New & Lingwood is one of my favourite menswear stores, so I was delighted when they asked me to write a Christmas piece for their website. I'm reproducing it below; you can find the original article here.
With piles of Christmas gifts to buy there’s nothing more useful than a one-stop-shop that stocks all you need for those friends and relatives who have everything. New & Lingwood is that shop and, indeed, such is the colour and variety of its contents that I always have a slight feeling of Christmas as I walk past its Jermyn Street store, even in mid-summer. From the humble sock (and let’s not knock the sock as an excellent seasonal gift) to gorgeous English-made silk dressing gowns, there is something for everyone and for every pocket.
There’s nothing like visiting one of the stores to do your Christmas shopping. Neatly stacked piles of colourful corduroy trousers, gleaming English-made shoes in all colours from jet black to chestnut, jewel-like silk ties, pocket squares and dressing gowns in sumptuous oranges, kingfisher blues, reds and greens, hand-made ties in subtle ancient madder hues and textured knits, crisp shirts - plain and patterned, a rainbow selection of socks, gleaming cufflinks - humorous and elegant in design, traditional pyjamas - striped or plain (see the image below). You almost expect to find Smaug lying asleep on this colourful pile of treasure. If you can’t get into a store to do your shopping, New & Lingwood’s online shop offers it all from the convenience of your own home.
I curate gift guides by selecting things I’d love to receive myself. I mention this not only in the hope that someone will notice and buy me something, but also because just choosing and buying presents can be almost as much fun as receiving them. Here are some of my favourite New & Lingwood products to inspire your Christmas shopping:
A silk dressing gown: lined or unlined, or made bespoke to your own design. My favourites are the Fuchsia & Turquoise Unlined dressing gown and the Burgundy Satin Paisley - but why not design a bespoke gown inspired by a favourite sketch, piece of silk or wallpaper as a unique gift for a very special person? The silk will be printed in England and the gown tailored to your particular specifications.
Socks: there are scores of colours and designs from plain, through Argyll (my favourites) to very contemporary patterns. They come in all lengths and make excellent stocking fillers.
Braces (or suspenders): every man should have a pair of trousers fitted with buttons for braces. They can be more comfortable than belts and allow you to adjust your trouser length so that they just meet the shoe at the correct spot - essential for the serious sartorialist. From the ultimately sophisticated grey cashmere braces to pleated and striped designs, there’s something for all tastes.
Ties and pocket squares: an excellent and very personal gift is to buy a tie and a pocket square to go with it. It’s generally frowned on to have tie and square from matching fabrics, but selecting a tie and a non-matching square that will go with it involves a certain amount of thought which gives the combined gift a real value to the lucky recipient. Play safe with a plain textured tie and patterned square (for example a Racing Green Knitted tie with a Mustard Naive Elephant Wool/Silk square) or try a plain square with patterned tie (such as a Navy Plain Silk square with the Navy and Green Paisley Jacquard tie) If you need advice on bolder mixes of colour and pattern the New & Lingwood staff will help you with your selection.
Slippers make an excellent gift, particularly when they are hand-made with leather soles. From sophisticated black suede creations studded with Swarovski crystals to bespoke velvet slippers embroidered with your selection of design, coat of arms or initials, this is a present that can be made very personal.
New & Lingwood offer bespoke and made to measure tailoring services for shirts, dressing gowns, trousers, suits and jackets and a gift of something that will be made to fit from a fabric of choice gives the recipient the additional pleasure of a highly personal gift.
I’ve made a very personal selection here to show the range and variety of products available for Christmas gifts at New & Lingwood. It would be hard to visit one of their stores, or to shop online, and come away empty-handed.
This is a collaboration with New & Lingwood
