Eight outfits I liked at Pitti – and why
Pitti Uomo this year felt busier than last, but that was a little deceptive - two of the big buildings were still closed for lack of exhibitors, and more squeezed into the main pavilion. The show’s future still feels a little uncertain. My ti...
Eight outfits I liked at Pitti – and why
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I feel like traditional classical menswear is kind dying anyway, so for one I’m all for people have fun and experiment. If tailoring doesn’t evolve we would be the only one wearing them in 30 years...
What colour theory can teach you about clothing
by Philipp Fröhlich Between 1966 and 1970, Barnett Newman, a prominent figure in abstract expressionism, painted four versions of a painting he called ‘Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue’ (above). I assume Newman foresaw the intim...
What colour theory can teach you about clothing
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My rule is akin to the doctors' oath to "first do no harm". In other words, with an outfit, avoid major blunders and you have done 90% of what's needed. If a tie is dramatic in pattern, the shirt and jacket must be subdu...
Why I love my Ferdinando Caraceni blazer
This jacket from Ferdinando Caraceni has become one of my real favourites in the past couple of years, and I think it’s worth exploring why. It says something about where tailoring is today, at least for me. It was made in 2021 by Nicoletta C...
Why I love my Ferdinando Caraceni blazer
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Thank you, Simon!...
Reader Profile: Ben (and the community of menswear)
I met Ben at our recent pop-up party, and liked what he was wearing (first outfit below). We got to talking and I discovered his interesting background - always good, as I’d like these profiles to explore different types of PS reader - and his...
Reader Profile: Ben (and the community of menswear)
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Look towards, oni 200zr, warehouse co, samuri jeans, dawson denim, black horse lane, United overalls. Best thing I'd say is go to son of a stag as they have tonnes and are very helpful and try some on. Different weights,...
How I organise outfits – and get my style i...
I know I spend too much time looking at clothes I want, and not enough at ways to wear the ones I have. There are many reasons for this. There’s the familiar retail fix, the fact I wear a range of styles, the fact that I can afford them (and ...
How I organise outfits – and get my style i...
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Yes some content on classic golf style is sorely needed!...
Reader profile: Sebastian
Sebastian has an interesting story - a clothing story with distinct phases. He’s a long-term reader (just over 10 years) and has worn many different styles, many different brands. But he's another PS reader in essence - always a little similar...
Reader profile: Sebastian
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Most classic menswear brands will not offer discounts and often don't go on sale...
Dress like a Parisian woman
Among the many pocket-sized books on women’s style, dressing like a Parisian is a popular category. Many, it seems, find the idea of the Parisian woman who dresses fashionably but not fussily, in a way that is simple but chic, appealing. I was...
Dress like a Parisian woman
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The insights into women's fashion, such as the use of lipstick as a pop of color and the approach to makeup and hair, offer intriguing lessons for men. The discussion of 'neutral' colors and the role of neighboring color...
Frieze art fair: How the rich collector dresses
Frieze, the contemporary art fair in London, makes for great people watching. The art world brings in such a broad spectrum of types, of tribes. Although from a clothing point of view there always seems to be one consistent theme, which is a specifi...
Frieze art fair: How the rich collector dresses
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Absolutely, and exactly...
The style of King Charles: Top-level classic mens...
A friend of mine once told me about regular meetings with Prince Charles (as he then was). Assembled at Clarence House, a team of six would wait in a shockingly cold room, to the extent that anyone who was near a window could see their breath. Charl...
The style of King Charles: Top-level classic mens...
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Nice point Leif, and one that hasn't come up before...
How my style has changed over 15 years
A few readers have asked recently how my style has changed in the time of writing PS. Here’s an attempt to summarise how I see it today, with a good many links to other articles to flesh out the points. First, there are a few different causes...
How my style has changed over 15 years
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I would have thought one worsted suit would still make sense, for formal occasions (weddings, funerals, others) but it very much depends on your surroundings and your society. You'll be a better judge on what's appropria...
Wimbledon smart/casual: Everyone loves an excuse
This past weekend I attended Wimbledon for the first time in a while. I used to go a lot when I was at school: it was nearby, and standard practice was to walk down after school and try to catch people coming out, and ask for their tickets. People ...
Wimbledon smart/casual: Everyone loves an excuse
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Yes probably...
Summer casual chic: Riviera style Part 2
I really enjoyed Tony’s evocative piece last week on Riviera style. The image of the rose-coloured hotel with palm trees cooling its flushed façade, in particular, has stayed with me I also thought there was more to explore. Given how c...
Summer casual chic: Riviera style Part 2
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Yes absolutely. You might want a little more contrast between shirt and trouser, but that's the only thing to bear in mind....
Rapid multiple borrowings: Riviera style today
By Tony Sylvester. “On the pleasant shore of the French Riviera, about half way between Marseilles and the Italian border, stands a large, proud, rose-colored hotel. Deferential palms cool its flushed façade, and before it stretches a s...
Rapid multiple borrowings: Riviera style today
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True in general and specifically in regards to the heat and ease of clothes like these I think...
Reader profile: Adrian
Adrian Hogan is a PS reader and an illustrator living in Tokyo. We met at Midori So, a charming Ivy-covered building that’s used as a shared workspace, set on top of a hill in a largely residential area but just a couple of blocks from the Nak...
