“Elegance begins with the shoes”

                                                            Lazlo Vass

                                                            Hungarian Master Shoemaker

Here is the third part of classic English ready-to wear shoemakers.  In this part I write about those traditional brands that are re-inventing themselves and two very stylish new shoe brands, which have become new classics. 

Part 1 of the this article “Introduction to English shoemakers” is here

Part 2 of this article “The Traditional Brands” is here

Part 4 of this article “Caring for handcrafted shoes” is here 

Barkers “Quintessentially English”

Barkers produce English shoes of superb quality.  Barkers, like Loakes, are at the affordable end of the quality English shoe spectrum.  They are famous for the rugged wearability and the large amount of hand-crafting that goes into the making of their shoes.  Barkers shoes have the spirit of the North of England about them, well-made, with integrity and craftsmanship.  Handsome and manly.

Barker’s shop, Cheapside, London

Shoe Styles

Until recently Barkers were famous as the traditionalists of the English shoe craftsmen.  They excelled at producing shoes in the classic styles Oxfords and Derbys.  For my taste, their moccasins and slip-ons are not as successful, looking a bit seventies.  However, for classics, especially oxfords, they are hard to beat.

Recently Barkers have become more contemporary, with some very nicely designed modern shoes, with lighter styling and clever designs such as two-tone leather uppers, long-toed Derbys and unusual broguing.  They also have a new shop in London’s financial district, which showcases many of their newer designs.  Barkers are clearly aiming at the new designer shoe market, which is flourishing amongst London’s financiers.   

Barker Arnold (Professional range) 

Barker Black

Barker also have a recently launched US venture, Barker Black.  Barker Black shoes showcase the superb craftsmanship of Barkers with classic shoe types in fine leathers.  The collection appears to be aimed at stylish modern man who wants a shoe that he can wear both to work and for leisure.  This collection includes some very racy monkstraps and a fine town-boot.  In England, as far as I am aware, this collection is only available at Harrods.

Barker Black Blenheim Boot

Like Churches, Barkers are one of the bigger English shoemakers and have a number of ranges of shoes:

The Professional

This is the range I know (and like) the best.  This range consists of classic shoe types in good leathers.  They are very attractive and also like Churches, these shoes will take a really high shine.

The Hand-crafted collection

This is a small collection of hand-crafted shoes.  They are very competitively priced for the amount of hand-crafting.

Sandal Collection

I mention these because it is so welcome to find a permanent collection of men’s sandals.  They have some interesting English variations of the classic Italian basketwork shoe.

Barkers are one of the most interesting English shoe brands around at the moment, because they are clearly stretching themselves beyond their traditional styles.  One to watch.

Who buys them

 No-nonsense men who get things done, military men, industrialists, stylish American businessmen

Details

Prices:              Barkers shoes start at around £100.00

Stores              City Store

                        84 Cheapside,

                        London,

                        EC2V 6EB

                        Tel: 44 (0)20 7600 7855

                        Barkers are also sold online through various retail services.

Website            www.barker-shoes.co.uk

Repairs             eight weeks

Cheaney, distinctive and colourful

Cheaney are another classic shoe brand undergoing a metamorphosis.  Founded in 1886 by two brothers, Joseph and Arthur Cheaney, Cheaney quickly became one of the premier shoemakers of England.  Like the other classic companies, they are based in Northamptonshire.

Cheaney have less of an obvious presence in the market, having for many years sold their shoes through the stores of other English brands.  In 1964 they were bought by Churches, who to their credit have kept Cheaney as a distinct brand.  Now, under their chairman Stephen Etheridge, they are building their brand identity anew.  

This re-invigoration of Cheaney automatically feels right.  Cheaney shoes have a very distinctive style and shape and stand out from their peers and it is right that is acknowledged.  Cheaney shoes are more rounded and have a softer line than Churches or Barkers.  Their classic shoes are characterised by a graceful swooping vamp which curves into a very rounded, almost bulbous toe.  

Cheaney shop, Bond Street, London

Cheaney are what I think of as the shoes of the English establishment.  There is an aristocratic beauty about Cheaney shoes that is visible in the shape, the leather, the grain and the finish.  They are one of a kind and men who wear them understand that implicitly.

Shoe Styles

Milford 

Cheaney have several shoe styles:

Cheaney of England

These are the classic Cheaney, strong bold shoes in distinctive leathers.  Buy these if you want the real Cheaney style.

Essentials

Mostly classic Cheaney, this is an all-black range for business.

Signature

Classic shoe types, Oxfords and Derbys, with a larger amount of handcrafting and hand-finishing.

Country Collection

These are rugged, handsome country/walking/hiking shoes.   In my opinion there are none better.

Service

My experience with Cheaney is with the friendly and lively staff in the Bond Street store.  The store is tiny and always busy, yet these guys are always helpful and give the impression they can help you with anything.  These gentlemen epitomise grace under pressure. 

Cheaney are a surprising brand and little unsung.  When I visit their shop I find some very modern styles that do not appear in their web catalogue.  A stylish man looking for something different would do well to visit their shop.

Who buys them

The absolute individualist, the countryman, the English gentleman in town.

Details 

Prices:              Cheaney shoes start at around £150.00

Stores              Cheaney

                        163 New Bond Street,

                        London,

                        W1S 2Q

                        Tel: 44 (0) 20 7499 9449

                        Cheaney have a telephone sales service: 44 (0) 1536 760383 

                        Cheaney shoes are also sold by a variety of online retail services

Website            www.cheaney.co.uk

Repairs             Return to factory eight to ten weeks

Oliver Sweeney: Sexy and street smart

Oliver Sweeney Shoes is nearly twenty years old now and I still remember the uproar he created when he emerged on the London style scene with his sexy, manly shoes.

Oliver Sweeney shop, Bond Street, London

Sweeney took the classic shoe shapes and English shoemaking and gave them both a creative twist.  Sweeney took basic shapes like the Derby and changed the shape of the toe, the length of the vamp, to alter the silhouette of the shoe.  His shoes have a sleek, streamlined shape that suggests they are Italian but their details and finishes are edgy British street fashion.  He is a new classic brand. 

Oliver Sweeney shoes are well made, using traditional British techniques, but usually use softer, smoother leathers, giving his shoes more of an Italian look and feel.  Beyond that he experiments with the shape and look of the shoe to produce something unique.  His current collection includes shoes with a sole shaped as an extended hexagon, which sounds weird but works well.  Sweeney’s shoes are always risky and sometimes they do not work for me.  But Oliver Sweeney’s creative re-forming of classic types produces  shoes that stand out and are widely admired.  

Last season I bought a pair of black narrow-toe derby’s with a cross-weave up the middle of the vamp, from their Bond Street shop.  It was an experience for several reasons. 

Firstly I remembered how important it is to try Sweeney shoes on.  They really come to life and look so good on one’s foot.  Also how comfortable they are.  Oliver Sweeney have pioneered an “anatomical last” and shoes built on it have a gently curved arch which supports the foot.  You can feel it the first time you put a pair of their shoes on.   

Derox

Service 

Secondly there is the service.  Sweeney’s staff are passionate about their shoes and will definitely give you an opinion about whatever shoes you try on.  Wonderful guys to talk to about shoes and clothes, very stylish and very friendly at the same time.  They know their shoes and will even help you accessorise the shoes from their business accessories range.  They are the only shoemaker who will give definitive advice on whether a pair of shoes will suit particular clothes.  Bold chaps, one and all.

The Sweeney effect

Thirdly there is the effect.  I wore the black Derby’s the first time, with a grey Italian suit and sky-blue shirt, to go out to dinner.  I thought they were perfect, they set the suit off and made it look loose and casual.  However the real effect was when my wife saw them.  She looked at the shoes, looked up and said, “God, what sexy shoes!  You look so cool! She then took my arm, leaned in close and whispered “You can make love to me anytime wearing those!”. 

