Put This On

It’s On eBay:

Swaine Adeney Brigg Overnight Bag

Starts at $185, ends Monday

What a coat. That’s what a buttonhole looks like, folks.

It’s On eBay

Huntsman Covert Coat (Dated 1963)

The covert coat is a spring riding coat - durable and mid-weight.  It was originally designed for riding, and the stitches on the sleeve are for extra durability in the face of brambles.  They’re tough to find in the US of A - even finding the cloth, a wool twill, can be hard.  This one was bespoke for someone in 1963 and is in lovely conditon.  And who can deny an eBay seller with a Hudson’s Bay blanket in the background and the username Mr. Wooster?

Starts at $14.99, ends Sunday

It’s On eBay

Circa 1920s Astrakhan Coat by Lesley & Roberts

This is the coat to wear if you want to look fabulous while being blown to bits by an old-timey bomb thrown by a Spanish anarchist.  If I ever get invited to the Oscars, I’m wearing (vintage) astrakhan.

Starts at $156, ends Monday

The submariner sweater - originally manufactured for the British Navy, now recreated by North Sea Clothing.  Like the best military clothing turned civilian clothing, it’s simple, elegant and functional.

(via)

Cussons Imperial Leather Soap

I don’t go in for body gel, or flavor bubbles, or aloe patches or whatever it is the kids use these days.  I like to clean with soap, and my favorite soap is Cussons Imperial Leather.

Imperial Leather isn’t a particularly fancy soap.  It’s English, and it’s been around forever, but it’s hardly artisinal.  What it is is solid as a rock.  It has a comforting, masculine smell, but it smells like soap, not like chemicals.  It’s also hard milled to last forever - it rose to popularity in England during the second World War, when penny-pinching was the word.  A bar of this stuff lasts me months.

It’s tough to find in the States, but there is one reliable way to get it - Indian specialty shops.  Something in their colonial history has made them partial to traditional English soap.  I bought two four packs for ten dollars from Indian Foods, and after nine months, I think I’m on my second bar.

As the good people of Cussons put it in the 1950s, “Cussons Imperial Leather is the choice of men of fame and men of promise. It is the choice of men of good taste.”

It’s On Ebay

Berk velvet slippers

Starting at $50, ends Tuesday

It’s On Ebay

Grenson Chukkas in Navy

Starting at about $130, ends January 16

Don’t the Street Etiquette guys look flyer than the rest of ‘em in their duffle coats?

If you’re looking for a duffle for yourself, look for wood or bone toggles (not plastic), real wool (no polyester), and leather or rope toggle attachments.  The gold standard is early 20th-century British naval issue, and the silver goes to Gloverall, the original commercial manufacturer.  Pair with a Lambretta and you’re good to go.

The Economist has an excellent summary of what to look for when you’re buying cashmere.  In the past 15 years, cashmere has become a mass-market product.  Previously, only the best fibers were taken from goats, and those fibers were milled and woven by artisans in places like Scotland and Italy.  Today, standards can be much lower, and garments are often milled, knit and finished in China.  In the past, cashmere was made from only the longest, finest fibers from the goat’s underside.  Today, there are no such standards, at least for mass-market product.

Here’s how the Economist says you should differentiate between the good stuff (which lasts a lifetime) and the cheap stuff (which can pill in a matter of weeks):

“Look for tension in the knitting: stretch a section and it should ping back into shape. Hold it up to the light and you shouldn’t see much sky: paradoxically, the best cashmere, though made from the finest hair, has a density to it. Examine its surface: fluffiness suggests the yarn was spun from shorter, weaker fibres and will pill. Be sceptical about softness, too. Over-milling can make a garment too soft and silky, and therefore prone to bobbling and losing its shape. More expensive cashmere may be harder to handle in the shop, but will ease up with wear and hand-washing. The best cashmere actually improves with age - so long as the moths don’t get to it.”

The whole article has been transcribed by a thoughtful StyleForum member here.

As for myself - when I’m buying cashmere, I focus on older sweaters (think 1980s and earlier) made in England and Scotland.  They can often be had on Ebay for $30-60, and the density and softness of the wool is unparalleled.