Jacket Required July 2015: some brands to watch

Jacket Required is one of my favourite trade shows of the year. It's full of interesting brands of great variety and, for me as a blogger, extremely accessible. There were many products that caught my eye at July's event and my selection here is simply representative rather than an attempt to choose favourites.

Mr Stanford umbrellas, made in England (image below). Nicely made and a good range of styles. See their website.

The Shackleton Company (image below). Clothing, footwear (a superb collaboration with Cheaney), beer and other products made in the UK and all finding inspiration in the exploits of famous early twentieth century explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton. See their website.

Baracuta, best known for its G9 Harrington jacket (of which, I'm reliably informed, they have now made over 50,000 in England), continues to manufacture much of its range in the UK. I loved this stylish trench coat (image below). See their website.

Millican bags. One of my favourite overnight bags is Millican's beautifully designed and unburstable Harry the Gladstone overnight bag, which I will update you on shortly when I review a few of my longterm test products. My eye was caught by The Botanist (image below), due for launch soon, which provides its owner will all they need to botanise and in particular to forage for the gorgeous botanicals that might be required to add flavour to food and drink. Again, I'll tell you more about this bag as soon as I can. See Millican.

Charlie Borrow makes leather bags and accessories in London, England. Beautifully made and stylish, they have all the advantages of being made in small quantities by a real craftsman. Stand out from the crowd with one of these leather tote bags (pictured below). See his website here.

Return of the Rudeboy. If you saw the exhibition at Somerset House, you'll love the book (below). Stylish and beautifully photographed, you can buy it here. I reviewed the exhibition on the blog here.

Gloverall is another British company going from strength to strength. Renowned for the duffel coat, they make a wide variety of stylish menswear, including this coated cotton jacket due for sale in spring 2016. See Gloverall.

Finlay & Co continue to expand their range of stylish eyewear and sunglasses. Best known for their wooden frames (see below), I was also impressed by their growing range of acetate frames. See Finlay & Co.

Portuguese Flannel make excellent cotton shirts in Portugal. I like their tartan/plaid winter designs, but for next summer these shirt embroidered with bees and other designs will look just the thing. See Portuguese Flannel.

Jacket Required is a menswear trade only show.

Fortis watches: built for use in Space - competition

Fortis are an independent watchmaker who have been producing innovative timepieces for over a hundred years, producing one of the first water resistant watches in the 1940s. They are based in the small town of Grenchen in the Swiss Jura, where today’s Fortis watches are still being made in the original factory founded in 1912.

Regular readers will know my love for watches, particularly those often called 'tool' watches by enthusiasts. These are timepieces which have a practical purpose and have been built accordingly. Whether for military use, flying, exploring, caving, swimming, diving, running, keeping time over different timezones or space travel, tool watches are quite different from their dressier cousins which have been designed for looks rather than function. 

The tool watch must be easily readable, usually water resistant, tough, well-built and reliable in extreme conditions. It's that functionality that gives it its simple, rugged beauty:

Official Fortis Cosmonaut

Watches built for use in Space have interested me for some time. You may not want to admit it, but wearing a watch worn on the Moon or the International Space Station gives you a small piece of the aura of the rugged, the brave and the pioneering.

Fortis Cosmonaut in use on a cosmonaut's wrist

Some watch enthusiasts collect examples of Space watches, including Fortis, Rolex, Omega, Bulova; all are high quality and robust. An important addition to any Space watch collection would have to be a Fortis Cosmonaut because, over twenty years ago, the brand was selected by the Russian Federal Space Agency to supply watches to its cosmonauts. The timepieces used undergo rigorous testing before use so are built to high specifications of accuracy and robustness.

Fortis carried out their own independent test under extreme G forces by launching selected Cosmonaut movements on Swedish Maxus rockets with an acceleration of 3,500 m/sec producing a force of 13G. The payload was catapulted vertically to 715km after which there was free fall of about 12 minutes, putting the movements under great loads. A recent international simulation of a flight to Mars also used Fortis watches.

Enter a competition to win a Fortis Cosmonaut (below)

Using mechanical movements for reliability, Fortis Cosmonaut watches have shown they they far exceed the demands of day to day use, while their legible, simple looks have, for me, all the design simplicity of the classic tool watch.

For more information or to buy a Fortis watch, see Page & Cooper.

