The first job interview I went to I was jumpy, nervous like I had just had 5 red bulls and forgot the vodka. I sat in the waiting room, sweating and looking round at the other candidates. It wasn’t the job I cared about, I could take it or leave it, but what I was wearing that gave me palpitations. Suits… That’s what you wear when someone dies, or when your mother gets remarried for the third time, not every day. What’s the right colour, fabric, cut and buttons, what’s the lapel what’s the length. Shiny or dull, I knew nothing and feared everything.
But then I took a breath and noticed that everyone else was wearing the same M and S school boy suit that I was, with a three pound tie and shoes with rubber soles, and I breathed a sigh of relief that it was like being back at school again
I didn’t get that job but I did get one later, and I took comfort in the uniform that everyone wore, the Ferragamo ties that turned into Hermes ties later, and the workmate who was publicly mocked for wearing an Armani watch. But as I got older, and wanted to sleep with more stylish women, I started to realise that peacocking really does work, whether that means Ozwald Boateng or the “young” collection from Gieves and Hawkes. Quality and bespoke, but that doesn’t mean
answer the cold call from the family tailor company that doorstops you at work, it means doing some research. Like reading Wallpaper and paying attention to
Tyler Brule, or maybe watching Match of the Day and seeing what blue shirted monstrosity is hot right now. In the meantime, I’ve left my prejudices behind,
so I’ll wear a dress shirt with jeans if I feel like it, or brown shoes after 6. There is only one left though, which is that the only guy who wears a tie lighter than the shirt he is wearing, is the one from IT.
Suit Corneliani
Shirt Corneliani
Tie and pocket handkerchief Brioni
