Competition: Three Great British Brands (ends 29th May 2022)

I'm delighted to announce that I've partnered with three of my favourite brilliantly British brands, Cordings of Piccadilly, Tusting and Loake Shoemakers to give you the chance to win the ultimate British menswear ensemble of clothes and/or accessories. 

There are four generous prizes to be won and you can enter the competition below. Please note that no entries will be accepted after midnight UK time on 29th May 2022 - so get your skates on and Good Luck to All!

I show some great products from Cordings of Piccadilly, Loake Shoemakers and Tusting

The story started when I invited these three brands to take part in and to sponsor my British Brands photoshoot earlier this Spring. During the 'shoot they kindly offered to arrange this competition in which they offer to their customers and to Grey Fox readers the chance to win the following hugely generous prizes:

The Main Prize:

• £600 worth of Cordings of Piccadilly clothes or accessories, plus
• £500 to spend with Tusting on their range of English-made bags and luggage, plus
• A pair of Shoes or Boots of your choice from Loake’s 1880 Classic or 1880 Country range. 
• The opportunity to have an in-store style consultation with my favourite personal stylist, Sarah Gilfillan of Sartoria Lab (online consultation available, if preferred). 
• Finally, I hope to be present at this styling session to meet the winner.

Three Runners Up Prizes

Three runners-up will each win a £200 Gift Voucher for either Cordings, Tusting or Loake.

HERE'S HOW TO ENTER:

WIN a luxury British-made Outfit – with Grey Fox, Cordings, Tusting and Loake!

Note: Please note that while the photoshoot was a partnership with the three brands my role in this competition is unsponsored.

The Ultimate Advent Calendar Launched in St James's London

Living in London and being interested in all things sartorial, I'm commonly around St James's simply because of its concentration of shops selling stylish menswear, accessories, watches, and other manly treasures.

To mark the festive season, St James's has today launched The Ultimate Advent Calendar to promote the area as the perfect shopping destination for Christmas and to give twenty four lucky entrants the chance to quality gifts from local retailers. 

The Ultimate Advent Calendar at St James's Market

St James's has the advantage of being fairly compact and it contains an excellent selection of stores offering everything from the best menswear and womenswear to watches, jewellery, photography equipment, books, art and antiques. While there, the visitor can pop into The Royal Academy, ICA and Christies and eat and drink at some of the most prestigious hotels and restaurants in London. St James's Market (pictured above) opened recently to provide an even richer choice of destinations for shopping in the area.

The seasonal installation is in St James's Market and a door will open each day of Christmas to display a festive scene. This giant calendar will be complemented by an Instagram advent calendar (@stjameslondon) which will each day reveal a gift to be won. Each has been given by one of the retailers, restaurants, art galleries and hotels found in St James’s.

HOW TO ENTER

The Ultimate Advent Calendar runs from December 1st to December 24th. To enter, for a chance to win a unique gift from St James’s brands including John Smedley, Trickers, Emma Willis, Aspinal of London, Barbour International, Floris and many more, visit www.stjameslondon.co.uk.

This is a collaboration with St James's.

Sipahi Leather Belts Made in England: A Blog Competition

For the past few months I've been wearing a beautifully made leather belt by a new company, Sipahi & Co, who manufacture in the UK. You now have the chance to win some of their products in a blog competition, but first please watch this video:

As you'll see from the video, the oak bark tanned leather is from the last existing tannery of its kind in England's West Country and the buckles are made in one of England's last foundries. It's products like this that fuel my enthusiasm for British manufacture and I'm very pleased that Sipahi & Co have agreed to offer prizes to three lucky blog readers in a competition. See below for details.

The prizes, to be won by three separate winners, are as follows:

1. One belt of your choice with personal monogramming and a cardholder with monogramming

2. One belt with personal monogramming

3. One cardholder with personal monogramming

To enter the competition simply visit Sipahi & Co and sign up for their newsletter. You will be entered into the draw for one of the three prizes. Entries close Friday 8th December. Sipahi & Co will announce the winner after that date.

This is a collaboration with Sipahi & Co.

Competition Closed: Winner Announced of a Pair of Loake 1880 Export Grade Shoes

This competition is now closed. Loake has announced as follows:

'Thanks to everyone who entered the competition hosted by Grey Fox blog to win a pair of Loake 1880 Export Grade shoes. We can now reveal the winner is Marcus Baker, congratulations! We will contact you via email to arrange a fitting at a Loake shop or direct delivery of your shoes. A big thank you also to David Evans of @greyfoxblog. If you aren’t already a follower of David’s blog about his mature search for style, visit www.greyfoxblog.com'.