Oliver Sweeney proudly make classic shoes with a difference.  They are a young man’s classic, full of fun and style. 

Who wears them

Media people, men looking for fun shoes, men obsessed with style.

Details 

Prices:              Shoes start at around £240.00                                     

Stores              Flagship Store

                        Oliver Sweeney 

                        66 New Bond Street

                        London

                       Tel: 44 (0) 20 7355 0387

                        Oliver Sweeney shoes are also sold through a variety of online retail stores 

Website            www.oliversweeney.com

Repairs             Return to factory, ten weeks

Grenson: “A glorious rebirth”

So, time for full disclosure here.  I have always loved Grenson shoes, for their sophisticated styling, their supple leathers and the reliability of their construction.   I have written about Grenson before here.

For a while in the nineties Grenson seemed to be a bit lost.  However the new millennium brought new management, new confidence and a return to being one of the best quality shoemakers in the world.  They have returned to producing some of the best traditional bench-made shoes.   

History

Grenson were founded by William Green in 1874.   Green was a skilled shoemaker who built one of the first brands (Grenson was a contraction of Green and Sons). 

Genson Shop, Great Eastern Hotel, London

Shoe style

Grenson have almost achieved the holy grail of shoes, a synthesis of English and Italian shoes.  English shoes are beautifully made but generally the leathers (especially the soles) make them much heavier than Italian shoes.  Grenson’s shoes  are lighter and more supple (and incredibly comfortable) than many other benchmade English shoes.  The soles are lighter and the uppers slightly softer than those of Church or Crockett and Jones.  However they have lost none of their superb craftsmanship in doing this, the shoes are still well-structured benchmade English shoes

The shoe designs have more than a nod to Italy.  Shoes are slimmer than those of their rivals, the vamp of the shoe is longer (though not as long as the vamp on Jeffrey West shoes) and the shape of the toe is sharp, even on their plain Oxfords.  Like John Lobb they have updated classics with some very colourful and distinctive leathers.  They are particularly good at tans, deep browns and off-brown shades.  These are business shoes but are also playful enough to be night-time fun-time wear. 

Grenson Noble (Rushden range) 

I once had a conversation with a Church’s salesman who told me, “We have got the best blacks but Grenson have some really good browns”.   Unsolicited compliments are the best.

Grenson have two ranges.  The Rushden range are their entry level shoes, classic shoes with modern designs.  These retail around £140 making them (along with Loake and Barkers) the lowest priced quality English shoes and a good place to start.  The Rose collection are their premium brand, costing around £220.  These are beautifully made shoes, using very supple, high quality leathers. 

Who wears them

Famous actors, men who truly have style

Details

Prices:              Prices for Rushden entry level shoes start at around £140.00

Stores:            Flagship/City Store

                        Grenson Shoes

                        The Great Eastern Hotel,

                        Liverpool Street,

                        London

                        EC2

                        Tel: 44 (0) 20 7618 5050

                        Grenson are also sold through a variety of online retail stores

Website:           www.grenson.co.uk                 

Repairs             return to factory, six to eight weeks

Jeffery West  “Pimp my shoe!”

You do not buy Jeffery West shoes, you join a cult.  Jeffrey Wright fans are fanatics. 

Jeffery West are now over twenty years old which does not feel possible.  This is partly because every man who buys Jeffery West shoes feels like they have just discovered them and therefore they (Jeffery West) must be new.

Jeffery West shop, Piccadilly Arcade, London

Men (mostly) do not talk about clothes, they are unsure about the masculinity of it all. However find a man who wears Jeffery West and ask him about the shoes and you will not be able to get him to shut up about them.  Once you buy Jeffrey West shoes and realise how good you look in them, you are a convert.  Jeffery West do not advertise but have grown by just this kind of word-of-mouth. 

Jeffery West are actually Mark Jeffery and Guy West.  They make classic English shoes redesigned for the stylish modern man.  Their shoes are characterised by long vamps, elaborate and clever brogueing, hidden eyelets, high facings and other beautiful design elements.  The leathers of the uppers are often glossy and ostentatious.  Every style has a uniqueness about it that catches the eye.  The end-result is a sleek eye-catching, sexy shoe.   

Like other quality English shoe brands Jeffery West shoes are comfortable, hardwearing and well made, but these are really shoes for being seen in.  They are manly, sexy and improve your look with their extreme stylishness.  They are made to be a dandy in, a well-dressed man about town.  Think Michael Caine in Get Carter, Terence Stamp in Modesty Blaise, hip English actors of the sixties.  Put these shoes on and you become cool, cultured and irresistible to women.  Even if not, you certainly think you are.

Jeffery West shoes start at around £200.  You can buy them from the Jeffery West website but I would recommend going to one of the shops, just for the experience.  The colour scheme is black, with red velvet and lots of gold-gilt, like a slightly seedy brothel.  The shops are small and packed with more shoe styles than you could count and all of them are timelessly stylish.  Their shop in the Piccadilly Arcade is style central.  

Jeffery West 2-hole long vamp brogue derby 

Service

Service is, shall we say, distinctive.  The staff love their shoes and are men (and women) of the world in their own right.  They are as likely to give you an opinion on malt whisky as on shoes, and they will certainly tell you which shoes suit you.  Shopping here is a real pleasure, in a very manly way. 

Who wears them

Real men who are irresistible to women, poets and mavericks of every kind.

Details

Prices:              Shoes start at around £200.00

Stores              Their website lists all of their stores but the one below is a favourite of mine:

                        Jeffery West

                        16 Piccadilly Arcade

                        London

                        SW1Y 6NH

                        Tel: 44 (0) 20 7499 3366

                        Jeffery west are also sold through a variety of online retail stores.

Website:           http://www.jeffery-west.co.uk         

Repairs             Return to factory, eight weeks

Here ends Part 3 of my guide to classic English shoemakers.  In Part 4 here I talk about how one cares for classic English shoes.

Here is part 2 of 10 classic English shoemakers

Part 1 of the this article “Introduction to English shoemakers” is here

Part 3 of this article “New and revived brands” is here 

Part 4 of this article “Caring for handcrafted shoes” is here    

 “Always wear expensive shoes.  People notice.”                                                                        

Brian Koslow

Below are my picks for the first five of ten of the best ready-to-wear English shoemakers.  Here I am going to write about the traditionalists, the companies that have nurtured the wonderful craft of English shoemaking into the 21^st Century.           

Church’s, the professional’s shoe

Church’s are the best-known of the quality English shoe brands.  They epitomise English shoemaking to the world, with their classic, handsome, hard-wearing shoes.  They are the reliable choice of English businessmen.  In recent years they have become one of the most widely-known iconic brands in the world, with a big presence in America, Germany and the Arab world.  They were recently bought by Prada and are now truly multi-national, and Prada’s influence is beginning to be seen in Church’s shoe designs.   

Church’s shoes are a rite-of-passage for English businessmen; you know you have arrived when you can afford your first pair of Church’s.  In England Church’s have a fiercely loyal professional clientele and many refuse to wear any other shoe.     

Church’s store in Jermyn Street, London

Shoe style

At their factory in Northamptonshire Church make classics, Oxfords, Derbys, Monkstraps and Slippers (both loafers and moccasins) and town boots, using traditional techniques.  They have two primary ranges, “Last 73″ this being their entry level shoe and their Custom Grade collection, which uses finer hides and more hand-finishing.   Church’s make a well-structured shoe, not as heavy as some, suitable for just about everyone.  By not as heavy I mean that the shoes are relatively slim, the shoe leather is of a medium thickness and the styling is classic but not old-fashioned.  They excel at brogues and some of their brogue Derbys are simply beautiful.   

Service

In my experience Church’s provide superb service in their shops.  I have written about this previously here.  They excel at introducing the English shoe experience to newcomers and are passionate about making sure their customers get the right shoe.        

