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My friend and fellow blogger, called me this afternoon, she said, ‘Hey, I need you to write something in a hurry, we’re running out of content’. I thought ‘ that can’t possibly be true’. As I sat wondering and rubbing my hands through my beard in a manner that drives my wife mad! It came to me, Beards, yes Beards!

How it started.

If you’d have said when I was 21 that I’d have a beard at 50, I would have fallen over in fright. You must be joking – why? how? that must be a mistake! I’m not a beard guy, I shave twice a day and there’s never even the slightest sight of stubble not even when I’m camping!

But it’s true I can vouch to my younger self that I have a beard. I love it, it’s fab, well I think so, and I’m never going to be without it.

It all started with a prod from what was fashionable perhaps 5 years ago. I’d dreamt about having a go, I’d gone a few days before without a shave and thought how dreadful. I’d tried a few times and just couldn’t. I came across a photo of the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman in a magazine and he had one, I thought I can do this too. I think if you’re going to grow one then the obvious time is over the Christmas holiday period. So that is how it started.

The Early days.

As my beard began to become a real beard, I had a stack of questions that needed to be answered. How do I maintain it? do I shampoo it? should I cut it myself? Oh dear the list of questions endless. I did some online research and leant about beard oils, balms and styles. Web content was far and wide, Instagram pages were even dedicated to beards, where did it end?

The most important decision I made in the early days, was that I should never ever cut it myself. Don’t even think about it! How many times had I seen guys with a beard one day and gone the next following some self-grooming gone wrong. I so wanted to avoid this. Afterall, you kind of got used to looking a certain way and the beard to no beard transition can be frightening.

There were times in the early days that I gave up and had to start again. I spent a month once growing a decent beard only to shave it off one night after a pint or two. As soon as it was gone, I desperately wanted it back, argh!

What I’ve learned about Beards

My closest friend when it comes to beards, is my Barber. Aside from myself he’s the only person whom I’ve ever let near my beard. His advice on styling has been outstanding. The shape of the beard is of huge importance and his advice in the early days invaluable, particularly with what suited my face shape and what worked with my hairstyle. We agreed that a beard could really rock with a great hairstyle. A bad hairstyle along with a beard would make me look like a hobbo or a sad uncle at the family Christmas party. I’ve looked to avoid this and constantly booked appointments at the Barber for every 4 weeks to tighten the beard and ensure my hairstyle equally as tight. I think my Barber calls this a ‘tune-up’.

Always one for a change, I’ve identified that the correlation between hair length and beard length is minus one for those mathematicians. What this means, and this is my approach at least, is as my hairstyle gets longer the beard goes shorter and as my hairstyle gets shorter the beard gets longer. Right now, my hairstyle is what I would describe as tight, similar to one of my role models, that being the French actor Vincent Cassel, whose short style is a favourite, and therefore my beard is a little fuller. I love it, I really do.

I think one of the reasons I love my beard, is that my face underneath is of the rounder shape, the beard elongates my face, and, in my opinion, a longer face makes sunglasses look better and hats suit you like a dream. How superb can it be that one can changes one’s appearance without doing anything at all, just sit and wait for it to grow!!!

My tips

• I always avoid the too manicured beard styles, these kind of remind me of 90’s boy band looks.
• I prefer the natural fade down the jaw line rather than a hard line which to my mind looks like the beard is a stick on one.
• A beard balm smells fab and keeps your beard in check
• Seek advice from your Barber, avoid DIY grooming If you can’t do it in style, then don’t do it.

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NewCityBarbers

The Merchant Beard Balm

Who am I and how did I get here?

Whilst thinking about putting this blog together, it occurred to me that I needed to introduce myself. I had a mountain of articles ready to go but no article on who I was and how I became to be ‘The Global Style Pilot’. More importantly, I thought it appropriate to discuss what had inspired me to proceed with sharing my knowledge and thoughts on style to a global audience.

Saturday 4 April 2020.

