The Essentials - The Knit Tie

The knit tie is a truly classic accessory. Over the years it has become the calling card of the casually well dressed man. It calls to mind a certain New England Prep culture inhabited by people like the Kennedys.

The Kennedy Brothers in Hyannis Port, 1960.

However the knit tie is not only for the sports jacket wearing preppy or the 1960's British Mod. Although it must be said you could do worse than follow their examples if you wanted to wear one. This tie is also a favourite of the style concious Italians. In summer months a knit tie will often replace its more traditional brethren. You see, the Italians know something the rest of us seem to have forgotten. Namely this casual classic can look great with a suit!

Sean Connery wearing a silk knit tie in Goldfinger.

Above Sean Connery demonstrates just how good a knit tie can look, with even the most formal 3-piece suit. The classic knit tie recently received a modern twist when T.M.Lewin started making silk knit ties with a triangular end as opposed to the traditional square end.

So embrace your inner dandy and don a knit tie. Follow Bond's example and go with black or choose another colour, the choice is yours. Just remember the best knit ties are made of silk and will set you back accordingly. However you should also remember that this tie is a true investment, that bridges the casual formal divide and should be treated as such.

Sprezzatura with Lapo Elkann- Style Icon

A definition shameless lifted from Wikipedia:

Sprezzatura (Italian pronunciation: [sprettsaˈtura]) is an Italian word originating from Baldassare Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier, where it is defined by the author as “a certain nonchalance, so as to conceal all art and make whatever one does or says appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it.” It is the ability of the courtier to display “an easy facility in accomplishing difficult actions which hides the conscious effort that went into them.” Sprezzatura has also been described “as a form of defensive irony: the ability to disguise what one really desires, feels, thinks, and means or intends behind a mask of apparent reticence and nonchalance.”

The word has entered the English language; the Oxford English Dictionary defines it as "studied carelessness."


Sprezzatura. I would describe it as unstudied elegance. Of course this is a myth, it is apparently unstudied elegance that is the hardest to perfect. I think that one man who embodies a sense of sprezzatura is Lapo Elkann. He has perfected a certain nonchalance that makes what he is doing look easy, when in reality a lot of thought has gone into each outfit.

Elkann pulling of one of his more classical looks with his usual flair. Note the 

open shirt cuffs.

Elkman is heir to the Fiat car company and is currently Fiat's Director of Marketing. His look is defiantly that of the rich international heir apparent.

A double breasted suit is usually statement 

enough these days, even without the eye catching colour.

Elkann is not afraid of colour and frequently sports unconventional suits. He also favours the double breasted style which is enjoying a renaissance at the moment.

Get the Elkann look.
The Key Ingredients are:

• The knit tie
• The double breasted suit or blazer
• The overflowing silk pocket square
• The light blue double-cuff shirt.

Introduce a little Sprezzatura into your life with this most Italian of tie knots, from the excellent GQ rules series. To see more of Elkann and my other Style Icons and Influences click here!

University Outfitters - GANT

Having lived in Cambridge for much of my life I am very conscious of how the University has affected the fashion of the town. Many of the oldest stores in Cambridge are linked to the University and the sale of University clothing to locals and tourists alike is a major source of income. I therefore thought in this series of posts I would examine the University outfitters, where you can acquire that particular style that has somehow become part of higher education itself. Be it the classically refined English style on show in Cambridge and Oxford or the laid-back Ivy League look of America's East Coast.



So lets start with a classic outfitter of the east coast preppy GANT.

Anyone who knows me can testify to my love for this brand. It produces classic preppy wear, but alas at a price. Gant clothes do not come cheap, but they do last.

Gant has embodied the preppy ethos since the company launched in 1949, but its history is older than that. Bernard Gant, a Ukrainian immigrant to New York in 1914, established a small family business with his wife that sold shirts to some of the biggest names in American clothing. 

J. Press and Brooks Brothers where just a few of the businesses clients. However by the 1940 the company was adding a small G to mark the shirt as one of theirs and then in 1949 Gant was officially launched when Bernard's two sons began to produce under there own name. 

Since then the brand has gone from strength to strength, although interestingly its first store was not opened until 1989, as until then it had retailed through department stores. It also has a very successful partnership with Michael Bastian. Gant is all about colour and comfort, a true preppy brand. And through its history it has embodied a small part of the American Dream.

Michael Bastian - Style Icon

Michael Bastian has been a recent addition to my ever-growing pantheon of style icons. I first heard of Michael Bastian when his name was mentioned in connection with a new Gant collection. When I saw the collection I became very interested in the man behind it. And in one of life's serendipitous occurrences I happened to open a copy of Esquire and there was an article on the man himself.

Bastian looking effortlessly cool but casual. 

'Bastian has never been shy about where his idea of good style comes from — the way his dad, a sixth-grade history teacher also named Michael ... in Levi's or five-pocket cords, flannel shirts with knit ties, navy blazers, down vests, and work boots.'