You can enter a competition to win a Fortis Cosmonaut watch here.

There is also a giveaway of a Fortis Terrestis19 here, based on an original 1930s design, this watch has a simple, classic style that would make it the ideal business and dress watch.

This post was supported by Page & Cooper.

Swift & Co: bringing back the manufacture of stylish footwear to Lancashire

I came across Swift & Co at Best of Britannia earlier this summer. Based in Burnley, Lancashire, Swift has been a family business for some generations and Richard Swift has set out to bring back footwear manufacture to East Lancashire. In this video, he tells us more about his shoes.

Technology And Tradition - An Introduction To Swift

They look well-made and lightweight with soft uppers and a comfortable technical sole and heel. As the image of their suede boots below shows (this is one of several styles available), they are also very stylish. I plan to try out a pair soon and will report back then.

Richard will be starting a Kickstarter campaign soon and I'll tell you more about that and the brand when that happens. Meanwhile, click here to go to the Swift & Co website.

The Workers Club combination jacket at Mr Porter - quality, durable outerwear

As the weather cools and gets wetter our thoughts turn to outerwear. A jacket that will be useful whether wet or dry, cool or freezing cold. Mr Porter recently sent me a combination jacket from The Workers Club that may provide an answer. Comprising three separate garments, layered together they stylishly provide several options to cover many weather conditions.

The jacket, down jacket and gilet worn together. One of twelve combinations

The collection includes a water-repellant canvas outer shell jacket with taped seams, check wool gilet and reversible down filled liner, which can be zipped into each other to form a fully water and wind resistant jacket. I've been trying to work out how many options these combinations give you. I reckon it's at least twelve depending on how you like to layer the gilet and down jacket. 

The outer shell jacket comes in three colours, navy, orange and olive/navy

Mr Porter describes this combination as, "really simple, but the designers hope this will be an item every man will have in his wardrobe". 

The wool check gilet

The designers are husband and wife team, Charlotte and Adam Cameron, who founded The Workers Club (TWC) with a view to providing quality clothing for men who like to buy less, but better. A laudable aim, and one which more men are buying into. It's good to see Mr Porter supporting smaller businesses.

The down jacket is reversible

The jacket and its various parts are beautifully made, very high quality, durable, comfortable and stylish in a rugged, outdoor sort of way. It went well (I thought) with my experimental beard too. I look forward to seeing what else TWC come up with in future.

Jacket: £495, wool gilet: £250, down jacket: £360. See Mr Porter for more information and to buy. To find out more about TWC (they do a similar range of womenswear) click here to see their website.

With thanks to my lovely daughter Cate for the photography in difficult light conditions!

NAK shoes: leather free style for men

These handsome RAF derby shoes are from NAK, a new brand that creates high quality shoes without any animal being killed or suffering cruelty. Made in Italy from a microfibre with a structure similar to real leather, it makes a material which looks, feels and even smells (to me anyway) just like the real thing.

At present the men's collection comprises a derby, oxford, a chelsea boot and a mid-laced boot. The shoes I was sent are very lightweight and beautifully-made. Whether or not you are a vegan, I recommend these shoes as comfortable and stylish. To find out more, or to buy, see the NAK website here.

Tripl Stitched x Grey Fox Blog collaboration shirt collection now on sale

I was delighted when Tripl Stitched approached me to collaborate on the design of a range of men's shirts. I was already familiar with their products, made in North London, and admired the quality of the manufacture and cloth. Made partly on vintage machines, they capture a real enthusiasm for shirtmaking based on classic pieces, with button downs and superb fabrics such as Japanese-made chambray forming the heart of the collection.

I saw a gap in the market between very formal shirts, with stiff collars for ties, and casual shirts, with shallower and softer collars to be worn open neck. I enjoy wearing some of my chambray and denim casual shirts with ties and I envisaged a collection that was essentially a casual shirt with a soft collar deepened in shape and stiffened just enough to take  tie. I also wanted to revive some of the classic shirt designs from the forties and fifties, looking at rarer collar shapes and slightly longer body lengths.

With this in mind we have designed three shirts, as follows:

1. An Italian 3 finger Oxford button down made from an Italian textured cloth. Like all the shirts, it features a triple-stitched back yoke in grey thread to celebrate the Grey Fox collaboration (see image above). Like all the shirts, it's available in six sizes and is designed to be worn casually with or without a tie. £125 (below).

