Article exceprted from gabrielleteare.com
This week, my duties as a Personal Shopper in London found me shopping for 3 men who were either too busy to shop for themselves, or who wanted a new look. Each of them had different colouring, body shape, budget and lifestyle requirements. Most men understand the importance of buying a well-fitting suit, but find smart casual more of a challenge.
Men should wear great colours that suit them, slick designs, and expensive shoes. Brands I like are Etro shirts, paired with linen blazer. Dunhill has great shirts and coloured vests that are very good quality. Paul Smith makes nice shirts, while Cheeky Monkeys, Diesel, Lindeberg have great jeans. Right now, Lindeberg has charcoal grey “Rock Star” skinny jeans that all my clients love. Coupled with a red V-neck vest and a fitted red/white Ted Baker shirt, this is a great look.
Pringle has Merino wool V and round neck sweaters in fab colours such as turquoise, marine blue and dark red. Merino wool is cool for spring/summer and looks expensive and stylish. They also have a black and white striped French Marine jumper which will look great with black jeans and a simple T shirt.
My client Marco Bruschiani says, “I work in the City, and have very little time, so I ask Gabrielle to choose clothes for me. I tend to try and buy everything in one go in the same shop to save time, and usually don’t like what I end up getting. Gabrielle has a great eye and always buys clothes I like that I would not have thought of buying. People always comment that they like what I am wearing, so for me it is money well spent.”
Shoes are another statement item, since a look will be ruined with a cheap pair of shoes. Selfridges has Oliver Sweeney shoes at 30% off, and they look great with jeans in brown or suits in black.
Styling for very tall men is harder. There are many men out there over 6’4”, and it has taken me ages to source clothes for them. High and Mighty is a good store, but the suit quality and selection for slim men is poor. I suggest their Ralph Lauren range, and then go elsewhere for bespoke tailoring for suits. The Italian suit maker Sartoria is great and reasonably priced. Segun Adelaja makes clothes to dream about which are very elegant and sophisticated, classic with a twist. Timothy Everest does a wide range for Marks and Spencers.
Nigel Hall currently has some great shirts and jumpers, although I would avoid the ones with flowery trims. Junk de Luxe is a cheaper brand with great jackets. Stone Island make great quality casual wear in easy to wear colours that will ensure the smart casual look is nailed for summer. For swimwear, try Olebar Brown fantastic in hot colours and black.
