Brands

Nautical niceties for AW24 menswear



SS Daley AW24

There’s nothing new about nautical themes in fashion, but we can never get enough of them. SS Daley is my AW24 menswear highlight so far (above and below). Styled by Harry Lambert, it’s a romantic, eclectic take on the Oxbridge student life of a bygone era, with an added nautical influence via an E.M Forster story about an English boy’s encounter with an Italian fisherman. Give me all the messy layering, practical headgear, fish-print foulards and pops of yellow please. Amy de la Haye’sShip Shape’ (act 2 of ‘Oh Boy! Dressing Boys 1750-1930’) exhibition at the Fashion & Textile Museum looks like a good source for further maritime-themed inspo. (more…)



Ready for the drop



Phoebe Philo drop waist leather jacket

Is it me manifesting the 1924-style optimism of the deco-era or is there really a rising tide of flapper-esque dresses and hip-riding silhouettes on the horizon? Putting aside my theory that the 2020s hasn’t properly started yet and that 2024 could be The Year (admittedly based on nothing more than blind hope), the evidence is pointing to the latter. (more…)



Old and new beauty 2023



Kees van Dongen - L’Ecuyere Rosa

2023 hasn’t been a massive beauty product year for me. Since trialling Renude’s skincare advisory a while ago, I’ve stuck to a few regular trusted skincare products. Plus, I don’t get sent nearly as much PR stuff to try these days, which is something of a relief. But here’s an end-of-year rundown of new-ish products I’ve been enjoying and old ones that still deliver. (more…)



Secret London: Clifford Street



Perfumer H Clifford Street

Clifford Street, a London gem so discreet I can never quite locate it, just got more inviting.

If you ever need some respite from the madness of New Bond Street and Regent Street, just look for the wee street opposite the Dior flagship on Bond. Here you’ll find Morris’s café for a cuppa (and occasional sighting of Bill Nighy), Connolly’s leathergoods and fabulous oversize knits, Adret’s relaxed-yet-always-refined contemporary menswear, and all manner of gentlemanly ready-to-wear finds at Anderson & Sheppard Haberdashery (in a past life this was the rather more flamboyant Mr Fish). (more…)