After years of fast fashion and algorithmic dressing, something is shifting. Men are buying less and choosing better, not chasing trends, but building wardrobes with intent and history.
On the quiet confidence of a man who dresses entirely for his own pleasure, not for approval, not for the room.
Eyewear & Tailoring
Eyewear & Tailoring
Round & Blue
Round frames, a Miles Davis pin at the lapel, and a printed shirt under a clean blue jacket. Off-duty, and still entirely composed.
Off Duty
Off Duty
The Wood-Panelled Hour
A butterfly at the lapel, a game on the screen, and a blazer that never clocks out. The easy end of dressing well.
Eyewear
Eyewear
The Textured Round
Bold, architectural, entirely unself-conscious. The kind of frame that stops a room, worn by the man who stopped caring about stopping rooms.
Millinery & Eyewear
Millinery & Eyewear
Brunello & Blue
A Brunello Cucinelli cap worn with intent, paired with blue oval frames and a checked blazer. Casual authority. The hat completes the thought.
Neckwear
Neckwear
Stars & Moons
A celestial bow tie in navy and gold, worn with a striped shirt and tailored blazer. Whimsy with conviction. Proof that a serious wardrobe still leaves room to play.
Eyewear & Neckwear
Eyewear & Neckwear
Frames & Paisley
Heavy black frames against a powder-blue paisley tie and crown lapel pin. Quiet maximalism. Every element chosen, nothing left to chance.
Eyewear & Knitwear
Eyewear & Knitwear
Tortoise & Stone
Heavy tortoiseshell frames with amber lenses over a stone merino roll-neck. The whole look runs on tonal restraint and one honest gesture: let the glasses do the talking.
Millinery & Eyewear
Millinery & Eyewear
Loro Piana & Amber
A navy Loro Piana wool cap and tortoiseshell navigators, worn with a black zip shell among a rack of freshly pressed shirts. Off-duty, and still entirely composed. The same eye that dresses for the boardroom, applied to a day with nowhere in particular to be.
Tailoring
Tailoring
The Full Length
Navy blazer, dark trousers, and an easy stance. The whole silhouette read at once, the cut, the drape, the confidence of a man dressed entirely for himself.
Exclusive
Did You Know?
The stories and details behind the objects. Where things came from, and why they are the way they are.
Short, sharp conversations with people who have something worth saying.
Coming Shortly
Short, sharp conversations with people who have something worth saying. Check back soon.
The Houses
Brands Worth Knowing
The ateliers, cobblers, maisons, watchmakers, pen-makers, and groomers that set the standard. No compromises, organised by discipline. 156 houses across 13 categories.
Luxury eyewear shaped by the precision philosophy of Swiss watchmaking. Akoni frames are architecturally engineered, beautifully finished, and worn by the man who considers his glasses an instrument.
French eyewear of rare individuality. Handcrafted in their Bordeaux atelier, geometric, colorful, and committed to the idea that glasses are a form of self-expression.
The California frame designer who trained as an architect and makes eyewear like it. Blake Kuwahara's frames are structural, sculptural, and worn by those who consider the face a canvas.
Handcrafted in Japan, designed in LA. DITA makes the finest frames available, each pair a collaboration between two cultures that take precision seriously.
One of the last great independent opticians, and proof the breed still matters. Ed Beiner opened his first South Miami boutique in 1981 and has spent forty years hunting the world for the best frames, from Italy to Tokyo, alongside his own designed-in-LA, handmade-in-Japan collection. The stores pair a serious curated wall with a real optometrist and staff who actually know lenses. The kind of place that treats eyewear as craft, not commodity.
My local shop, and proof you do not need a big city for serious eyewear. Family-run in Marlton for more than fifty years, with a curated wall of frames from around the world and none of the big-box anonymity. The reason to go is Chris and Nicole, two people genuinely worth knowing, with a depth of knowledge about frames and lenses that you almost never find anymore. They will steer you to the right pair for your face and your prescription, honestly, and make the whole thing feel personal. This is what a real optician is supposed to be.
The most coveted eyewear of the modern era. JMM frames are handcrafted in Japan in limited runs, each a sculptural object with distinct character. For the collector who wears his art.
Quite possibly the most exclusive eyewear on earth, and the reason is worth understanding. Founded by Alfred Bonnet in the 1930s and now in its fourth generation, this tiny Parisian house is one of the last makers on the planet still permitted to craft frames from genuine tortoiseshell, working from a precious stock laid down before the 1975 Washington Convention banned the trade forever. France has named it a Living Heritage Company and awarded the family the title of Maître d'Art. A single pair is the result of twenty-plus hours of handwork across multiple fittings, a personality interview, and roughly a dozen face measurements most opticians have never heard of. They make only about two thousand pairs a year, with some twenty craftsmen, which makes them one of the smallest eyewear makers in existence. You do not drop by. You make an appointment, as Yves Saint Laurent, Jackie Onassis, Audrey Hepburn, Le Corbusier, and Jacques Chirac all did before you. The frames do not transform you. They enhance you, and they last a lifetime.
Japanese optical artistry of the highest order. Matsuda frames are architectural objects, sculpted, intricate, and produced in quantities so small that wearing them is a genuine statement.
Wearable architecture for the face, and some of the most joyful frames being made anywhere. MATTTEW is the house of the Belgian designer Matthieu Duchêne, who trained in industrial design in Brussels, wrote his thesis on eyewear, and cut his teeth designing for Theo before launching his own name. The frames are handcrafted in the Jura, the historic cradle of French eyewear, from acetate, stainless steel, and pure titanium, and they carry his obsessions on their sleeve: architecture, sharp linework, bold geometry, and color used with real courage. These are glasses meant to be noticed and collected, the kind you choose to match your mood the way you would a tie, and the triple-T in the name is simply his own, with a wink in the middle.
A pair of MATTTEW frames in violet
Eyewear
Maybach Glasses
Germany
Named after the legendary motorcar marque. Maybach frames are handcrafted in Germany with the same obsessive attention to detail as the automobiles that inspired them.
The finest optical boutique in America. Their private-label frames are handcrafted in Japan and Europe to a standard that mass eyewear cannot approach.
A new house with old values. Press frames are handcrafted in Japan from bio-acetate and titanium, and in Germany in buffalo horn and wood, fitted with Zeiss lenses. Sculptural, sustainable, and produced in small runs for the man who wants his frames to be the rarest thing he owns.
With Jeff Press, the gentle genius behind Press Eyewear
The Parisian frame designer who brought genuine artisan craft back to eyewear. Hand-polished in France, each pair a considered object, never a commodity.
The Antwerp-born frame house making extraordinarily individual eyewear since 1990. Theo designs are geometric, playful, and utterly distinctive, for the man who sees fashion as art.
The house of British provocation and impeccable cut. McQueen's tailoring carries a darkness and a precision no one else attempts, sharp shoulders, a rebel's eye, and a level of craft that earns every liberty it takes. Romanticism with a blade in its hand.
The Los Angeles house that fused rock-and-roll energy with genuine craft. Mike Amiri's distressed denim, leather, and tailoring carry a downtown recklessness that is entirely deliberate, and executed at a level that silences the critics.
The Amiri cap, Hollywood California in gold script on burgundy
Charaf Tajer’s house of joyful, sun-soaked luxury. Casablanca made its name on the funky, colorful printed silk shirts, camp collars, tennis-club fantasies, Monte Carlo at golden hour, and backs the whimsy with genuinely beautiful making. The rare label that treats optimism as a design principle and gets away with it.
Swedish shirtmaking of exceptional quality and quiet confidence. Eton's shirts are precise, beautifully finished, and worn by men who understand that the shirt makes the suit.
Roman luxury with a razor wit. The Selleria leather goods and tailored outerwear represent a house that has never needed to shout about its excellence.
Hubert de Givenchy invented a particular kind of French elegance, restrained, precise, and deeply considered. The house at its best still carries that gene.
The finest fibres on earth, baby cashmere, vicuña, lotus, woven into pieces that announce nothing and cost everything. Luxury for people who have nothing to prove.
