How to buy a leather bag on a budget

Hi Simon,

I've been following Permanent Style for a while now, as well as investing significantly more of my time trying to learn more about menswear.

As my style has evolved and I find myself wearing a blazer or sportcoat more often, I'm really struggling with bags. As a postgraduate student, I lug around a laptop and lunch everyday, and apart from looking bad, I really worry about the backpack pulling on the shoulders of my jackets and damaging them.

I wondered if you had any recommendations for leather briefcases? Searching around your site I have spotted a few I like the look of, however, I think that £800+ is more than I want to spend on a bag at the moment. I'm looking to spend up to about £500 and I wondered if there were any go-to brands for this slightly lower price bracket?

On a somewhat related note - what kind of frame of mind do you approach buying clothes and accessories with? As I get a bit older (I'm 22) I find it increasingly unsatisfying and untrue to say "I can't afford things", but find it equally frustrating to admit that I'm just not prepared to pay enough to buy a Dunhill bag or a Brioni blazer! I just wondered if you could share any thoughts or wisdom about this problem, silly as it is.

Thanks for your time, and all the best.

David Beckingsale
 

Hi David,

Men generally don’t spend enough on bags, in the same way as they rarely spend enough on shoes. Both can make an outfit on their own; both look better with age; both repay investment over a long period of time; and you only need a small number of them – probably just two bags in your lifetime: a day bag and a weekender.

That said, £500 is still a lot of money and a good amount to spend on a bag. Most of the bags I talk about are real luxury items, from Hermès, Bown or Tanner Krolle. The thing that sets them apart is the hand-sewing of all the seams. Like the sole on a bespoke shoe, this will make them last longer. But you pay a disproportionate amount for that work.

So the first way to save money is to buy machine-sewn bags. Dunhill, for example, has its Tradition line, which is hand-sewn in London. But it also has a much cheaper line which is not. The Single Zip Bourdon briefcase is beautiful and only a little more than you were planning to spend at £595.

The other way to save money is to introduce a material other than leather. Dunhill’s Saltaire range, for example, is mostly canvas with leather trims. I’m a big fan of J Panther Luggage – their Ruc Tote is very versatile. And Bill Amberg makes some great machine-sewn bags: there is a version of the Jag in leather and cordura, or one at £495 that mixes in perforated leather.

To your last point, what you can afford all depends on what period of time you apply. I tend to save up for a big purchase for 2-5 months, pay for half of it with that money, and use a credit card for the rest (which I will pay off over another 2-5 months). In a consumer culture like ours, the hard thing is often not saving money to buy something, but going for years after that without any retail hit. Master that, and you’re halfway there.

Simon

Ciao Luca and Luigi

Luca from Satriano Cinque and Luigi Solito (left and right) were in town last week for fittings with a growing number of London clients. It's been nice to see that grow in just a few months.

I also find I particularly enjoy with craftsmen around the same age as me - Luca, Luigi and I are all in our thirties, with young kids, and it's much easier to build up a rapport when you have such things in common.

Below, one of a number of images Luigi had on his phone of Italian suit designs from the 1970s. Apologies for the iPhone photos.

Permanent Style cufflinks in gold

Regular readers will be familiar with my Cufflink Project, which I launched last year with bespoke jeweller Diana Maynard.

I was frustrated at the lack of good cufflinks on the market – those with the same decoration on both sides, an easy method of inserting the link, a bar or chain that was short enough, and a subtle but sophisticated style.

The resulting cufflinks were wonderfully received, with dozens being sold through myself on Permanent Style and Kirby Allison’s The Hanger Project. I was grateful for the response and it has led to several collaborations since, including the recent slippers with La Portegna and a few more that will be coming soon.

I tend not to wear silver jewellery, as my wedding band and all my watches are gold. I have therefore had my cufflinks gold-plated – as you can see from the images here. It makes little difference with the pearl links, as the gold bar is largely hidden in the cuff. But the effect is striking on the smoky quartz, and it works well on the labradorite as well.