So there you have it Bastian style is classically prep and I very much look forward to seeing the fruits of his continued collaboration with GANT. Bastian is classic in his outlook but thoroughly modern in his approach. His collections are full of modern twists on classic styles and inspirations. Just like the man himself.

GANT by Michael Bastian F/W 12

Above is just one such twist on a classic look from Bastian' Fall/Winter collection for Gant.

Get the Bastian look.
The Key Ingredients are:

• The penny loafer
• The neutral coloured  chinos
• Going sock-less

To see more of Bastian and my other Style Icons and Influences click here!

Hair Cuts

Generally speaking men should have their hair cut about once a month. When at University many men fail to maintain this routine. The simple solution is to put it on your calendar so that you don’t forget and get a shock when you catch sight of your reflection in the mirror one morning.

When it comes to selecting a barber the simplest way to find a good one is ask a well groomed second year who they go to for a haircut. If you are a member of a club or society then it should be easy to find someone to ask.

If you prefer to find a barber for yourself then look for a pace that is busy even during the week and where you like how the barber has done their own hair. A barbers own hair is their calling card and if you don’t like their hair odds are you won’t like yours either once they are finished with it. In university towns you will often find barbers who offer a student discount and there may even be one on campus so keep your eyes open.

On a historical note the the red and white stripes on a barbers poll would have originally stood for blood and bandages. As the barber would also have been the town sergeant.

Character vs Shabbiness

I concluded my last post with the assertion that caring for your clothes properly will allow them to ‘develop the kind of character that something fresh off the rack just can’t match’. If like me you have been fortunate enough to have quality clothes for most of your life going to university will be a bit of a shock. Suddenly all that extra capital you used to have will be swallowed up by a never ending stream of bills. There are of course those who are fortunate enough to have ample reserves of cash that allow them to keep on carrying on, but the truth is most of us are not so lucky. Fortunately, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, we are in the middle of an economic crisis.

Allow me to explain that remark. We are faced with the same problem our great grandparents faced in the 20s and 30s; money is tight and our wardrobe is suffering accordingly. So let’s take our cue from them. Economics is the name of the game. If our great grandrelations owned a suit at all, you can bet it was made to last for life, and not for the season. This meant they invested in something versatile and timeless. Also, they did not discard clothes when they fell out of fashion or became worn.

So how do we take that into the modern age? Simple accept that things do wear out no matter their quality, and just keep wearing them. One of my favourite pairs of trousers are becoming noticeably worn on the hem. Will I stop wearing them? No way.

Now let’s be clear here, I am not condoning shabbiness. The wear on a pair of chinos or a cotton button down is fine. It should convey that kind of decaying elegance one associates with a country house or institutions of a bygone era. Wear on a white dress shirt or a suit, that’s not elegant it’s just shabby. You should be trying to invoke the ethos of the Roaring Twenties when you dress up you go all out. If you want to see what I mean look at the amazing HBO series Boardwalk Empire, the first series of which is now finally available on DVD.

A scene from the first episode of Boardwalk Empire.

A little wear on your daily clothes gives them character, but on your dress clothes it just looks shabby. In addition it can only be a little wear; you should not be going out the door with holes in your clothes. Also use your own good judgment. If all the clothes you are wearing have some wear on them then your invoking decay, not fading elegance.

A word on Storage

If you are investing in your wardrobe you need to invest in its safety. It’s that simple. Student houses are notorious for mould and a whole host of other problems that could cause to all manner of woe. So don’t take any chances with your clothes.

1. Keep suits and coats in suit covers and on unvarnished wooden hangers if you have them.
2. Keep knitwear in airtight containers or in old shoe boxes with moth cedar wood block (tape these to the top of the box raped in tissue paper to prevent them discolouring your prize sweater!)
3.   Keep shoes in shoe boxes and in shoe bags if you have them. Also put unvarnished shoetrees in your leather shoes when you finish with them for the day (you only need one pair of these, just put them in the last pair of shoes you were wearing). Try to rest your shoes for at least a day, it will prolong their life. 
4.  If you can, move your wardrobe away from the wall. If there is damp this will reduce the risk of it seeping in through the back of the wardrobe. I also highly recommend that you invest in some absorbent salts to mop up any excess moisture in the wardrobe.
5. Finally don’t take anything to university that you don’t intend to wear regularly. Not only is it a waist of space it is these items that will be at most risk of damage.

I would just like to clarify that I am describing the most extreme circumstance. For the most part student halls are fine and student houses are usually fairly good too, but it is better to be safe than sorry. I personally do not do absolutely everything I recommended but it is defiantly the standard I work towards. Remember properly caring for the clothes you have should always take precedent over buying new ones. Not only will it save you money in the long run but it will also allow your clothes to develop the kind of character that something fresh off the rack just can’t match.