CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN
The extraordinary mens blog for the modern man
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Nickel & Dimes – Nickel Spa by Sarah Gilfillan

imageA friend of a friend was singing and dancing the praises of Nickel Spa so much one day, that I decided I’d better pop in and check it out. Situated in the heart of Covent Garden and created by a man for men only, it’s a spa & skin care range exclusively designed for men’s skin & bodies.

When I arrived to have a look around their six treatment rooms, I found the staff to be friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. The concept is based around creating a venue for men to feel comfortable in and treat themselves to massages andtreatments. There’s an extensive “menu” of professional grooming treatments to choose from such as a “REN – The Quickie facial”, a “Love Handles Wrap massage,” “overground” or “underground” waxing, to name just a few. Male and female therapists are on hand so you can request who you’d prefer to do your treatment.

The website echoes the friendly feel of the spa and has a reassuringly humorous do’s & don’ts section if you haven’t been to a spa before & feel unsure about the etiquette.

All the products they use are available to buy in the salon including their own Nickel range, or if you’re buying online you can search by concern ie: “I party hard”, “I have love handles” and it’ll bring up a range of products to choose from – neat eh?! They work on the premise that “Regular guys want efficient and no nonsense user friendly and yet serious cosmetics and treatments. Just the products, not the blurb and the nonsense around them”.

Even though the men’s grooming market has moved on in leaps and bounds since Nickel first started in 1996, there are still plenty of men who don’t feel entirely at ease with the thought of “masculine beauty”. So Nickel Spa, with it’s refreshingly down to earth treatments and products is just the sort of thing I like to hear about, and I for one, won’t hesitate to be recommending them on to my clients.

Sarah Gilfillan is founder of personal shopping and style consultancy for men –  Sartorialab.co.uk

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Bags of Talent – Oppermann London by Sarah Gilfillan

imageI had the pleasure of meeting Niklas Oppermann – one half of the Swedish born German brothers who form Oppermann London – at London Collections:Men recently.

The brothers are based in London and set up their accessories company in late 2012. The collection consists of a small but beautifully formed selection of bags, briefcases and tech accessories, which are of premium leather made through a natural tanning process without the use of toxic chemicals. The lining is made from recycled materials, and the leather cutting is optimized to reduce waste, making it clear that it’s a top priority for the brothers to keep their environmental impact to a minimum.

The clean, utilitarian & minimalistic lines reflect their Scandinavian roots, and are inspired by modernist architecture and design with an emphasis on clean lines and geometric shapes. This results in some stunning products, I’m sure you’ll agree? They’re available in a range of colours – black, cognac, navy, burgundy and racing green which will make a classy, subtle addition to your outfits.

Their flagship item is the “25 Hour Palissy Bag” – described as ” a large variation of a day-to-day bag. It has the sleek appearance of a briefcase, yet is spacious enough to fit all the things needed for overnight adventures.” It can also be used as a work and gym bag combined or taken as hand luggage as it complies with airlines’ cabin bag restrictions.

Well I rather like the sound of a 25 hour adventure and I definitely like the look of the bag that comes with it, don’t you?

Sarah Gilfillan is found of personal shopping and style consultancy for men –  Sartoria Lab

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I’m spoking your language -Spoke, by Sarah Gilfillan

imageAs a personal stylist for men I’m fully aware that the current trend for a skinny and super skinny fit is no friend of the gentleman with a manly (read chunky) set of thighs. It’s proving a bit of a nightmare to find much choice in trousers for those clients, especially with chinos, as sometimes when you do go for a more standard fit they can end up looking, how should I put this, a little old fashioned. So, when I heard aboutSpoke I rejoiced, and even more so when I realised I already knew it’s founder, Ben Farren.

imageLet me tell you about them – they have a tightly edited selection of chinos in a variety of colours, and the brilliant part is that they come in all sizes, going up in 1″ increments in the waist size & leg length, plus they also come in different “builds”. All you need to do is to measure round your thighs, your waist and your inside leg, and punch that into their calculator and it’ll tell you the size and build you need to order. They have a wide range of sizes, going up to a 36″ waist and down to a 28″ leg length, but if they don’t happen to have them in stock they’ll make them up to order.

With free shipping and returns, a pretty reasonable price tag, and a complimentary tape measure if you don’t have one, all in all I reckon this makes for a pretty great service. And with no more pesky alterations needed at the dry cleaners to get a perfectly fitted pair of trousers, whether you have knobbly knees or chunky thighs, you might just find that Spoke is your new best friend.

imageSarah Gilfillan is founder of www.sartorialab.co.uk