If anyone is in the same position as me and would like some gold versions from the Cufflink Project, they can be purchased by contacting me or Kirby at The Hanger Project.

Prices are:

• Pearl links (grey, white and peacock) 9ct gold plated - £260
• Cabochon links in either labradorite or (new) quartz - £356
• Set of four pearl dress studs - £457   

Column on We Are The Market

Two months ago I began contributing to fashion site We Are The Market - as a little craft and classicism amongst the high heels and runway trends.

Permanent Style readers might be interested to hear my thoughts on developing a relationship with a tailor and the cost of materials in quality clothes.

The full list of posts can be found here. At the moment I am contributing twice a month.

(Pictured, the ever-gentlemanly Joe Morgan during a forward fitting)

A travel innovation: VBC 1663 Bellagio Rolling Bag

I’ve been travelling for the past two weeks, and while I fold my suits very assiduously (inside out, shoulder into shoulder, around a pair of trousers), they clearly suffered over the multiple journeys.

I have no solution for such long periods of travel – other than carrying a separate garment bag – but I do now have one for shorter trips. I recently bought a VBC 1663 Bellagio Rolling Bag.

VBC stands for Vitale Barberis Canonico, who are of course much better known as a weaving company. But a couple of years ago a chance encounter with some local leather workers led to a project to create a range of luggage.

The quality of the construction, as you’d expect from Barberis, is very good. The stress points are all hand-tacked, including the backs of the handles and the ends of the zips. The long zip, that runs the whole length of the rolling section, is finished with a separate leather guard that is itself hand-tacked. The hardware is all individually cast and the inking is thick – although the seam you can see along the middle of it betrays the fact that each side was done separately.

(For more detail on how to assess the quality of a leather bag, see my column in How to Spend It.)

The most interesting thing about this model in the VBC 1663 series, however, is that it is effectively a suit bag rolled up. As you can see from the image at the top of this post, the bag unzips entirely until you are left with a long section sufficient for two suits – plus pockets on either end for shoes. That section has a hanger built in, like regular suit carriers, and a protective cover. But unlike a suit carrier it rolls up rather than folding, making it far more portable.

The idea for the design came from a desire to avoid taking both a bag and a suit carrier on a plane, Galliano Campana of Vitale Barberis told me: “For short trips, say three or four days, I found it was very uncomfortable to bring both bags. Plus some airlines will only let you take one bag onto the plane.”

“The bags are entirely made in Italy, and we added some little Barberis touches. The linen lining that encases the suit is waterproof and stain-resistant, for example,” adds Galliano.

I have used the bag three times so far and the suits have done very well for being rolled up. There were a few creases when the main compartment of the bag was completely filled, but still fewer than I get with folding them into a hard case. The only disadvantage of the system is that that main compartment has no internal pockets, and of course you have to unpack everything before you can take the suits out.

VBC bags are distributed in the US by cloth merchant Gladson, and are sold by various places online (usually around $1900). They are also sold by Sartoria Vergallo.

Top image: Luke Carby

How to wear socks with a suit: Reader question

Colours that go with tan

Dear Simon,

I'm getting stuck putting an outfit together, and what it comes down to is the socks.

I'm wearing a mid-grey worsted wool suit with a sky-blue shirt and regimental tie of burgundy and navy stripes. The hank/pocket square has a white ground with checks of light blue and wine. The shoes are brown.

I feel if I keep to the grey of the pants for the sock choice, it will be too boring but if I wear socks that are burgundy it will look odd with brown shoes. Do I wear sky blue socks? I don't seem to be arriving at a solution that seems to work well.

Thanks in advance,

Joseph

Spot the matching, and the harmonising

Dear Joseph,

That’s a very specific question. Let’s see if I can give you some general principles and work through those to get a specific answer.