Wearing the shoes

I have had many pairs of Church’s shoes.  The careful structuring of their shoes (both the sewing of the uppers and the joining to the soles) means that they take a little bit of wearing-in (see this article for how to wear in a pair of quality shoes) but they mould to the foot quite quickly and become comfortable after a few wears.  My other key observation is that I have never got as good a shine on a pair of shoes as on Churches shoes.  The uppers seem to glow with a warmth and sparkle that few other brands can match.  

Church Burwood Brogues 

Church’s are incredibly hard-wearing.  I bought my first pair of Church’s (a magisterial pair of black Oxfords) when I was just out of my teens.  I mistreated them with all the carelessness that a young man can bring to bear.  They still looked good ten years later. A great brand of shoe.   

Who buys them

Professional men, Lawyers, Bankers and Doctors. First-time buyers of quality English shoes.    

Details

Prices:                          Church’s (Last 73) start at around £250.00

                                     Custom Grade (extensively handcrafted) shoes cost from around £300.00

Stores:                          Church’s website has a contact number for enquiring about stores.   

                                      various online retail companies also sell Church’s   

Flagship Store:              Church’s                                      

                                      108-110 Jermyn Street

                                      St James

                                      London

                                      SW1Y 6EE

                                      Tel:  44 (0)20 7930 8210 

Website:                       http://www.church-footwear.com/ 

Repairs:                        Return to factory, standard repair time is eight to ten weeks

Loakes  “Quiet style with history”

Loakes are one of the oldest and most well-loved of English quality shoe brands.  Founded by the three brothers Loake in 1880, Loake produce shoes of excellent quality.  Loake are obsessed with producing shoes of superb quality.  They do not have their own stores and sell through other retail shoe stores. Similarly their advertising is quite low-key compared to other English shoe brands.  Their focus is entirely on their shoes and making the best.   

Loakes are often the first quality shoes that Englishman buy, possibly because of the price (Loake’s entry level shoe, the Loake Shoemaker range, retail for around a £100.00).  So Loake fans often start young.  

I recently read a great article about the Loakes Royal Brogue style, by Paul Tierney, an English journalist, in Fantastic Man magazine (Fantastic Man issue No 7,  www.fantasticman.com).  He talks about his love of the Royal Brogue style (which had ceased production) and how he bought a pair when they were re-launched four years ago. 

Loake Royal Brogue

I was bowled over by his article!  Why?  I was also a fan of Royal Brogues and wore the very same Ox-blood style that Mr Tierney talks about.  It was great to read the work of another Loake fan.  Mr Tierney says some very complimentary things about Loakes and there is one that I particularly agree with; 

Loakes age beautifully.     

Loakes quickly develop that classic and beautiful worn-in look, while retaining their shape and sparkle.  Loakes often look better than shoes twice the price and half the age.    

Shoe Style

Loake have an amazing variety of shoe styles, though no one shop stocks the whole range.  They have the following ranges, amongst others:     

Loake Shoemaker

This is the Loake entry-level shoe, starting at around £100.00.  These are classic styles, Goodyear welted, with good quality leather uppers.  In terms of style they are traditional and have quite a broad foot, so they look a little heavy, much like Trickers shoes.  Shoemaker has a “comfort” sub-line, with wider width fittings, which also make them  suitable for older men.    

Design Loake

These are Loake shoes with modern designs, the squared toe, raised leather piping etc.  They are contemporary styles and of the same excellent quality as Loake Shoemaker styles.  These also start at around £100.00

Loake Artemis Black       

Loake1880 These are some beautiful shoes.  These are classic English styles, Derbys and Oxfords, in high quality leathers, fine stitching and traditional broguing. 

Men buy Loakes because they are stylish, (every generation of London men seem to “re-discover” Loakes as they are growing out of adolescence), well-made and affordable.  For some men Loakes are the first quality shoes they buy, for some men Loakes are the first and only shoes they buy, so greatly do they prize them.  Loakes inspire pride, loyalty and affection.

Who buys them

The young man who is going places, the English family man, the mature English gentleman.    

Details 

Prices:                          Loakes start at around £100.00

Stores:                         Loakes do not have their own stores,                                       however their website lists store that sell their shoes.                                     A variety of online retail store also sell

Loakes Website:                       http://www.loake.co.uk/ 

Repair:                         Return to factory, repairs take approximately eight weeks          

John Lobb “The greatest shoemaker”

John Lobb are one of the greatest shoemakers in the world and I will talk about them again in a later article on bespoke shoemakers.  They have the most illustrious and celebrated history of any shoemaker and have won countless awards for their shoes.  They were founded in 1849 by a Cornishman, who was of course, John Lobb.  For now I will ignore their bespoke fame and focus on their ready-to-wear.  The ready to wear part of the company is owned by Hermes, but continues to use classic English methods to produce quality shoes. 

John Lobb ready-to-wear Jermyn Street, London                Lobb ready-to-wear are surprisingly adventurous shoes, with more than a touch of Italian styling..  Their shoes are sleek, with modern designs giving a radical look to old favourites such as Oxfords and Monk-straps.  If you run your hands over a pair of Lobb shoes, the leather is cool, perfectly smooth, perfectly finished.  The shoes are a thing of beauty.They use laser cutting machines for brogue-ing and this makes superb finely etched patterned shoes.  The laser-cut brogue-ing is mesmeric, it makes you want to look at the shoe from every angle, it is strange and beautiful and luxurious, all at the same time.  John Lobb  also use unusual and sophisticated colours in their leathers, with reds, plums and  very pale tans (amongst others), producing beautiful and original shoes.

In truth, Lobb entry level shoes are the equivalent of other brand’s handcrafted ranges, with the finest of leathers and superb finishing (the stitching on Lob shoes is very fine).  As with other shoemakers there is a hand-crafted range and these typically have a slimmer shape across the instep, making the shoe neater and flattering the foot.  There is of course a price differential.  Lobb ready-to-wear shoes start at around £550 and go up over the £1000 mark. If you want to see how Loakes make their shoes there is a brief but beautiful piece of video on their website here. 

I had one pair of Lobb ready to wear (alas, lost, when I moved house one time).  They felt as light as air and were the most comfortable shoes I have ever owned.  Lobb shoes have a neat, smooth look that is very becoming on most men. 

John Lobb tan derby     

Who wears them

Wealthy and worldly men, celebrities, men looking for the absolute best. 

Details

Prices:                          Prices start at around £500

Store:                          Flagship Store (ready to wear)

                                   John Lobb

                                   88 Jermyn Street

                                   St James

                                   London

                                   SW1Y 6JD

                                    44 (0)20 7930 8089

Website:                       http://www.johnlobb.com/

Repairs:                        Return to factory, ten weeks.   

Trickers:  The English countryman’s shoe

Trickers are one of the oldest English shoemakers, originally founded in 1829.   They have many similarities to Church’s.  The difference is that Church’s are known world-wide, whereas Trickers are a bit of an English secret. 

Trickers shop in Jermyn Street, London  

Shoe Style

Trickers make the same classic shoes as the other shoemakers but their styling is more traditional, probably the most traditional.  By comparison to the other brands listed here their shoes have a wider, heavier look to them and the leather feels more substantial, the soles feel heavier.  Their Derby brogues are classic and absolutely beautiful, something else that they share with Church’s.  If I had to choose between the two companies for a brogue, it would have to be Trickers. 

As far as I know, only Trickers and Cheaney still produce a true country shoe.  Trickers country shoe are a heavy, durable and very handsome Derby shoe (either plain or brogued) with strong and stylish stitching and double leather soles.  These are must for outdoor events, especially in England, where weather is synonymous with rain.

