Moths!

The Bastards!

They have been eating my knitwear!

So winter is late in London this year and I had not had the urge to wear knitwear.  Then the weather changed last week and I decided I was going to wear sweaters. 

I was feeling really good about knitwear.  Over the last three years I had built up what I felt was a really good collection of knitwear, perfectly suited for my lifestyle.  Even better, ladies of taste and style had been complimenting me on my sweaters.

A few days ago I opened the wardrobe I keep my knitwear in.  And was amazed, not to mention furious.  Moths had eaten holes in almost all of it!

I immediately turned into Vizzini, the self-described criminal genius in The Princess Bride.  Whenever he was frustrated or angry his curse was “Inconceivable!”.  That was me.  “Moths! Inconceivable!”. 

It was all the more irritating because I was so smug about moths, it was only a couple of months ago I was in Pokit, the Englisher designer store in Soho, talking about moths.  (Pokit are here)

The guys in Pokit was telling me how to handle moths because moths were an increasing problem.  My strategy was to use cedar to repel them.  I bought sixty (60) cedar balls, each the size of a big marble and folded them amongst the sweaters.  Sixty large cedar balls for twelve sweaters, that had to be the answer, right?  I put them in place four years ago.  So I was feeling pretty smug when I talked to the guys at Pokit.

Cedarwood balls

They were right and I was wrong.  Inconceivable!

Here is what I learnt this week.

Moths are drawn to sweat.  So if you put knitwear away in the spring without washing it, all of it, the moths will be drawn to it.

If your knitwear is stored in a wardrobe where the air is damp, moths will be drawn to it.   Is there anywhere in England where the air is not damp?  So pretty much every man (in England) is exposed to the problem.

Cedar is only fully effective for a year.  After that the scent (which repels the moths) diminishes.  So my four-year old Cedar was now useless.  I did not know this.  Cedar needs to be sanded down in order to release its scent anew.  It looks like I am going to have to shave my balls…..

Moths want an easy life.  Once they have found your knitwear they go for the finest knitwear you own.  So my Sea island Cotton John Smedleys?  Swiss Cheese.  My Cashmere?  Well, luxury rags for shoe polishing I think.

So here is what I did:

I washed all of my sweaters that were undamaged (four out of twelve).  I dried them carefully and ironed them equally carefully. 

A friend recommended Caraselle, a British company who specialise in innovative products to deal with Moths.  Caraselle are here.

So I rang Caraselle and they were incredibly helpful. 

I bought these sweater protection bags from Caraselle, who specialise in protection against moths.  The bags are well designed and wide and deep enough to take two sweaters folded, side by side.

Caraselle Sweater Bag

I bought these Orphea paper strips from Caraselle, which protect against moths, like cedar, the smell repels them. 

Orphea strips from Caraselle

The Orphea strips have a fresh herby smell, with a slight aroma of Alpine flowers.  I layered the wardrobe with them. 

Orphea Strips - note the perforation for attaching them to clothes hangers

Orphea strips last for twelve weeks so I have a note in my calendar to buy some more in three months.  That’s easy, they were competitively priced.  

I sanded down the Cedar balls with fine sandpaper.  I wiped them of with a damp cloth so no wood dust would get into the wardrobe.  They now smell of Cedar again.  Back in the wardrobe with them.          

Knitwear into the bags.

So now I have defence in depth.  I can recommend Caraselle, they have a wide variety of moth-handling products.

Replacements

Now I simply have to replace the damaged knitwear.  Some I cannot replace, but here are my immediate buys.

This is a favourite piece of knitwear.

John Smedley Turtleneck - Navy

This is a great colour for me and suits me more than any other.

Purple V-Neck - Charles Tyrwhitt

This is a great piece and works amazingly well under a black or navy suit.

Red Poloneck - Peter Gribby

Now I simply have to find a light grey cashmere sweater, a navy cashmere long sleeve polo and a couple of others ….

So that is my experience.  Replacing all this good knitwear is time-consuming and expensive.  If you think you have a moth problem, the time to sort it is now.  Good Luck.

So men’s colognes are a mystery to many men.  How do we chose them?  Who do we ask about them?  What are the rules here?

