Fine and Dandy

London Fashion Week and its intoxicating  mix of inspiration, craziness and verve is upon us. The manner in which the London branches of the design shows have accrued respect and influence over the last two decades is truly amazing. This has given a real fillip to the quality of work being produced by artisans and craftspeople in the UK. Today’s blog features the excellent collection of pocket squares from Rampley & Co. Find them at www.rampleyandco.com

It is wonderful to be able to showcase a quintessentially British company whose products are manufactured in the UK; Macclesfield to be precise. The re-invigoration of traditional industries in areas such as Shoreditch, Hackney and the textile-producing areas of Northern England has been nothing short of miraculous. Not only do Rampley & Co manufacture in the UK, their designs are often based on the work of British artists such as J.M.W Turner and William Swainson. We are particularly keen on the Harris Tweed collection which utilises the fabrics made by another example of a resurgent industry. Those wonderful muted and sludgy colours are deeply gorgeous.

You know how dear to our hearts art is at AlaraApothecary, so our love for beautiful silk squares printed with images from paintings in the National and Tate Galleries will come as no surprise to anyone. It is about time the British male re-acquainted himself with his inner dandy. The nation that gave the world Regency fashion and Beau Brummell has been reduced to dressing in toddler-wear and trackies. It is truly distressing. First impressions count, and if you don’t believe that to be true then we have a lot of work ahead of us. Below are pictures of some eye-candy rocking pocket squares. I rest my case.

Obviously an obsession with one’s image is not an attractive trait. However, once you decide that looking the best you can given your resources is a public service, giving the rest of us something fabulous to look at, it all begins to make sense. For all would-be nonpareils and nonesuchs out there, get thee to Rampley & Co. You could also demand their squares for birthdays, Christmas, Bar mitzvahs. There’s even a handy guide for the multifarious methods of folding your pocket square. Who knew? This confirms our suspicion that men are just as vain as women are. Fact.