Men's Style

My Christmas wishlist might just become YOUR Christmas wishlist

Edmond Chan · Nov 26, 2017 · Leave a Comment

First up is:

1) A Linjer Watch – “The Minimalist” in Gunmetal/Navy

Until yesterday, I’d never heard of this brand. I saw an ad on my Facebook feed for The Hustle magazine and this awesome article: This Startup is Successfully Disrupting The $19 Billion Watch Industry

From the Hustle article by Sam Parr:

When it came to buying watches and leather goods, they were tired of choosing between disposable fast fashion and overpriced luxury products. They couldn’t find well-made, well-designed products at a fair price point – that didn’t sport an obnoxious logo.

Look at this beauty from the Linjer website:

This watch is by Linjer and the model is The Minimalist, Gunmetal/Navy

I love the idea behind this watch and the company that makes it.

I mean who doesn’t want to own a beautiful, minimal watch that doesn’t have a logo on it?

And that isn’t that expensive for a good watch? $249 isn’t that bad for a decent watch.

And look at those reviews! 154 five star reviews at the time of writing!

Check it out here and check out the Linjer site here.

2) SuitSupply 100% Cashmere Navy Overcoat – £499

It’s a bit pricey for my actual wishlist, so I might have to go down to the lower model – pure wool – instead (£299).

This came into my inbox from SuitSupply marketing this morning.

Check it out:

Pure cashmere navy overcoat by SuitSupply

Check it out on the SuitSupply website here and on the full site here.

3) Some new socks!

This may sound boring….but I’m 38 years old now and I genuinely want some new socks!

I don’t know about you but I lose socks all the time and they become worn out after 10-20 washes.

I’d like some socks that last a bit longer and, at the upper end, they’re quite expensive.

Compared to Uniqlo and H&M where you can get 3 pairs of socks for £10, at the upper end, they can be £20 per pair and above.

What do you get for this huge increase? I’m not sure but I want to find out.

So I’m going to start at New and Lingwood, makers of fine socks.

Here’s a photo of some of their socks:

From the New and Lingwood Pinterest board (https://www.pinterest.co.uk/newandlingwood/eton)

(I’m going to do a post soon on finding the perfect socks)

What’s on your Christmas wishlist? Let me know in the comments below!

My honest review of Grenson shoes

Edmond Chan · Nov 7, 2017 · 1 Comment

I’m a big fan of Grenson shoes. I own three pairs and I think that they’re the best shoes that you can buy in England in terms of looks and beauty. (I’ve written before about resoling a pair of my Grensons in this post)

There are better known English shoes such as Churches and Crockett & Jones, but Grenson are designed for aesthetics. Check out the site here.

Look at these Grensons that I own:

Beautiful aren’t they.

The pros

We’ve said it above: they’re beautiful. People do look at them and compliment you on them. You also catch yourself looking at these yourself when wearing them.
They are classic English shoes from Northampton – in other words they have pedigree.
They aren’t as expensive as other fine English shoes. They retail in the £200s, whilst Churches and Crocketts are in the £300s.

The cons

They definitely aren’t as robust as I’d hope. I’ve had the heels fall off the back of a pair before. The heel was only attached by a bit of adhesive and a few very short tacks (nails). This is not good for shoes that cost so much.
The shiny finish scratches quite easily. Most models of Grensons ship with a high polish, which unfortunately can catch scuffs and nicks if you’re not careful.
They aren’t that comfortable. I have quite wide feet and the aesthetic of these shoes is quite slim. The soles on the leather soled shoes are also quite thin (for the aesthetic again) and you can definitely feel the bumps underfoot when walking.
They are expensive. More expensive than Loake and Barker.

Overall

I love Grenson and I will continue to be a customer. They are expensive and they aren’t robust but for me their supreme looks trump all these considerations. My next pair will be ones with a robust sole. I like the look of these boots (Fred with commando sole):

Or these:

Let me know your experiences of Grenson in the comments below. What shoe brands do you love?

3 ways to get great fit WITHOUT getting your clothes tailored or altered

Edmond Chan · Aug 1, 2017 · Leave a Comment

It’s common fashion/style blog advice that fit is king.

And it’s true: great fit is 90% of great style.

However, achieving great fit is bloody hard because (i) everyone’s shape and size is different and (2) the clothes you find in shops off the rack are in pre-defined sizes (small, medium, large, x-large etc).

The difference between small and medium in a top is about 2-3 inches in the chest. So someone whose chest size is in the middle of this range has to wear a slightly baggy top.

The problems I have are that I’m short by western standards (I’m 5ft 6in) and I’m stocky (my chest is 40in). I also have a long torso relative to my legs. This makes buying off the rack difficult in terms of getting great fit.

Shops that don’t work for me fit-wise include Zara, which is a shame because I like a lot of the stuff they have. Unfortunately, the trousers are generally too long and their standard sizes seem to be geared towards taller men.

That’s absolutely fine, but I’m also quite lazy. I don’t want to buy them and then have the hassle of getting them altered.

Alterations take time and effort and also cost money. Getting trousers shortened might be £20. That’s £20 on top of what you paid for them.

How I avoid having to get my clothes altered

1) Find shops where their sizes and styles fit you really well

This might sound obvious but it isn’t really.

Different shops might call their sizes for t-shirts ‘small’, ‘medium’ or ‘large’, but on comparison, the ‘smalls’ might be significantly different in actual size to each other.

Zara’s ‘small’ might be different to H&M’s ‘small’.

Try different shops and work out which one works for you.

It might be really specific and item by item. Some shops might work for you for t-shirts but not trousers. You might have to find trousers that work in other shops.

The beauty of this is finding a shop that works for a particular item and sticking to that shop.

