Category: designers

casual, cufflinks, designers, duty free, shirts, shoes, styling, suit, suits, tailor, tailoring, ties, travel, trousers, watches7 Comments

Shopping for duty free tailoring

Guy Clapperton

Flickr: Hakan Dahlstrom OK, here’s an idea. I’ve done some business travelling recently and as such been in a few airports. One thing that occurred to me whilst doing all this was that it would have been good to know where the best Duty Free shops are so I could plan a bit before leaving. So, here’s a brief summary of my recent notes – anyone wanting to add their own destinations and comments would be more than welcome. I’m excluding spirits and tobacco because that’s not what this blog is about – of course all the usual duty free … Continue reading Shopping for duty free tailoring

aftershave, ageing, designers, footwear, pocket squares, styling, tailoring, tiesLeave a comment

London Fashion Week: ten male style mistakes

Guy Clapperton

Flickr: Paul-In-London This is London Fashion Week and the weekend, quite unusually, is devoted to male dress. So, this being a blog for the older male, I thought it might be worth kicking off with a few mistakes we make too frequently. 10: Heavy aftershave or EDT in business meetingsYou know that feeling when you’re in a meeting and someone’s smelling as if they’re about to go on a really hot date?  Just don’t do it. 9: The cheap, emergency shirtThis week I was away on business and had to go into a meeting immediately I came back. Knowing that … Continue reading London Fashion Week: ten male style mistakes

casual, designers, footwear, lifestyle, shoes, shoppingLeave a comment

Fashion by body type

Guy Clapperton

Another men’s clothing site has launched and this one has a twist – it asks about your build, colouring and body type then makes recommendations based on those parameters. Called Stylepilot it asks for a few basics – are you a V (wide shoulders, narrow waist), an inverted V (broad waist, thin shoulders) what colour is your hair and soforth. It then makes recommendations from some leading designers – you can get some nice pieces from Gant, Polo Ralph Lauren, many others. It has one element I’d call a flaw; I put myself in as an inverted ‘V’ and got entirely … Continue reading Fashion by body type

Autumn wear, casual, designers, footwear, jeans, lifestyle, retail, sales, summer, tailoring, trainers, trousers2 Comments

Discounts on Smithfield Case

Guy Clapperton

Yesterday I wrote about the success of the Smithfield Case personal shopping service. There was nothing to be gained for me in doing this, I was genuinely pleased to be recommending a service I found useful. They took payment from my card as agreed – this really is an easy process – and sent me a discount code for anyone else who wants to try it. Feel free to order a case of clothes and add the code “CLAPPERTON-30” at the checkout and they’ll give you £15 off your first selection. This offer will expire on 7 April, and in the … Continue reading Discounts on Smithfield Case

casual, designers, footwear, retail, styling, trainers, trousers1 Comment

This is idiotic or brilliant…

Guy Clapperton

I’m going to try a new service. It’s called the Smithfield Case. In spite of its name it is nothing to do with a meat market in London. The idea is simple; you decide it’s time you had some new clothes, the wardrobe’s due for a refresh, so you order a case of them. You can make specific requests of course but mostly the system seems geared towards blokes who can’t be bothered signing up and hitting the “I’d like some decent clothes please” button. They deliver them, you try them on, decide what you like and what you don’t. … Continue reading This is idiotic or brilliant…

bags, designers, gadgets4 Comments

Paul Smith ties up with Leica

Guy Clapperton

I spent a very pleasant lunch hour yesterday at Leica’s shop in London – here’s a link to it. It offers courses on photography before you buy and includes courses afterwards with some cameras – no point in spending £5K on an M9 if you’re not going to find out a bit about it. Certainly playing with £20K worth of camera kit is a very good way to spend 60 minutes or so of your mid-life crisis, I found. What really caught my eye for readers here were some very nice limited edition camera cases from Paul Smith, which are … Continue reading Paul Smith ties up with Leica

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Designers: a material difference

Guy Clapperton

So I was at a tailor today getting orders for a new suit straightened out – more on that when it’s ready in a few weeks – and I mention that I was at the designer outlet in Ashford, Kent, yesterday. And I picked up an Aquascutum white shirt for £28. The tailor was impressed, or would have been if it hadn’t meant I wasn’t going to buy a shirt on the spot. So – I couldn’t resist it – I asked why exactly it mattered that this was an Aquascutum rather than, say, a Marks and Sparks? The answer, … Continue reading Designers: a material difference