The London Lounge

Most of the brands mentioned are good, and it is more a question of personal preference rather than a difference in quality. One should be careful however to only buy the export strength variety (45-48% depending on the distiller). The duty-saving domestic diluted stuff (38-40%) is not adequate. Rem...

D & J Anderson are the brand used to market the finest and most expensive fabrics. Below that is TM Goldline.

The Vier Jahreszeiten is being substantially rebuilt right now (while continuing business) to address the room issues mentioned here. I hope they are good at multi-tasking. Personally, I stay at the Cortiina. It is small and modern, and service is not five stars, but then it is not meant to be. When...

In the luxury category you should add the Königshof. The building is ugly but the service is the best in town. The Mandarin comes closest to my idea of luxury in terms of looks and location, but like most Munich hotels suffers from occasional and inexplicable lapses of standards (e.g. starting to re...

Two back straps are more flexible to accommodate any button placement, and the D-ring guarantees perfect fit across the shoulders no matter what their shape. I would never buy braces without it any more.

The ascot allows you to open the second shirt button which makes it look more raffish (I do not know whether you would consider that an advantage, but it has its uses).

Huzir, I wholeheartedly agree. The majority of what it takes for excellent tailoring is craft, and it can be objectively measured (for example what quality leather, how many stitches per inch). And what can be measured can be ranked. However, there is an element of art. What looks best, and even mor...

Be careful, the waistcoat should not show under the bottom of the tailcoat, just between the two breast pieces. As a consequence, trousers for evening dress have to be cut with considerably higher rise and waistline than is common practice today. Etutees post is giving all the details, it merits rea...

The shoe shown in the link is not exactly what you are looking for, as it is laced. Etutees image depicts a model that can only be obtained bespoke nowadays. A rather beautiful design that has always tempted me, but at GBP1,800 plus it simply would not be sensible to order something that can only be...

Yes, you are right, one should not let these things spoil one's enjoyment. Where I draw the line however is being photographed. That is not permissable in a place where my money pays for my privacy. You would not depict anybody on your beautiful photographs unless you had asked permission first, eit...

London can be magic on a Sunday morning. Re the Connaught, I recently had breakfast there after staying away for many years following wholesale management changes in 2001. A former Israeli prime minister was having breakfast as well. His minders were constantly scanning the dining room, and his fami...

Dear Costi These look splendid shoes, your shoemaker seems a great find. Re the boots you showed, indeed this is a design that is restricted to the most formal occasions. They come either as lace ups or buttons. I personally prefer the button variety with a kid suede top in pale grey. Not that I wou...

I like to wear prints for summer and woven in winter. Silk for town and wool in the country.

Cording's offers numerous trousers with Daks back when I last looked a few years back. Hackett and Ede & Ravenscroft may be other traditional outfitters to look at.

As LP do not seem to weave their own shirtings, one must be very careful what range it is and who supplied it. All I can do is to reiterate my considerable disappointment that shirtings as inadequate as those I was shown by an LP flagship store bore their brand. They had other books that were much b...