2. A penny round collar in red micro check in a beautiful Italian gingham check fabric. £125 (below).

3. A point collar shirt in a pale blue stripe. This is designed to be worn with a tie bar. I hadn't tried a tie bar before and it has become my favourite way of wearing a tie, giving a totally new way of showing off your favourite ties. £125 (below). All shirts available from Tripl Stitched here. 

Jackets from a proposed Tripl Stitched jacket collection (not yet available). Ties from Shaun Gordon. 

Mahabis - a new concept in slippers

'Reinventing the slipper' is the Mahabis claim. And they have. A new concept in slippers seems unlikely, but some very clever thinking has produced a product that's useful inside and out.

The secret is the removable sole that enables them to be worn outside. I often find myself wandering out into the garden in my slippers, returning with damp and dirty footwear. With Mahabis you slip on the rubber sole before you go out and pull it off as you come back into the house. The comfortable wool upper and removable soles come in a variety of colours.

I love mine and may even start wandering the streets of London in them to save changing shoes inside and out. Highly recommended. Available from Mahabis.

The Dandy Lab: a new concept in menswear stores

The Dandy Lab, a new concept store enhanced by technology, is launched in Spitalfields, London this week. Focusing on British craftsmanship and personalised shopping, it creates a one-off retail destination by fusing fashion, lifestyle, data and technology.

Opening on the 14th August, it aims to take the best of both worlds by giving customers the high street's ability to touch and try products with the often wider choice offered by online shopping. This is achieved with smart mannequins, a virtual showroom, an interactive styling wall and a café with wireless charging points. Customers can access the stories behind a selection of British brands including Smyth & Gibson, Alfie Douglas and London Terrariums through a number of display screens across the two floors. 

The concept was conceived and managed by two entrepreneurial post-graduates from UCL and UAL, supported by a multidisciplinary team of specialists. Co-founder, Julija Bainiaksina said, “Technology is a major element of the store, but the main vision is to create a personalised shopping experience for customers that translates into tangible sales for brands.” 

The store will be open on a trial basis for seven months with the view to opening a permanent store early next year. Store location: 73 Brushfield Street, Old Spitalfields Market, London, E1 6AA. Opening Times: 10am – 7pm, Monday – Saturday / 11am – 5pm Sunday.

Oliver Sweeney menswear AW15: a brand going from strength to strength

Oliver Sweeney launches it Autumn/Winter menswear range today backed by images with a powerful photography theme which highlights the quality of the footwear and clothing on display. Again, they have used an older model, Glen Campbell, to show the collection at its best. Well done Oliver Sweeney for not shrinking from using a  man in his fifties to sell clothing that will attract buyers of all ages.

Here is a selection of some of my favourite items from the collection. Visit Oliver Sweeney to browse and buy, or to see where their stores are located.

Click to browse:

Oliver Sweeney shoes

Oliver Sweeney clothing

Morning wear for weddings, Ascot etc: Dress Codes 2 by Sarah Gilfillan, suit by Oliver Brown

I was recently at my nephew's wedding at which gentlemen were invited to wear morning dress or lounge suits. Being close family, I wanted to wear the more formal morning suit. I thought I'd ask our personal stylist, Sarah Gilfillan of Sartoria Lab, more about morning wear. The advice she gives here applies not just to weddings, but to Ascot and any event at which morning wear is the dress code.

I'd like to thank Oliver Brown for providing a morning suit. Their formalwear hire and sales service is second to none and the clothes are very high quality; many tailored in the UK. See Oliver Brown.

Off to the wedding, morning dress Oliver Brown, porcelain buttonhole from Boutonnière London

Sarah Gilfillan writes:

What I write here is a combination of my thoughts and discussions I've had with David of Grey Fox. The views we express are ours and reflect the occasionally flexible nature of dress codes. Rules are there to be broken, but do so with care!

[GF: If you need help from Sarah on this or any personal styling problem, contact her through her website or try her styling service for Grey Fox Blog readers here.]

The suit

Morning dress is a formal dress code worn in the day, mostly at weddings, seasonal events such as Ascot Races or at events linked to Royalty or government. It comes in two main variants. The first comprises a black tail coat with striped (or sometimes checked) trousers and a waistcoat (wool or linen and varying in colour; generally grey, black, buff, cream or pale yellow or blue. Sometimes silk waistcoats are worn at weddings; that's a matter of taste.) This is strictly not a morning suit, as nothing matches!