The house that turned the technical puffer jacket into a luxury object. Moncler's down coats are worn from the Alps to the Upper East Side, always recognisable, never apologetic.
The intellectual's luxury house. Miuccia Prada built a vocabulary out of tension, ugly-beautiful, austere yet luxe, always a step ahead of what the rest will arrive at next season. The nylon, the triangle, the restraint that reads as confidence. Cerebral, and entirely Milanese.
The man who didn't just make clothes, he made an American mythology. Purple Label is one of the finest tailoring lines in the world. The polo, the blazer, the idea, all his.
Yves Saint Laurent invented the tuxedo suit for women and the safari jacket for men, and in doing so rewrote the rules of dressed. The most intellectually serious house in Paris.
The great independent of American luxury retail. The name goes back to a 1909 Chicago emporium, but the store that matters opened in Dallas in 1985, when Caroline Rose Hunt brought it to the Crescent. Crawford Brock has run it since 1987 and owned it since 2002, schooled by Stanley Marcus himself. It is one of the last places that still treats dressing a man as a personal service rather than a transaction, and the menswear floor proves it.
Florentine luxury at full volume, and unapologetic about it. Founded in 1972 by Stefano Ricci, still family-run by his sons, and 100% made in Italy down to the goldsmithing on the buckles. The house built its name on the necktie and never lost the thread, the silk is heavier, the eagle is everywhere, and the whole thing is cut for a man who has arrived and sees no reason to whisper about it. The New York Times called him clothier to the 0.001 percent. He earned it.
Ford restored Gucci and then built his own house in its image, maximally seductive, obsessively tailored, and always in extraordinary taste. The suit as an act of intent.
Gianni Versace made luxury unapologetic. The Medusa, the baroque print, the tailored excess, worn by the man who has no time for modesty and every reason to be bold.
Founded in Paris in 1895 by Alessandro Berluti, whose seamless lace-up cut from a single piece of leather became the house signature. Decades later Olga Berluti broke the old black-and-brown rule with her hand-applied patina on supple Venezia leather, turning a pair of shoes into something closer to a painting. You buy them once, and the color deepens with every year you wear them.
The annual Berluti Club Swann event, where Berluti owners polish their shoes with Dom
Handcrafted shoes of exceptional quality for the man who wants something beyond the expected. Blue Sole produces footwear that rewards close examination, and repays the investment.
Philadelphia's premier destination for fine footwear since 1938. Boyd's shoe floor is presided over by Edward Maurer, the Einstein of shanks, lasts, and bespoke construction. Maurer's encyclopaedic knowledge of how a shoe is built, from the shank up, is without equal in American retail. If you are serious about what goes on your feet, you go to Boyd's and you ask for Edward.
The best value in serious footwear, and it is not close. The Pujadas family has made shoes in the Mallorcan town of Inca since 1866, six generations deep, and when the mass market nearly killed the island trade in the 1990s, Pepe Albaladejo sold off the big operation and started over from scratch, making far fewer shoes far better. He named the new house after his wife, Carmina. Every pair is Goodyear-welted and largely built by hand in the same family factory, lasts hand-carved, patterns hand-traced, uppers moulded over the last for days in the island humidity, then polished to a deep multi-tone patina. The house is best known for its shell cordovan, and the slimmer, more elegant Mallorcan line sits a world apart from the heavier English silhouette. Made-to-order and full bespoke are both on offer. This is Goodyear-welted craft to rival Northampton and Italy, at a price that still feels like a secret.
Salvatore Ferragamo was a genius cobbler before the house became a fashion empire. The shoes still carry that founding obsession with the fit of the foot.
The original Italian cologne house, est. 1916. Colonia is one of the great men's fragrances, clean, citrus, entirely unisex, and recognisable at twenty paces to anyone with taste.
The Melbourne apothecary that turned the bathroom shelf into something worth looking at, all amber bottles and botanical formulas that actually deliver. The sleeper hit is the mouthwash: alcohol-free, built on clove bud, anise, and spearmint leaf, so it warms rather than burns and leaves your mouth clean without that chemical mint sting. Once you have used it, the drugstore blue stuff feels like punishment. Proof that even the most overlooked part of grooming rewards a little taste.
The house that elevated the morning shave from chore to ritual. Pre-shave oils, badger-hair brushes, and exceptional creams, the complete system for the man who takes his face seriously.
The Milanese barbershop that finally crossed the Atlantic, opening its first U.S. doors in New York. Part barber, part gentleman’s club, Barberino’s does the old Italian ritual properly, precise haircuts, hot-towel straight-razor shaves, and beard work, delivered in a handsome dark-wood room with an espresso or a negroni in hand. The most stylish place in the city to sit in the chair.
New York's own niche perfume house, each scent a tribute to a particular corner of the city, from Chez Bond to New York Oud. Bold, characterful, and unmistakably Manhattan. The fragrance for the man who wants to wear an address, not a trend.
The house that has been making fragrances for royalty and heads of state since 1760. Aventus is the most imitated men's fragrance of the modern era. The original remains unreachable.
The London house of the considered shave and the architectural bathroom. Czech & Speake's No. 88 cologne, Oxford & Cambridge soaps, and exquisitely engineered razors and brushes treat grooming as a discipline of design. The complete English ritual, beautifully made.
London's oldest and finest barber, est. 1875. Trumper's pomades, colognes, and shaving preparations are made to original Victorian formulae. The Extract of Limes is non-negotiable.
The East Village apothecary that became a global institution without losing its character. Kiehl's Facial Fuel and Midnight Recovery are benchmarks of effective, unpretentious skincare.
Born from a burn survivor's obsession with healing, La Mer's Miracle Broth is one of the most effective skincare formulations ever produced. The Crème de la Mer is a classic for a reason.
Swiss cellular science applied to the face. La Prairie operates at the intersection of dermatology and luxury, their Caviar and Platinum lines are without equal in prestige skincare.
The hand-blended fragrance house that made the laboratory the showroom. Santal 33 became a generation's signature; Another 13 and Rose 31 reward the man who wants something quieter. Each bottle mixed to order and labelled with your name, perfume as a small, personal ceremony.
Est. 1854. The pre-eminent traditional shaving house in the world. Their shaving creams, soaps, and colognes are made to Victorian standards and have not needed to improve since.
The oldest barbershop in the world, established 1805 and recognized by Guinness, a holder of the royal warrant. The St. James’s parlour still performs the full ritual, traditional hot-towel wet shaves, haircuts, and beard trims by master barbers, and its Sandalwood and Grafton ranges set the standard for shaving creams, colognes, and aftershaves. The place to go when you want the shave and the haircut done the way they were meant to be.
The German house behind the world's finest steel, since 1731. Beyond the kitchen, Zwilling's grooming and manicure sets, razors, scissors, files, and clippers forged in Solingen's famous blade city, are the quiet standard for the man who keeps a proper dopp kit. Built to outlast the man who buys it.
Begüm Kıroğlu's handcrafted jewels turn scarabs, praying mantises, frogs and dragons into gold-plated bronze set with diamonds, rubies, coral and turquoise. Made by hand in a workshop beside the Grand Bazaar, drawn, in her words, to the dramatic rather than the delicate.
England's oldest family jeweller, est. 1786. Makes extraordinary cufflinks, rings, and accessories, objects of wit, craftsmanship, and quiet English eccentricity.
A Princeton institution since 1912. Hamilton carries the great watch and jewelry houses with the personal service of a jeweller that still knows your name and remembers your taste.
The New York jeweller who makes cufflinks of extraordinary imagination and quality. Jan Leslie's pieces are collected by men who understand that the details are the difference between dressed and dressed well.
Steven Lagos's caviar-beaded silver and gold pieces occupy a category of their own. American fine jewelry with a distinctive texture no one else has managed to replicate.
A quietly original American cufflink maker, drawing inspiration from the overlooked geometry of the everyday, a steel road grate, a washed-up sea star, the clear nectar of a blooming orchid. Small sculptural objects for the wrist, made for the man who notices what others walk past.