 Trickers Ascot 

Service

The Trickers shop in Jermyn street is an experience of the best of English service, polite, informed and friendly.  If you are a first-timer to quality English shoes these gentlemen will look after you, they did me when I first went there years ago. The secret of Trickers is often passed down from father to son and taking your son to buy a pair of shoes there is a bit of a coming-of-age ritual.  A friend of mine, aged 18 was taken to Trickers by his father, and bought a pair of Chestnut Oxfords.  They are now over twenty years old and, have aged beautifully and look wonderful. 

Interior of the Trickers store in Jermyn Street. 

I have a friend, Stephen, who is precise and clever and has a definitive personal style.  He knows the use and worth of good clothes and it was really no surprise that he buys Trickers.  He appreciates the value of a beautiful shoe that will last for many years.         Trickers shoes work well with country clothes, tweeds and woollens.  They look superb with corduroys.  In my opinion they suit big men and anyone whose style tends towards the natural or the country casual.       

Who wears them                                       

The English gentleman, at home in the country, men of discernment, big men looking for shoes that reflect their size and vigour.    

Details

Prices:                          Prices start at around £200.00

Stores:                         Flagship Store:                                     R.E. Tricker

                                    67 Jermyn Street,

                                    St James

                                    London

                                    SW1Y 6NY

                                    Tel: 44 (0) 20 7930 6395

                                    Trickers also sell through a variety of online retail sites

Website:                       http://www.tricker.com/

Repairs:                        Return to factory 8-10 weeks

Crockett and Jones  – “At the sign of the successful financier”

Crockett and Jones are the true success story of English quality shoemaking.   They have an illustrious history as one of the oldest and best shoemaking companys’ in England.  They remain an independent family firm, still managed by members of the Jones family.  They are now in the fourth generation of the Jones family, having founded the company in 1879.

Crockett and Jones are passionately traditional and have produced superb English shoes throughout the ups and downs of the English economy.  They use traditional methods, to the extent that they buy up old shoe-making machines from defunct companies, which they then rebuild to produce their shoes in the traditional C & J way.  They limit their expansion to the output that their factory can produce and refuse to compromise their shoes by adopting modern factory methods. 

Crockett and Jones, Jermyn Street, London 

Shoe Style

Crockett and Jones are the style-masters, their classic shoes are just a little longer and little slimmer than the other English brands.  This flatters the foot and complements modern suits very well.  Of all the classic English shoe-makers, C& J shoes match up Italian suits the best.  There is slightly Italianate curve to their shoes which makes them catch the eye.   

The leathers are of superb quality, fine-grained and very supple.  When polished up, the shoes have a soft silky shine.   Crockett and Jones use leather from herds on the Swiss/German/Austrian borders, which traditionally supply some of the best hides in Europe.  They have a saying, which is that “a cow must be able to moo in three languages for Crockett and Jones to want their hides”

Crockett and Jones Malvern monkstrap

Service

Which brings me to their staff.  They are urbane, charming and dryly funny.  Every time I shop there it is like being served by a combination of John Steed (of the Avengers) and Noel Coward).  Gentlemenly and quintessentially British.  Also very competent.  I was once in the Jermyn Street store when an Englishman in his fifties who had spent the previous ten years in South America and in that time worn out his (already old) C&J shoes.  Even though the style was no longer made, the staff knew it and were able to tell him how and when a pair could be made (albeit they would now be made-to-measure). 

C&J make fine classic shoes, from around two hundred and fifty pounds.  They also have a handgrade range, which are made of finer leather, with more hand-work and a slightly slimmer shape, from around £400.00.  These shoes were originally a range made for John Lobb (see below) and strikingly handsome, once again with an Italian influence.          

They are also one of the few English shoemakers to still have a cordovan range.  Cordovan is horse leather and shoes made from it are supple and less prone to wrinkling and stretching.  A friend of mine swears by his Cordovan shoes and says that they are extremely easy on the feet. 

Who buys them

Successful corporate bankers, senior diplomats, buccaneering English entrepreneurs.

Details

Prices:              Crockett and Jones entry level shoes start at around £250.00, the handcrafted range from around £350.00 

Stores:             Flagship Store

                        69 Jermyn Street

                        St James

                        SW1Y 6PF

Tel:                  44 (0) 20 7976 2684               

Website            http://www.crockettandjones.co.uk/

Repairs             Return to factory eight to ten weeks

Part 3 of this article is here, where we look at those classic brands that are in the process of re-inventing themsleves and some classic newcomers.

Part 4 of this article is here, with advice on how to care for classic English shoes. 

Here is part 1 of 10 classic English shoemakers

Part 2 of the this article “The Traditional Brands” is here

Part 3 of this article “New and revived brands” is here

Part 4 of this article “Caring for handcrafted shoes” is here    

 “If you want to know the measure of a man look at the shoes he wears“                                   

  Aristotle Onassis

Onassis was a smart guy, one of the cleverest entrepreneurs ever to become a multi-millionaire. 

A long time ago I took the Onassis quote to heart.  I always look at other men’s shoes and what I see on their feet tells me something about them.  Cheap shoes on a man tell me that he does not understand the message he is sending to the world.  Good suit, cheap shoes?  It tells me that this man will probably not go the final mile, and I wonder if he is like that in his dealings with others, in his business.  When a man tells you that he will not “pay good money for shoes, they’re not worth it” he is telling you he is not worth it.  A lot of men will not understand this, but the women they are trying to date will.  

Good shoes clean and well polished tell me that at some level this man is disciplined and has a pride in his appearance.  Like all such visual clues, it goes straight to our subconscious, becoming part of our initial assessment of a person.  It may not be fair, but it is how the human psyche works.

As a stylish man I know that good shoes are a vital part of looking good.  That you can either wear good shoes and amplify your style or wear bad shoes and, well, screw it up.  Bad shoes on good clothes stand out like a beacon, shouting I do not really care about how I look.

Quality English shoes are superb.  I enjoy everything about them.  I like the fact that just by pulling them on I look elegant, confident and worldly.     

Good shoes put a man in touch with wealth and luxury.  Buying a quality pair of English shoes is one of the cheapest ways to enter the world of craftsmanship and luxury.  Cheap, because the price of good shoes is low compared to other luxury goods.  Cheap, because good shoes are a great investment and with care will last a man many years.      

Crockett and Jones Radstock Oxford 

This article and the three that follow it list the best ready-to-wear English shoes that I know.  

A (brief) history of English shoemaking

The history of the English shoe deserves a short re-telling.  The modern English shoe first emerged in the early 1800s, probably from a variety of shoe types that were then prevalent in Europe and England.  At that time shoe-making was primarily a craft industry, with the bulk of the industry based in Northamptonshire, in the north of England.  Northamptonshire was then a rural area, and provided both high quality leather and the oak and charcoal that were necessary for the tanning of the shoe leathers.

As industrialisation progressed and the population of England grew, so the original craft shops became large industrial factories in their own right.  Out of these beginnings came the classic English brands that we have today, such as Grenson, Crockett and Jones, Loakes etc.

Goodyear welting

Goodyear welting revolutionised English shoemaking.  Welting is the practice of stitching a strip of leather to the insole and upper of the shore and then stitching it in turn to the sole (in America it is called the outsole).  This made the shoes stronger, more durable, and more flexible.  It also meant that shoes could be resoled, extending their life. 

This process really took off when Christian Dancel, a German immigrant to America, invented a machine which could stitch welted shoes.  The Goodyear company bought process in 1864 and it came to England in the 1870’s.  All quality English shoemakers now use Goodyear welting and it has become the distinctive feature of English shoes.  Shoes became artefacts that could be made on a production line and from those beginnings we got the historic shoe brands that we have today.

Today

There is no denying that English shoe-making had a rough ride in the 20^th century.  As industrial processes for making shoes became simpler and cheap shoes multiplied, quality shoe-makers found it hard to compete and a number of great brands simply went under.  The sixties saw the influx of cheap poor quality shoes from Eastern Europe.  Oddly enough, there was a tradition of quality shoemaking in Czechoslovakia and Hungary but communism virtually killed it. This was followed more recently by cheap shoes from China, which also cut into the market. 

