Features

Dressed for success

26 Jan 2012 by Anonymous

Looking the part is crucial to wooing clients – so what should you wear to seal the deal? Tom Otley and Jenny Southan provide male and female perspectives, and we reveal some essential grooming products.

Menswear

Men may wear suits less than they once did, but for those travelling around the world for meetings, a suit is likely to remain an essential part of their wardrobe, writes Tom Otley. Whether it’s an initial sales meeting, a conference or event, or simply a regular visit to a supplier or client, a suit is still the quickest way for a man to look smart.

For those looking to pack light, however, what’s the best way to ensure we look sharp, without becoming terminally creased on the journey over? And is there an alternative travel option to the business class lounge uniform of chinos and a polo shirt?

“Chinos are a sartorial abomination,” says Patrick Grant, owner of Norton and Sons (nortonandsons.co.uk), one of the many bespoke tailors on London’s famed Savile Row. “They are pretty evil things and there’s really no need for them. There are lots of good, interesting cloths that travel well.”

Savile Row’s knowledge doesn’t come cheap, though tailors argue that the right cloth, of good quality and cut well, will last far longer than – and look superior to – cheaper equivalents. For travel, one cloth Grant recommends is fresco.

“It dates back to the time of the Raj,” he says. “It’s a wool with an open weave that looks crisp and sharp, yet breathes, so is good for both travelling and a hot climate.”

If you only want to take one suit away, what sort should it be? “A simple double-breasted navy fresco suit,” Grant suggests. The advantage of the simple colour is that “you can [also] wear it with a pair of light grey worsted trousers” – essentially turning the jacket into a blazer. “You can’t do it if your jacket has a pattern,” he says, “but you can have a texture in the cloth.” Throw in a sports jacket and that’s three outfits, all without having to check in luggage.

Sean Dixon is managing director of Richard James (richardjames.co.uk), which, as well as having its own shops on Savile Row, also has a line in Austin Reed named Cut. He also recommends certain types of cloth as more appropriate for travelling than others. “Any wool with a percentage of mohair will be good,” he says. “Mohair makes the suit look sharp and crisp but also allows the material to bounce back so it doesn’t crease.”

A word of warning, however: “The more mohair in a suit you have, the more shiny it looks, and people don’t feel comfortable wearing it in the day,” Dixon says. “But we have one that is 60 per cent wool, 40 per cent mohair – it’s a beautiful suit and is made in England. You can go down to 15 per cent mohair and that’s enough.” It’s also adaptable to warm weather.

Other tips are to take a couple of plain shirts – one white and one pale blue – and make sure that if you haven’t got time to have your clothes pressed at your destination, hang them in the bathroom while you have a shower, allowing the humidity to sort out all but the worst creases.

Both Norton and Sons and Richard James have bespoke services offering suits at about £3,000, as well as made-to-measure and off-the-peg services. Norton and Sons’ Grant also oversees the ready-to-wear E Tautz brand.

So what of the high street? Austin Reed (austinreed.co.uk) has more than 40 shops up and down the UK, while in London it has just celebrated 111 years in business by opening a new flagship store, moving across Regent Street from the shop it had occupied since 1926 to the Quadrant Building (number 100), formerly the home of Aquascutum.

Designed by architect Mark Pinney, the new shop sells everything from pyjamas and jeans to ties and jumpers, with “rooms and spaces designed for specific purposes”, the brand says. There’s a giant “shirt wall”, a Viyella boutique, Aquascutum coats and Chester Barrie suits, while in the bespoke area on the second floor, a tradition well into its second century continues as fitting consultants measure clients for suits. Next to here is an exclusive bar for clients to have a drink while waiting for an appointment, or meet business colleagues or friends.

Brian Rouen is Austin Reed’s national tailoring and technical services manager and, with 16 years at the company and more than 40 in the industry, there isn’t much he doesn’t know about tailoring. The company offers its bespoke service at all of its shops, with at least the store manager and one other member of staff trained as fitting consultants. Rouen says that it means they have the ability to guide customers through the hundreds of cloths and styles available (thousands in the case of the Regent Street outlet) – useful if you wander in asking for something in a navy fresco for your next trip abroad.

