Drake’s, the classic English menswear brand, pens itself as being under the guiding philosophy of “relaxed elegance”. Originally opening in 1977 in East London, Drake’s is still to this day arguably best known for its neckwear, and despite a clear Italian influence when it comes to their tailoring, houses an array of pieces that would pair handsomely with any Ivy-inspired wardrobe.
Drake’s recently released another of its well-regarded lookbooks, this one showcasing Collection Three, 2020. Shot by John Sprinks and modeled by Jason Jules (who this author thinks possesses an almost-supernatural stylishness), the looks largely ride the line Ivy aficionados favor of their own obsession: a go-anywhere, do-anything, dress-upable and -downable, casual stylishness. Anything but black tie, really. It’s an effortless look that is more casual than those you’re surrounded by, and yet somehow “better dressed.” Perhaps the branding team at Drake’s did hit the nail on the head with relaxed elegance, after all.
The collection exudes rugged Ivy, with its copious use of ripstop — a type of woven fabric designed to be more resistant to tearing or ripping; useful for outdoor activities or in military settings — and a good portion of Mr Jules’ looks being modeled in what looks like classic English countryside. The blazers push the limits of casual, so much so that when Mr Jules switches to a jungle jacket, the brain takes a moment to realize that they are different. Jeans are also plentifully used throughout the lookbook, though they only serve to ease the outfits into a renewed area of casual (helped by them being the traditional indigo dyed, straight cut variety – “dad jeans”, as it were, though not just ironically fashionable), rather than offensively replacing the Ivy fan’s preferred pant, chinos. And the shoes are so perfectly apt – suede, moc-toed chukka boots. If rugged Ivy were to have an official, all-terrain shoe, this author would nominate these, which could only be an outcast in the most sweltering of summers or most formal of soirées.
The other stand out “theme”, if you will, from this collection is a sense of holiday. Though not shot against a New England backdrop, some of the pieces worn by Mr Jules wouldn’t at all feel out of place worn to a traditionally preppy holiday destination, or perhaps the local country club. In particular, the standout pieces that shout “holiday perfection” are the cashmere intarsia golf jumper, the multi-stripe OCBD, and the ‘fun’ OCBD. A little bit of madras is also thrown into the shirting lineup, for good measure.
The cream of the crop, however – the cherry that definitively marks this lookbook as an Ivy sundae, and the detail from which this article gets its name – is the ball caps, headlining the lookbook in light blue needlecord. In fact, an array of ball caps feature, all six-paneled, all in the delightfully subtle needlecord texture, in prep-appropriate colors (bright yellow, mint green, and a nicely saturated salmon), and featuring retro embroidery in the shape of crossed tennis racquets. There’s such a powerful preppy pull to these caps that they turn even the most borderline of Mr Jules’ outfits – such as a jungle jacket layered on jeans – into modern Ivy staples. Just like how one can add granules to water and get instant coffee, one can add these caps to an outfit and get instant Ivy.
Tradition is great, but reinvention keeps us alive. And under creative director Michael Hill, Drake’s is reinventing Ivy for the modern man, through a delightfully idiosyncratic lens – one that churns together a little England, a little Scotland, and a little Italy, and somehow creates something that wouldn’t at all look out of place in the wardrobe of an Ivy enthusiast in America today. — BRAD EWIN
Brad Ewin is an Australian-born and London-based writer who, despite his best efforts, can’t help but keep coming back to everything preppy.
Love Drake’s.
Love these pictures.
I think Drake’s is defining the concept of modern ivy style.
Completely agree that Jules is one of the most stylish men in the UK. There’s just something about him…
When I lived in London, I would frequently take the tube to the Drake’s HQ where one can get deeply discounted items from past seasons. You can score ties for £30 where they retail for around £110-135. I also scored a purple cardigan vest (as often seen on Bruce Boyer) for £50. If you live in London or somewhere immediately surrounding, it is foolish not to make the trip to 3 Haberdasher St.
I think Drakes and Sid Mashburn work this vein of Ivy classics with Italian touches very well. Mashburn even has a sport coat model with a 3/2 roll, no darts, center vent, and natural shoulders. However, the coat is snugger through the torso than typical ivy.
I like and own their shirts and some ties.
The rest, except for the glen plaid jacket
which is only OK, is hideous, IMHO.
Mashburn, Ben Silver, etc, are far superior.
I don’t care for unflapped jacket pockets.
Why are the buttons on the shirt collar unbottoned in every picture? What’s the point really? Also, manufacturers should start making neckties shorter! I’m noticing ties that are clearly too damn long in ads on models all the time. And those models, usually, aren’t short men at all! Bring back the 56-57 inch tie! The modern standard is around 59, or even longer.
