BESPOKE OVERCOATS

HENRY POOLE & CO

There is too much emphasis on sunshine nowadays. I certainly like to see the sun, and I frequently travel many hundreds of miles to have it warm my face. But I do not think I would care to live in a place which was constantly warm. Climatic variety has formed the British character. I doubt that we would have possessed the largest empire mankind has ever known, if our small island had been bathed in warm sunlight every year from January until December. The changing seasons nourish our minds as well as our bodies, and sow within us the aspiration to achieve great things. We need our autumnal and winter coldness. And then there are the real joys to be had on chilly days, which are not confined to staying inside next to a roaring fire with the prospect of a decent lunch of roast beef. No, there is sartorial pleasure to be had, too – not only in the donning of a stout suit and a good pair of brogues, but also in the wearing of a wonderful overcoat. I have just acquired such a garment, which is now, without doubt, the most elegant overcoat in my wardrobe. It should come as no surprise to you, dear reader, that it was made for me by one of the finest tailoring firms in the world, Henry Poole & Co.

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BESPOKE COUNTRY SHOES
G. J. CLEVERLEY & CO. LTD.

I have the most elegant country shoes ever made. That is a bold claim. Still, I am going to make it. As a city boy, I am only too well aware that Elegance and The Countryside are not always happy bedfellows – indeed, they can sometimes appear the worst of enemies. But even for those of us who regard a healthy adventure away from town as nothing more strenuous than a couple of hours with Country Life in the morning room of a friend’s hunting box, there is a need for footwear which is at home in the shires. Yet it must be exquisite, for the lowering of standards with regard to shoes is the first step on the road to sartorial perdition. I have little need of stout boots, for I have no intention of encountering a ploughed field. But I do require – as every gentleman surely must – shoes which will look right with a tweed suit from Savile Row. Hence my visit to the Royal Arcade, wherein are to be found the finest shoemakers in the world. I refer, of course, to George Cleverley & Company.

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THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Unless we subscribe to the heresy of Antinomianism, we know that we all need a few rules by which to lead our lives. Human beings are not made for chaos, but for order – of the proper sort. We do not want to be suppressed, yet we know instinctively that anarchy would probably be the worst suppression of all. Moses came down from the mountain with the tablets on which were written The Ten Commandments. In my own, rather more modest, fashion I wish to respond to those correspondents who have asked for some guidance about the proper way in which a gentleman can maintain a decent appearance in a world which can be depressingly indifferent to standards of the sartorial sort. I therefore humbly offer to readers my own version of The Ten Commandments. Most of the Commandments are to do with matters of dress, although a couple relate to aspects of behaviour. One of my heroes - the French writer, Anglophile and conservative, Maurice Druon (1918-2009) - was once denounced as "starched, outdated, reactionary, egotistical, haughty and sinister". If these Commandments prompt as noble a tribute from my many detractors, I shall know that my efforts have not been in vain.

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