Here are my guidelines.  I hope you find them useful.

For our top 20 picks in Men’s fragrances, go here

For our articles on stylish dress for dating go here (article 1 of 5)

Introduction

I have always enjoyed wearing good men’s colognes.  Partly because I saw myself as a stylish man and that was what stylish men did.  But even as a young man I realised they had a positive effect on women and at that age I needed all the help I could get.

It was my second wife who told me that she was very affected by a man’s smell.  That a man who smelt good had a real (and sexual) effect on her.  Latterly it was my friend Sass who said to me, that from a woman’s perspective, a man who smelt good could be forgiven a lot of other style missteps.

However, I quickly realised that most men only have the vaguest idea about colognes.  I talked to a lot of men, friends and acquaintances, about men’s colognes and came to the conclusion that an article laying out the basics was needed.  Here it is.

What are colognes?

So, firstly, what are talking about here.  At the simplest level perfumes are a mixture of aromatic oils, aroma compounds (flowers, fruits, herbs, woods) and fixatives.  So the proportion and way these constituents are added together determines the smell of the perfume.

Perfumes for men have been around since the early Egyptians and in the past men used them much more widely than now.  The first “Eau de Cologne” was launched in Cologne (where else) in 1709.  Broadly speaking the idea of a man’s “Consumer” fragrance was defined by the first couture designer, Charles Worth, who founded the House of Worth in Paris, back in the 19^th Century.

That’s all the theory we need, onto the practice. 

Basic Rules

You get what you pay for.

Good perfumes take great skill to blend well and contain costly ingredients.  Cheap fragrances, especially men’s, are mostly alcohol and some cheap synthetic scents.  They smell sharp and harsh and are likely to burn out the nasal linings of your date, if not your own. So, especially if you are a beginner in men’s colognes, you want to pay good money for a recognised cologne (notice I did not say Brand).  See Part Two of this article for our recommendations here

Egoiste - one of the most successful colognes of the last 20 years

Men’s fragrances extend along a range, from light fragrances to a middle ground, where fragrances have a greater depth and potency, to colognes which are big both in terms of enduring smell and the complexity of their ingredients.  You need to know what you are buying, because you want something that will suit you.

Colognes react differently depending on the man

The complexity of a good cologne comes into play when it hits the skin of each man.  Your skin, its degree of oilyness, its age, its condition, will all subtly affect how it smells.  So my reviews are slightly distorted by the effect of these colognes on my skin.  However the basic aromas do not change.   

Your colognes – How many do you need?

You should buy colognes that suit you, see below on how to do this.  If, like me, you enjoy wearing colognes, then you will probably own a number.  At minimum, you want to have two colognes, one for the day and one for the night.

Beware! An over-complex market and a confusing array of products

There is a lot of money to be made in fragrances.  Traditionally this was less so in men’s fragrances.  However the men’s market is growing, so we now have all the noise and distraction that the female fragrance market does.  This includes celebrity perfumes, “brand” perfumes and celebrity endorsement campaigns (is there anything that Jude Law does not wear?).   

Types of cologne

There are so many ways to categorise men’s fragrances but we have to put a boundary around them, in order to write about them.  By categorising them from light to big (heavy) we can tie them up to your personal style.  Definitions below.

Light colognes

Floral and fruit odours tend to predominate in these fragrances.  Their scent is usually a light one, without the wet or woody odours provided by musk.  If musk is present, then it is usually muted, so the scent is floral, herby, slightly acid and “clean” smelling.  Sometimes light colognes have a warm, mineral smell, that does not detract from their lightness.  These are often good for younger men, being fresh and light.

Mid-range colognes

These tend to be heavier, with more of the underlying musk which supports heavier aromas.  So perfumes in this range use heavier flower aromas, oriental scents, leather and woody smells begin to appear.  These are complex colognes to blend and their true smell is often less immediate than the light colognes, which have the very obvious floral topnotes to announce them. 

Big (Heavy) colognes

These are strong-smelling colognes with a substantial musk layer.  On this they put more complex, interesting aromas, orchids, tobacco, balsam, leather, amber.  These colognes tend to announce themselves, they have a big presence.  They are complex scents which produce interesting smells as they interact with your skin.  They also tend to be the longest-lasting.  