It’s the Trump Effect.
@Trevor Jones – I never knew they had discounted old season merch there! I live quite close and my old commute used to take me right past it every day. I’ll have to take a proper look inside at some point.
Is this a paid-for advertorial piece written by a PR hack? No self-respecting golfer would be seen dead in those hideous and over-priced jumpers. The collection is more rip-off than rip-stop. Prices go up as the quality declines.
As a long-standing customer of Drake’s, I’m concerned that there company is abandoning its British roots under The Armoury’s ownership. Baseball caps belong in downmarket shopping malls, not on Savile Row. I now spend most of my money in Cordings – generally more stylish and much better value for money.
It’s astounding that Brad Erwin (see above comment) did not that factory shop stocks old season merchandise. A regular Drake’s customer who would be familiar with the factory. A further read of his bloated, flowery prose only confirms my perception that he is a professional writer rather than a genuine contributor to this blog. The style is very similar to the PR bullshit that is common in menswear magazines these days.
On my last visit to the factory shop, I picked up a few Oxford cotton, broadcloth and bleeding madras shirts for around £60 each. I also found some great madder ties in Selfridge’s a few years ago for only £35. Unfortunately, most of their ties are now narrower and unlined in the iGents’ Neapolitan style.
For “Ivy style” tailoring in London, there’s Anglo Italian just off Marylebone High Street. The choice, cut and fit are much better than Drake’s. Alternatively, there is English Cut’s natural shoulder MTM (from £1,000 ex VAT) near John Simons in Chiltern Street.
@Kenny – Hey Kenny, how’s it going? I’m Brad, the author of this piece. There’s a lot to address in your comment, but I hope I can be of some help. ?
To answer your question, this isn’t paid for and I have no affiliation with Drake’s. I don’t own any Drake’s clothing either, I just find their style interesting.
RE golfing, I can’t speak on behalf of Drake’s, but I’m relatively confident actual golfers aren’t their target market. I believe that’d be more sportswear-focused companies like Nike and the such. I’d bet Drake’s is just riffing off a golf aesthetic for the fun of it.
I’ll also admit I have zero idea as to the business of fashion, so I can’t comment on whether or not Drake’s is a “rip-off” (way too many variables at play there, on both the business and consumer side). However, as a writer, I love your “more rip-off than rip-stop” line and would totally steal that as a headline were I doing a negative review of this collection.
Prices going up is the way of the world – I’m also no economist, but I feel like inflation will always make that true. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
Quality declining? Quite possibly, yeah. Again, not a businessman, but I feel like there’s incentive to for businesses to invest the lowest amount in producing a produce or service, to get the highest return. It sucks. I totally feel you on that one. I’m not sure what we can do, other than support businesses which continue to produce products at the quality we want. ?
@Kenny – Sorry, was still writing my previous comment when your new one came in.
You seem to have taken pain from reading my article. I’m really sorry to have elicited that reaction from you. Genuinely.
I just do this for fun, man.
Apologies, a correction: “elicited that reaction in you.”
@Kenny, Thanks for your comments.
If Ivy Style wants to run a paid advertisement, they should label it as such.
PR bs (as Kenny put it) belongs in The Robb Report, Esquire, and GQ. When I was a naive young man I used to believe that all writers, journalists, and editors had integrity and weren’t out to just line their pockets.
I’m guessing that the model in the Drakes adverts just says “Pay me with clothes”. He seems to be having too good of a time to be working.
The Armoury doesn’t own Drake’s. Mark Cho and Michael Hill are co-owners. Look at pictures of both and you’ll easily see that Michael’s influence as creative director is a much bigger influence than Mark’s relatively subdued personal style.
Ignorance isn’t a good look on anyone.
Not my cuppa, exactly, but some of it is far better than what I often see about these days, and the gent in the pix is certainly stylish. As for the author singing the praises of Drake’s, I think a lot of people genuinely like their stuff. The author says he is not being compensated, but is simply a fan, and I see no reason to doubt him.
I often sing the praises of J. Press, but have never received anything from them other than high quality clothing at a fair price. Nothing wrong with being a fan, even if a particular style is not to everyone’s taste. Most of my clothing came from Brooks until roughly 1990 or so, and more recently from J. Press, but today I’m wearing a 25-year-old Façonnable sport coat, 3/2, undarted, with double vents; not strictly Ivy, but I like it.
Happy Friday to all.
Charlottesville-I own one sport coat with double vents which I purchased on sale from Ben Silver a couple of years ago. I’ve only worn it once as the double vents seem to be an issue with my Trad values. I would like to wear it more as it’s top quality. I guess I need to just overlook the fact that it has dual exhausts. Happy Friday to you.
