ambrosi (which were reviewed here).

And the vintage folio is from Bentley’s Antiques. A beautiful piece, if not always the most practical thing in the world.

Photography: Jamie Ferguson @jkf_man

As promised during conversations around the last batch of Friday Polos, we are now offering special orders - for the next two weeks only, until July 12th. 

This is primarily to give readers that require an XS or XXL the opportunity to buy a Friday Polo. 

However, the offer is also available to anyone that would like to fill in their collection, with a polo they previously missed out on. 

Orders are open for long-sleeve or short-sleeve polos, in any size, in one of the following four colours: 

• Navy
• Green
• Brown
• White

We have to restrict it to these four colours as those are the only cloths available on order in small batches. 

Purchases should be made as normal through the Shop, stating size and colour in the Notes section.

We will collect everything together on July 13th and begin production. The polos should be complete within a further two weeks, and begin to be sent out to readers. 

As these are one-off orders, we cannot accept returns based on fit, so do please consider the measurements of the two new sizes carefully. They are:

• Body length: 75cm
• Chest: 102cm
• Waist: 92cm
• Yoke: 43cm
• Sleeve length: 62cm

XXL (45cm neck)

• Body length: 84cm (same as XL) 
• Chest: 134cm 
• Waist: 124cm
• Yoke: 53cm
• Sleeve length: 71cm (same as XL)

The polo shirts will also be slightly more expensive, given they are each one-off orders rather than bulk. 

Our next bulk batch of long-sleeved polos will be available in September. We will be introducing one or two interesting design developments, so keep your eyes peeled...

Photography: Jamie Ferguson @jkf_man