It’s a warm autumn afternoon, normally on a Saturday afternoon I would be out watching my boys play field hockey. In the early evening we’d pop to my favourite Greek restaurant for a meal and a bottle of red. However, today we find ourselves in unpresented times, in lockdown as the world tries to overcome the Covid19 pandemic that threatens the wellbeing, health and lives of so many. So there is no field hockey and my Greek restaurant is closed for the foreseeable future. I dare say that what we knew as normal before the virus will be quite different in the aftermath. The lockdown has provided everyone the opportunity to stop and think, and in effect reset. So rather than just sit and wait until it all ends with the view to returning to normal, which of course may never happen, I have decided that if there is one thing more than anything else I would like to do. It is this, yes, to share my passion, knowledge and thoughts on style and contemporary menswear through a blog.

So what is it you do again?

Being quite a social person and attending many functions and parties (well, it would be rude not to!), I have often wondered why it is, that on meeting someone for the first time, the first question is; “so what is it you do again?” My view is, that it is not important how you choose to occupy your day time, what is far more important, is who you are, and for me that is what you see on my Instagram page. These are the pictures of my finest looks and pieces; double breasted suits, ties, shoes, colourful cords, tweed, shawl scarves, fragrance and books on style. This is me, this is what makes me the happiest. There is of course the argument that people’s lives are not as you might see on social media, however these pictures are me and this is what I do and wear, every day.

How did I get to here?

I got to this place and day, through a long journey. A journey that I have been fortunate enough to take, in most part sponsored by my once career working for an investment bank and my passion for style and fashion. My earliest days of building my style knowledge base began in London working in the square mile, a haven of financiers dressed impeccably, working in historic buildings and living a life of luxury in between times. I built a collection of Hermes ties. I learned about chalk stripes suits, loafers and brogues, overcoats, Dunhill, cigars, martinis, Gucci loafers and fragrance. I am what I would describe an observer. I study and save the ideas away for future reference. My London days are what I describe as my formative years on which there were 13 of them. During this time I was heavily influenced by Sloane style, perhaps an appropriate point of reference might be James Hewitt, the gentleman most famous for his relationship with Princess Diana.

During my London life I was fortunate to attend many influential and stylish events including the Cartier Polo, Henley, Wimbledon, Ascot and private parties. All forming a base for how I am today. Of course living in London provided me with a gateway to Europe, day shopping trips to Paris were a taken for granted luxury, weekend breaks to Milan, Rome and Madrid all added to my education in style and presentation.

Following London, I spent 5 years in Singapore, again working for an investment bank. Singapore introduced me to colonial living, black and white villas, bars and cigars. I was fortunate enough to spend periods in Tokyo and Hong Kong through my role with the bank. Each trip away allowed me to explore and enhance my knowledge of style and of course shop and socialize. Business trips to Tokyo meant work by day with quick shopping trips to Ginza and Omotesando in between times, followed by after work drinks at some of Tokyo’s most hip and stylish establishments.

At the end of my Singapore experience I took up a new challenge in Shanghai. Whilst London was the base building block and Singapore the middle tier, Shanghai to my mind, was another level altogether.

Shanghai, frequently known as the Paris of the East, dominated by Art Deco buildings and antiques introduced me to tailoring. I had never before had anything made by a tailor prior to living in Shanghai. I spent a great deal of time researching and looking for a high end tailor. I found one and the doors were immediately flung open, to this day he is one of my best friends. He has my measurements neatly filed, and awaits every few months for a new order. I typically plan ahead prior to each season. I have what I call influencers’ that I sometimes refer to and otherwise through reading and drawing on my memory, I choose pieces for him to make.

So I am here. I could be anywhere really. I carry a lifetime of experiences and an eye for style and now I’m opening up in this blog.

The ‘Socks’ v ‘No-Socks’ debate is one that seems to rage on and always without question comes up as a discussion point in the office when the topic of menswear arises. As I sit writing this article, ankles slightly refreshed from the air-conditioning that filters the office, ahead of another 31 degrees day, I recall a discussion on the lack of socks on Monday.

It so happened that on Monday I had a very important meeting with a client. It was the kind of meeting where socks were required along with a perfectly knotted Hermes tie. To be honest, I hadn’t really thought too hard about the socks. However, it seems that my regular lack of socks has attracted considerable attention and as a result, the appearance of socks framing my penny loafers resulted in at least 4 comments of various tones in the office and even my barista noticed the unusual appearance of socks. Given all of this I thought it appropriate to give my view on this interesting debate.

