The London Lounge

How different are the 808 and 888 lasts? I have low instep, and I understand the 808 has the lowest instep of all EG lasts. On the other hand, the 888 is partly derived from the 808 if I'm not mistaken...

Of those you showed, I only like the diamond ones. I have looked at vintage cf, and I always find them very expensive compared to non vintage. Sometimes, there is no modern alternative, but sometimes there is, e.g., - Mikimoto pearl cf (just 2 pearls linked by a chain) - Nice English silver links - ...

In Budapest, you can see some nice shoes in the Vass store. They can also make MTO / MTM shoes (they take the measures but there is no fitting). http://www.vass-cipo.hu/Eng/Bemutatkozas.html

One cheap improvement to most closets is to replace the normal lightbulbs with "daylight" bulbs, i.e., lightbulbs that are engineered to produce a neutral light.

In Venice, I had the best seafood in my life at Il Ridotto. Highly recommended.

That's what I thought. Thank you Michael.

All,

On a custom (MTM rather than true bespoke though) pair of shoes, if quarters touch out of the box, are they likely to get too big over time?

Thank you,

JD

I don't like diamonds on men watches, and especially not on sport watches. Small diamonds as hour markers on a Cellini line model of Rolex would be as far as I'd want to go.

I have a sapphire on the crown of my "Tank Americaine", and I really like knowing it's there, but it's hardly noticeable.

Have you considered patronizing someone closer to where you live? This is not going to work out, in my humble opinion. In one year, your body can go up or down several kg, and the maker is always going to be aiming at the wrong set of measurements.

Bringing this post back up to recommend the tiny, boutique, exquisite restaurant "Il Ridotto". It was some of the best food I've had anywhere, and a great experience overall.

http://www.ilridotto.com

A year for a shirt? A bit extreme, no?

Those shawl collar cardigans are really lovely. Thank you for contributing the pics. Did yours arrive? How was the communication with the shop?

We had a very good Hungarian dinner at this restaurant: RezKakas 1053 Budapest - Veres Palne U. 3 http://www.rezkakasrestaurant.com/en/ They had a very good wine list, in particular a very good late harvest Tokay, which I drank with smoked goose liver (similar to a French foie gras). The best cakes ...

Would you have pics of the said more complex Arran knit pattern?

Thanks,

JD

The examples that have been posted here and elsewhere were sometimes - to say the least - unconvincing. See the "3 different tailors, 3 very different suits" for example.