We Are Loake: shoes for all

I've worn Loake shoes for years, attracted by their style and comfort. It was a pleasure to be asked to join fellow blogger John Jarrett of Individualism (below left) on a photoshoot for this year's Loake advertising campaign, the theme of which is "We Are Loake". 

The success of the campaign is that it shows how classic British shoes suit young and old and all tastes. Despite our difference in age and styles, We Are Loake.

I wore a pair of brown suede Loake Perth derbies (pictured above, made in Kettering) and John (pictured central in the advertisement below) burgundy Loake Dawson polished leather brogues (made in Loake's own factory in India with every last detail being to Loake's specification, allowing the costs of some ranges to be kept down). Both styles, whether made in England or India, are rooted in traditional Northamptonshire shoemaking skills supported by factory refurbishment and repair when required.  

For more information on Loake and the "We Are Loake campaign, see their website, or follow on Facebook or Instagram.

For more of my blog writing about Loake, including a factory visit and a shoe refurbishment, click here.

The House of Fraser Christmas advert (and a short appearance by Grey Fox)

Just released is the House of Fraser Christmas advertisement. The theme is 'Your Christmas, Your Rules'; in other words, you celebrate as you want to. They kindly asked me to take part. I was a tiny cog in a huge and highly impressive machine. The dancers, crew, producers etc were all supremely professional and I enjoyed every moment of the two part days I was on set and watching the production being made.

I'm biased of course, but this is the best of this year's Christmas adverts. Enjoy it:

To read more about how and who, see The Daily Mail here.

Realm & Empire menswear: Grey Fox sponsors

I'm grateful to Realm & Empire for sponsoring the blog by advertising in the column to the right.

Realm & Empire is a British brand that finds inspiration in historical menswear. Searching the archives of the Imperial War Museums, they have created a collection that takes details and from vintage garments, photographs, documents and artefacts. 

Realm & Empire SS15

I'd be grateful if you would click on their advertisement to the right to browse their website and to show support for this blog and its sponsors. You can read my previous post on Realm & Empire here in which I review one of their British-made products.

Private White V.C: Grey Fox welcomes its first advertiser

Grey Fox Blog has now been going for over three years. It has been a fun and engrossing pastime, but I'm now welcoming sponsors and advertisers to enable me to pay for improvements to the blog both for you, the readers, and for the businesses I feature.

I'm delighted to welcome one of my favourite British-made menswear brands, Private White V.C., as the first paying advertiser on the blog. Please support them by clicking on their advert in the right hand column of the blog. Click here to see their new Spring/Summer 2015 collection.

Brutus looks after things on Grey Fox's visit last year to Private White V.C.

I welcome advertisers. According to Google Analytics, Grey Fox now attracts nearly 13,000 users a month with around 48,000 page views. The readers are loyal and I'm told by brands featured here that an unusually high proportion of clicks through to their sites result in sales.

For the reader, content will be unaffected by advertising. Sponsored posts are marked as such. Editorial decisions about which brands to write about are mine alone. I write about what I like; this is after all my search for style.

Please stay in touch - greyfoxblog@gmail.com 

Older men in fashion advertising

I've been updating my Pinterest board where I'm collecting images of older men in fashion advertising.

Why do I do that? Because they're a rare sight and we need to persuade the myopic menswear industry that they'll get access to a large and very affluent customer demographic if they advertise to men over 40. Men of that age group can lose confidence as they see high street shops selling largely to younger men. A little encouragement, in the form of advertising acknowledging that a) older men exist, and b) they can be stylish too, will encourage them to buy.

I'd be grateful if you'd pay my Pinterest board a visit and, if you know any more (like this example by Hackett), please let me know.

Grey Fox Models 3 - grey hair fashion advertising - Millican and Universal Works

Universal Works and Millican have recently collaborated on a range of bags, which I'll feature in a future post. I wanted to show their advertising as a further entry into the prestigious Grey Fox Models awards in which I celebrate those menswear and accessories suppliers who recognise that men with grey hair can be interested in style - well done Millican and Universal Works.

And read about my own Millican bag here.  See others in the Grey Fox Models series here.

Grey Fox Models: grey hair fashion advertising 2 - well done The Kooples

Quite frankly The Kooples is the last menswear shop I would have expected to win a coveted Grey Fox Models Award. But, here we are, even featuring some great dad-dancing from grey fox, Bernard!

It just shows that older men shouldn't rule out all the apparently youth-orientated high street retailers in the search for middle age style. I will now be investigating my local outlet.

Well done The Kooples (click for their website)!

Grey Fox Models: grey hair fashion advertising - well done Hackett

How often do you see menswear fashion adverts aimed at the older man? Not often. Yet the older man, as a demographic, is growing in size. I suspect that we are also taking an increasing interest in matters of style. So, I'm going occasionally to post images of adverts featuring grey foxes. I may need your help with this; please contact me if you see any suitable for showing here. Please also visit my accompanying Pinterest board, Grey Hair Fashion Adverts here.

Congratulatulations to Hackett for this one, which I found in Le Magazine du Monde when visiting Paris recently. I would like to know if it's been used in any UK or US publications, or does its appearance in a French magazine simply reflect the greater interest among older French men in stylish fashion?