Valentino for men - a big fragrance

Choosing men’s fragrances

1. Matching fragrances to your style. 

What kind of style do you have?  Are you a big man with a romantic expressive nature?  Then look for a cologne that will suit that personality.  Valentino’s Homme might work for you, a big, romantic fragrance.  Are you a squared-away kind of man, cool, think before you speak, look good in a business suit?  Geoffrey Beene’s Gray Flannel, with its clean, astringent herby smell might work for you. 

The classic (and classy) Grey Flannel

Are you slim, compact, have a relaxed style?  Then a light fragrance with an oriental edge may work for you.  Calvin Klein One might work for you.

Calvin Klein - A brand with many successful fragrances

Think about it.  If you are six-four athletic guy then a floral, herby cologne is probably going to be at odds with your style.  Similarly, if you are a slim, lightly built man, wearing an overpoweringly heavy orchid-scented fragrance, in most cases, it is going to look (smell) incongruous.

So the first thing you are looking for is some style compatibility.    

2. Clear away the distractions

Do not buy celebrity colognes, by David Beckham or anyone else.  They are naked money-making schemes with you as the victim. 

Do not buy cheap brands that promise sexual conquests by the score.  You know, the ones that promise you that the Swedish Bikini Team (look them up) will go to bed with you if you slap it on.  Avoid anything which is advertised on television.

Be very suspicious of brands that do not have a real association with fragrances.  There are “car” colognes, such as the Lamborghini fragrance.  I have not tried this but I really have my doubts. 

3. Narrow the field

Now that you have an idea of style compatibility, pick a group of men’s colognes to try out.  This is research, our recommendations are here.  I suggest that you select a maximum of seven or eight fragrances, because more than that and you will get overwhelmed when you reach the point of testing them.. 

4. Two lists and two trips

Ideally you want a minimum of two fragrances, one for day, one for night.  Make two lists, plan for two separate trips.  For me, a men’s cologne to wear in the evening was most important, so I did that first.  Do not try to buy both fragrances at the same time, it becomes a confusion of aromas. 

5. In-field experience

So go try, and hopefully buy.  As men, we really only want to make one trip, so it either has to be a large chemist/drugstore or a department store.  I prefer department stores, the staff are better trained and give better advice.  Get the advice of the staff, they may have something that you like even better.

As part of my research for this piece I decided on a refresher visit to London’s Selfridges.  I have to compliment the guy who works the Tom Ford concession there.  His name is Fortunata and he really knows his stuff.  He was invaluable in helping me with the Tom Ford fragrances.  Selfridges need to hang on to that guy, he is the male customer’s best friend. 

So my experience as a man is that you can only smell around five or six fragrances before you cannot distinguish one from another.  So avoid distractions, only sample (smell) from your target list.  Avoid distractions, like pretty girls wanting to spray you with stuff.  Incidentally my experience is that women have about twice the capacity as men, for sampling fragrances.  I don’t know if this is simply more experience or something else.    

6. Trying them

So do not wear a fragrance when you go try them out.  It will confuse matters mightily.   Above all, when you try them, do not spray them on your skin.  After you have sprayed the first one, the others are a just a confusion of aromas.

So use the little blotter strips.  Sniff them, keep them (the pocket of your jeans will smell great……).  Take a pen, write the name of the cologne on the strip, add two or three memory joggers, so “Tom Ford, Tuscan Leather, orchids, wood, aromatic moss, leather”.  Simple, at least that way you have something to remember.  Otherwise I find it difficult, how do you remember smells?

Tom Ford - Tuscan Leather

7.  Buy (One)

So it is still an experiment. Take a break for an hour (two hours is better).  Try not to drink any alcohol, which screws with your senses.  Then see how each cologne has matured out.  Buy the one you like the most.

Wearing colognes

Putting it on

After the shower obviously.  Remember that oils help retain the scent, so using a (fragrance-free) moisturiser will help extend the life of the cologne you are wearing.  If your skin is dry the cologne will evaporate more quickly.