However in the last twenty years the market for English shoes has grown and there are two factors that have had a considerable influence on the market for English shoes. 

The first of these is that London has become the foremost financial market in the world.  English bankers have always dressed well and there are now more of them and they all need good shoes.  The great shoe makers have grown on the back of their support.

The second factor has been the increase in American visitors to England and American men’s sophisticated appetite for quality luxury goods.  Brands like Barkers and Church’s have become synonymous with good taste and luxury. 

Oliiver Sweeney Interlace Derby 

During this period the definition of what makes a quality English shoe has hardened.  English shoes are now defined by the use of Goodyear welting and hand-finishing (especially in the visible stitching), classic styling and good leathers.      

However the struggle seems to be over.  Having preserved the English craft tradition of benchmade shoes, English shoemakers are thriving and reaching new markets.  Both the bespoke and the ready-to-wear traditions are thriving, long may it continue.   

This article continues here, with profiles and details of ten classic shoemakers.

Mne Only is an exhibition and auction of works by English artists in aid of the Everyman male cancer campaign.  It culminates in a champagne reception and auction at Libertys on the 11th September at 7.00pm.  Tickets for the reception and auction are available here at the Men Only site or by calling this number  020 7153 5378.

Men Only have some superb art on display at the exhbition and this is a great opportunity to support a cause that directly helps men.  My father died of the effects of prostate cancer and I recently lost a very close male friend to bowel cancer. I know and I am sure all What Makes a Man readers know deadly these diseases can be.  Please go, have fun and support a very worthwhile cause.  

 Tom Ford is 47 today – Happy Birthday!  I cannot think of another man who is as iconic in contemporary men’s fashion as Tom Ford.  Right now no-one is making better clothes for adult men of style.

History

Tom Ford was born on August 27^th I961 in Austin, Texas.  At 17 he enrolled at New York University and studied art history.  He left after a year to study architecture at the Parsons School of Design.  When he left he worked first for Cathy Hardwick, an American sportwear brand and then in 1988 he joined Perry Ellis.  At that time Ellis was a premier brand and had a distinctive menswear line.  At a time when menswear was becoming gimmicky, Ellis had seen that menswear classics could be updated for the modern age and was producing handsome manly menswear.  It is interesting to speculate on the effect this had on Tom Ford.

Ford left Perry Ellis after two years and moved to Europe.  This was the key move of his career, he felt that if he were ever to become a great designer he had to leave America.  He felt that his own culture was inhibiting him and that style was looked down on America.  Interestingly he saw the difference between American and European luxury goods as being the craft tradition of European fashion, hand-tailoring, family firms and traditions.  He believed that Europeans had and respected style.  

His move to Europe in 1990 coincided with Gucci offering him the position of women’s ready-to-wear designer.  The truth was that no-one wanted the job.  Gucci had been badly mismanaged since its heyday in the seventies and in 1990 was a byword for overpriced tat.  Gucci had lost its reputation as a quality brand and was virtually bankrupt. 

Gucci

It was here that Tom Ford showed his true genius.  High fashion was falling over itself to create adolescent fashion, down-market brands like Tommy Hilfiger were dominating the market and other brands were falling over themselves to emulate them.  Tom Ford realized that America and Europe were becoming wealthier and that there were people who wanted clothes that were designed and made well, were attractive and wearable.  Ford’s designs were sexy and easy to wear and he referenced European high fashion of previous eras.  The Tom Ford woman was sexy and desirable and the clothes were a huge hit. 

The Ford Gucci man’s look was really important.  At that time (as now) many menswear designers were fixated on clothes for younger men, adolescent and boyish.  Tom Ford took the sexy menswear of the seventies and streamlined it.  His suits were long, tight over the hips, broad at the shoulders and very manly.  Suits were made of silky wools and mohairs, in sophisticated colours.  He presented adult contrasts, the dark suit with the white shirt, the light suit with the dark shirt.  The Ford look was confident, competent and predatory.  Adult, sexy men of the world.                        

Ford was his own model.  A good-looking man wearing his own clothes, he was the best advertisement for his own brand.  There must be a thousand pictures of him wearing a black suit with a white shirt unbuttoned to the chest.  He looks stylish in every one of them.  Though he is gay, he is truly stylish masculine man.   

And the punchline is that Ford is a superb businessman.  When he joined Gucci it was worth very little.  When he left it was worth more than 4 Billion dollars. 

Tom Ford now

So now he is even more interesting.  Starting in 2006, his Tom Ford menswear line is making a global impact.  As a brand Tom Ford is on the leading edge.  He saw, as some leading style analysts have seen, that the luxury brands were losing their status, as they market themselves across bigger and bigger territories.  His own menswear is exclusive, in his own words “aimed at the men who want the very best”.

Tom Ford is an admirer of Savile Row, the bespoke experience and the exclusivity of Savile Row clothes.  His menswear is exclusive, with the additional elements of being fun and a little more fashionable.  His clothes are manly, adult and beautifully made.  The suits are cut slim, the jackets have an open chest ( a la Savile Row) with wide lapels.  Like Savile Row suits they flatter men. 

For me his suits a are little eighties, beautifully proportioned and powerful-looking.  Only Tom Ford could bring back the double-breasted suit and make it look good.  Manly and powerful but with fine subtle tailoring rather than eighties excess.  Ford has talked about how fashion brands produce clothes for the very young and how they exclude older men with style and taste.  He is producing clothes for those adult worldly men.  The provocative advertising for his menswear tells us that clothes are all about good taste, sex and power, definitely not for kids.

Tom Ford is a great designer of original style.   Happy Birthday Tom Ford!  

More information:

www.tomford.com

 The latest issue of Paradis magazine (No 4) is out.  As usual it is a visually stunning mix of men’s clothes, erotic photography, modern art and meditations on manhood.  Paradis is a strange yet beguiling mix of French insouciance (they publish articles about whatever they like, as long as it appeals to them) and glossy magazine style.  This unpredictability makes it a great read. 

This is the biggest issue so far.  In this issue:

Sir Norman Foster, Britain’s most famous architect (The Gherkin, Hertz Tower New York) is interviewed in a searching, substantial and insightful article by Hans Ulrich Oberst.  Foster talks about the journey from being a working class boy of limited education to being the most sought after architect of modern times.  However the article is less personal than professional and lays bare the competence and power of Foster and Partners in great detail.  Read this to understand their design philosophy and ambitious goals.   

As always, erotic photography is at the centre of Paradis.  Jurgen Teller photographs  Italian model Mariacarla Boscono in an extended photoshoot that is by turns voyeuristic, aggressive and funny.  Some of the pictures, like one of the dirt smeared Mariacarla draped over a plush velvet sofa, contain too many clever contrasts, and do not work (for me). Some though, are heart-stoppingly erotic, exposing Mariacarla as intensely and explicitly sexual.  

English model Daisy Lowe is nude in a set of photographs by Max Farrago.  These are black and white shots of a soft, sexually available girl-woman.  This is the photographer-as-hunter and the pictures have a relentless quality about them, displaying Lowe to the world in sensual close-up.

What I like about Paradis is that they flaunt the eroticism of their magazine at every opportunity.  In this issue they illustrate an article about French shoemaker Patrick Hardy with some superb photographs of a truly beautiful girl, nude and flawless, skin like silk.  Conjoining erotic photography with style articles is becoming one of their trademarks.  Where on earth do they get these beautiful women? 

Clothes articles include a photoshoot of Jackets and Shirts (Brioni, Burberry) with Jude Law as the model.   Good shoot, clothes are clearly visible, which is (should be) the whole point of the photograph.  There is also a clever series of photographs of white shirts, blue ties and belts from recent collections. 