For instance, I love H&M for t-shirts. (I’m a ‘medium’ crew neck in slim fit or regular).

I love Uniqlo for jumpers. (I’m a ‘medium’).

I love Asos for chinos. (I’m a 31in waist, 30in leg).

I love Moss Bros for jackets (I’m a slim-fit 40S)

2) Look for shops where there are lots and lots of different sizes

With regards to shirts, some shops might only have half inch different sizes on the collar and minimal size offerings on the sleeves.

Shops that specialise in shirts will have far more granular differences in dimensions.

Eg. TM Lewin has collars in 14in, 14.5in, 15in, 15.5in, 16in etc.

They will also have within each of these sizes, different sleeve lengths available: 33in, 34in, 35in etc.

They will also have different ‘fits’ available: classic/regular, slim, fitted, super-fitted.

Try all the sizes around your size and see which fits best.

This perfect size combination will be your ‘go-to’ size in the future. (For me in TM Lewin, my perfect size is 16in collar, 33in sleeves and ‘fitted’ fit.

3) Where you need to make the alteration, do it yourself

Now if the chinos above were perfect for me, the size would be 31in waist, 28in leg.

But on ASOS’s website, you can’t buy this size. It doesn’t exist.

However, I bought the next size that was closest to my ideal size, which was the 31in waist, 30in leg.

The trousers are too long when fully extended but I simply roll up or turn up the trousers.

I look for the trouser cuff (hem and the thread line) and I roll up and up until I get the perfect length.

I described this in more detail in this previous post.

Let me know any questions in the comments below!

Stepping outside your comfort zone: try this pink linen jacket for summer

Edmond Chan · Jul 18, 2017 · Leave a Comment

I’ve written before about pushing through your comfort zone and trying something new. This applies to me too.

I’ve longed after a pastel linen jacket for a while now. I know that Moss Bros jackets fit me well off the rack so I went back to their website and I was torn between a light blue linen jacket and a pink linen jacket.

I thought the pink one looked great but I was unsure as whether I could pull it off.

How versatile is a pink jacket?

Well it works with white shirts for sure. And also with light blue shirts.

Maybe not with pink shirts because there’d be little difference or contrast between the shirt colour and the jacket colour.

This then is less versatile than my light green tweed jacket (also from Moss Bros) which would work with all of the above shirt colours.

Trousers-wise, navy chinos or navy jeans would work well, as would white or beige chinos.

What to look for in a pink jacket?

The same rules apply to pink jackets as they do to all other jackets and all other clothes.

The most important of these is fit.

The sleeves should end at your wrist and when your arms are at your side, a bit of shirt sleeve should be visible just past or longer than where your jacket sleeve ends.

The bottom of the jacket at the back should have two vents or cuts.

The jacket should be easily and comfortably closable but not overly loose.

The overall jacket length should not go further than your bum at the back and not lower than your groin at the front. Equally, you don’t want your jacket to be so short that you see your ass.

Go into the shop and try the different sizes until you reach the fit recommendations above.

I tried the 40R (which means 40 inch chest regular length), 40S, 38R and 38S.

I chose the 40S in the end and I think it fits pretty well.

Can you pull off a pink linen jacket?

You’ll never know until you try. Give it a go!

Is resoling quality English shoes worth it?

Edmond Chan · Jun 17, 2017 · 3 Comments

I’ve got three pairs of Grenson shoes. One pair got completely ruined on my first date with my now wife.

I was wearing a blue blazer, red trousers and these brown, half-brogues and the date was going swimmingly. We were in Soho, London, when suddenly there was torrential rain. The narrow streets of Soho were flooded and in our walk to Tottenham Court Road Underground Station, my shoes got literally soaked. They were underwater.

I was careful when drying them not to let them near heat sources like radiators because that could crack the leather (something I learned from schoolboy football).

Nevertheless, they were totally buggered.

I’ve had them in my wardrobe ever since then, with the intention to get them restored.

Last month, I took them to my local Timpsons. Timpsons is a shop for shoe repairs, leatherwork and watch repairs.

Here’s what they looked like beforehand.

Totally buggered right?

Timpsons quoted me GBP 70 for a leather resole which included a cream treatment of the uppers or I could opt for the full resole which would give me all of the above but also a new heel. This would be GBP 90.

GBP 90???? At this point, you might be thinking, ‘Why don’t you just buy a new pair of shoes?’

GBP 90 could buy some decent shoes, couldn’t they? Or even if not, that GBP 90 could be put towards the cost of a new pair of shoes?

In my head, I knew that the cost of a new similar pair of Grensons is around GBP 200.

I also love the shape of these half-brogues. They look slimline in all the right places and the view from above is very satisfying.

The thinking around quality English shoes (shoes made by certain brands: Cheaney, Crockett and Jones, Churches, Loakes, Grensons etc) is that, as long as there isn’t too much damage to them, they will be able to be restored i.e. resoled and refurbished.

I bit the bullet and went for the full resole and refurbishment at GBP 90.

Here’s the result:

What do I think?

If I’m honest, I don’t love them anymore.

I was disappointed with the level of shine. They’ve definitely lost their lustre.

Brand new, these shoes have a high-shine finish. Now, they don’t.

This isn’t Timpson’s fault.

It was mine for letting them get ruined in the first place.

Would I resole again?

Absolutely for minor damage like the leather sole getting a hole in them. You’d still have a great shoe and it would be wrong to throw them out for such minor damage. You’d also save GBP 100 on not buying a new pair of shoes immediately.

But for the level of damage my shoes had, I wouldn’t do it again because I’m not happy with the results. Timpsons did the best they could but they have lost their magic.