Style is a way of life, it is embedded in everything you say and do.  Style is a way of announcing your presence in the game of life.  A way of claiming your individuality in an over-busy anonymous world. In my opinion your style is the totality of who you are.   Your behaviour, your manners, your clothes, your interests, your passions and your loves.  But let’s be clear, style is about standing out in the world, being an individual.  Style is about competition, for jobs, women, status and the freedom to be yourself.      Style and Image consultants talk about how men who employ them to discover what their style and image is and to help them make the most of themselves.  They talk about the men who “get it”, who understand that their style will help them reach their goals.  That style is important, that it sets you free.  This blog is about style, mine and yours.  What Makes a Man is here to help with the questions and difficulties of men’s lives and I hope you will join me on this journey.  Welcome, men and women, to What Makes a Man, the blog of men’s lives, men’s style. 

I have just received my copy of “Manliness” by Harvey C Mansfield.   This study of what constitutes manliness is a timely addition to our current debate about men and manliness.  I will publish a full review in the near future.

                   Jeffrey Foucault  -  Ghost Repeater 

I have been playing this for some time now and it is superb.  Jeffrey Foucault is an American singer-songwriter who has been consistently getting better with each album, and with Ghost Repeater he has reached a peak.  This is an album that has no parallel and few equals.  It has some alt-country heritage but his passionate, accessible songs and his trenchant vocals make this album a rich pleasure and easy to listen to.  

Foucault has a great American voice, deep, gravelly, distinctive and terse.  His songs are passionate and funny and great rock music, full of structure and punch, drawing you into the song.  He has been compared to early Springsteen and has that same skill of making brave stories out of ordinary people’s lives.       

Sparse tight arrangements back Foucault’s resonant vocals making his songs sound fresh and new.  The pedal steel guitar on songs like “Americans in Corduroys” are sublime.  There is not a bad track here, though “Ghost Repeater”, “Americans in Corduroys” and “One for Sorrow” are standouts.     

He sings of lost lovers, honeymoons and wild crazy men.  His men are American romantics, on the road, in love, tough and tender.  He has that way of telling how men feel, wry, funny and true.  Saying an album is poetic is the kiss of death but this album is both poetic and soulful.  The music is timeless and will take you to a place where men know that the only road is to follow their dreams, and the only weapons are courage and a sense of humour.  

You can listen to this album at twilight at the end of a bad day with a scotch in your hand, and it will make you feel whole again.  You can listen to this album sitting on the sofa, with you best girl tucked into your shoulder and she will think you are romantic and cool.  But be warned, once she’s heard it, she will steal it.  

Foucault’s that good.               

Savile Row.

It’s time to buy a suit from Savile Row. As a stylish man working in London I really owe it to myself to experience the best the city has to offer.

I want the whole Savile Row experience. I want to browse styles with the help of the real experts, Savile Row tailors who can give me the benefit of their knowledge and experience. I want the pleasure of choosing suit fabrics from amongst the best available. Savile Row tailors are legendary for being able to see what style, cut and cloth suit a man, just by looking at him. It is said that no-one tailors a suit as well as a Savile Row tailor and that sounds like something every man should experience.

But which Savile Row tailor? I have bought bespoke many times but have been told that Savile Row is “different”. The Row encompasses a wide spectrum of tailors and tailoring styles and it’s difficult to understand all the subtleties of Savile Row tailoring without a little research.  As a stylish man I have a working knowledge of suits and tailoring, including Savile Row. However I decided to do a little more research. This article http://www.englishcut.com/archives/000029.html by Thomas Mahon, who writes the excellent English Cut blog was helpful. So was window-shopping the various tailors.   My conclusion was that Thomas Mahon is right, buying from Savile Row is very much a personal choice. So, with that as my disclaimer, here are my personal preferences.

Gieves and Hawkes

Gieves and Hawkes is a British company with a proud history. Today they preserve several traditions, including tailoring military uniforms, as well as gentlemen’s suits. Their style is classically British, with a firm line to the suit. Gieves and Hawkes suits have a very defined shape and their silhouette is what one thinks of as a “British” suit, very structured, quite a “hard” cut.

They were my first stop, because I had bought ready-to wear suits from them in the past. In my experience their suits are superbly made. Amongst others, I bought a double-breasted charcoal-grey pinstripe from them in the days when double-breasted suits were fashionable. That suit was one of the best investments I ever made. I wore it for ten years and it never went out of shape, never looked old. I could dry-clean it and it would look like new. It was a great business suit, perfect for the City. My reasoning was that if their ready-to-wear was that good, then their bespoke would be even better.

The other reason I am fond of Gieves and Hawkes is that two years ago I visited their concession in Harvey Nichols department store to buy a topcoat. In the end I did not buy from them but the service from their staff was eye-poppingly good. Their service and civility in selling men’s clothes set a benchmark for me which I have referenced ever since.

Spencer Hart 

Spencer Hart have a logo in their showroom window which states “The birth of the cool”

Absolutely right. Absolutely absolutely right.

Spencer Hart sell the prefect black suit. Slim, sleek cuts in dark silky cloths. These are the suits for cocktail bars and clubs, parties and casinos. Understated and elegant, Spencer Hart suits are masterpieces of cool style. They are slightly raffish suits for men who know how to party. Call it bad boy style, man-of-the-world style. Elegance was part of what I was looking for, so they made my shortlist too. To be honest, I could not drag myself away from their suits, just looking at them makes me feel like a stylish guy.

Interestingly, Nick Hart, the creative heart of the company, has just designed a collection for Aquascutum, the English clothing brand. The ready-to-wear suits look almost as stylish as the bespoke. It will be interesting to see how they do. I will write more as time goes by.

Richard James 

Richard James has a Ready-to-wear and a Bespoke shop in Savile Row. I like Richard James’ take on Savile Row tailoring. His suits are well-cut without being over-formal. Cloths are inventive and colours are imaginative yet knowingly stylish.   In my view Richard James is the perfect introduction to Savile Row tailoring. His suits are modern and elegant, his store is light and welcoming and his staff are knowledgeable but carry themselves lightly, friendly and helpful.

Kilgour

Like Richard James, Kilgour are one of the “modern” faces of Savile Row, though they have a long history on the Row. To me, Kilgour’s style is distinctive and intriguing.  Like Gieves and Hawkes their suits have a definite silhouette, a classic cut. Yet the Kilgour cut is softer, more sensuous, with a slightly romantic Italian feel about the suit. It’s a very flattering cut, making the chest look wider and the waist look slimmer. In recent years their window display seems to have favoured suits in lighter fabrics, often with a slight shimmer or silkiness, that suggests the clothes are a wool/mohair mix.

Kilgour looks very approachable, with a wide double front store, light and modern. They also have a bespoke range, so it is easy to browse and get a feel for their style. So, these are my choices.

Next step (in Part 2), who do I chose?