John Carlos – I encourage you to give it a try. Ben silver is top notch, and their rare sales are definitely the time to splurge.
“Dual exhaust” is not my standard either, but I have a few from Polo, Façonnable, and a couple of custom jobs from when I was in an Anglophilic phase. I tend not to wear them often, but they really do look good, in a “continental” sort of way.
For some reason, a two-button, undarted jacket with double vents is now more or less the default option at Eljo’s here in town, although they will gladly do a 3/2 sack on request. Not sure whether it is the Ben Silver influence, or simply adjusting to the market since 2 vents seem increasingly to be the norm. I can live with it, and it is certainly preferable to the t-shirts, sweatpants, and cargo shorts that pass for formal wear these days.
Ben Silver prices run higher than O’Connells or J Press. For example, I just checked their site and they want $195 for a blue OCBD. Ouch. I can get a pretty nice custom one for far less from Proper Cloth.
Whiskeydent and Charlottesville- The merchandise at Ben Silver is pricey, but I find their quality is exceptional. I try to make my purchases during their sale, which by the way, is going on now.
Charlottesville- I agree that even the two button, dual exhaust look seems to be popular these days especially with the younger folks. At my age, that’s almost everyone. And it is much better than what I see on most people.
“Charlottesville-I own one sport coat with double vents which I purchased on sale from Ben Silver a couple of years ago. I’ve only worn it once as the double vents seem to be an issue with my Trad values. I would like to wear it more as it’s top quality. I guess I need to just overlook the fact that it has dual exhausts. Happy Friday to you.”
I detect a bit of provincialism here. In the 80s and 90s I was a customer of Chipp.
in New York. My suits and jackets were either RTW or MTM in a model that they
offered with natural shoulders and dual vents. It was also darted. I chose it for two
reasons: I have very broad square shoulders and a big chest and it actually fit me
better than a “sack”; I liked dual vents. In NYC the famous Dunhill Tailors and Chipp,
and occasionally Press offered a hybrid style combining Ivy league with Savile Row,
along with their sack suits Now, I wear Neapolitan cuts which often have natural shoulders.
If they don’t , my expert tailor creates them. I also live in the SF Bay area, a menswear desert,
where it is impossible to obtain decent natural shoulder clothing. I’ve actually talked with
O’Connells and they’ll make many of their garments MTM with dual vents as they do for
several customers. However, I’m not about to commission a garment without having tried
the base model. One of these days I go to Buffalo and give it a try.
Roger Sack- I appreciate your comments. Unfortunately I don’t have broad shoulders and a big chest although I wish I did. And since I’m going to turn 71 in a little over two months, I’m guessing the broad shoulders and the big chest are not gonna happen.
John Carlos – Happy upcoming birthday. Hope the Texas heat is not too oppressive. We are hoping for a moderately sunny day in the mid-80s here tomorrow, which will be quite a welcome respite from heat, humidity and violent thunderstorms.
Roger Sack – Agree absolutely, with one caveat. I would say not necessarily provincial, although definitely reflecting a taste for the traditional BB No. 1 sack look, which is decidedly American. That being said, I have had a dozen or more dual-vented suits and sport coats, some of which I have given away, and some of which I cling to, though seldom wear. I very much admired the stylish men I saw in England and Paris in the 90s, and bought a fair number of suits and sport coats in that style, including off-the-rack Façonnable and Polo, and a few custom items from a tailor in Washington, plus a DB from Gieves & Hawkes.
As noted above, I returned to my initial preference for the single vented 3/2 sack, but I can appreciate the tasteful rig of any well-turned-out gent. To each his own, and I have the very highest regard for Ben Silver, Sid Mashburn and Eljo’s. I also note that the clothes Dick Cavett wore on TV in the late 60s and early 70s were from J. Press, and they had fairly wide lapels, 2 buttons and possibly double vents (hard to tell from the photos I have seen on line). Very appropriate for the era, even if not something I would wear today.
Roger Sack and Charlottesville- Heat in the 80’s? That would be a cool front in Texas. 100 or near it day after day here and probably will be until late September. And yes, I’m not very well traveled. I’ve devoted my life to putting 4 children through college with no debt on their part. I’m proud to say that the youngest daughter will be sitting for her CPA shortly.
I would describe the above as a fun, casual look with trad elements, which still makes you look well dressed. Not exactly my style, but it looks good.
I could see possibly wearing those looks at a family get together, or a gathering of friends that is casual but sophisticated.