The little blue box that has carried the world's finest diamonds since 1837. Tiffany's silver, engagement rings, and jewelry represent the American ideal of luxury, accessible, joyful, and enduring.
The house that began with saddles and arrived at the summit of luxury without ever changing its values. A tie, a belt, a Birkin, all made the same way, with the same hands.
The rarest thing in luxury leather: a house that answers to no European name and needs to. Founded in colonial Singapore in 1938, Kwanpen began when Kwan Pen Seng repaired and restored the leather goods of British officers and their wives, learned the material intimately, and decided to build a house of his own working only in the most demanding skins there are. Three generations on it remains family-run and Singaporean to the core, and it commits to a single uncompromising rule: exotic leather only, crocodile and alligator, nothing else. Every bag is still designed and cut in Singapore from prized center belly-cut hides, each skin as individual as a fingerprint and unforgiving of any hand not skilled enough to read it. Roughly forty-two hours of work go into a single piece, only about five thousand are made a year, and every hide is CITES-certified, the house having belonged to the crocodile conservation group since 1985. Only the metal fittings come from Italy. Everything else is Singapore, and it rivals anything Europe puts on a shelf.
The trunk maker that became the world's most valuable luxury brand. The monogram canvas is fashion's most recognised symbol, beneath it, a house of genuine craft and ambition.
The aluminium suitcase that became a status symbol before anyone admitted it. RIMOWA's grooved cases are among the most recognisable objects in any airport, and the most durable.
The business traveller's essential. TUMI's ballistic nylon cases and leather bags are built for the man who lives between airports, and refuses to sacrifice function or appearance.
Belgian millinery of rare distinction. London-trained and Antwerp-based, Anne Stoffels creates headpieces that are architectural objects, each one meticulously hand-crafted in her Antwerp atelier with an eye for the extraordinary, combining traditional couture technique with a thoroughly contemporary vision.
A Yankees fedora, made by hand
A tribute to Prince, one of a kind
With Anne Stoffels in her atelier. The woman is a hat genius.
A few of her pieces, made for me, the range of her artistry:
The San Francisco institution that has been dressing the considered man since 1939. Cable Car Clothiers carries fine hats alongside the classic English and American clothing that has defined the house, a shop that remembers what dressing well actually means.
The American millinery house that makes hats with a point of view. Hat of Cain's work occupies the space between wearable art and everyday luxury, each piece shaped with an individuality that refuses to be ordinary.
The American hatter whose work has attracted a devoted following among men who take their hats as seriously as their suits. Keith James produces felt and straw hats of exceptional quality, shaped for the individual, not the rack.
Est. 1676, the oldest hat shop in the world, and still at the same address on St James's Street. Lock & Co. invented the bowler hat, made Wellington's cocked hat, and holds two royal warrants. There is no further argument to be made.
New York's most distinguished hat shop, est. 1922. Worth & Worth has been blocking and finishing fine hats on Madison Avenue for over a century, fedoras, panamas, and bespoke commissions.
American neckwear handmade in Vermont since 1993. Beau Ties cuts and sews its bow ties, four-in-hands, and pocket squares by hand from fine silks, a small New England house with a devoted following and a refreshing lack of pretension.
The specialist's specialist. Over five hundred American-made bow ties in silk, cotton, and wool, self-tie, pre-tied, and every neckband length, worn by presidents and sportscasters alike. If it ties around the collar, they have thought about it harder than anyone.
Roman jewelry sensibility translated into silk. Bulgari's ties and accessories carry the house's unmistakable sense of color and proportion, the dressed equivalent of a Serpenti, quietly worn.
The house that invented the button-back bow tie in 1987. Each Carrot & Gibbs bow is individually cut, sewn, and pressed by hand in Colorado from Italian silk, fastened with mother-of-pearl buttons rather than a metal clasp. The connoisseur's bow tie.
The world's first shirt shop, est. 1838, and still the most exalted name on Place Vendôme. Each Charvet tie comes in dozens of colorways with new designs every week, and the silk-knot cufflinks were invented here. Dressed royalty and presidents for two centuries.
The most joyful neckwear house in Paris. Founded in 2011 by Alexandre Chapellier, dubbed the "neck dresser of Paris" by GQ, Cinabre revived a bow tie and tie atelier in the Loire Valley, where every piece is still handmade in France. Named for the vivid vermillion pigment, the house makes bow ties, ties, lapel pins, and pocket squares with wit and flair, and runs a beloved Tie Hospital that cleans and rebuilds treasured neckwear by hand.
A bold take on bespoke luxury accessories, founded by an Esquire Best Dressed Real Man. Bow ties, neckties, pocket squares, and cufflinks for the modern gentleman who finishes an outfit with intent.
Beyond the famous shoes, Ferragamo's silk ties are a category unto themselves, printed with whimsical, instantly recognisable motifs and woven to a standard few houses match. The tie a man reaches for when he wants a little wit at the collar.
The benchmark of the printed silk tie. Hermès twills carry small, precise motifs and a hand no rival has equalled, the most recognised, most imitated, and most quietly authoritative tie a man can wear.
The Madison Avenue tie shop whose hand-made silks are woven in Kyoto and finished in New York. Seigo's color sense is unmistakable, even a President has been spotted in one. The kind of small house that understands the final ten percent of an outfit is where the real work is done.
London's most complete luxury house, jewelry, leather, silver, watches and more, all made in their own workshops. The royal warrant is almost an understatement.
The Charleston institution and the definitive American authority on the blazer button and the club tie. Ben Silver carries the largest collection of authentic regimental, club, and university neckwear in the world, plus tailoring and furnishings chosen with Lowcountry rigour. A catalogue worth keeping.
The Jersey Shore’s answer to a great city clothier, and a genuine destination. Garmany fills a landmark building on Broad Street with the best of Italian and international luxury, Brunello Cucinelli, Zegna, Kiton and more, alongside expert in-house tailoring, a wine bar, and the kind of unhurried personal service that keeps clients coming back for decades.
A Princeton fixture for the man who dresses for the eating clubs and the boardroom alike. Hiltons carries fine tailored clothing and furnishings with the unhurried, knows-your-name service that the great college-town clothiers were built on.
The premier destination for fine menswear in the Carolinas, tucked into North Hills in Raleigh. Founded in 1994 by Bruce Liles, once dubbed North Hills’ best-dressed man, it is a "candy store for gentlemen" carrying artisanal American and European lines rarely found in the South, from Belvest and Corneliani to Barker Black. Its real forte is bespoke and made-to-measure, with a personable staff who help you build a wardrobe that is entirely your own.
Houston's finest men's clothier. M. Penner carries the great Italian and English houses with the knowledge and personal attention of a shop that has dressed the Texas business community for decades.
Family-run fine apparel destination since 1949, now anchored in Southlake Town Square. Onsite tailors and personal stylists pairing top designers with genuine, generations-deep service.
Rhode Island's destination for fine men's clothing. Marc Allen pairs the great Italian houses with on-site tailoring and the kind of personal attention that turns a first fitting into a thirty-year relationship. New England service at its most genuine.
Family-owned since 1958, operating on the radical premise that relationships matter. Their Hug Your Customers philosophy is not a slogan, it's a practice.
The online shop that proved a man will buy serious clothes from a screen if the edit is sharp enough. Mr Porter carries the houses you actually want, but the reason to go is the point of view, the buy is curated, not dumped, and The Journal treats menswear as a subject worth writing well about. The in-house line, Mr P., quietly turns out some of the best-value tailoring and knitwear going. When I can't get to a real shop, this is the one I trust.
The Boston area's most serious independent men's clothier since 1968. Mr. Sid carries Zegna, Canali, and the finest Italian tailoring with expert in-house alterations, a destination shop that has dressed Greater Boston's most considered men for over fifty years.
The Madison Avenue institution that dressed the American businessman at his most considered. Paul Stuart's house style, slightly bold, impeccably tailored, remains unmatched.
