Gems in the rough - why you need diamond prints in your wardrobe

I have two sleeveless sweaters - tank tops - which are fronted with diamond patterns. The first is bottle green, black and red with a nod to Jack Nicklaus in its colour and fitted shape. It would  look at home atop stout hiking boots or on Andre 2000's back. The other, a chunky muted tank, carries its diamonds in moss green, grey and cream. Various of my socks, often by Burlington, are starred with diamonds too - making the journey from trouser hem to shoe an eye-poppingly graphic one.

Dismiss your ideas of retired middle Englanders and subscribers to Golfer's World - diamond knits  add colour, bold shape and interest to knits. Sleeveless, they can be worn like a waistcoat under a jacket doing the work of a bold tie without the formality. Start sifting for your gems in the kinds of department store gent's sections that you'd normally avoid, for diamonds are found in the roughest of places. Base camp brands are Boss  Golf, Tommy Hilfiger, Burlington, and Pringle - for advanced searches sniff out your gems at Dolce & Gabbana, Burberry, Junya Watanabe, Comme des Garcons or Walter van Beirendonck.  

All buttoned up and somewhere to go - occasion dressing without a tie

A wedding invitation without dress requirements is a mixed blessing. The alternative - a request for lounge suits or morning attire - will always bring  a glum feeling of predictability - like having to wear your school uniform on the weekend.

With this laxity there is no less a need to be both smart and individual, respectful of the formality of the occasion, without insulting your hosts in a pair of battered Converse trainers. A neat solution - which somehow keeps a suit or tailored jacket looking smart, while avoiding business vernacular - is the buttoned up shirt. 

Traditionally a 'mummy's boy' staple, this idea has recently lost it's geeky aura, to become an eminently useful dressing solution. So, thanks then to Prada, Jil Sander, Raf Simons and Hermes (who featured this look in their A/W 09 collection, see picture) as well as other design minimalists, for giving us this idea. 

Style do's and don'ts for the modern wedding guest:

1. Do wear brogues, Oxfords, blunt-toe loafers - the style is less important than the fact you're wearing shoes. Boots, trainers or sandals (unless the wedding is on a beach) should be left at home.

2. Don't let your style pegging slip below a tailored jacket and trousers. At a push, slim cut darkest indigo jeans are acceptable.

3. Don't wear colourful braces, loud ties, bow-ties etc unless you're used to such things. You could end up looking wary and self conscious with such a bold step outside of your sartorial comfort zone.

4. Do add colour with a breast pocket silk square. An appropriately dandy-ish for wedding days (or, in my case, any days).

Legging it - why you should be wearing smart shorts

There is only one style of shorts to wear this summer - the tailored, or 'smart' short. Why? Because compared to the Bermuda, military baggy or three quarter lengths you may choose to stumble around in while cooking a barbeque - these shorts have 'suitable for work' stamped on them. And, if they're suitable for your office, they're also suitable for the bar, restaurant and even for meeting your in-laws. But make sure it's a warm day, or you'll be mistaken for a proto-naturist.

Usefully, tailored short have - slimming lack of flag-like fabric; a leg-enhancing crop above the knee, and the lure of smartening up your look even more with a casual tailored jacket. This, of course, should never 'match' the shorts in colour and fabric, as last summer's 'short suit' reminded us - a clown-like outfit masquerading as office-wear. 

The snug shorts featured in the picture are by Neil Barratt and come in at just over £200. For similar high street versions  try Topman, H&M and Gap. Now, of course, there's just the matter of how your legs look. I feel a blog coming on...

Turning Japanese: Lucien Pellat-Finet and the collectibility of cashmere art

Goyard's bags, Hermes' ties and Oliver Goldsmith's sunglasses, are products which defy conventional business logic. This gear is insanely expensive and knock-offs pour like a river from Eastern sweatshops. Yet, still these brands thrive like defiantly territorial endangered species, while original pieces hold their price if kept in a box-fresh state. To that list we can add Lucien Pellat-Finet's cashmere sweaters as interpreted by Japanese artist, Mr.