Many thanks to Loake and to the many followers of both Loake and this blog who entered. Read the original post here:

I wrote recently here about Loake's new 1880 Export Grade footwear range and my visit to the factory to see them being made. Designed and made to show the best of Loake's shoemaking skills, Export Grade shoes are made by a hand-picked team whose pride in their work was touching and impressive. I thought that blog readers would appreciate these shoes and asked Loake if we could run a competition to give Grey Fox readers the chance to win a pair. To my delight, they agreed.

Loake 1880 Export Grade

A pair of Export Grade shoes being hand-made in Kettering (image Grey Fox)

The Competition

Readers will be in with a chance of winning a pair of the new 1880 Export Grade shoes if they sign up to Loake’s newsletter by clicking on this link and signing up for e-mails and promotions at the bottom right of the page. If this blog post is shared more than 50 times (using the Facebook button at the bottom of this post), Loake will add in a shoe care kit for the winner. You must sign up before midnight on Sunday November 27. Loake will randomly select one lucky subscriber and announce the winner on their Facebook page on Monday, November 28.

The new range is not widely available and the winner will be asked to visit one of the Loake stores that is stocking the range for a fitting and to select and collect their chosen style. The shops that are stocking the range are London (Piccadilly Arcade and Bow Lane), Bath and Chester. See here for more information on Loake stores. If the winner can't attend a store, he will be able to select from the information and images online and his shoes will be dispatched to him.

Please note: Loake emphasise that numbers of pairs are limited because Loake can only make a few of these high quality, ready-to-wear, styles. This is down to the extra attention to detail and increased amount of handwork involved. This limited availability means that the winner's first choice preference of shoe style may not be available. For information on the Export Grade range, see here.

Taken on my recent visit to the Loake factory (image Grey Fox)

Note: I've not been compensated financially or in kind for promoting this competition. Having seen them being made and talked to those who make them, I wanted blog readers to have the opportunity to win a pair.

The Tusting x Grey Fox Blog Christmas Competition - and the winner is...!!

This competition is now closed and the winner selected. Many thanks to all those who entered. The winner was Stephen whose entry 'my wife's Christmas stocking(s)' showed fine seasonal humour. His Porter satchel should reach him before Christmas. Merry Christmas everyone.

One of my favourite bags is my Tusting Porter satchel in Aztec Crazyhorse leather. The waxed finish, like all the best leathers, improves with age and use. It's a good size for work and is carried over the shoulder or in one hand. Best of all, it's made in England by a company that's been in the same family ownership for over 130 years.

I'm pleased to be able to collaborate with Tusting to offer a Porter satchel to be won in this Christmas giveaway. Click on this link on the Tusting website, register and answer the question, 'What one essential item would you would pack in your Porter to take on a Christmas getaway?' The best reply, as chosen by us (and our decision is final), will win.

The competition closes at midnight on Saturday 19th December 2015. The winner will be notified in good time for his or her bag to be posted in time for Christmas.

This isn't me, I wanted you to see that the Porter looks good whether owned by a man or woman

Announcing the result of the #GreyFoxLCM competition

Competitions are great fun; unless you have to judge a winner. The second #GreyFoxLCM competition has been harder than the last to judge.  All entries displayed the pride, humour, pluck and creativity that are the best hallmarks of our national character. Thank you all for entering by posting images on Twitter and Instagram.

The final decision was mine alone and I've selected this image by Gavin Kelly whose tweet said, 'Built by MG in Abingdon '55, rebuilt by my dad in Liverpool '77'. I selected it because it's obviously a very personal image for Gavin, the MG is one of my favourite cars, it was built during my birth year and it emphasises the durability and style of a classic British product. Well done Gavin, we'll be in touch to sort out your prize.

Please support all the wonderful brands who supported this competition and Grey Fox Blog. Details of the competition and prizes are here.

I'm grateful to the blog's own personal stylist, Sarah Gilfillan and to Katharine Watson of Push PR for helping me to narrow down the choices when judging. Without their help, I'd give all the entries a prize. Thanks also to the brands involved for supporting the competition and Grey Fox Blog.

CLOSED the Grey Fox British Menswear Competition for London Collections:Men

[This competition is closed]

The final look in the British menswear #GreyFoxLCM competition is a smart casual outfit; product information below. The lightweight wool jumper is from Realm & Empire, trousers by Spoke (who manufacture in Portugal and the UK), socks by Pantherella and brogues from Cheaney.

