Happy New Year

Merry Christmas 2015

Pipe & Tweed

Edward Green Vintage

Poolside

Dystopian Tales

Tartan Tuesday

Drinking for Chaps: How to Choose One's Booze (Gustav Temple & Olly Smith)

'Hot on the heels of Cooking for Chaps, published in 2014, comes an authoritative and definitive guide to getting plastered. [As if I need one - Ed.]

Drinking for Chaps is a collaboration between Gustav Temple and esteemed drinks writer Olly Smith. Together they embarked on a magical journey to the heart of each and every type of alcoholic drink imaginable, from cocktails to cognac and everything in between, in order to set out precisely how Chaps should approach each of them. From which particular jacket to wear when sipping white wine, what to nibble with a glass of vodka, how to mix a dry martini, and, crucially, how to deal with an awful hangover, Drinking For Chaps shows true chaps the way to the bar.

 Packed with history, background, a bit of technical information (but not too much), mythology and portraits of legendary boozers such as Oliver Reed, Sir Kingsley Amis, Winston Churchill and Peter O’Toole, there is plenty to read in this tome aside from which bottle of cheap plonk to take to a dinner party (though that’s in there too).

Endorsed by none other than Sir Roger Moore: “Fascinating, especially as I pop up all over the pages!” and Guardian drinks writer Henry Jeffries, who declared: “Tackling such important issues as whether it’s ever acceptable to wear a fez while drinking cocktails, it’s best read when slightly drunk. I can offer no higher praise.”'

Ed Meier - München

Prussian Junker

Prussian Junker, 1910 (Note: proper beard)

Modern Life is War

(h/t HB)

The Brooks Brothers Shirt

As you know, I have been a Brooks Brothers customer since I was very young. I regularly peruse the company literature. I recently spotted this quote from Tom Davis, a Brooks Brothers salesman, on the famed Fiat chairman and style icon Gianni Agnelli, who only wore Brooks Brothers button-down shirts:

 "Mr. Agnelli loved clothing, and he was like a kid in a candy shop when I took him for a tour around the store...He wore three colors: white, beige, blue. Not stripe, never another color."

I found this quote very timely, as I have similarly limited my shirtings to just a few colours: white, beige, blue, and pink. No stripes, no patterns. Button-down and spread collar. Pinpoint and oxford cloth. That's it.

After completing an audit of my dress shirt collection, I removed all of the unconventional numbers. It may be difficult getting rid of certain items, especially the expensive ones, but it does make things easier in the long run. When you know what you like and what looks good, go with it.

A proper dress shirt is the foundation of the professional chap's wardrobe. Keep it simple, clean, and classic.

Save the flash for interesting ties, watches, and accessories, if you so choose.

The Rand Club: The Rhodes Room

The Rand Club (1887-2015)

Tartan Tuesday

Varmint Trousers

Locals Only !

"If you don't live here, don't surf here"

Cambridge Bags

Cambridge University (1926)

European Style

Huntington Clothiers & Shirtmakers

Poolside

Brogued, Bothered, & Besuited

The days flow in unceasing rhythm, and a new year beckons. It is important, as you know, to face the approaching Sturmwind appropriately clothed in classic finery. In this exclusive photo (at left), I am wearing a Corneliani suit in a lightweight chalk stripe pattern and a bespoke pair of Cleverley brogues in City black. Note the fine chisel toes on the shoes. At my request, the toecaps have been specially reinforced with aerospace-grade titanium, for when I kick against the Bolshevik menace. If you spot a tall, well-dressed gent patrolling the carriageways at dawn, do stop and say hello.

Reds Don't Surf !