The modern American shop done exactly right. Sid Mashburn built a house style, trim, colorful, equally at home in a suit or chinos, and a service ethic that has earned a national following. The reference point for how a contemporary men's store should feel.
The West Coast's most distinguished men's clothier. Wilkes Bashford carried the great Italian and English houses for over five decades, with an eye that never wavered.
The great Shanghainese shirtmaking tradition, carried to Hong Kong and the world. Ascot Chang opened on Kimberley Road in 1953, having apprenticed under a master in Shanghai, and built a house whose bespoke shirts became the quiet standard for men who knew. Still family-run three generations on, they keep nearly six thousand rolls of the finest shirtings on site, cut a continental house style with a lightweight canvas and a whisper of roped shoulder, and count presidents and film stars among a devoted following. Seventy percent of the business is still bespoke, all through one desk in Hong Kong.
The Roman house that dressed power itself. Founded in 1945, Brioni is tailoring legend, and its shirts share the same obsessive hand: cut in Italy from the finest cottons, finished with the discretion and structure that made the name. A Brioni shirt is the quiet foundation beneath one of the great suits.
The finest shirtmaker on Jermyn Street. Emma Willis's bespoke shirts are made to a standard of fit and finish that her Jermyn Street neighbours respect deeply.
Swedish precision applied to the dress shirt since 1928. Eton began in a family kitchen and grew into one of the world’s benchmark shirtmakers, weaving its high-performance cotton in Italy and building each shirt from forty-five parts and twelve thousand stitches. They gave the world the first fine non-iron cotton shirt in 1992, and remain the reliable, beautifully engineered choice for the modern wardrobe.
Italian shirtmaking at a level that makes most rivals look approximate. Founded in 1962 in Bologna, Fray's shirts are hand-finished with Australian mother-of-pearl buttons and cloth sourced from the world's finest mills, worn by the man who considers a shirt a second skin.
A Jermyn Street pillar. Harvie & Hudson's shirts are a lesson in English understatement, the collars precise, the cloth exceptional, entirely uninterested in trend.
Naples in a shirt, which is to say soft, alive, and quietly joyful. Isaia has made Neapolitan tailoring one of the most desired in the world, and its shirts carry the same DNA: lightweight, beautifully made, with the ease and personality that only the south of Italy seems to manage. The little coral horn on the label is a wink of Neapolitan superstition.
Florentine maximalism at the very top of the market. Stefano Ricci began in 1972 with silk ties and built an empire for the man who wants his luxury felt as well as seen. The shirts are cut from sumptuous cloths, Bengal stripes and jacquards among them, finished to a standard that spares nothing. This is dressing without apology.
The house of the soft suit. Anderson & Sheppard's unstructured, featherweight coat is the most copied silhouette in tailoring, and the most unmistakable.
A family house off Savile Row since 1889, with a military-tailoring background that shows in the details, a ribbon trim built into the jacket rather than added after, that kind of thing. The pitch is real bespoke without the two-season wait or the Row's top-shelf pricing, and they'll travel to measure you. Old-guard purists may sniff at the speed, but the fit and the finish hold up, and there's a lot to be said for a tailor who respects your calendar.
The name and the concept are ours, conceived by Sri "Chico" Ramaswami with Johnny Manglani. A standing idea more than a storefront: a circle of men who commission rather than buy, who keep a relationship with a cutter the way others keep one with a barber or a sommelier. Membership is a state of mind. The garments follow.
America's oldest custom shirtmaker, family-run in Houston since 1883. Five generations of cutting bespoke shirts to the individual body, single-needle stitched, cloth chosen from the world's finest mills. The American answer to Jermyn Street, and a worthy one.
The house that invented Savile Row. Henry Poole made the first dinner jacket, for the Prince of Wales in 1865. Every other tailor on the Row owes them a debt.
German precision applied to the business suit. The Boss line remains the benchmark for accessible executive dressing, clean, controlled, and consistently well-cut.
The cavalry tailor. Huntsman's signature single-button, high-armhole cut is unlike anything else on the Row, disciplined, architectural, and built to last a lifetime.
The Ivy League tailor since 1902. J. Press invented the sack suit, unpadded, natural-shouldered, entirely American, and has never seen reason to change it. Correct, not fashionable.
The Milanese house that does everything, bespoke tailoring, made-to-measure knitwear, and leather goods of exceptional refinement. One of the best-kept secrets of Via Montenapoleone.
Beyond the famous shop floor sits a serious custom and made-to-measure operation. Paul Stuart's house cut, a touch bolder than Brooks, more individual than the Italians, has dressed the considered American businessman since 1938. The made-to-measure program is where the house shows its hand.
The modernist of the Row. Richard James brought color, wit, and a downtown sensibility to Savile Row in the 1990s. The house that made bespoke feel alive again.
Proof that the pinnacle of bespoke does not only live on Savile Row. Established in Chennai in 1904, Syed Bawkher is one of the oldest continuously operating bespoke houses on earth, a tailoring dynasty now in its third and fourth generation under Aijaz and his son Unaiz. Their signature cut is patented and genuinely secret, known to only one Master per generation and handed from father to son. Every coat is built on hand-padded goat-hair canvas rather than cheap fusing, production is deliberately capped at twenty suits a day, and the client list has run to aristocracy and businessmen the world over for more than a century. This is the real thing, an intoxicating luxury made to your body and your body alone.
The house that began by making the finest cloth in the world and then decided to make the suits from it too. From the mill to the finished garment, Zegna controls everything.
The French house of extreme luxury. Zilli produces garments in crocodile, ostrich, and the finest wools, for the man who considers the extraordinary to be the minimum standard.
Germany’s answer to Swiss haute horlogerie, and for many the finest movement finishing in the world. Founded in 1845, silenced by war and the East, and reborn in 1990, the Lange 1, with its outsize date and off-centre dial, announced the resurrection.
One of the last great houses still in family hands, and the mind behind the Royal Oak, Gérald Genta’s 1972 steel sports watch that rewrote the rules of luxury. From the Vallée de Joux, where the hardest complications are still finished by hand.
The watchmaker's watchmaker. JLC has invented more complications than perhaps any other manufacture. The Reverso is one of the great objects of the 20th century.
Italian design, Swiss movement. Panerai's oversized cushion cases began as instruments for Italian Navy divers, and arrived on the wrist of every man with a serious relationship with time.
You never truly own a Patek Philippe. You merely look after it for the next generation. The Calatrava, the Nautilus, the Grand Complications, each a masterwork.
Est. 1755, the oldest watchmaker in continuous operation. Every Vacheron carries unbroken centuries of Geneva craft. The Overseas and the Traditionnelle are magnificent.
English leather-bound writing at its best. Aspinal's journals, notebooks, and desk pieces are made in fine grained leathers with a weight and finish that make the act of writing feel like an occasion. The kind of thing you pass down, not replace.
A Houston institution in Rice Village, and one of the great American pen shops. Dromgoole’s carries thousands of fountain pens, inks, journals, and fine stationery, and keeps a Pen Doctor on hand for tune-ups, nib adjustments, and repairs. A destination for collectors and first-time buyers alike.
Washington’s storied pen house, serving the capital since 1929. Fahrney’s has outfitted presidents and statesmen with fine writing instruments for nearly a century, offering an exceptional selection of pens, inks, and leather goods, along with repair and engraving. A national treasure for the written word.
The legendary New York pen emporium, founded in 1946 by the Wiederlight family and still run by them today. As much a hospital as a shop, it repairs and restores vintage and modern pens while stocking the world’s finest selection of new and vintage writing instruments. A pilgrimage for anyone who loves the pen.
Parisian luxury with a flame at its heart. Founded in 1872, S.T. Dupont built its name on lacquered lighters whose lid shuts with a “cling” collectors know by ear, and it brings the same Chinese-lacquer and gold craft to its writing instruments. The Line D fountain pens are as much desk jewelry as pens, French, precise, and quietly opulent.