Other articles include a remarkably humble Brian Eno on singing, an article from Anthony Fawcett about working as John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s factotum in the “Give peace a chance” days and a Terry Richardson pictorial.

I enjoy Paradis because for me it reflects a certain manly style, cultured, aware and erotic.  I enjoy the quality of the writing, the photography and the beautiful construction of the magazine.  I am improved and entertained by reading it.

Paradis No 4, Summer 2008 is out now. 

Available from Magma, 8 Earlham, Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9RY Tel: 44 (0)207 240 8498 

www.paradismagazine.com

Regalia Shirts

Bespoke shirts will always improve your image.  I found Regalia, who make good looking bespoke shirts, a few days ago.

Regalia are a bespoke menswear shop in Sicilian Avenue in Bloomsbury in London.  They sell some ready to wear suits and shirts but they specialize in bespoke shirts. Regalia is run by Joe Martins and S-J Aldeen, gentlemen tailors of considerable experience.

Joe and SJ have a very geared-up bespoke shirt service and here is a quick run-down of it. 

Bespoke Shirt basics

The shirts are made from English or Swiss cottons and tailored in Spain.  They take three weeks to make.  Once they are made, they are pressed and boxed.  Completed shirts can be picked up from the shop or you can have them shipped on. 

As you would expect from a bespoke service there are a wide range of options available to customize your shirts.  You can choose from 35 collar types, five cuff types, various body types and fronts.  They can also embroider your initials on the shirt. 

They also provide over 350 shirt fabrics to choose from.  Besides cottons of various qualities, there are also a number of silks to choose from. 

Shirt Making: The Fitting Room

Shirt making takes place in Regalia’s fitting room.  Here they have collar and cuff samples on display, which makes it a lot easier to choose your shirt finishes.  There are also sample shirts of various kinds, to try on.  Best of all, the fitting room has a wall-mounted rack frame, on which there are samples of all of the shirt fabrics.

This racking works really well, because the fabrics are graded by price, which means that you can work to whatever budget you have, whilst looking at and handling the fabrics. 

The Shirt Fitting process

The process is simple, there are four basic stages: 

You choose the fabric you want the shirts made up in. 

Joe or SJ will get you to try on a sample shirt, to establish which basic shirt type suits you best.

You choose the collar, cuffs and any other detailing that you want.  There are samples to handle and try.

Joe or SJ will measure you, build a specification for your shirt and,

You are done!

These gentlemen tell me that they can complete the whole process in fifteen minutes.  Quick, simple and easy.  You could do it in your lunch hour…

Costs

Shirts cost from £49 for a poly/cotton shirt through to £120 for a superfine Swiss cotton shirt.  For a full list of prices and everything else you can go to their website at http://www.regalia-bespoke.co.uk/

Orders can be for a single shirt or multiples.

Bespoke shirts at competitive prices.  Works for me.

Regalia 

10 Sicilian Avenue

Bloomsbury

London

WC1A 2QD

Tel: 44 (0)207 430 2151

Web Site: www.regalia-bespoke.co.uk 

Bea’s of Bloomsbury

Here is a great place to have coffee. 

Beas’s is on Theobalds Road in Bloomsbury in London and is a combined bakery and coffee-shop.   

I was walking to my next meeting and I wanted coffee and I wanted to feel like I was having coffee, not sit in a chain-cafe with a cellophane-wrapped brownie.   I wanted Hemingway in Paris, not Joe Ordinary at Heathrow Airport.  Well, the Van Rijn subconscious good taste kicked in as I passed the door of Bea’s.

Beas is a combination bakery and coffee shop.  Literally.  The front of the shop is a coffee/tea cafe and the backroom is Bea’s bakery.  The bakery room is raised up a couple of feet but entirely open.  You can see everything and watch the bakers at work.  When I was there they seemed to be making meringues the size of small trucks.  I do not know how they get the air-con to work with two such different environments but they do and the coffee-shop in front is comfortable.

Bea’s has lots of glass shelves holding lots of cakes.  The wall’s are a gray-blue-green wallpaper with a floral overprint that looks oriental.  The overall effect is modern but somehow very comfortable.  The room is long and narrow. split about equally between the counter and table space.  At the end of the counter they have a large and bulky coffee machine that looks like it was converted from a piece of Bugatti chassis.  It has more brass than a steam train.     

The staff are welcoming, the display’s are good, it is easy to see what they are selling.  As a man that works for me, I like the simplicity and ease of service.

Coffee and Food 

The important things first.  They make a superb cup of coffee.  Without exaggerating I can say it was the best coffee I have tasted in recent years.  I am really particular about the coffee I drink (look for a coffee posting soon) and this was the best.  Secondly the food.  I did not have any of the cakes but they look inviting and inventive.  Some of them are mini-works of architecture.  However the sandwich of the day was Chicken Caesar and that was just excellent, really tasty.  The service was quick too.

So I asked about the shop.  They are a cake shop and sell all manner of cakes large and small that Bea makes (more about Bea in a moment).  They also make cakes to order, and I suggest you look to their website for that.  They also run the coffee shop. 

They do not have a big menu, except for the cakes, which seem to run to several pages.  But from my experience what they do they do well.  They sell coffee, tea and hot chocolate (the chocolate is Valrhona, the French gourmet chocolate) some sandwiches of the day, some soups and some stylish and original salads.                     

Good atmosphere 

Everything about this place was good.  The tables are nicely spaced, the acoustics are good and the ambient noise not too loud, the atmosphere (aided by the bakery at the back) is pleasant and unhurried.  If I had one criticism it was that it was a little untidy, with pieces of cardboard boxes stacked against the counter.  Still, it was the end of lunch, which I guess is their busiest time, so maybe they had not caught up yet.  

Bea’s is also a little sexy.  When you see people who are really good at their jobs and mesh together well, handle the work elegantly and without strain, there is something sexy about that competence.  I do not know how politically correct they are at Bea’s but I can see it, and it’s my blog, so I can say it.

Bea’s works on a summer’s day and is cool and laidback.  It is the kind of place where, if it was hammering a thunderstorm outside, you would just want to sit and drink coffee until it was over.     

I looked on their website and found out a bit more about them.  Bea’s is the inspiration of Bea Vo, who is the founder/head chef.  She has a CV of culinary expertise as long as your arm.   She has four businesses running in the shop:

The Bakery, both retail and bespoke cakes (bespoke cakes, that fits right in on this site)

The Coffee shop

A cookery school, for anyone who enjoys good food

A corporate food service. 

Their food is home-made and locally sourced wherever possible.  They operate a green business and they source their coffee from independent roasters.  They call the coffee machine “Enzo” and pride themselves on making great coffee.  What clinched it for me was when I left there was a man sitting in the sunshine at one of the outside tables, wearing shades and drinking a cappucino.  Perfect.  

I took the picture above from their website.  Next time I go I will take some pictures and post them.   Beas’s has style, go try them.

If any of our readers know Bea’s and want to comment, please feel free to do so, it would be interesting to get more impressions of this fun coffeeshop.

Details:  

Bea’s of Bloomsbury 

44 Theobalds Road,

London

Tel:  44 (0) 207 242 8330 

www.beasofbloomsbury.com

Ernest Hemingway, a tribute on his birthday 

Today is the birthday of Ernest Hemingway, one of America’s greatest writers.  He changed the shape of American literature for all time.  In his novels and stories he defined the heroic modern man, a definition that in large part, holds sway to this day.  His influence on American literature and men in general, has been immense.      

There are many better qualified than me to write about Ernest Hemingway.  But Ernest Hemingway helped shape my life and has been an important part of my journey as an adult man.  I cannot let this day pass without a celebration of a writer who wrote so elegantly and expressively about the lives of men. 