Areas to spray

Spray on your cheeks, under your chin and down the throat line.  Spray a little on your upper chest.  A little on the wrists is ok too.  However once is fine, do not overspray. 

And give it time to settle into your skin.  Never spray cologne onto yourself and get into close proximity with someone else.  You want to seduce your date, not overpower her.

Getting Feedback

Three sure ways.

Men

So assuming you put it on right there are two reactions.  A quiet nod means good stuff.  “What’s the aftershave?” is a rave review.  “Damn, Liberace is in the room!” or “Stolen your dad’s aftershave?” or similar means they think it is too strong.

Your date or girlfriend

So you have to remember that a woman’s reaction to anything depends very much on her mood at the time.  So you may not get a true reading the first time.  In fact you may not get any reading.  Rely on your own judgement and continue to wear your chosen cologne.  There are two types of negative reaction. 

Your girlfriend consistently does not notice your aftershave.  This means she does not like it and is being polite.         

She tells you it’s not you.  Keep wearing it.  If she continues with this assessment over time, you need to consider whether she has a point.  Ask her why she does not like it.

Other women

If you wear your cologne to a party and do the kiss-on-the-cheek routine with women other than your girlfriend, here are some responses to look for:

“You smell nice” means your cologne is ok

“You smell really good” means that is a good cologne for you.

“God, you smell so sexy” means that is a great cologne for you.

Rules for wearing colognes.

Do not wear more than one cologne at a time.

Gucci for Men

Do not over-spray yourself

Understand the house rules of the country where you are.  In England, it is considered unprofessional to wear a cologne for work.  Similarly in America, where some organisations have rules in their dress code forbidding men to wear colognes. 

In Italy, many man wear fragrances to work.  In France, my experience (in Banking, Menswear and journalism) is that it is pretty much the same.  In Germany, fragrances are seldom worn at work by older men, though young German men seem to ignore this and wear (quite sharp-smelling) colognes. 

My experience of Russian men, especially younger Russian men, is that they wear a lot of fragrance, often of dubious quality.

To return to where we started, men’s colognes will aid your style and seductive technique enormously.  Once again, it is not simply that you smell good, its that you are capable of picking a good cologne.  It is about your discernment and style. 

Remember, women grow up with cosmetics and perfumes.  Most women will instinctively know if you are wearing a good cologne.  So you get points for discernment, points for good taste and points for having the brains and style to know what women like.  Buy a good cologne.  Nothing is surefire but colognes are very close to it.    

Part 2 continue with our picks for a range of good colognes here.

Here is part 4 of 10 classic English shoemakers

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

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

Part 2 of this article “New and revived brands” is here 

 “Andalusia, Southern Spain, I am gonna get me a house with a room for my shoes, one for my first editions”

                                                                         Left-Ear (Mos Def)

                                                                         The Italian Job, 2003  

Buying good shoes is only half the equation.  Invest a little time and care in them and you can bring out that inner glow that makes classic English shoes look so fine. 

Stage 1: Once you have bought them

I am indebted to John Lobb for the following advice.

Immediately after you have bought your shoes they are most vulnerable.  Though they look new and shiny, they will be dry, having spent the recent part of their livers in a shop storeroom.  At this stage the leather uppers will mark easily, with the potential to leave permanent scars on the shoes.  Treat them as follows:

Put the shoes on their shoe trees.

Open the shoe polish you intend to use on the shoes.

Take a soft cotton cloth, drape it over your hand and make a point of your fore and index fingers.

Work the shoe polish with your finger, making it warm and pliable.  The softer the polish the easier the process and the better the result.  Do not heat the polish, as it will warm unevenly and you will get an uneven shine on the shoe upper.

Once the polish has softened enough to work (you will get a feel for this),  use your finger “point” to gather up some polish and polish it into the shoe. 

Now polish the shoe all over in this way.  The trick to this is to work the polish into all the seams of the shoe, especially the heal seam and the welt seam (where the upper meets the sole).  Be generous here, because you want to lubricate and seal these seams against the elements.  Do not worry how the shoe looks at this time, because you will polish them off later.   

Continue until you have polished the whole shoe.  When you are done place the shoes in a cool dry place, preferably out of direct sunlight and leave them for 24 hours, for the polish to soak into their shoes.      