First, you’re thinking along the right lines in picking up a colour from above the waist with your choice of sock. Burgundy could work well, and there’s no reason it won’t go with your brown shoes, particularly if they are dark brown rather than tan.

Burgundy is probably the second most-versatile sock colour after dark green (once you’ve ruled out anything that matches the trouser). Burgundy works best with navy, for me, but may still compliment your grey suit.

Second, grey may not be that boring. It sounds like you’ve already got a lot going on up top, and adding burgundy socks may be a step too far. Coco Chanel had a line about looking in the mirror before you leave the house, and taking off one item. In your case, it may mean swapping the burgundy socks for grey.

In fact, I would say that the most common error I find with readers I meet is that they try to hard. Dial down one item and the chances are you will be better dressed.

The other risk with burgundy socks is that the outfit becomes too ‘matchy-matchy’, too obvious and thought-out. Matching a colour in your tie, shirt or handkerchief is a good place to start, but it’s not the only option. Colours should harmonise with each other, not copy each other.

What do I mean by that? Well, think of another tie or handkerchief that would look good with the combination you described. Would dark green work, or burnt orange? Perhaps even a patterned brown (if different enough from the shoes)? The same colours that would be alternatives for the tie or handkerchief will also work for the socks.

The reason it is a good idea to pick up a minor colour from something else you are wearing is that the designer has already picked that as harmonising with the major colours. He has decided that navy and burgundy are in harmony on your tie, and light blue and wine work like ebony and ivory on your hank.

I hope that helps. If you want to put colours together in an outfit, look at how your favourite brands combine specific shades of colours in their ties, handkerchiefs and anything else.

And I’d go with grey socks.

Simon

Too matchy-matchy?

Images: The Armoury and Opumo

The Dege & Skinner Phitwell jacket, and more on The Rake

Regular readers of The Rake will be pleased to know that I am once again contributing regularly to the website, TheRakeOnline.com. Recent articles include a look at Dege & Skinner's trademarked Phitwell jacket, which incorporates lacing in the back lining of the jacket to help keep its pleats in place.

I have also recently been appointed The Rake's Editor-at-Large.

Photograph: Luke Carby

The Stoll cotton-collar knitter

Fans of traditional weaving and knitwear brands are funny about old machines. They often equate old machinery with superior techniques, when the new machines usually do at least as good a job – just faster. Usually the reason the brand still has old machinery is that new looms or knitting machines are just expensive, sometimes costing hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Fox flannel is no longer finished by bashing it against a wall, for example – as my visit to WT Johnsons witnessed. Most Bresciani socks no longer have handlinked toes – a machine was invented in 2000 that did the job, with no loss of quality. And while touring John Smedley a couple of weeks ago, it became clear that the old fashioning techniques have no inherent advantage. John, our tour guide, said he still thought the quality was better, but colleagues disagreed.

There are some areas of menswear, however, where the demand is relatively small and therefore modern machinery has yet to penetrate. One of those is knitted cotton garments, hence the advantage of this machine. 

It was made by German company Stoll in 1955 for the Smedley factory. No more have been made since. It uses an old-fashioned system of punched wooden slats to input the desired design - similar to the paper cards still used on a lot of other knitting machines, as seen at Bresciani and Corgi (and indeed on mechanical organs).

The machine is used to make the trimmings - collars, cuffs and ribbing - for Smedley’s Sea Island Cotton range. No other machine can make cotton collars. They can’t create the rigidity necessary to support the elongated shape of the old-fashioned Smedley collar, as seen on the Isis and Leander models. Wool trimmings are made on another, more modern machine that works with a different tension. 

As long as Stoll, Shima Seiki and other designers of these machines remain convinced that the market for cotton-collared knitwear is not a lucrative one, this process will remain unique to Smedley. 

And the company can spend its money on £125,000 Shima whole-garment machines instead. 

For anyone tired of Derbyshire-based knitwear, don’t worry - normal service will be resumed on Friday.