The London Lounge

I exhausted the possibilities of Jeremyn Street years ago for socks. These days I get a big delivery once a year from Crimson: https://www.crimson-cashmere.com/men-socks. Great colours, fast delivery, beautifully thin, long cotton socks.

As long as your feet are well-groomed, great longevity too!

Congrats on getting the Lounge back online, Michael. Thanks

To my mind, London's finest bookshop is John Sandoe (link) in Blacklands Terrace, off the Kings Road in Chelsea. A wafer thin second to second to Sandoe is the London Review Bookshop (link) in Bloomsbury. Browsing in either for an hour will surpass any comparable experience in Waterstones or Amazon.

DD MacDonald wrote:Michael, try The American Bar at the Stafford. Ben Provost has run the bar for the past decade - he is French, the bar is his domain and the Martinis are spot on.

Exactly what my reply was going to say. The Stafford has yet to be beat for Martinis.

Additionally, members who wear draped suits on business settings can address why they thought it looked good on them. The majority of my business is conducted in versions of the drape suit, not all quite as idealised as the one in Mr. Alden's picture. I have a couple of more extreme A&S examples, w...

Smythson are beyond reproach. They have provided me with personalised products during my adult life.

alden wrote:That is an old style heavy (18 ozs) woollen flannel. I will have to do some research and get back to you. I think its going to be hard to make anymore.

Such a pity. It is very distinct. What is the obstacle to making heavier flannel? Machinery or skill?

rjman wrote:One is paying a premium for the story behind it. The leather itself is rather stiff and can crack fairly easily.

I quite agree with the reason for the premium but I have seen no cracking yet. Has your wallet leather cracked, rjman?

I have a wallet made of the Russian calf. It is very distinctive and hard-wearing. The colour is rich and the cross-hatching adds hugely to the character.

Whilst I do not yet have any shoes made of this leather, I plan a pair of double monks at some stage.

Hello

Looks like there's a new source of shoes in town. Lodger Footwear(link) have even managed to pique my interest in a pair of ox-blood eelskin shoes(link).

I will visit in the next 2 or 3 weeks and report back.

Whittaker

Like others I share a distinct preference for autobiographies.

Having said that, I enjoyed Graham Robb's compelling "Rimbaud".

How unfortunate. May I suggest Kawabata Yasunari's superb Snow Country ? Niigata has changed quite a bit in the fifty years since the book was written, but it still has its rugged charms, and is still snow country. Thank you, garu. I have just ordered a copy and look forward to reading about Nigata.

During a recent expedition to Japan I took several travel books. To my surprise the one that I have found myself recommending most frequently to others travelling there is Will Ferguson's "Hokkaido Highway Blues". The writing, though not erudite, is tight and amusing. The premise, that of following ...

If you can forgive some of the outre references, Duncan Fallowell's, "To Noto, Or, London to Sicily in a Ford", is a rather wonderful travel book.

Etutee, most of your articles, complete with pictures, sit bound into seasonal reference folders, adjacent to my sartorial inspiration shelf. The articles embolden me to attempt new fusions of suits, shirts and ties. Sometimes a combination works, other times not, but in making the attempt I learn. ...