Words

The Dobcoat
Last time around at the one-man-mill in north-east London, there was a Dobcross Loom halfway towards being assembled. A whizzing, thumping, cast-iron bruiser of a machine, the Dobcross, the likes... More
Out of the rubble, pt. 2
All very well, isn’t it, not writing anything down? You know — passing know-how down from generation to generation, by the medium only of spoken word? Learning by hard rote... More
Out of the rubble, pt. 1
Somewhere in the West Midlands is a start-up. Not your usual new-fangled start-up, this, but rather one which specialises in making old-fangled horn buttons — and, in so doing, becoming... More
Heavy metal riff, pt. 2
It seems unlikely, here at the buckle maker in the West Midlands, that they’d ever claim theirs the most picturesque trade. But, once a day, just before noon, they have... More
The outer-knit
The heavyweight tuck-stitch jumpers are back. You can't miss them, either — for they occupy, almost completely, the precious commodity of space here in the capital's premier 14-square-meter apparel fridge.... More
Scarf all you like
Your scarf. You ask one thing of your scarf in winter. You ask for warmth. You ask that that feeble throat of yours be kept safe, snug and shielded from... More
The return of Tetris tweed
Tetris tweed really is a curious cloth — at once traditional, with its nepps and burrs and decades-old Donegal provenance, and also modern, with its pattern surprisingly geometric, its palette... More
On the road in Donegal
Big, bracing, bold sort of place is County Donegal in north-west Ireland. The sort of place which, if you're not careful, if you don't stand up to it, can overawe... More
Digging trenches
The phrase “classic with a twist” is right up there in the pantheon of sartorial cliches, but the thing with the “twist” is that, were it any cop, it would... More
Peacoats of Donegal County
What can be said of the peacoat which has not been said already? For the peacoat goes way back; way, way back; back perhaps as far as 1700. Has been... More
Laying on the lambswool
Noticed anything different about the place? That's right — autumn is here. Slipped in unannounced last week. Hasn’t fully expressed itself yet, but will, sooner or later — and, once... More
Peacoat comeback
The peacoat, about which much was blathered at the end of last year, is coming back. And, tinkering aside — marginally softer shoulders, slightly wider sleeves, squared-off pocket flaps —... More