Reader profile: Adrian
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Hi Steve, yes that’s the one! Though I don’t know the fabric code off hand, I’m afraid....
Packing for travel: My Japan capsule wardrobe
I thought it would be interesting to do a post on what clothing I packed for my recent Japan trip. People always seem to like these capsule pieces , although this trip was particularly challenging for a couple of reasons. First, I needed a full ran...
Packing for travel: My Japan capsule wardrobe
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Yes there's quite a lot in there I'd question, most obviously the suit jacket with the jeans, and the gabardine suit with the oxford shirt. I think you could take a fair bit from this, but I would be cautious around the ...
Reader Profile: Jeff
Jeff Hilliard is Director of Limited Editions at Hodinkee, the watch magazine/empire in New York. But he used to work at The Armoury, until 2017, and then did two years at Mr Porter. So while not strictly working in menswear today, he is certainly m...
Reader Profile: Jeff
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Thank you for the answer. I wanted to ask this question as well after reading the article, but thankfully, Magnus already asked the question....
The Squarzi capsule: How to dress like Alessandro
Alessandro Squarzi has a reputation as a good dresser, and usually looks appealingly stylish yet relaxed. Yet the way he currently dresses is actually very straightforward, and I think can be a lesson to guys everywhere – in how...
The Squarzi capsule: How to dress like Alessandro
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A late reply here: though I like Alessandro's style a lot, pairing white jeans with a heavy parka clashes too much, mainly in terms of weight and season... and in this case, with red parka, the color clash is too much. T...
Celebrating local dress: My travels and Afghan Style
During the launch of Robert Spangle's book Afghan Style recently in London, I had a chance to catch up with Rob about what he found so inspirational about dress in Afghanistan. He mentioned the silhouettes, the texture of different local materials ...
Celebrating local dress: My travels and Afghan Style
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As ever I don't think this is really the right forum for these kinds of discussions, if that's ok. Thanks...
Tonal layering with black jeans: Comfy, drapey, easy
This outfit I wore last week really tickled me - I think primarily for its combination of T-shirt and tailoring. Working the two together in some way (as in this, perhaps Summer equivalent ) is often an effective way to achieve the ‘casual ch...
Tonal layering with black jeans: Comfy, drapey, easy
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Yes, absolutely. You just might want to go with different colours, as you suggest. Pink is great, as I'm wearing in the Assisi review. Cream too, or a brown stripe or pink stripe. There aren't as many colours that are ni...
To whisper with your clothes – or why I’m f...
By Andreas Weinas This headline might be one of the more confusing ones to have appeared on Permanent Style, but bear with me. Simon reached out to me at the beginning of the year, asking if I wanted to do a piece on PS about something I found parti...
To whisper with your clothes – or why I’m f...
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It's a nuanced question, it would require a full post at some point if it's worth discussing...
Wearing pink: Tips and combinations
By Manish Puri “That was the day I learned how dangerous a color can be. That a boy could be knocked off that shade and made to reckon his trespass. Even if color is nothing but what the light reveals, that nothing has laws, and a boy on a pin...
Wearing pink: Tips and combinations
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Hi Daniel! Yes, it was the Connolly’s one I write about here: https://www.permanentstyle.com/2021/12/the-guide-to-shetland-sweaters-part-two-brands.html Still available in smaller sizes! I’d certainly recommend it ha...
Day in, day out: On uniform dressing and travel
Charcoal trousers from a suit, with tweed jacket swapped in By Emilie Hawtin Developing a personal uniform is a common goal for those that are into clothing, I find. It has the twin benefits of being personal yet easy, distinctive yet versatile. Whe...
Day in, day out: On uniform dressing and travel
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Where in Florence do you find Velvet Fruilane Slippers, Simon? I love the idea of using them on multi surfaces....
Expressing yourself: How to dress like Milad Abedi
The photographer Milad Abedi is someone whose style I’ve liked for a long time, but in a quiet way. Whenever we’ve shot together I’ve been interested in what he’s wearing and found something I liked, but he wasn...
Expressing yourself: How to dress like Milad Abedi
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Do you mean the shoulder was squarer, more pointed? I think they used to be cut more like that because they were universally worn over tailoring, whereas that's much less the case these days...
Subtle vs showy: A way to think about casual clot...
There is an important factor in how we dress that I don't think we’ve ever discussed explicitly on Permanent Style, which is how subtle or showy an outfit is. When we talked almost entirely about tailoring, worn largely in offices, it was cle...
Subtle vs showy: A way to think about casual clot...
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A bit of a late comment, but: Perhaps instead of comparing dressing to cooking, a better analogy is comparing dressing to eating? You have to do both - eating for obvious reasons, and dressing because not doing so will c...
Some interesting Pitti picks: Mixing patterns, la...
As we did last year, during Pitti I picked out a few people and outfits that I really liked, but that could have been missed - because they’re not Ethan, Jake or Tatsuya Nakamura. They’re deliberately a mix of smart and casual, tailoring...
Some interesting Pitti picks: Mixing patterns, la...
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Patterned trousers are hard David. No, I would go plain shirt, knit, jacket, anything on top....