A bespoke suit will take between six and eight weeks to make, with prices starting from £599. Austin Reed manages to keep prices substantially below Savile Row partly by having the suits made abroad in factories in Egypt, Mauritius or India, and partly with the technology it uses to design the suit once measurements have been taken.

Most of us are convinced of the quality behind a bespoke suit, and, of course, a suit that has been individually fitted will be more comfortable than one bought off-the-peg. The proof comes from the amount of repeat customers tailors from Savile Row to Austin Reed have.

“Many of these people have been coming to us for decades,” Rouen says, “and now we are getting their sons as well. Once someone has had a suit fitted, they don’t go back to off-the-peg.”

It could be an expensive habit to pick up but when the rewards are so visible, it’s probably money well spent. For non-suit occasions, online luxury fashion boutique my-wardrobe.com presents stylish options from brands including Dolce and Gabbana, Polo Ralph Lauren and Vivienne Westwood. So there really is no excuse for the chinos.

WHAT’S HOT…

  • Fresco
  • Grey trousers
  • Plain shirts
  • Travel light
  • Crease-free
  • Bespoke
  • Personal service

… AND WHAT’S NOT

  • Polyester
  • Beige chinos
  • Polo shirts
  • Travel heavy
  • Crumpled
  • Off-the-peg
  • Shop queues

Womenswear

While Western males have been strutting around in suits and shirts since the early 1800s, their female counterparts spent centuries being trussed up in all manner of restrictive corsets and billowing skirts, writes Jenny Southan. It wasn’t until after the First World War that they were able to throw off the sartorial constraints of society, with Coco Chanel one of the first to cut her hair short and wear trousers in the 1920s.

It was the beginning of the feminist fashion revolution. And if it hadn’t been for the distinction drawn between practical daywear and elegant eveningwear in the thirties, the post-rationing desire for luxurious fabrics and feminine cuts in the late 1940s, the rising hemlines that led to the miniskirt, and blue jeans and hot pants in the early seventies, we would never have got to where we are today. Women may still have to campaign hard to close the gender pay gap, but the arrival of the power suit in the 1980s was an overt statement that women could compete with men in the workplace. Fortunately, since the nineties, office fashion has relaxed, allowing for more freedom of expression and the opportunity for women to exploit their curves.

More recently, designers such as Louis Vuitton, Michael Kors and Giles Deacon have been taking inspiration from TV shows Mad Men and Pan Am, while high-street store Banana Republic launched a limited-edition Mad Men Collection last summer. Erin Mullaney, fashion and brand director of online shopping site avenue32.com, says: “This style of dressing is seeing a resurgence, reinforcing that whole late-sixties, early-seventies way of dressing, where women suddenly found themselves working and a bit more empowered.”

Mounissa Chodieva, founder of luxury wardrobe management service Vault Couture (vaultcouture.com), which enables your designer clothes to be stored and delivered to almost anywhere in the world, says: “Women are being more bold with colour. We also think there is a trend for minimal yet polished jumpsuits, which can make the perfect one-piece workwear and a refreshing alternative to trouser suits. Bold accessories are a cool accent to a modest style.”

For the noughties jetsetter, the challenge is to combine femininity with functionality. Carolyn Pearson, founder and chief executive of maiden-voyage.com, a social networking site for female business travellers, says: “Quite often you are travelling to different climates so it is important to have a comfortable wardrobe – airports are huge and I’d be crippled if I had to walk in heels, so I wear some leopard-print flats and put my heels in a large handbag.”

Mullaney says: “Business dress is on trend in the fashion industry right now, so you have got really nice separates with staples such as a pencil skirt, a pair of tailored trousers, a sharply tailored blazer, a beautiful silk blouse and a crisp white cotton shirt.” The trick, then, is to create a capsule wardrobe and be flexible in your dressing. “Try not to wear too many things at once or be too ‘matchy’ – gone are the days of wearing a full suit,” she says.

Happily, this helps when it comes to packing. Pearson says: “Most business trips last two days but women probably won’t want two full outfits – they will take one pair of trousers, two tops and a jacket. Weight is also an issue – if you are travelling with low-cost carriers you may only be allowed one item of hand baggage. Choose the minimum number of shoes and then build your outfit around them.”