At the end of this time polish them off as follows:

Take a medium bristle shoe brush which is appropriate for the colour of the shoe (if you have a brush that you have used for black shoes do not use it on brown shoes, for example).  Do not use a hard brush as this point. 

Brush the shoes gently, to brush off the polish residue. 

Get a soft cotton cloth.  Do not use the cloth you applied the polish with.  Once again, make sure it is appropriate; do not use a cloth that you have used for black shoes on brown shoes. 

Buff the shoes gently but firmly with the cloth.  Buff them across the long axis of the shoe (across the toe) and also with the long axis of the shoe, along the vamp and facing.

You will get a soft shine as the leather polishes up.  This is an appropriate finish at this stage of the shoe’s life.  Over time you will (if you want) be able to buff the shoes to a high shine.

This may sound like a lot of work, but you only do it once and it is important to do this for many reasons. 

Firstly it will add years to the life of the shoes.  By waxing the shoes and leaving them to rest you give the leather a chance to absorb the oils of the polish and become more supple.  The shoes will keep their shape much better and be much less likely to tear along points of tension and especially around the stitching.

Secondly, if you do this the shoes will be so much easier to wear-in.  New shoes that have been waxed properly have so much more “give” in them and are easier on the feet from the outset.       

Stage 2: Wearing-in the shoes  

For the first wearing, wear the shoes only for a few hours, not for a whole day.  Just long enough to breakdown the stiffness of the leather.  If you can, wear the shoes indoors the first time.  If you wear the shoes outdoors for the first time, do not do so in the rain or snow. 

The soles of your shoes will be new and slippery.  This becomes less of a problem once you have worn them a few times.  However there is an old British Army trick for those who want to use it.  Take a reasonably sharp knife (a penknife will do) and lightly score the new soles.  Score only the sole, in a cross-hatch pattern.  The shoes will grip much better.

Cleaning your shoes on a regular basis

If your shoes are dirty, wipe them off with warm water and a soft cotton cloth.  Never use any cleaning solvents on quality shoes, it will destroy them.

If the shoes are muddy, wait until the mud dries and brush it off with a firm-bristle brush.  Never scrape the upper with metal implements. 

“Polishing-in”

As before, use a polishing-in cloth to polish the shoes. 

Some folks recommend using a brush to polish shoes with.  This puts way too much polish on the shoe and it becomes difficult to polish off.  If you do this often enough the shoes get a cloudy, waxy finish which is unpleasant to look at.  It is also very difficult to get rid of.  

The longer you can leave the shoes waxed, the better.  Once I have polished-in my shoes I leave them for 24 hours.  This helps the leather absorb the polish and preserve the finish of the shoe.

“Polishing-off”

Also as before, use a medium-firm brush to polish off the shoes, followed by a buffing from a soft cloth.       

Shoes should be polished once every two weeks.  Do it consistently and the process becomes easy, the shoes become beautiful.   

Waxing shoes for storage

If you have a collection of good shoes, there will be some that you do not wear for a long period of time.  I have a pair of Grenson tan oxfords that I only wear in summer.  They are made of soft aniline-dyed leather and are too fine for winter wear.  Now I could simply polish them and store them but my experience of this is that the uppers dry out.

I prefer to wax shoes with a leather feed which will nourish the uppers while they are in storage.  For this purpose I like Chelsea Leather food.  I like Chelsea because it can be applied easily (at the point of a cloth), left (it forms a protective film on the leather), and quickly polished off as necessary.

My experience is that Chelsea keeps the leather very supple and helps minimize the appearance of dings and scratches.  Shoes treated with it also polish up to a very high shine.

Caution.  Do not use Chelsea with combination shoes (such as canvas and leather) it is likely to stain the non-leather  surfaces. 

Wet Shoes

If the shoes are simply wet (the uppers are wet) put the shoes on their trees and if you have one, put the shoes on a shoe rack and let them dry.  The frame allows the air to circulate around the shoe and dry out the sole, which is important.

