07/10/2016
After a long and basically threadless Spring and Summer (bare the occasional button that needed sewing, naturally) it’s time to see about firing up the sewing machine again. Yes, I know, the blue corduroy waistcoat is still unfinished, and every time someone asks I think that it must surely be time to finish it. And it will happen, I promise! In…
30/09/2016
A couple of weeks ago I predicted that the Deck Jacket would be a dead cert for the upcoming colder season. My reasoning was solid, in that if you stick to the classics you will always be golden, and even occasionally “in fashion”, whenever whatever spurious whims decide what happens to be fashion. This time we have another classic on the…
28/09/2016
While staying in a small hotell outside Inverness I was made aware of a local company that might be of interest to me. I say “was made aware”, but it was more like “here, look at this, it’s right up your alley” as WDW dropped a brochure in my lap one afternoon. And indeed it was! Partly because I religiously watched 64…
18/09/2016
I was recently reading a piece in the newspaper about internet trends and how the phenomena of “unboxing” was huge. Never one to let a bandwagon pass by, I thought “hey, I’m sure it’s not just kids that would like to see someone open a box and show them what’s in it!”. Heck, I know you’re gagging for my little…
15/09/2016
The thing about the really classic jackets is that while they may be deemed “on point” and terribly in vogue at random intervals of time, the true greatness of them is that outside the fickle and pointless world of fashion, they are always great. Now I could have spent some time trying to work out what was deemed the “in”…
13/09/2016
This summer I happened up on a pair of Grenson “Masterpiece” brogues, well used and going for a song. The leather sole and heel were pretty worn down, but the careful owner had taken wonderful care of the upper, they were polished to a deep, gleaming lustre and looked pretty great. So, given my preference for some proper rubber under…
11/09/2016
Part one covered my experiences the first half of the week, which was spent in Edinburgh. In this part we pack up the car and head North. Attempting to get an understanding of Scotland by staying a week in Edinburgh is obviously a futile exercise, so we had decided that this would be a half and half holiday, kind of…
10/09/2016
The British shoe industry has a long and glorious tradition behind it. Most of the well known names have been producing quality traditional shoes for 150 years or more, and do a splendid job as well. Goodyear welts, intricate brogue patterns, sublime craftsmanship and basically doing things as they have always been done. Hardly surprising really, as human feet are…
09/09/2016
While in Edinburgh this summer I happened to stop by Harvey Nichols and found their sale was on. I scored a cracking deal on a pair of Red Wing boots, and found an interesting shirt as well. The shirt is green, in a slightly military cut, and made from “Tencel“. This grabbed my attention, as I’d not come across it before.…
04/09/2016
So, I know you’ve been waiting for me to report on the second half of my Summer holidays. My trip to Barcelona (really Sitges) can be read here, here and here. In stark contrast to the sunny excess of Spain, the second week saw us head off to Scotland, home of the brave and eternal rain. Or so we were…