I also give in this post details of the competition to win an outfit comprising many of the British products I've been photographed with since Thursday. 

Jumper - Realm & Empire

Shirt - Triplstitched

Boxer shorts - British Boxers

Tie - Dashing Tweeds

Trousers - Spoke London

Socks - Pantherella

Shoes - Joseph Cheaney & Sons

Bag - Tusting

The #GreyFoxLCM competition

To enter the competition to win the British-made products listed below simply upload an image of your favourite made in Britain item to either Twitter or Instagram (or both if possible) using the hashtag #GreyFoxLCM. Without the hashtag your entry won't be found and counted. The item can be anything, from a 1950s steam engine, to a Savile Row suit or plate of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. Whatever, it must have been made in the UK. The entry is limited only by your imagination.

The competition will close at midnight on Sunday 21st June (Father's day) and I will announce the one winner  of the outfit the next day, Monday 22nd June. I'll be looking for striking images, originality and examples of the Best of British-Made. Good luck.

Competition Prize: 

• Pantherella, seven pairs of the new socks as featured here over the last five days
• SPOKE, a gift card for a pair of trousers (value £79)
• Tusting, tan Henley bag (as shown in Thursday's post)
• Cheaney, shoes to the value of £325 (no cash equivalent, no change)
• Oliver Sweeney, navy suede bomber jacket (as worn in Saturday's look here)
• Triplstitched, shirt
• Worcestershire Leather Company, belt
• Cravat Club, silk pocket square
• Realm & Empire, jumper (as worn in Friday's look)
• British Boxers, 5 Pairs of boxer shorts
• Dashing Tweeds, tweed tie (as shown in Thursday's look)

Sponsorship - please note that I have earned nothing from this competition/collaboration/feature.

Grey Fox British Menswear Competition for London Collections:Men (Day 4)

For cooler days, today's #GreyFoxLCM look again features British menswear and accessories centred on a waxed cotton coat from Oliver Sweeney. I'll give more details tomorrow about the competition in which you can win many of these items. Information about products and suppliers is given below.

Waxed cotton coat - Oliver Sweeney

Shirt - Triplstitched

Belt - The Worcestershire Leather Company

Trousers - Spoke London

Boxer shorts - British Boxers

Socks - Pantherella

Shoes - Joseph Cheaney & Sons

Bag - Tusting

Grey Fox British Menswear Competition for London Collections:Men (Day 3)

Today's #GreyFoxLCM post centres on a suede jacket from Oliver Sweeney and a superb bag from Tusting, both made in England. For details of all the products and their suppliers see below. See Thursday's post for information about a competition to win some of these products next week.

Suede bomber jacket - Oliver Sweeney

Tie - Dashing Tweeds

Shirt - Triplstitched

Boxer shorts - British Boxers

Belt - The Worcestershire Leather Company

Trousers - Spoke London

Socks - Pantherella

Shoes - Joseph Cheaney & Sons

Bag - Tusting

Grey Fox British Menswear Competition for London Collections:Men (Day 2)

Today's #GreyFoxLCM outfit again features products made in Britain. The trousers, from Spoke's summer collection, and Cravat Club pocket square add colour to a look for a milder day (Spoke manufacture in both Portugal and the UK), with a lightweight wool jumper from Realm & Empire and a linen/merino blazer from Dashing Tweeds. Details of suppliers of the items shown are given below. For information on the competition, see yesterday's post

Blazer - Dashing Tweeds (Grey Fox's own)

Jumper - Realm & Empire

Shirt - Triplstitched

Boxer shorts - British Boxers

Pocket Square - Cravat Club

Trousers - Spoke London

Socks - Pantherella

Shoes - Joseph Cheaney & Sons (Grey Fox's own)

Bag - Tusting

Grey Fox British Menswear Competition for London Collections:Men (Day 1)

I was recently approached to be part of a competition to take place during London Collections:Men. Over the next few days I'll be showing five outfits all made by the eleven participating British manufacturers. On Monday I'll give details of a #GreyFoxLCM competition to win many of the products shown. 

I'd like to record my thanks to the great British brands who have taken part by giving prizes for the competition. Please support them all. As consumers, we should be supporting the home team.

Today's outfit is made up as follows:

Cardigan - Realm & Empire

Shirt - Triplstitched

Tie - Dashing Tweeds

Trousers - Spoke London

Boxer shorts - British Boxers

Belt - The Worcestershire Leather Company

Socks - Pantherella

Shoes - Joseph Cheaney & Sons

Bag - Tusting

[The other two brands, not featured today, are Oliver Sweeney and  Cravat Club]

My thanks also to Katharine Watson and her colleagues at Push PR, Sarah Gilfillan of Sartoria Lab for her, as ever, faultless styling and to Clare Walsh for the quite superb photography and for making the best of a poor subject (me, not the products, which speak for themselves).