The second variant is less formal. The whole suit (including waistcoat) comes in matching grey. This is known as the morning suit, as opposed to morning dress. Strictly the grey morning suit has a matching waistcoat, but, given its less formal nature, we don't see why you shouldn't try a subtle pastel or paler grey if you want; ignore the purists for once.

The Royal Family wearing all variations of morning dress

Get advice on coat/jacket length. The tails should reach the back of the knee, but other factors can come into play, so check the final look in a mirror to ensure the proportions look right. Google 'morning dress' and study the images, what lengths look right, what look wrong? If in doubt, study Prince Charles; nobody wears morning dress better. This is partly because he's so relaxed in it. The fact that he has an excellent tailor helps too. Incidentally, the coat is generally worn unbuttoned.

The trousers are usually cut quite high in the waist and you may need some braces (suspenders in US) to keep them up comfortably without altering their shape.

Usually either form of morning dress is acceptable at a wedding, but the close family may all agree to wear one or other variation to achieve some uniformity of appearance. My experience is that this expectation doesn't generally extend to guests, but check if you're unsure.

Loake Rothschild oxfords, British Belt Co Baker blue braces, TM Lewin shirt

Shirt

A white shirt is traditional, although a coloured shirt is a little more adventurous (for example, see Prince Charles's above). If you select a coloured shirt, we highly recommend what the Americans call a Winchester shirt; that is one with a white collar (and sometimes white cuffs as well). This harks back to the days when a removable white collar would be worn on the shirt. In our view, the flash of white at the collar looks much more suited to the formal nature of the suit than does a coloured collar. 

The coloured shirt is best in a soft blue, pink or yellow; take care with brighter colours. Stripes and even checks can be worn; but we advise discretion. Pastels and soft hues are best. Grey Fox's choice was for the wedding between a pale blue end on end or a light thin blue candy stripe. Make sure your shirt complements, rather than matches, your waistcoat.

A turn-down collar is the usual and best choice. We aren't keen on wing collars as they give a period costume appearance to your outfit, but do make your own decision about that. Double cuffs (French cuffs) go with the formal nature of the dress.

Morning dress of yore. The maverick Prince of Wales wears a bow tie and rakish hat; rules are made to be broken

Tie/cravat

A silk tie is the best choice here. Cravats and wing collars can be worn, but run the risk of looking a bit over-dressed in our view. Choose a tie in a discreet colour and pattern that complements shirt and waistcoat. 

Top hat

For very formal events a top hat may have to be worn. For weddings and other events it is generally put to one side or dispensed with altogether.

Shoes

Black oxfords are the formal shoe of choice. Plain derbies are acceptable. The usual wisdom is that brogues (with punched hole designs) are strictly a bit country and therefore not formal enough. Patent leather is really for evening, not day, wear. Please wear good shoes that aren't too estate agent pointy; bad footwear will ruin the look. They should be in good condition and shiny clean. Wear socks to match the trousers.

Accessories

Cufflinks, a pocket square that complements rather than matches the tie and a tie pin can be worn. As ever, go for minimalist design and soft pastels in any accessory, rather than anything too overpowering. Grey Fox wore a beautiful porcelain buttonhole from Boutonnière London, image below.

General thoughts

If some of our advice sounds a little cautious, remember; if you're at a wedding the photos will be being studied for decades to come. Morning suits have the advantage of looking timeless. If you depart too far from the classic, with extravagant cravats, trendy shoes or bright shirts, those images will lack that timeless classic look.

At other events, part of the fun is being in a uniform enjoying the occasion. Departing too far from the dress code can leave you feeling self-conscious. That's fine if you're an extrovert, feel you want to make some obscure political point or are so sophisticated that you can pull it off with bravado. You can express individuality within the constraints of the dress code in choice of colour, cut (if you're lucky enough to buy bespoke or made to measure) and accessories. Relax and enjoy the event. Try to feel comfortable in your morning dress or you'll look very stiff and awkward.

I know that many readers here are from outside the UK. In general the rules over morning dress are more uniform worldwide than the black tie dress code, but I suggest you do your own research on local variation.

For video advice on suitable wear for Ascot, see Oliver Brown's video here.