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heroes - the French writer, Anglophile and conservative, Maurice Druon (1918-2009) - was once denounced as "starched, outdated, reactionary, egotistical, haughty and sinister".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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BESPOKE COUNTRY SUITS
HENRY POOLE & CO.

A visit to a tailor on Savile Row should be an occasion of calm and serenity. Here, of all places in the desert of this noisy and nasty world, we should find an oasis of civilization. Yet today, sadly, this is not always the case. There is at least one tailoring establishment on the Row which has transformed its premises into something like a discothèque. Such ‘progress’ might appeal to some. It does not appeal to me. But there remain some certainties in life, thank Goodness. One is that Henry Poole & Co. (founded in 1806) will never succumb to the temptations of such vulgarity. This is the firm, after all, which can justifiably claim to have begun ‘Savile Row’. To enter number 15 is to be surrounded by the Tailoring Virtues – decency, respect for tradition and fine craftsmanship. Today’s cult of scruffiness – to my mind, the result of moral, intellectual and physical laziness – has no adherents here. Small wonder that I was keen to have my country suit made at Henry Poole.

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BESPOKE TWO-TONE SHOES
G. J. CLEVERLEY & CO. LTD.

“Why do you like Cleverley’s shoes so much, Mr Bown?” The speaker was John Carnera, and I was sitting in the upstairs work-room of the premises of G.J.Cleverley & Co. Ltd. I blinked and looked across at Mr Carnera. He was wearing his customary white coat and looked, for all the world, like a friendly consultant physician. But I was not in Harley Street: I was at number Thirteen, The Royal Arcade, Bond Street. I thought for a moment and then replied, “Because, Mr Carnera, they are wonderfully light, supremely elegant and truly ‘sharp’; and because I believe them to be the best shoes in the world.” These words – expressing, as they did, my honest and firm opinion – seemed to satisfy my interlocutor, so we proceed to discuss the details of my new shoes.

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