The Meisterstück has been on desks of consequence since 1924. Montblanc makes the finest writing instruments in the world, and the leather goods, watches, and accessories to match. The one to know is the Meisterstück Traveller Limited Edition 1924, built to mark the icon's centenary and carrying the first genuinely new Montblanc filling system in ninety years. Where the classic Meisterstück uses a piston filler, the Traveller was engineered over five years to draw ink through the barrel into twin tanks with a single push, no nib-dipping, no mess. It holds more than twice the ink of a standard Meisterstück, refills in seconds, cleans easily, and stays completely leak-free and flight-safe, so it survives the pressure changes of a cabin that ruin ordinary fountain pens. Finished in coral precious resin with gold fittings and a solid Au750 gold nib, it is the rare thing that is both a collector's piece and a genuinely better tool. Watch the filling system in action below.
The Meisterstück Traveller filling system
The Montblanc JFK Special Edition, blue, white, and red for the man himself
Italy's oldest pen maker, founded 1912 on the banks of the Brenta. Celluloid, sterling silver, and a flair for theatre that the Japanese houses would never attempt.
The only maker still turning its own urushi lacquer bodies by hand, one at a time. A Nakaya is not bought so much as commissioned, the quietest flex a serious writer owns.
Japan's most celebrated pen manufacturer. The Custom 742, the Falcon, and the Vanishing Point are benchmarks of the art, writing as a considered, everyday pleasure.
The Bond Street stationer since 1887, and still the standard for fine paper. Featherweight diaries, the pale-blue pages, engraved correspondence cards, and the panama notebook, small, perfect things that make the everyday feel considered. A royal warrant that reads as understatement.
The house that helped invent the modern fountain pen in 1884. The Carène and Expert wear French restraint well, understated instruments for people who write a great deal.
The houses set the standard, but it is people who deliver it. This is a small, growing gallery of the finest retail clothiers I have ever known, the rare men and women who turned selling clothing into an act of knowledge, honesty, and genuine care. No compromises. No commissions dressed up as counsel. Only the ones worth remembering.
Profile N° 01
Francesco Saccardi
General Manager · Stefano Ricci · New York City
There are salespeople, and then there are stewards of the craft. Francesco Saccardi belongs firmly to the second, rarer category. As General Manager of Stefano Ricci in New York, the American home of one of Florence’s great luxury houses, he presides over a room where every stitch, silk, and shade has a story, and he knows them all. What sets him apart isn’t the merchandise. It is the mind and the manner behind it.
I have known Francesco for years, and in all that time I have never met anyone in this business who is at once so deeply knowledgeable about clothing and so completely honest about it. Ask him a question and you don’t get a pitch, you get the truth. He will tell you when something is right for you and, just as readily, when it isn’t.
“He’ll tell you when something is right for you, and, just as readily, when it isn’t. In this business, that honesty is its own kind of luxury.”
His genius is customer-centric in the truest sense. Francesco reads a person the way a great tailor reads a body, quietly, precisely, without ego. He remembers what you wore last season and why you loved it. He understands that a wardrobe is not a transaction but a relationship built over time, and treats it accordingly. You leave not merely dressed better, but understood better.
And all of it comes wrapped in real warmth. Whether you are commissioning a made-to-measure suit or simply asking about a tie, you are given the same generous attention and the same unvarnished counsel. Francesco has elevated retail into something closer to hospitality, even friendship.
Encyclopedic on cloth & craft
Unfailing honesty
Customer-first instinct
Warmth & discretion
Old-world hospitality
, The kind of man who reminds you that great clothing is, in the end, made of great people.
More Profiles · To Come
The WSY List
The Top 20 Men's Clothing Stores in the World
One editor's ranking of the greatest rooms on earth in which to buy clothes, from an eight-floor temple in Tokyo to a denim cafe in London. Ranked, and cheerfully arguable.
No. 01
Isetan Men's
Shinjuku, Tokyo
Eight floors given over entirely to men, and widely called the finest menswear store on earth. Isetan Men's edits the whole world of clothing with a precision no other department store comes near. A pilgrimage worth the flight.
No. 02
The Armoury
Hong Kong
The shop that taught a generation how to dress. Mark Cho and Alan See built a modern temple to soft tailoring, Neapolitan and beyond, staffed by people who genuinely know. Also in New York.
Seven floors across the avenue from the women's store, and the summit of American luxury retail. If a thing is the best of its kind, it is probably somewhere in this building.
Ethan Newton and Kenji Cheung's romantic vision of midcentury menswear, from Hollywood-waisted trousers to their own denim. Rakish, specific, and beloved. Now in London too.
A quietly perfect edit of the best European and Japanese makers. Mats Klingberg buys with a restraint that has made Trunk a reference point for grown-up, unshowy style.
From a maker of ties on to one of the most complete visions in menswear. The Clifford Street shop is the fullest expression of the English-Italian idea, done with real wit.
The ready-to-wear soul of the great Savile Row house. Trousers, knitwear, and furnishings chosen with the same eye that cuts the coats next door. Impeccable, and unhurried.
The modern American shop done exactly right. Trim, colorful, equally at home in a suit or chinos, and a service ethic that earned a national following. The reference point.
Japan's masters of the curated floor, where American and English classics are re-read with obsessive care. The house that helped teach Tokyo how to wear a suit.
The oldest name on Milan's grandest street, family-run since 1922, and the most complete luxury clothier in the city. A world unto itself, restaurant and bar included.
Lino Ieluzzi's shop, and the birthplace of a certain Milanese swagger. Home of the No. 7 tie length and the most photographed shopkeeper alive. Pure, unbottled sprezzatura.
No. 12
Massimo Alba
Brera, Milan
A gallery of soft, sun-faded tailoring and artist's-studio color. The corduroy suit that half the internet quietly copies begins in this room.
Nicolas Gabard's lean, high-shouldered Parisian silhouette, cut sharp and worn with intent. A small shop with an outsized and very particular point of view.
A tightly curated boutique that treats getting dressed as a considered act. Japanese eyewear, Irish knitwear, and the best of the small makers, chosen with care.
Where Japanese repro denim, midcentury Americana, and a proper coffee meet. The most passionate menswear room in the city, and a community as much as a store.
The West Coast authority on heritage and workwear done right. Boots, denim, and knitwear from makers who care, sold by people who somehow care even more.
A little Swedish shop that became a global power in fine footwear, from Saint Crispin's to its own line. The people who really know their shoes buy here.
The shop that proved a man will buy serious clothes from a screen if the edit is sharp enough. A genuine point of view, curated, never a dumping ground.
Three stars inside one of Paris's greatest hotels. The naturalist menu, fish, vegetables, cereals, is a philosophical statement as much as a culinary one.
Grant Achatz's three-starred laboratory. The menu changes seasonally and the experience, from tablecloth to edible centerpiece, is unlike anything else in America.
Belgravia's Michelin-starred Indian grill, plated small and cooked in full view over the tandoor, tawa and sigri. Elegant and theatrical, a decade ahead of the fashion for open-fire cooking, and one of London's most enduring tables since 2004.
The definitive brasserie that never gets old. Raw bar, steak frites, noise, energy, and a bread basket that sets the standard for every other in Manhattan.
Wolfgang Puck's modern American steakhouse, high above Marina Bay. Prime and Wagyu cuts over an open flame, an electric room, and a wine list as tall as the view, the most glamorous steak in Southeast Asia.
A cult Philadelphia burger, and the rare place that makes a beet burger worth crossing town for. Proof that doing one thing extremely well is its own kind of luxury.
Danny Meyer's enduring classic, and a masterclass in hospitality. Seasonal American cooking in a warm, flower-filled room that has felt exactly right for three decades. The tavern up front is walk-in and worth it.
The Sethi family's Michelin-starred homage to the colonial-era sporting clubs of India, all ceiling fans and dark wood. Game-forward, deeply spiced cooking, the kid-goat methi keema is the stuff of legend, and one of Mayfair's hardest reservations.
