Dress Soft The term “Dress Soft” was used by the Duke of Windsor to describe his clothes which proffered free movement. He was often credited with the growth in popularity of the lounge suit.     It was Frederick Scholte, in the early twentieth c...

Lose your shirt    My family and friends should relax I am not advocating gambling. The children’s dinner money is safe.   The problem with writing about luxury goods is that your palate becomes increasingly discerning. This wouldn’t be a problem...

A cut above the rest. Savile Row is synonymous with the finest tailoring in the world. Huntsman are quintessentially British, residing at 11 Savile Row.     Founded in 1849 by Henry Huntsman, they have always been a byword for style. Patronised b...

It was serendipity, born of curiosity that led me to Richard Smith’s shop. In October 2011, I wrote of his advent to Manchester and his skills as a bespoke tailor. I promised a follow-up. So it was in October that the material for the next episode in my documentation of Richard’s work began as I visited his boutique to discuss having a suit made.

Talents can be latent, unrecognised, apparent, diverse, desirable or otherwise but when you consider the remarkable story of Andrew Ramroop OBE it is like a fairy tale - rags to riches, achievement against all the odds.

Traditional ways of the artisan must never disappear from view or the mass manufactured will change from a default choice to the only choice. 

Certain memories have contributed to my love of craftsmanship.