The results of the #GreyFoxChristmas competition

I want to thank everyone who entered the competition in which you were asked to submit images that portrayed what the word 'British' means to you. Well over 160 images were submitted. I had no idea the response would be so big. Everything from beautiful landscapes, poignant images remembering our war dead, food, pubs, gardens, sunsets, beaches and shots celebrating our wacky sense of humour; the variety was remarkable.

Many, many thanks to you all. I agonised overnight over a handful of entries (shown below as my highly-commended selection). The winner could have been any of them. In the end I selected this image:

The winner, by Leo Plaster

This image won not only because it said 'British' to me, but it also portrayed an older man of style, chiming the theme of this blog. The image above is by Leo Plaster and shows his 70 year old father after a drive along the coast in his Rolls Royce. Leo intends to share the prize with his father. I wish them both well.

Here is a selection of other images from the competition, any of these could have won, so hard was my task. See #GreyFoxCompetition to find the makers of these photographs.

Some of the highly-commended images

Finally, I want to thank the eight brands who supported the competition. Their faith in the value of this small blog was very welcome and I hope they feel it was rewarded. Here are the companies involved and the prizes they offered.

Pantherella/Scott Nichol, a voucher for £200 worth of English-made socks. A favourite sock brand, they combine beautiful designs with comfort and durability. 

Tusting, a waxed canvas and leather wash-bag from the English manufacturers of high quality bags and luggage whose factory I visited last year. 

Cheaney, your choice of a pair of Northampton-made shoes from their City range. 

Johnstons of Elgin, a cashmere scarf, made in Scotland. I visited their Elgin factory this autumn. 

Cravat Club, a silk cravat made in England, they make high quality pocket squares as well. 

D.R Harris, a selection of quintessentially British gentleman's shaving and grooming products, including a razor, shaving brush, shaving soap and other items. This brand has given me a real appreciation of high quality fragrances and shaving products. 

Drake's, a Black Watch tartan small knot Grenadine tie woven from a high-twist silk yarn on ancient looms over 100 years old. 8 cm in width and 147cm in length, untapped with hand rolled edges. Just reading this makes me want one! I visited their factory in East London this summer. 

Smyth & Gibson, white dress shirt in high quality cotton with Marcella bib, cuffs and collar. I wear a few of their high quality cotton shirts.

Enter the #GreyFoxChristmas competition to win a hamper of made-in-UK gifts

Grey Fox Blog is approaching its third birthday. To celebrate this and the Christmas season, I'm delighted to announce a competition with a prize of a hamper full of gifts selected from some of my favourite British menswear and accessories brands. [Please note this competition ended 6th December; many thanks to all who entered].

The traditional wicker hamper with leather straps contains the following items. I'm extremely grateful for the generosity and support of the brands involved.

• Pantherella/Scott Nichol, a voucher for £200 worth of English-made socks. A favourite sock brand, they combine beautiful designs with comfort and durability.
• Tusting, a waxed canvas and leather wash-bag from the English manufacturers of high quality bags and luggage whose factory I visited last year.
• Cheaney, your choice of a pair of Northampton-made shoes from their City range.
• Johnstons of Elgin, a cashmere scarf, made in Scotland. I visited their Elgin factory this autumn.
• Cravat Club, a silk cravat made in England, they make high quality pocket squares as well.
• D.R Harris, a selection of quintessentially British gentleman's shaving and grooming products, including a razor, shaving brush, shaving soap and other items. This brand has given me a real appreciation of high quality fragrances and shaving products.
• Drake's, a Black Watch tartan small knot Grenadine tie woven from a high-twist silk yarn on ancient looms over 100 years old. 8 cm in width and 147cm in length, untapped with hand rolled edges. Just reading this makes me want one! I visited their factory in East London this summer.
• Smyth & Gibson, white dress shirt in high quality cotton with Marcella bib, cuffs and collar. I wear a few of their high quality cotton shirts.

The contents of the hamper - all made in the UK. Socks illustrative only.

To win the hamper you must post on Twitter and/or Instagram (preferably both) an image (taken by you, not Cartier Bresson) that captures what the word 'British' means to you. Whether it's sunset over a Scottish loch, a cup of steaming tea, a tweedy gentleman, or a market in Leicester, the image must ooze Britishness, reflecting the character of its the country's scenery and peoples. 