Hillstone's polished take on the neighborhood bar, all dark wood and an open kitchen. The Honor burger and Ding's crispy chicken sandwich are the reasons the locals never leave. Walk-ins only, and dress the part.
Manish Mehrotra's inventive Indian cooking, where the traditions of the subcontinent meet global technique. A fixture on Asia's 50 Best, and proof that Indian food belongs at the very top of fine dining.
Chef Nok Suntaranon's soulful Southern Thai cooking, and one of the most exciting tables in Philadelphia. A James Beard winner where the spice is honest and the flavors sing.
Eric Ripert's temple to seafood. Three Michelin stars and a dining room that manages to be grand without being stiff. The poached halibut alone justifies the reservation.
Inside the Four Seasons George V, this room is among the most beautiful in Europe. The service is flawless and the sommelier one of the finest in the world.
Major Food Group’s glamorous Japanese room inside the landmark Seagram Building, wrapped in Peter Marino’s technicolor pop-art interiors. Excellent sushi, the famous lobster-and-caviar hand rolls, and a power-lunch crowd that never really left. A midtown scene with the food to back it up.
Light French Mediterranean and Niçoise cooking in Brickell, all lemons, artichokes, and sunshine. A room that always feels like a party, with food good enough to keep you in your seat.
The most expensive sushi in America, and worth every dollar for the occasion it demands. Masa Takayama's counter is one of the world's truly great dining experiences.
Chef Pim Techamuanvivit's Michelin-starred Thai kitchen at the COMO Metropolitan. Bold, historically rooted cooking drawn from old palace and market recipes, the kind of Thai food that rearranges what you thought the cuisine could be.
Nancy Silverton's Michelin-starred Italian, built around the mozzarella bar that made it famous. Handmade pastas, burrata with the perfect char, and one of Los Angeles's most joyful tables.
The gold standard for modern Indian in America. Rasika pairs bold, refined cooking with a serious wine list, and the palak chaat is the dish that converts everyone. Book well ahead.
The flagship. Three Michelin stars held with quiet authority for over two decades. Classical French technique executed with exceptional precision and no fanfare.
Part restaurant, part cafe, part market, Suraya brings Lebanon to Fishtown with mezze, wood-fired grills, and one of the loveliest garden rooms in the city. Bright, generous, and always a pleasure.
The rooms where time slows down. A serious humidor, a deep chair, a pour worth lingering over, and the good sense to let a man sit in his own thoughts.
London, England
The Lanesborough Garden Room
Set within a glasshouse off the lobby of one of London's grandest hotels, the Garden Room is among the few legal indoor smoking terraces left in the city. The walk-in humidor is impeccable and the cognac list runs deep. The civilised end of an evening.
London, England
Boisdale of Belgravia
Tartan, live jazz, and one of the best whisky-and-cigar pairings in Britain. The rooftop terrace was built for the purpose. Loud in the right way, and never pretending to be anything other than a proper club for grown men.
Havana, Cuba
Hotel Nacional Cigar Lounge
The source. A torcedor rolling in the corner, a mojito in hand, and a Cohiba lit at the place that made the leaf famous. Atmosphere no other room on earth can manufacture, because here it was never manufactured at all.
Geneva, Switzerland
La Casa del Habano, Gérard Père et Fils
Inside the Beau-Rivage, this is the connoisseur's stop, a flagship Casa del Habano with a humidor stocked by people who genuinely know, and a quiet, lake-facing calm that suits a long Churchill and a single malt.
New York City, New York
Club Macanudo
The Upper East Side institution. Leather, dark wood, personal humidor lockers for members, and the unhurried hum of a room that has heard every kind of conversation. The closest New York comes to a proper London cigar club.
Beverly Hills, California
The Grand Havana Room
Members-only, discreet, and quietly legendary. Private lockers line the walls, the bar is serious, and the view over the city does the rest. The room where deals are closed long after the offices have emptied.
Vienna, Austria
Cigar Lounge at Hotel Sacher
Old-world Vienna at its most assured. A polished humidor, a vintage armagnac, and the kind of service that anticipates rather than interrupts. A room that understands the difference between luxury and noise.
Singapore
The Cigar Bar at Raffles
Colonial elegance under slow fans, a short walk from the Long Bar. A walk-in humidor, a proper rum and whisky selection, and the tropical hush of a city that still knows how to do an evening properly.
St James's, London
James J. Fox
London's oldest cigar house, trading from 19 St James's Street since 1787. Churchill chose his cigars from the very chair that still sits in the shop, and the downstairs museum holds his bills. The sampling lounge is one of the few in London with a genuine indoor smoking licence, history you can light.
A proper indoor lounge inside the hotel César Ritz opened in 1906. Plush leather, a walk-in humidor, the house's own Ritz London Cigars line, and a room that pays quiet tribute to Churchill, Chaplin, and Moore. Smart casual, and they mean it, leave the trainers at home.
Home to one of Europe's largest hotel cigar collections, with a heated terrace and a humidor floor engraved with a map of Cuba. The in-house expert can pair anything from Montecristo to Cohiba with the right pour. An old-school room that takes the ritual seriously.
Inside the Bvlgari Hotel, the sampling lounge of Davidoff of London. Rare Havanas drawn from Edward Sahakian's forty-year private collection, a leather-panelled room with a serious air-purification system, and the counsel of one of the most respected cigar merchants alive.
Center City's premier cigar-and-whiskey room. Two hundred cigars, several hundred whiskeys, and a warm, contemporary lounge with a proper humidor. The best place in Philadelphia to close out an evening with a serious smoke and a serious pour.
The capital’s last great indoor smoking refuge, a block from Ford’s Theatre. Shelly’s is a warm, wood-panelled room with a serious walk-in humidor, a deep whiskey and cocktail list, and the grandfather clause that still lets a man light a cigar in the heart of downtown Washington. Unpretentious, characterful, and exactly what a cigar bar should be.
The private rooms where membership is more often inherited than bought, where the press is not welcome, and where a good conversation still outranks a good phone. Behind the most discreet doors in the world.
St James's, London · 1693
White's
The oldest and grandest of them all, and the yardstick by which every other club is measured. Founded as a chocolate house in 1693, resolutely private, and still the hardest door to open in London.
St James's, London · 1764
Brooks's
The great Whig club, founded in 1764, all quiet grandeur and centuries of political intrigue. A rival to White's in age, in address, and in the sheer difficulty of getting in.
St James's, London · 1762
Boodle's
Churchill's club, and Ian Fleming's model for M's Blades. Founded in 1762, famous for its orange fool and its supreme, unbothered calm. The country gentleman's London home.
Covent Garden, London · 1831
The Garrick
The club of the stage, the bar, and the arts, founded in 1831 and hung with the finest theatrical portrait collection in Britain. Wit is the only currency that spends here.
St James's, London · 1857
Pratt's
A tiny basement club long owned by the Dukes of Devonshire, where every steward is called George. Fourteen at dinner around a single table, and one of the most coveted seats in London.
Pall Mall, London · 1824
The Athenaeum
The club of ideas, founded in 1824 for men of science, letters, and the cloth. It has counted more Nobel laureates among its members than almost any room on earth.
Mayfair, London
5 Hertford Street
Robin Birley's discreet Mayfair townhouse, the modern heir to Annabel's and the most coveted membership in the city. No photographs, no press, and very few exceptions.
New York · 1871
The Knickerbocker Club
The most exclusive club in New York, founded in 1871 by old families who found even the Union Club a touch too easy to join. Bloodlines, discretion, and deep understatement.
New York · 1836
The Union Club
The oldest private club in the city, founded in 1836, and the mother of American clubland. Patrician, discreet, and quietly, enduringly powerful.
New York · 1903
The Brook
Small, secretive, and legendary, founded in 1903 on the idea of a club that never closed, like the brook that runs on forever. Few outsiders ever see inside it.
New York · 1891
The Metropolitan Club
J.P. Morgan's club, raised in white marble on Fifth Avenue in 1891 after a friend of his was blackballed elsewhere. Gilded Age grandeur, entirely undimmed.