There's something heroic about all this. When you can pick up a half decent cashmere sweater for under £50, explain the logic to put down £500 on an entry-level LPF one, which may not look at any different? If you're able to buy into this end of the market (and, of course, the quality of cashmere here is about as good as it gets), it's  in the collaborations where the brand gets interesting. 

Acknowledging the importance of the Japanese market, Pellat-Finet has collaborated with Japanese artists including Murakami in past seassons, ensuring a market for his sweaters in Tokyo and the world beyond. The collaboration this year with  Mr., whose work has a retro kitsch manga appeal, makes your purchase not only wearable (in an ironic, kidult kind of way), but collectible too. This stuff will never be made again and these pieces will likely hold their value in years to come.  Which, of course, can never be said for that bobbled up piece of tat from the high street masquerading as the real thing.

Surprisingly long lasting gear - Prada's indestructable trainers

While tramping across my local shingle beach - feet firmly shod in an eight-year-old pair of battered Prada linea rosa trainers (linea rosa? aka Prada Sport) - I considered the following: what other trainer brand would still be holding up to weekend-wear on unforgiving flint rocks after that tsunami of years? You tell me. It's as if the dense rubber sole, leather upper and thick laces are made of some bullet-proof material that nobody else has stumbled upon apart from those clever folks at Prada. 

If Plato were around, these trainers (which, let's face it, are lifestyle shoes, rather than sports friendly) would be praised for being  perfect Forms, sent down to us from the Olympan gods. Which, come to think of it, these silvered leather toes would look quite cool poking out from under your toga. I'll keep you posted when these sturdy faithfuls do finally kick the bucket, as long as they don't outlast me.

Flat pack: 5 thoughts about cap wearing

1. The cap's peak gives useful shade for your eyes and protects your head from excessive sun exposure.

2. Lightweight styles from a brand like Kangol are made from an open mesh fabric - keeping hot heads cool.

3. The cap sets off jeans and trainers as much as a dressed-down suit (if you're wearing a tie, lose the cap - too many details dilute your image).

4. Match the colour of your cap with another thing you're wearing - a navy cap with indigo jeans is a good starting point. Remember, co-ordination = smart.

5.  Felted wool and cashmere mix versions in the winter - as Guy Ritchie can verify - keep that third of body heat you lose through your head under wraps. 

Crease-free shirts without an iron. What's your secret, Dave?

It has been common knowledge for some time now that life is too short to peel a mushroom; which leaves us with the tricky conundrum of whether there's enough time to fold back a French cuff, cover it with a damp cloth and press down firmly on it with a hot iron.  When I'm styling photo shoots  I'll use a nifty steamer to get creases out of shirts, suits etc.. At home I avoid the whole grisly process by doing the following and suggest you do the same:1. Turn down the speed of your washing machine spin cycle to 800 rpm. This stops your shirts becoming too creased through central fugal road kill. 2. Empty the washing machine the instant the cycle has completed. Clothes start to dry and deepen their creases while hanging out in the drum like a bunch of old soaks. 3. Shake out creases from washed shirts by holding them at the shoulders.  The more they're shaken, the less creases they'll hold. Two vigorous shakes should do it. And finally, 4. Hang each shirt on it's own individual hanger to dry and do the button up at the neck while flattening down the collar. This keeps the shape neat while the shirt dries. Hey presto! Crease-free shirts leaving you much more time to read fascinating time-saving tips on this blog.

A right Charlie - how to wear Bottega Veneta's new shape

Baggy chinos, white scuffed brogues, sans socks and a buttoned up check shirt, knitted waistcoat with a fitted tailored jacket is fashion spaghetti - way too much mixing of casual and smart; too lose and too tight, all at the same time. But now I know it can work.