Sprezzatura

I think that most stylish men tend to have what I call influencers, i.e. stylish role models that one takes reference from and incorporates elements in ones look. I certainly do and one of my favourites is Prince Michael of Kent the very elegant British royal with a Russian heritage. Another element that I’m a very keen follower of, is the Italian word for effortless style and that is ‘Sprezzatura’. The term ‘Sprezzatura’ can be mostly simply be described as ‘studied carelessness’, and to my mind this is where the no-socks look has originated. Any close follower of menswear will have observed the so-often photographed Italian gentleman wearing a decadent suit, sans socks and over recent times, this look has been achieving a heightened level of interest and there are more ankles on display than ever before.

Tips for leaving the Socks in the draw.

As I regularly opt for the ‘No-Socks’ look here I introduce some key tips.

I personally think that if you are going to display your ankles then they really need to be tanned. There can surely be no more-ghastly look than pasty white ankles hanging beneath a suit or ‘Cords’. There are of course one of two ways to deal with this problem, either spend countless days suntanning which is a fabulous pastime if you are fortunate to lead the pure life of luxury or alternatively invest in a great fake tan. The second option is my preferred option, not least as it is this most health conscious and secondly because I am very fair, so tanning is a challenge.

I think that the ‘no-socks’ look paired with a suit gives that perfect ‘Sprezzatura’ impression. The tanned ankles, indicative of a life of luxury and vacation, the suit an extreme sense of style and paired with no socks achieves that look of effortless style.

I am a big supporter of loafers and the ‘no-socks’ look is outstanding when paired with loafers. This of course doesn’t mean that you can’t also look fabulous in lace up derby’s without socks.

When NOT to leave the socks behind.

What are my rules when it comes to NOT going the ‘sans socks’ route?

Well if it’s summertime or even spring, I’ll always leave the socks behind unless I have a very formal meeting or I’m wearing black-tie.

If it’s autumn/winter, then socks on, I think it’s just trying too hard if you are leaving the socks behind in the winter, even if you are tanned to the hilt. This to my mind is NOT ‘Sprezzatura’. You’re just trying too hard.

It’s going to be hot for a few months yet…today I’m rocking an Italian Solaro suit with chocolate suede derby’s – Sans socks of course.

If you can’t do it in style – don’t do it!

Several years ago, I worked for a global investment bank in Singapore. On one particular day the CFO called a meeting, ‘bank costs were on the rise and profitability declining’, he announced. What could be done to enhance revenues whilst battling the ever-increasing cost base? One such initiative to reduce costs was to reduce duplication of effort. The bank in question had offices in most major cities, where vast numbers of staff worked to keep the well-oiled investment bank running. It was recognised that often analysts in Singapore were working to produce a similar piece of work to analysts in Australia. Management felt that initiatives across the global offices could be leveraged rather than reinventing the wheel and so the term ‘Stealing with Pride’ was born. To this day I’ve often recalled this thought process and have quite fittingly applied it to my approach to style.

Introducing ‘Stealing with Pride’ to my style

My general perspective on style is that the most important thing is how I look and feel rather than perhaps advertising brands and simply wearing something because it is expensive or is made of a rare fabric. To this end the look is critical and so I am of the conclusion that it doesn’t really matter how I’ve managed to get a particular look, rather that I’ve achieved my end goal of ‘Sprezzatura’ and feel great because of it.

In my younger days I used to be as my wife puts it ‘an Advertisers dream’, always taken in by great advertising campaigns rather than perhaps the quality of the product. However, over time I have noticed curtesy of my wife that there are a whole host of products and accessories sitting right in her wardrobe and our bathroom that I can borrow in order to enhance my appearance. Hence,‘Stealing with Pride’ has made its way from an investment bank to the Stanton household. I might add that I am not a ‘cross dresser’, but I have simply recognized that my wife’s wardrobe and beauty routine is a fabulous source of ideas. I dare say that sharing these tips may lead to more than one raised eyebrow, however to me the look is important and how I achieve it – well, who cares!

What am I stealing from my wife’s wardrobe?