The image must be accompanied by the hashtag #GreyFoxChristmas and be directed at @GreyFoxBlog AND @Pantherella (Twitter) @Pantherellasocks (Instagram).

The competition starts today, Saturday 29th November and ends at 3pm on Saturday 6th December. The winner will be announced over the weekend of 6th/7th December and the hamper posted as soon as possible around 9th December.

Please show your support by following @GreyFoxBlog and the supporting brands on Twitter and other social media. Good luck, I look forward to seeing your images.

This competition is only open to UK readers, due to the size of the hamper. The decision about a choice of winner is final.

During the competition Pantherella is offering a 10% discount on their products using voucher code GreyFoxXmas10. The deadline for orders is 19^th December 2014.

Competition to win a Fortis B-42 Official Cosmonaut's watch

I love astronauts' watches - if a timepiece is accurate and robust enough to be worn in space, it's good enough for me, so I'm happy to pass on to you news of a competition to win a Fortis B-42 cosmonaut's watch.

I've admired Fortis watches for some time. A Swiss company, their watches were chosen by The Federal Space Agency of Russia for wear in space. The watch to be won in the competition comes in a presentation box with a Swiss-made pen knife, a piece of iron meteorite and a special Fortis 100th Anniversary book. For more on Fortis watches, click here.

To enter the competition, click on this link to Page & Cooper's website.

Winners of the Age of Reason/Grey Fox silk square naming competition announced

There were two joint winners of the Age of Reason/Grey Fox silk pocket square naming competition. Both chose the name 'handcuffchief', which Ali and I loved. Well done Nick and Jonathan, both from London, your silk pocket squares are on their way to you.

See the Age of Reason website for more on their made and designed in England scarves and pocket squares.

The 'Handcuffchief' pocket square from Age of Reason

Competition: Age of Reason pocket squares - part 2

The Age of Reason/Grey Fox competition

Win a Made in England silk pocket square - click here for information about the competition which was launched this week.

Below Ali Mapletoft, part of the husband and wife team which founded the business, tells us more about Age of Reason -

'Age of Reason is a UK accessories label; we pride ourselves on making men’s silk pocket squares and women’s scarves in England. We try to offer our customers wearable luxury with a playful twist made from fine natural fabrics. For inspiration we look to British punk heritage, and the streets of cities like London and Brighton.

We started as a women’s wear accessories label, and stumbled upon menswear when men kept buying our small women’s neckerchiefs to use as pocket squares. Since then we’ve begun creating products with men in mind and have moved from pin-hemming to traditional hand rolling. We’re fascinated by men’s style, which has always been rich with coding. Wearing a hand rolled pocket square is universal code for “I know stuff about dressing well.” It’s almost tribal

Each pocket square design is hand painted with inks onto water-colour paper by Ali at our studio in Brighton, before being printed onto silk. Every piece is then hand rolled by one skilled seamstress in Yorkshire. Some people like to frame our pocket squares, which is great, but we do love to see them worn. Every piece should work as stand-alone art or a simple accessory. Defiant slogans, naughty prints and secret messages are worked into each pocket square alongside innocuous imagery to encourage the wearer to reveal or conceal different parts depending on their mood or outfit.

Personal style is something so deeply individual, and it takes time to develop. We like to think that we create stories in silk, and that they become part of the wearer’s own personal story'.

Below are some images of the design process and of a few other squares in the range

Age of Reason/Grey Fox competition - win a British-designed and made pocket square

Regulars here will know that my favourite pocket squares come from Age of Reason. Designed by Ali Mapletoft, they are made and have their edges hand-rolled here in Britain. Apart from being works of art, they are made with a delicious, sometimes naughty, and very British, sense of humour.

God Save The Queen pocket square

I'm privileged to be able to offer a newly-designed pocket square (pictured below) to the winner of this Age of Reason/Grey Fox competition. With typical humour and verve Ali has decided that she needs a name for a new design. The competition is simple - the entrant who suggests the best name will win a pocket square.

Below is an image of the scarf that's looking for a name. Send your suggestion to treasure@age-of-reason-studios.com and the winner will be selected before the end of July.

Your e-mail address will be used only to inform the successful winner and you will receive no other mail from Age of Reason or Grey Fox. Good luck.

This is the pocket square that needs a name

Ali will herself tell us more about her designs in a post tomorrow. Meanwhile, take a look at Age of Reason's website for more on this design and other pocket squares in the range. See also my previous posts on these wonderful pocket squares.