BESPOKE BLACK AND WHITE SHOES
GEORGE CLEVERLEY & CO.

Great shoes must have two characteristics: lightness and elegance. And no shoes are greater than those made by George Cleverley & Co. My admiration for the bespoke footwear which leaves the firm’s shop in the Royal Arcade, just off London’s Bond Street, knows no bounds. That is because I admire skill, dedication and fine workmanship, and these qualities are crammed so tightly into this little place that it must surely one day burst at the seams. And I love that which is light and elegant. One day the thought came to me – I shall attribute it to Divine Revelation – that I should devise a pair of shoes which would be the perfect expression of all that is wonderful about Cleverley. This pair of shoes would be a work of art, as well as being entirely practical and – it goes without saying – wonderfully made. Thus did Providence lead me to the idea of bespoke black and white shoes.

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BESPOKE DINNER SUITS
BESPOKE TUXEDO
HENRY POOLE & CO

For my new dinner suit, it was only right that I should go to the Original Source. 150 years ago, Edward, Prince of Wales, decided that he wanted a short, celestial blue evening coat, which he could wear for informal dinners at Sandringham. The Prince liked his role as both an innovator and an arbiter in matters of gentlemen’s dress. Having had his idea, he knew exactly to whom he should turn – his tailor and friend, Henry Poole. The garment was duly made, and from this royal prototype was developed what Englishmen now call the dinner jacket and what our American cousins call the tuxedo. It seemed to me therefore both an historical and a sartorial imperative that my new black tie should be made by the Prince’s tailors, Henry Poole & Co.

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BESPOKE SHIRTS
HARVIE & HUDSON

“The apparel oft proclaims the man.” You will be familiar with these words which Polonius speaks to Laertes in Hamlet. Those of us who care about matters sartorial could do worse than adopt them as our motto. They certainly contain a profound truth. If a man is smart and well-ordered in his dress, he is likely to be smart and well-ordered in other ways, too. If he follows the prevailing Cult of Scruffiness in his dress... well, charity prevents me from completing the sentence. Suffice it to say that I have met too many chaps who think that their sterile conformity to the demands of ‘dressing-down’ somehow suggests they are ‘creative’. I usually judge a fellow by two items of his attire: his shoes and his shirt. It is the latter which concerns me here. A good shirt is eloquent. It speaks of refinement, good taste and high standards. In short, it suggests a certain British-ness. A good bespoke shirt reinforces the point with an emphasis which lifts the spirit. Its wearer is marked out – subtly but definitely – as a man who cares about real quality. And there are no better bespoke shirts than those made by Harvie & Hudson.

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