New York · 1847
The Century Association
The club of authors, artists, and amateurs of the arts, founded in 1847. Membership is an honor conferred rather than a fee paid, and the walls more than prove it.
San Francisco · 1872
The Bohemian Club
Founded by journalists in 1872 and grown into the most secretive club in America, host to the summer encampment at Bohemian Grove. Weaving spiders, as the motto warns, come not here.
San Francisco · 1889
The Pacific-Union Club
Atop Nob Hill in the brownstone Flood Mansion, the West Coast's most patrician club, heavy with old California money and older California silence.
Washington · 1878
The Cosmos Club
The capital's club of the mind, founded in 1878, with a roll of presidents, Nobel laureates, and Pulitzer winners unmatched by any club in America.
Paris · 1895
Automobile Club de France
Behind a palatial facade on the Place de la Concorde, one of the most exclusive clubs in Europe, with a marble pool below and a kitchen of legend. Motoring was only ever the excuse.
Paris · 1834
The Jockey Club de Paris
Founded in 1834 and the most aristocratic address in French society, synonymous with the old families of France. Racing was the pretext; lineage was always the point.
Melbourne · 1838
The Melbourne Club
Founded in 1838, the summit of the Australian establishment, behind a discreet bluestone front on Collins Street. Old, private, and utterly unmoved by fashion.
The Considered Traveller
The Packing List
A man travels best when nothing is left to memory. This is the grooming kit, packed the same way every time, the dopp bag that turns a hotel bathroom into your own. Nothing forgotten, nothing improvised.
Oral & Dental
The Smile
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Dental floss
Disposable tongue cleaner
Mouthwash
Mints
Lip balm
Skincare & Face
The Regimen
La Mer face wash
La Mer serum
Herbal toner
Astringent pads
Face cleansing pads
Cotton buds & Q-Tips
Teint de Neige
The Shave
The Wet Shave
Badger brush
Pre-shave oil
Shaving cream (Geo. Trumper tube)
Razor, blades & scissors
Alum block
Body & Hands
The Finish
Borotalco
Molton Brown
Foot cream
Nail clipper
Nose clip
Purell
Lens wipes
Fragrance
The Scent
Acqua di Parma
Creed (+4 atomizers)
Health & Travel
The Just-in-Case
Pill box , Unisom, Imodium, Tylenol, Pepto · two each
Whatever Suits You · Pack once. Pack right. Forget nothing.
The Cellar, Napa Valley
The Wines Worth Knowing
Napa Valley makes the most celebrated red wine in America, and nearly all of it is Cabernet Sauvignon. The greatest bottles come from tiny estates that make only a few hundred cases a year, sell most of it through private mailing lists, and command prices that sound made up. Here is what the names mean, and why people chase them.
A note for the curious, not the expert: you do not need to spend four figures to drink well. These are the trophies, the wines collectors and critics rank at the very top. Read them as a map of what Napa can do, then buy something far cheaper from the same valley and enjoy it just as much.
Oakville · founded 1984~$1,600
Harlan Estate
The one most critics put at number one. Robert Parker called it the single most profound red wine not just in California but in the world. Eight separate vintages have earned a perfect 100-point score. It is dark, powerful, and built to age for decades. If Napa has a first growth in the Bordeaux sense, this is it.
Oakville · first vintage 1992~$3,800
Screaming Eagle
The most famous cult wine in America, and the hardest to buy. The estate makes only around 800 cases a year and sells almost all of it through a waiting list that can take years to join. The very first vintage scored 99 points. The name is shorthand for scarcity itself, you do not find it on a shelf, you are granted it.
Calistoga · biodynamic~$495
Eisele Vineyard Cabernet
Formerly known as Araujo. The vineyard was famous for great Cabernet long before the current owners arrived, and they farm it biodynamically, a stricter, more natural form of organic farming. Ranked second among all Napa wines, it is the connoisseur's pick: a little less hyped than Screaming Eagle, nearly as revered.
Oakville · Mondavi + Rothschild~$400
Opus One
The most approachable name on this list, and the best starting point. Born in 1979 as a partnership between Napa legend Robert Mondavi and Baron Philippe de Rothschild of Bordeaux, it is a Bordeaux-style blend, Cabernet softened with Merlot and other grapes. Elegant, consistent, widely available, and the bottle most likely to appear at a serious dinner.
Yountville · Old World style~$300
Dominus Estate
Run by Christian Moueix, who also makes the legendary Pétrus in Bordeaux. Dominus is Napa fruit made in a restrained, European hand, less of the ripe, jammy power some Napa wines chase, more structure and earth. The choice for someone who finds big Napa Cabernet too much and wants something that tastes built to last.
Mount Veeder · high altitude~$200
Mayacamas
Grown high in the mountains and fermented in cement rather than new oak, which keeps the wine fresher and more savory than the valley-floor style. It earned the only 99-point score the critics at VinePair have ever given. Proof that Napa greatness is not only about ripeness and richness, altitude and restraint can get you there too.
Whatever Suits You · Drink what you like. Let the snobbery age in someone else's cellar.
The Cellar, Champagne & Fine Wine
Bubbles, Burgundy, and the Whites Worth Knowing
Beyond the great reds of Napa lies a wider world worth knowing: the Champagne houses that mark every celebration and the white Burgundies that set the standard for chardonnay everywhere. Here are the bottles I reach for, and why.
Champagne
Champagne · Reims~$75
Ruinart Blanc de Blancs
From the oldest established Champagne house, founded 1729. One hundred percent chardonnay, drawn from crus across the Côte des Blancs and Montagne de Reims. Delicate, fresh, and beautifully rounded, all ripe lemon, white flowers, and a whisper of ginger. The house signature, and a benchmark blanc de blancs. Visit ↗
Champagne · Mareuil-sur-Aÿ~$95
Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé
Perhaps the most admired rosé Champagne in the world, from a house independent and family-run since 1818. Pale, elegant, and endlessly refined, with delicate red-berry fruit and a creamy, mineral finish. The rosé other winemakers reach for. Understated luxury in a glass. Visit ↗
Chardonnay & White Burgundy
California · Sonoma~$90
Kistler Chardonnay
The name that made California chardonnay serious. Steve Kistler built a cult following with Burgundian-styled, single-vineyard wines of remarkable depth and restraint. Rich but taut, layered with citrus, hazelnut, and struck-match minerality. The connoisseur's American chardonnay. Visit ↗
Burgundy · Côte de Beaune$400–$15,000+
Montrachet
The greatest dry white wine on earth, full stop. A tiny grand cru vineyard straddling Puligny and Chassagne, producing chardonnay of almost unreal power and complexity. From Domaine de la Romanée-Conti to Bouchard and Ramonet, the finest examples age for decades. If white Burgundy has a summit, this is it. Visit ↗
Whatever Suits You · Prices are a guide, not a gospel. Drink what moves you.
The Bar, Around the World
Ten Whiskeys, and Why
Whiskey is not one thing. It splits into families by where it is made and what it is made from: Scotch from Scotland, bourbon and rye from America, plus the best of Ireland, Japan, and Canada. Each tastes distinct. This is a tour of the categories through ten bottles that won top honors in 2025, built so that by the end you know not just what to order, but what kind of thing you are ordering.
A note for the curious: "single malt" means one distillery, one grain. "Blended" mixes several for smoothness. "Bourbon" must be mostly corn and American. "Rye" is spicier. None is better than another, they are flavors, not ranks. Start where your taste points you.
01
Japanese · Whisky Magazine's #1 of 2025
A 90-Year Japanese Blend
Whisky Magazine's top-rated dram of the entire year, and a surprise, in a list usually ruled by Scotch. It blends whiskies spanning nine decades into one bottle, which is why it costs around £2,450. Tasting notes: cherry and dark chocolate, then hazelnut and a touch of peanut butter. The headline takeaway: Japan now beats Scotland at its own game.