A brief biographical note

Ernest Miller Hemingway was born on 21^st July 1899 in Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago.  He died in Ketchum, Idaho on July 2^nd 1961. 

As a young man, Hemingway was interested in outdoor pursuits, sports, hunting and fishing.  However he was also a gifted writer from very early on in life.  From the age of 15 he was writing seriously, learning his craft.   In 1918 he joined the Toronto Star as a journalist, staying six months.  He left to volunteer to fight in World War 1 and was rejected because of his poor eyesight.  Determined to make a contribution he joined the Red Cross and became an ambulance driver on the Italian front.  At the very end of the war he was wounded by an Austrian mortar-shell and invalided out to hospital.  This willingness to cast himself into the unknown and risk everything stayed with him all his life.  His courage, sometimes recklessness, was an indelible part of who he was and his writing. 

He returned to America after the war, then moved to Paris with his first wife and child.  Here in the mid-nineteen twenties, his first successful books were published.  Hemingway took the big subjects, love, war, the knowledge of death and wrote about them through the eyes of a man who was both sensitive and brave.  His books were beautifully written, exciting and meaningful. He became hugely famous and was the first non show business celebrity.  By the end of his life the legend was very mixed up with the man.  However whatever you thought or thought you knew about him, there were always the books, and they stand for themselves.       

My introduction to Hemingway

I was sixteen when I picked up a battered paperback copy of The First 49 Stories, the classic collection of Ernest Hemingway’s short fiction.  Literature was alien to me and the books I liked, crime and science fiction were definitively not literature. They had told me told me this definitvely, school.  As far as I could tell, literature meant Victorian novels of manners or novels about middle-class English couples, one or both of whom was having an affair.  This was thin stuff for an adolescent who thought Clint Eastwood was God, and I stayed away from it.

I remember how exciting Hemingway’s stories were (and still are).  I was overjoyed to find a writer who talked about things that were part of my world, like boxing and fishing.  That he could make a story around them seemed incredible.  He talked about things that happen with men, how they could become violent when they had been drinking.  Things I knew about.  Ernest Hemingway taught me to value fiction, his work led me to writers as diverse as Herman Melville, F Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck.  As a result of reading Hemingway I began a life-long love affair with American writers.   

As I grew older, I continued to read Hemingway.  His work spoke to me as a man, about how men fall in love with women, about how there will be times in life when you lose and how you talk to yourself about that.  I read A Movable Feast, his memoir of living in Paris in the nineteen-twenties, and was beuiled by his Paris.  I first went to Paris two years after that, I walked the streets he walked and his writing became even more real for me.  

His Writing

We read him because he writes elegantly and beautifully.  His writing is terse, observant, visual and perceptive.  From his earliest work he always tried to write simply yet capture the essence of his subject.  To achieve this, he wrote and rewrote, always seeking to strip away the non-essential words, to build a sentence that would be true.   In A Moveable Feast, he talks about doing this.  Here he talks to himself about writing;

“Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now.  All you have to do is write one true sentence.  Write the truest sentence that you know.”   

                                                                           A Moveable Feast

He would make revision after revision, believing that he could capture feelings and ideas in simple, beautiful language.  Stripped down short sentences, his writing has a virile, staccato drum-like rhythm to it.    

This care over language, his courageous insight into men’s lives and his willingness to speak of courage, honour and love, give us bare understated writing of great beauty and wisdom.    

The popular view of Hemingway is that he was as much showman as writer.  Yet he was a wonderful observer of others and a keen listener.  In 1950, when he was a famous and accomplished writer, he wrote Across the River and into the Trees.  Here is the opening paragraph of the novel;

“They started two hours before daylight, and at first, it was not necessary to break the ice across the canal as other boats had gone on ahead.  In each boat, in the darkness, so you could not see, but only hear him, the poler stood in the stern, with his long oar. The shooter sat on a shooting stool fastened to the top of a box that contained his lunch and shells, and the shooter’s two, or more, guns were propped against the load of wooden decoys.  Somewhere, in each boat, there was a sack with one or two mallard hens, or a hen and a drake, and in each boat there was a dog who shifted and shivered uneasily at the sound of the wings of the ducks that passed overhead in the darkness.”      

                                         Across the River and into the Trees

I believe that the visual beauty and simple accessibility of Hemingway’s writing is one of the key reasons he is still read so widely today.   

The big questions

We read him because of his ability to address the big subjects in men’s lives, love and war.  He wrote his greatest works when the old certainties of the nation state were slipping away, and individuality took on a new emphasis.  In A Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell tolls, he wrote about war and its fascination for brave men.  Hemingway had found a truth about men and courage, that brave men measure themselves against Death.  That they see every risk, every battle, as preliminary contests for the final one, the one they cannot win. 

In the Snows of Kilimanjaro he writes about love and the tragedy of men, how they are unable to see happiness when they have it.  How there always has to be something better, and how they break what they have for what-might-be.   In the Sun Also Rises he shows us why men chase unattainable women, and even why they are unobtainable.   

His heroes are surprising vulnerable.  They often lose their battles and Hemingway writes in the knowledge that the world often wins.  However Hemingway’s men have an inner integrity which is rarely defeated.  What Hemingway’s novels were telling us was that if a man is not defeated on the inside, then he has not lost.  If he knows that he can hold his head up and try again then he is still a man.  Hemingway wrote “The world breaks everyone and afterwards many are stronger at the broken places”  I believe there is considerable truth in his view of the world.

Truth and love.

We read him and love him because he is true. 

I once took a class in creative writing where the teacher, a famous feminist author, told me that “Hemingway was full of swank”.

The truth is he was not.  All the things he wrote about he did.  The fishing, the boxing, even the brawling in bars.  He wrote about danger and courage so well because he had forged his own feelings in the heat of battle in several wars.  Apart from the First World War, he also took part in the Spanish Civil War and World War 2, as a war correspondent.  He was always on the front line, trying to get a better story, often in danger. 

Men know the truth when they read it, and it is what they do with that knowledge that counts.  Hemingway’s men were tough but sensitive.  He writes “A tough man is a man who makes his play and backs it up”.  That commitment, keeping going when you are afraid, is the hardest part.  Hemingway’s men are brave but afraid, they act despite their fear. He wrote about the little rituals that men have when they are about to do something difficult, or dangerous.  About how men talk to themselves when they are in extreme situations. 

The greatest that men can hope for is to have grace under pressure, to act with courage and clarity in the gravest danger.  I identify with Hemingway’s men because they are fallible and uncertain, yet always strive for the courage to do the right thing.  He writes about this in ways that most men can understand.  In the 20’s and 30’s writing about fear and courage so simply and cleanly was new to literature and men revered him for it.   

Honour

One of the big reasons that Hemingway is still relevant today is his belief in honour.  Having seen the brutality of war, Hemingway rejected glory and honour, said that they were scant reward for the horrors of battle, the dead and the maimed.  However he knew the attraction of both honour and glory and his protagonists feel the old pull, the compulsion to believe in something greater than themselves. 

Hemingway knew that men have to have honour, to believe they stood in good regard.  Hemingway’s men have personal honour.  Their honour lies in being true to themselves, to their own concept of what is right.  And this is very much how we are today. Our bonds to our country are weak and we know so much, maybe too much, of how our countries are governed.  Men today are a lot like Hemingway’s heroes, obliged to fall back on their own concept of honour.  Like Hemingway’s heroes, we find this difficult and in his stories and his men we find a kindred spirit.  We see the tug-of-war of personal and group values in For Whom the Bell Tolls, whose protagonist, Richard Jordan, is prepared to die for the truth (as he sees it) but not for glory. 

Style and men

Almost as soon as Hemingway became famous for his writing, he became famous for his lifestyle.  He personified a type of man that many man found attractive, the virile talented  sportsman who was at home all over the world.  Combine this with his democratic American charm and you had a man who was equally happy to talk to commoners and kings.  It was a potent mixture and the press loved him, he became the first jet-set celebrity, long before the term was coined. 