She adds: “It is important to turn up to your meeting dressed appropriately but if you are in the media or creative industries then you probably won’t have to be as formal as if you are in the legal profession. It also depends on the relationship you have with your clients and the impression you want to make with your clothes – do you want to say ‘respect me as an equal’, ‘buy something from me’ or ‘like me’?”

Once the deals have been struck, it’s time to hit the bar – but what to wear? Pearson says: “Quite often, it’s a case of leaving the office and going straight out for dinner, so take your jacket off and put some jewellery on. I have a black pashmina that I take everywhere – I can use it as a scarf, put it around my shoulders or throw it over sari-style. Nice scarves are also good for glamming up an outfit.”

As so many professionals are time-poor, the surge in online boutiques such as brownsfashion.com, mytheresa.com, luisaviaroma.com, matchesfashion.com and net-a-porter.com is welcome. Once you are logged on, Mullaney recommends brands such as Céline, Stella McCartney, Roland Mouret, Armani, Hugo Boss and the recently launched Paper for chic business garb.

WHAT’S HOT…

  • Capsule wardrobes
  • Mixing and matching
  • Practical elegance
  • Mad Men
  • Trendy flats
  • Jumpsuits
  • Statement jewellery

… AND WHAT’S NOT

  • Multiple outfits
  • Obvious co-ordination
  • Form over function
  • Dynasty
  • Four-inch heels
  • Power suits
  • Bling

10 TRAVEL ESSENTIALS

1. Clinique Anti-Fatigue Eye-Cooling Gel

Hide the signs of jet lag with this rollerball pen – massage the gel under your eyes morning and night, or as needed during the day, to reduce puffiness and the appearance of dark circles. 15ml £20; clinique.co.uk

2. Elemis SOS Survival Cream

Dry climates and many hours spent in the air will dry out your skin so try this thick cream, designed to soothe, nourish, heal and hydrate your face with its combination of marine extracts, lavender and myrrh. 50ml £40; elemis.com

3. Marvis toothpaste

From Italian manufacturer Marvis, the world’s most sophisticated toothpaste comes in a plethora of ultra-refreshing minty flavours, such as aquatic, ginger, jasmine and classic strong mint. 25ml £2.75, 75ml £5.50; carterandbond.com

4. Supergoop SPF30 Sunscreen Swipes

These handy wipes provide convenient protection from UV rays without the mess of lotion. Each is treated with green tea and vitamin E and is suitable for all skin types. Eight wipes US$12, 40 wipes US$34; supergoop.com

5. King Of Shaves Cooling Menthol Alpha Oil

This tiny bottle lasts for about 100 shaves and will easily slip into your airport liquid bag. Two or three drops can be used instead of gel or foam and, being clear, it allows you to see exactly where you are shaving. The menthol kick will also perk you up after a long flight. 15ml £3.70; kingofshavesdirect.com

6. In-Flight Organic Pharmacy Essential Kit

For a natural way to combat the strains of travel, this set contains homeopathic pills for jet lag, insomnia and sickness, plus a rose facial spritz, lip and eye cream, and hand and nail balm. £46; theorganicpharmacy.com

7. Ortigia Roll On Perfume

The Sicilian brand’s highly concentrated perfume oils for men and women come in slender, easy-to-carry roll-on bottles. Choose from scents such as orange blossom, sandalo, almond, Sicilian lime, fico d’india and ambra nera. 10ml £10; ortigia-srl.com/shop/uk

8. Paul Smith Washbag

Keep your essentials in this new-season, canvas washbag with water resistant lining and leather loop handle. Smith’s playful design incorporates his signature stripes emblazoned across a Mini that was shot on location in LA during a tour of the West Coast of the US. £99; paulsmith.co.uk

9. Anthony Logistics Lip Balm

Your lips will be the first to feel the effect of cold winds, desert heat, dry cabins and air conditioning. Available in citrus, vanilla and spearmint flavours, this moisturising balm contains beeswax, avocado oil and vitamins A and E, and has a matt finish. 9g £8; salonskincare.co.uk

10. Murdock Laurence Mach Three Razor

Upgrade to this flight-friendly Gillette Fusion razor from Murdock and make your shaving experience that bit more suave. Choose from four kinds of handles – ivory, ebony, light horn and chrome. £90; murdocklondon.com

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