This was my first attempt to wear the new shape for men presented by Tomas Maier this summer, the talented creative helm at Bottega Veneta (luxury, Italian blah, blah). 

I've been thinking about this look, which owes its being to Charlie Chaplin in his role as the Tramp, an unlikely fashion hero. It's typified by loose trousers and a cropped, fitted jacket (Chaplin's squashed up hat is   optional). It's a tricky shape giving stress to the lower half of your body and legs while minimising the upper half - the opposite of the exaggerated V shape beloved of over worked out gym rats.

When I first put the clothes together it was the footwear that was tough going to begin with. Straight legged chinos (from Cos) with a wide 12" bottom could only be worn with white trainers I thought, but the bagginess swamped my feet making them disappear which was disconcerting. My feet needed bulk to support the bulk of the trousers.  So, I pulled on a pair of scuffed up old white Loakes. The trousers were given the platform they needed. I was building my new style house from the foundations up.

Once the base elements were in place, the rest was a cinch. A bold grey and white check buttoned up shirt ( Cos) and knitted grey waistcoat (Paul Smith) and marl grey fitted suit jacket (Paul Smith) and the looked rocked. I was a posh tramp or an under-dressed toff.

I felt odd at first going out with all that fabric billowing around my legs, but a few drinks and checking out with some mates how they rated my efforts,  and their resounding thumbs up gave me a warm glow. I was standing on a street corner being thrown gold sovereigns by the passers by.

Impressive knowledge to share: The El Primero movement by Zenith.

For watch-heads, being able to name the movement of an automatic watch is a badge of connoisseurship beyond the dismissive shrug given to, say, a fashion brand's latest bling, or knowing that Cartier is really a jewellery, rather than a watch, brand. This stuff can be impressive when thrown around at dinner parties, though it comes with the risk of potential violence for being such a smug  know-all. As all knowledge is power, I'm willing to risk a knuckle sandwich to spout the following, and you should too. These are the kinds of statements to be heard saying:

1. El Primero is an automatic movement developed by Zenith in 1969 (yes, it's 40 years old this year) 2. It was developed in a race against other watch makers to make the most accurate mechanical movement, beating the competition hands down with a 1/10th of a second accuracy 3. The movement is made by 20 watchmakers using 28 different metals 4. The movement is used across the range of Zenith watch families, but my choice is the Vintage 1969 Original in rose gold (its pinkish shade usefull suits my pale skin tone). 

A good yarn - is just what underwear needs to hear

When I saw the new Autumn/Winter 09 collection from Sunspel last Thursday, I recognised my favourite plain white T-shirt - one I've been wearing for over three years. It's the only white one in my 1960s chest of drawers that hasn't turned shapeless, mixed-wash grey, or managed to look anything other than blindingly pristine. 

Made from extra long Egyptian cotton threads, my T's fabric has a softness and strength missing in other underwear brands. With it's loose fitting, crewneck shape it feels far more comfortable the lycra-engorged, body-hugging versions in the heat. A chilled spritzer to their room-temperature plonk.

This isn't a brand to shake things up, and they don't make pulling pants, but in an uncertain world, there's a reliability and quality with Sunspel that feels pleasingly comforting and safe. And hands up, who doesn't want to feel secure in their pants?

The Details: sharpen up with square eyes

These are the  sunglasses I'll be wearing throughout this summer. They're from Prada and have bold square frames which gives definition to my face, making it look more angular and strong, like its hewn from stone. No bad thing in the summer when the rest of your wardrobe feels lightweight and barely there.

The variegated brown lenses have a 70s feel which fit neatly into the colour spectrum of my summer staples -  khaki chinos and shorts. They set off a white Tshirt perfectly too. These glasses are a hybrid between modish 60s Wayfairers and laidback

 70's shades - a style car crash engineered with ease by Prada's eyewear designers. They're not whacky, they're not boring and they're on my face. (£179 from major stockists).