Ernest hemingway with his fourth wife, Mary.

Hemingway had great style.  His outdoor lifestyle led him to casual clothes that naturally suited him.  He was a connoisseur of food and wine.  He understood and loved guns, especially hunting weapons.  He had an eye for quality and gives his characters beautiful things to illustrate this knowledge, like Colonel Cantwell’s Solingen clasp knife in Across the River and into the Trees.  Here again Hemingway shares something with modern men.  Men of style look for quality, look to know and have the best.  Hemingway presented a big, rugged style and it still works today.  The rugged man of the world is still a look, a style, that can be worn and lived.

Ernest Hemingway’s world was vast and he wrote bravely of men, their courage and their inevitable death.  However he loved and celebrated men, for all the good and bad within them.  For me he has always been an inspiration. 

The last words here are not mine, but those of Martha Gellhorn, his third wife and a critically acclaimed writer in her own right.  She said;

“He was a genius, that uneasy word, not so much in what he wrote as in how he wrote; he liberated our written language.”     

Below are some of my favourite Hemingway books and movies. 

Books 

A Moveable Feast

A memoir of Hemingway’s time in Paris, as a struggling writer in the Nineteen-Twenties.  Beautifully observed and the love and happiness of Hemingway and his first wife Hadley are palpably.  Funny, joyful and just plain beautiful.

  Available in the UK here

  Available in the United States here  

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Hemingway’s story of the Spanish Civil War.  Robert Jordan, an American fighting for the republican guerillas, falls in love with a Spanish woman while on a deadly mission.  Modern warfare and it toll on brave men is the theme, with meditations on love and duty.   

 Available in the UK here 

 Available in the United States here      

The Old Man and the Sea

The story of an aging Cuban fisherman and his struggle to capture and land a gigantic Marlin.  Hemingway’s most profound meditation on the courage and steadfastness of men.

 Available in the Uk here   

 Available in the United States here       

The Snows of Kilimanjaro

Short Stories of love, war and the intensity of living courageously.  From a white hunter lying wounded in the shadow of Kilimanjaro to simple stories of Americans and their lives.  Stories both sharp and poignant, this collection is the best introduction to Hemingway.

 Available in the UK here   

Available in the United States here       

A Farewell to Arms

Henry Frank is an American volunteer ambulance driver on the Italian front in World War 1. In the pain and madness of war he falls in love with a British nurse.  A passionate story of love, honour and manliness.

 Available in the UK here 

 Available in the United States here       

Movies

Ernest Hemingway’s work is difficult to adapt to the screen.  We lose his language and his simple dialogue needs to be carefully handled if it is not to be lost to images and movement.  Here are five movies that did it well.

Islands in the Stream

This should not have worked as well as it does, being based on Islands in the Stream, one of Hemingway’s least well-regarded books.  However the combination of Hemingway and Geroge C Scott, directed by the superb Franklin Schaffner is magical and moving.  George C Scott absolutely nails it as the Hemingway/Artist character and all the other performances are equally good.  Franklin Schaffner had a deep understanding of powerful men and he gets every once of emotion and drama from the story.

 Available in the UK here

 Available in the United States here

The Old Man and the Sea

Directed by John Sturges and Fred Zinneman, with Hemingway employed as a consultant, this is a faithful adaptation of the book.  Spencer Tracy is perfect as Santiago, the aging fisherman, and the movie is a true celebration of the human spirit.

 Available in the United States here   

The Snows of Kilimanjaro

Gregory Peck, a writer and hunter, lies wounded in the shadow of Kilimanjaro.  In flashback he re-traces his life, from his one true love in Paris thru his adventures as a writer.  Crafted from several other stories besides the Snows of Kilimanjaro, with Gregory Peck bringing a sympathetic cast to the character of the world-weary writer.  One of the best Hemingway adaptations and a real adventure movie.

 Available in the UK here   

 Available in the United States here  

The Killers

Directed by the great thriller director Don Siegel, with Lee Marvin in the lead, the Killers is violent, fatalistic and cynical.  Hemingway’s dialogue was never handled better than in this movie. 

 Available in the UK here   

For Whom the Bell Tolls

This story of a squad of guerilla fighters in the Spanish Civil War had superb leads in Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman.  Gary Cooper had the real life gravitas of a Hemingway hero and really filled the part, as did Bergman.  A surprisingly fast-paced movie for its time, true to Hemingway’s story, mood and spirit.  It is also a classic Hollywood movie, with an epic sweep and exciting action.

 Available in the UK here   

 Available in the United States here

There are also many websites which offer further information about Ernest Hemingway.  Here are some I like:

http://www.lostgeneration.com/

http://www.hemingwaysociety.org/

http://www.timelesshemingway.com/

Book Review: Modern Menswear

Hywel Davies

In Modern Menswear, Hywel Davies attempts to unify current menswear design around a single theme.  Davies’s believes modern menswear is primarily concerned with communicating individuality.  That contemporary menswear gives men a huge range of clothes to express themselves in, both in terms of design and the types of manhood they might want to express.

Davis refines his definition of modern menswear with the belief that the old rules no longer apply and that definitions of formal and casual are unimportant.  Now on one level I found this useful, because there are very few books that discuss non-formal men’s clothes with any degree of knowledge.  However Davis then goes on to say youth and youthfulness has come to define modern menswear.  I do not agree with this, especially in the light of the huge investment that brands like Corneliani, Zegna and Ralph Lauren have made in non-formal menswear.  These are not brands that consider themselves to be aimed at a youth market.  However they are not included here and Hywel Davies illustrates his argument well, with designers such as Aitour Throup and Raf Simons, who do appeal to younger men.          

Hothouses of menswear design 

For Davis, the exciting work in modern menswear is being done in London and Antwerp, which he sees as hothouses of new menswear design.  However the book ranges across all of Europe, finding designers to support his thesis in Germany and Italy, amongst others.

Davis surveys thirty-five modern European designers, talking about their clothes and their history.  Designers range from the successful (Paul Smith, Burberry Prorsum) to the very trendy (Viktor and Rolf, Blaak) to the cult (Martin Margiela, D Squared2).  Each designer gets a handful of pages, in which we get a short tour of their design philosophy, and more importantly, a view of their clothes.  Where the pictures (the illustrations are beautiful) the designer and the author all click together the book is fascinating and leaves you wanting more of that particular fashion house.  Many of these pieces could be fruitfully worked up into much bigger articles.   

This is a useful book and Davies does a good job of describing the vision of these designers, especially considering that, with the honourable exceptions of Paul Smith and Yohji Yamamoto, they are not a very articulate bunch.  Frankly one or two of the designers included here are too concerned with building an art concept, and while fashionable, lack any sense of style and connection to men’s lives.  This makes commercially-oriented designers like Marc Jacobs and Stephan Schneider (both included in the book) look even more defined and concrete.  I found that, with a few exceptions, Modern menswear reinforced my preferences about which designers I liked and which I did not.

Menswear Guidance 

Modern Menswear works best as a guide or reference book.  The book is beautifully designed and handsomely produced.  It would make a fine gift for any man interested in style.  Visually stunning, knowledgeable and concise, this is a practical book for men who are building or updating their wardrobe.  I remember my own evolution from teen style to young adult and this book would have been really valuable back then.  It is also useful for those going in the other direction, mature men who need to lighten their style for less formal occasions.  Here is the one-stop reference to finding those less formal clothes.  It contains a reference list of the designers, which includes their websites.     

This is a well-conceived and valuable book, in an area of menswear where not much is being written.  I enjoyed it and expect to return to re-read it in the future. 

Modern Menswear

Author: Hywel Davis 

Laurance King Publishing Limited, 2008.

ISBN 13:  978-1-85669-540-4