02
Single Malt Scotch · World's Best 2025
GlenAllachie
Named World's Best Single Malt at the 2025 World Whiskies Awards. Single malt Scotch is the benchmark all other whiskey is measured against, made at one distillery, from malted barley, in Scotland. GlenAllachie is the name that surged past the famous houses this year, and many of its bottles are gettable for under $60.
03
Single Malt Scotch · VinePair's best 2025
Highland Park 15 Year
VinePair's pick for the best single malt Scotch of the year. From the Orkney islands at the far north of Scotland, it balances a gentle smokiness with honey and heather sweetness, smoky enough to be interesting, not so smoky it scares a beginner. A genuinely great place to learn what Scotch is about.
04
Bourbon · VinePair's best 2025
Four Roses Small Batch Select
Named the best bourbon of the year. Bourbon is America's whiskey, made mostly from corn, which makes it sweeter and rounder than Scotch, with vanilla and caramel from the new charred-oak barrels it must by law be aged in. Four Roses is widely available and a perfect first bourbon. This is where most American drinkers begin.
05
Bourbon · Robb Report & Men's Journal
Michter's 10 Year Bourbon
A step up in price and polish, Men's Journal's best overall bourbon. Michter's is the name that signals you take bourbon seriously without venturing into impossible-to-find territory. Notes of honey, maple, and cherry. The 20-year bottle is the trophy, but the 10 is the one to actually drink.
06
Rye · VinePair's best 2025
Wilderness Trail Kentucky Straight Rye
The best rye of the year. Rye was the first whiskey Americans made, even George Washington distilled it. Where bourbon is sweet, rye is spicy and peppery, which is why bartenders love it in cocktails like the Manhattan. Try this once you find bourbon a touch too sweet.
07
Irish · VinePair's best 2025
Yellow Spot Single Pot Still
The best Irish whiskey of the year. Irish whiskey is famously smooth and easy-drinking, triple-distilled, rarely smoky, the gentlest doorway into the whole category. "Single pot still" is a uniquely Irish style with a rich, slightly spicy character. If whiskey has ever felt harsh to you, start here.
08
Japanese · VinePair's best 2025
Hakushu 12 Year
The best Japanese whisky of the year, from Suntory. Japanese whisky was modeled on Scotch and has quietly become some of the finest in the world. Hakushu is the fresh, green, lightly smoky one, often described as the most refreshing whisky made. A beautiful, increasingly scarce bottle worth seeking out.
09
Canadian · VinePair's best 2025
Crown Royal Noble Collection Rye 16 Year
The best Canadian whisky of the year. Canada's whisky is usually light, smooth, and easygoing, the famous Crown Royal in the purple bag is the everyday version. This aged rye is the serious one, proof the category has real depth when it wants to. Approachable, polished, and a crowd-pleaser.
10
Smoky Scotch · the acquired taste
Laphroaig (Islay)
The famous wildcard. From the island of Islay, Laphroaig is intensely smoky and medicinal, people describe campfire, seaweed, even iodine. It is the most divisive whisky in the world: you will love it or recoil. Included because no tour is complete without meeting the far edge of the map. Try it last, in a bar, before you ever buy a bottle.
The Bar · A Room in New York
The Baccarat Bar
The grand salon of the Baccarat Hotel on West 53rd, and Manhattan’s most glamorous place to order a dram or a martini. Hundreds of crystal chandeliers, a marble bar, plush banquettes, and a hush of real luxury a block from MoMA, the setting these ten bottles deserve.
Whatever Suits You · The best whiskey is the one you reach for again. Everything else is theatre.
The Record Shelf, My Top Ten
Ten Albums, and Why
The ten records I have loved longest and would carry out of a burning house, in order. Not a list of the most important albums ever made, though several of these are, but the ten that have meant the most to me across a lifetime of listening. Start anywhere. You cannot go wrong.
Kind of Blue
No. 01
Kind of Blue
Miles Davis · 1959
The best-selling jazz record ever made, and the one almost everyone begins with. Cut in two 1959 sessions by a sextet for the ages, Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, it traded busy bebop chords for open modal space. “So What,” “Blue in Green,” and “All Blues” have never once sounded dated.
A Love Supreme
No. 02
A Love Supreme
John Coltrane · 1965
A single four-part prayer set to music, recorded in one December 1964 night with the classic quartet, McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones. From the chanted “a love supreme” of “Acknowledgement” to the wordless hymn of “Psalm,” it is jazz reaching for the sacred and getting there. Coltrane’s masterpiece.
52nd Street
No. 03
52nd Street
Billy Joel · 1978
The follow-up to The Stranger, named for the old Manhattan jazz strip, and the record where Joel let the jazz in. “My Life,” “Big Shot,” and “Honesty” carry the hits, but the whole thing swings harder than people remember. It won the Grammy for Album of the Year, and later became the first album ever released on CD.
London Calling
No. 04
London Calling
The Clash · 1979
A double album that blew the doors off punk, reggae, rockabilly, ska, soul and pop crammed into nineteen songs about work, race, and the end of things. The title track still sounds like an alarm going off; “Train in Vain,” “Clampdown,” and “Rudie Can’t Fail” keep the fire lit. Paul Simonon smashing his bass on the cover says the rest.
…Nothing Like the Sun
No. 05
…Nothing Like the Sun
Sting · 1987
Sting’s most ambitious solo record, jazz-schooled and grief-tinged, the title comes from Shakespeare, the album is dedicated to his late mother. “Englishman in New York,” “Fragile,” and “We’ll Be Together” sit beside players like Branford Marsalis. Sophisticated pop that has aged like good tailoring.
Be Good
No. 06
Be Good
Gregory Porter · 2012
The album that told the world a great new jazz voice had arrived, a warm baritone somewhere between Nat Cole and the church. “Be Good (Lion’s Song)” and “Real Good Hands” show a singer who writes like a storyteller and phrases like a horn. Proof the tradition is still producing giants.
Thriller
No. 07
Thriller
Michael Jackson · 1982
The best-selling album of all time, and it earns every copy. Jackson and Quincy Jones built a record with no filler, “Billie Jean,” “Beat It,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” and the title track, that crossed every line radio drew. Seven of its nine songs became hit singles. Nothing has touched it since.
Purple Rain
No. 08
Purple Rain
Prince and the Revolution · 1984
A soundtrack that outran its film and became one of the great rock records, full stop. “When Doves Cry,” “Let’s Go Crazy,” “I Would Die 4 U,” and the cathedral-sized title song show Prince doing everything at once, funk, rock, pop, gospel, and making it look easy. The sound of a genius at full flight.
Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)
No. 09
Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)
Eagles · 1976
For years the best-selling album in America, and a near-perfect run of California songcraft, “Take It Easy,” “Desperado,” “One of These Nights,” “Lyin’ Eyes,” “Best of My Love.” Harmonies you can sing on first listen and never stop. The record almost every American household owned, for good reason.
Songs in the Key of Life
No. 10
Songs in the Key of Life
Stevie Wonder · 1976
The mountaintop of Wonder’s imperial run, a sprawling double album that somehow never sags. “Sir Duke,” “I Wish,” “Isn’t She Lovely,” “As,” and “Pastime Paradise” move from joy to grief to gratitude without a wasted bar. If you had to hand one record to someone to explain American music, it might be this one.
The WSY Point of View, Style
The Art of the Considered Wardrobe
Style is not what you buy. It is what you keep, what you reach for instinctively, and what you have no need to explain. The best-dressed men in the world have two things in common: they know exactly who they are, and their clothes say so without speaking.
This journal exists for that man, or the man becoming him.
Dressed for the evening, and the company
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About Whatever Suits You
Independent.Unapologetic.Considered.
Whatever Suits You is an independent men's journal covering fashion, music, culture, and the art of living deliberately. No algorithms. No sponsored content. Just one voice writing about the things worth caring about, with the seriousness they deserve.
Written and published by Sri "Chico" Ramaswami, a lifelong devotee of tailoring, fine footwear, and the stories behind luxury objects. Published when there's something worth saying. Built for the man who still reads.
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Whatever Suits You · Style. Sound. Substance.
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