If you do not have a shoe frame, then place the shoes on several sheets of newspaper in a well-aired place.  Once again, drying out the sole is important

If the shoes are soaked (the inner linings and the inner sole of the shoe are wet) fill the shoes with newspaper, and, as before, elevate the shoes on a shoe rack.  Drying out the soles is even more important if the shoes are soaked.  If placed on newspaper and the nrewspaper becomes wet, change it. 

If the shoes are soaked through then when dry again I would advise waxing them and resting them for 24 hoours before wearing them again.

Never heat the shoes to dry them, there is a good chance that the sudden expansion of the leather will crack the uppers.  It will certainly dry them out and that is nearly as bad.  If your feet sweat heavily and you heat the shoes when wet you are liable to get a salt stain which is almost impossible to remove.             

Wearing your shoes

Never wear shoes for two days running.  Once you have worn a pair put them back on their trees and give them at least a day to rest. 

Repairing quality hand-crafted shoes. 

This is a no-brainer.  For all of the shoes in the articles above, take them back to the original maker and have them factory repaired. 

This is important.

When the shoes go back to the factory they are re-fitted to the original last that they were make on.  They will be steam-moulded back to the last, restoring the original shape that they had when they were made. 

The craftsmen who repair the shoes will know the characteristics of that style of shoe and will look for damage and flaws that need to be repaired. 

Finally they will put on a new sole which will be precisely fitted back to the welt it was made for. 

You are getting back an almost new shoe.  I have written about this before here, there is a small but distinctive joy in getting back an almost new pair of shoes.  When you do this you add something to the world, to your personal armoury of culture, you become a small part of the craft tradition.  

Never take your shoes to a generic repair shop and never have a half-sole repair, it destroys the shoes.

Shoe care essentials

Trees 

Shoe-trees are essential.  Without them the shoes will not hold their shape.  Plain, unvarnished Cedarwood trees are the best.

Shoe Polish 

A good beeswax-based shoe polish is best.  My preference is for the polishes produced by

Oliver Sweeney

Crockett and Jones

Grenson

Shoe Creams

Shoe Creams are good for those shoes or boots for which you do not want a high shine.  I use Dasco shoe cream, which I find is good for this.  However, it does tend to settle in the bottle.  The problem with this is that if the cream is too thick it can collect in the creases of the shoes and leave a fine white deposit, which spoils the look of the shoe.

I suggest you use the cream as follows:

Make sure the shoe cream is at room temperature.  The colder it is the harder it is to work and the harder it is keep a white film from appearing.

Shake the cream vigourously to loosen it up

Apply the cream in the point of a clean cloth.  I spit onto the shoe and mix the cream into the spit, it becomes easier to work and in my opinion gives a deeper shine. 

Buff vigourously with a very soft cloth.

Cloths

You need these both to work the polish in and for the final buffing after the shoes are polished.

Ideally you need two sets of cloths, one for polishing in the wax and one for buffing.  You also need to differentiate between those cloths that you use for black waxing and any others.  This is very important, as black wax can really stain shoes of other colours and as far as I know, the damage cannot be reversed.  

I use a variety of soft cotton cloths, some which are cut from old good quality t-shirts, which work very well.  If you are starting from scratch I suggest that you buy a set of white dusters and use those. 

Brushes

I mostly use brushes for polishing off.  If you have boots then you might want a brush for polishing on.  For all my shoes I use a medium bristle shoe brush. 

Once again, differentiating your brushes is important.  If you consistently use a brush which has been used on black shoes on brown shoes, you will ruin them.  Black brushes turn brown shoes into an in-between colour with a dirty muddy-looking finish 

Shoe Racks

Shoe racks are invaluable.  Put your shoes on a rack and let air circulate around them.  Shoes on a rack will dry naturally and more quickly than shoes on a floor or flat surface.

The last word on care

Treat the shoes as you would your suits.  If your suit has a stain or needs a press, you will take care of it before wearing it again.  Similarly with shoes.  If your shoes get dirty do not store them and put on another pair.  Clean and wax the shoes as soon as possible.  They will look better and last longer.

Epilogue

This is the end of my article on shoes for now.  I do have more to say and I have several more articles in the pipeline.  For now I hope that readers of my site find this article entertaining and useful.  As always, comments and feedback are welcome.