I’m a huge supporter of scarves, a fabulous shawl scarf can transform a look. Its rare that I’m seen in the winter without an oversized shawl scarf. My wife and I share a collection of amazing scarves from Spain made by Lovat and Green. They are so luxurious and rock with old trainer’s and trackies, tweed sports jackets and overcoats. Because we share the scarves they have developed such a divine fragrance which has built up over time curtesy of our respective fragrances, oud and leather in my case and sandalwood. cedar, iris and amber in my wife’s case. I’m also not shy to borrow the odd piece of jewelry and rock her Hermes leather bracelet with a vintage ‘T’ and of course a shawl scarf.   

What products am I using from her beauty routine?

Her beauty routine has presented numerous opportunities to try out new products. I think that the most important tip I could provide to any young man or woman is to moisturize both inside and out. This means drinking an adequate quantity of water daily and applying a moisturizer in the evening supported by a good SPF moisturiuser in the daytime.

In terms of a moisturizer, right now I just love my wife’s most fabulous face oil from Clarins – Blue Orchid, the fragrance is mind blowing and it leaves your skin looking so fresh and healthy. I’m also a fan of her Coola Organic Sunless Tan Anti-Aging Face Serum, too good not to try and provides a super realistic tan without the harmful effects of the sun.  

Don’t be shy, as it’s the look that counts, not how you got there!

If you can’t do it in style, then don’t do it.

• Clarins Face Oil – Blue Orchid Clarins
• Coola Organic Sunless Tan Anti-Aging Face Serum Coola
• Kieh’ls mens face moisturizer (SPF19) kiehl’s
• Lovat and Green Scarves lovatandgreen
• Hermes leather Bracelet Hermes

As I write this from my office desk on a hot summer’s afternoon with the oak trees at Hagley gently swaying in that Canterbury Norwest breeze – my mind wonders to the coming months events and my wardrobe. I always find the post-Christmas period to be a little like no-mans land in the fashion world. Should I be buying a new look for the coming Polo in March or should I be planning my winter look as summer will soon be over?

My tendency is to opt for the coming winter and hit the Northern Hemisphere sales like a school boy in a sweetshop. For the savvy online shopper there are always some great bargains to be had that will put you ahead of the pack in the fashion stakes during the colder months.

Introducing the Submariner

My key purchase last year was the fabulous roll-neck Submariner jumper that proved to be a staple throughout winter. The Submariner is 100% wool and the Ecru colour gives it a very ‘Scott of the Antarctic look’, which I loved.  I wore the Submariner religiously throughout the winter in a range of ways, including under tweed suits, with coloured corduroy and of course with my favourite red trackies. I’m still in love with my Submariner, not to be mistaken for the Rolex of a similar name.

So, as we sit in no-mans land, I’ve started thinking about how to wear my Submariner this year. I’m big on making a statement and a huge supporter of colour, although when I say that my underlying premise is fit and silhouette, which is most important if you are going to make a statement.

Introducing Corduroy

I’ve always been a huge supporter of Corduroy and it has remained a key feature of my autumn/winter wardrobe season after season. I’ve decided that this year I’m going to push the corduroy boat out further. Over the years I’ve accumulated a diverse palette of coloured Corduroy trousers (‘Cords’). From purple, to orange, to red and green. I’ve paired the Cords, typically with a range of jackets, from tweed to linen, always well fitted and generally being passive against the loud coloured Cords to keep a sense of togetherness rather than madness.

When it comes to Cords, my preference is the fatter cord known as whale cord, it’s less formal and it has that antique look about it, which I am very fond of. Right-now the wider leg is back on trend with the days of the skinny leg left to aging skateboarders. I always opt for turn-ups (about 1.5 inches), this enables you to get away with Cords in a more formal environment and still look very stylish. With respect to shoes, I believe that Cords and suede were made for each. I typically opt for brown suede, in a variety of styles from tasseled loafers to derby lace-ups.

 The weather outlook appears sweltering for a few months yet, however all good things come to those who wait. My tailor has just received my order for a sky-blue double-breasted whale cord suit, how fabulous, I’ll be rocking the suit with my Submariner and snuff suede loafers come May.  By that time, I’ll be planning my races outfit. How fab.

 If you can’t do it in style – don’t do it!

North Sea Clothing

Cordings (Due to current Covid-19 laws in the UK, shipping is not available at this time)