As noted above, I returned to my initial preference for the single vented 3/2 sack, but I can appreciate the tasteful rig of any well-turned-out gent. To each his own, and I have the very highest regard for Ben Silver, Sid Mashburn and Eljo’s. I also note that the clothes Dick Cavett wore on TV in the late 60s and early 70s were from J. Press, and they had fairly wide lapels, 2 buttons and possibly double vents (hard to tell from the photos I have seen on line). Very appropriate for the era, even if not something I would wear today.
I have a suit from J Press in the ’70s in my “clothing museum”- clothes I am not willing to discard- although one’s body
changes. I am in my late 70s. It is two button w/ side vents in a greenish glen plaid. It doesn’t not have very wide lapels
a la Cavett because as a RTW garment it stuck to the Ivy paradigm. Even in the 70s trad clothing remained trad except for
some concession to fashion, eg slightly wider lapels.
Maybe I’m wrong, but back in the day Drake’s = ties. I have a few, in fact. But I find diversification into other areas a tad synthetic, like Berluti moving out of shoes. This is how we have ended up with less, over the years, rather more. Except the prices, they are always more…
John Carlos
We Texans should pity the folks forced to suffer through 80-degree temperatures and the resulting desire to venture from the safety of home into a dangerous pandemic. At 100 degrees or more, the lure evaporates.
John Carlos and Whiskeydent — Sorry I was unclear; I was looking forward to a day in the mid 80s after 3 weeks of so in the upper 90s to 100, daily thunder storms, and a tornado thrown in. Not Texas weather, but 98 and up is warm for Virginia. However, daily temps in the 100s definitely gives you some bragging rights and makes me count my blessings. We have friends in Phoenix who recently clocked a high of 118, which makes me wilt just thinking about it. Hope you and they get a cooling breeze at some point so you can venture outside and at least have a change of scene. And congratulations to your daughter, John Carlos. You have much to be proud of.
Roger Sack — I like your concept of “clothing museum.” Much better than my wife’s term for my reluctance to part with older garments: “pack rat.” I am still able to wear most of it, but haven’t had occasion to don the cream-colored linen suit, for example, in quite some time. Too dandy-ish for the office or a burger at an outdoor restaurant or beer garden, and there is nowhere else to go these days. But it reminds me of New Orleans and a long Sunday lunch at Galatoire’s after church, so I hate to send it off to Goodwill or the Salvation Army. Maybe I can wear it around the house, just for old times’ sake.
Hope everyone has an enjoyable weekend.
Bragging? I’ll save that for mid-January when y’all’s temps usually start with a 2 or 3 and ours start with a 4 or 5. It was a January in DC when I learned what it’s like to endure a -30 wind chill in a threadbare rented tux.
whiskeydent – Good point. Summers in Maine, winters in Charleston, and the rest of the year here in Virginia would be a happy itinerary for me, but unfortunately, I can’t afford three houses. However, if the plague subsides a bit, maybe a few days in San Antonio in February might be a very nice respite from the chill.
Charlottesville-you are cordially invited. Maybe we could bend an elbow together.
Whiskeydent-Phi Alpha to that.
John Carlos – That would be a treat. I have not been to San Antonio in at least 15 years, and would love to meet you if my wife and I can arrange a visit. We are reluctant to board a plane at the moment, but I am hoping that the situation will improve at some point. In the meantime, stay cool, in both senses of the word.
Yes about the airplane. You couldn’t pay me to get on one now.
‘The cream of the crop, however – the cherry that definitively marks this lookbook as an Ivy sundae, and the detail from which this article gets its name – is the ball caps, headlining the lookbook in light blue needlecord. In fact, an array of ball caps feature, all six-paneled, all in the delightfully subtle needlecord texture, in prep-appropriate colors (bright yellow, mint green, and a nicely saturated salmon), and featuring retro embroidery in the shape of crossed tennis racquets. There’s such a powerful preppy pull to these caps that they turn even the most borderline of Mr Jules’ outfits – such as a jungle jacket layered on jeans – into modern Ivy staples. Just like how one can add granules to water and get instant coffee, one can add these caps to an outfit and get instant Ivy.’
Seriously? Ivy (clothing) now means whatever the user wants it to mean? There should at least have been an announcement to that effect somewhere.
(Or is ivy only meaningless when it’s capitalized?)
@Señor Yuca – Thanks for calling this out. I will admit, I’m an Australian who has never lived in the States and wasn’t alive in what I understand to be the heyday of Ivy style.
I’ve slowly learned about it online over the past few years, however it’s impossible for me to say whether I learned it “correctly” or not. If there is a universal source of truth that defines what Ivy style is, please do point me towards it and I’ll definitely make any future writings on this topic in agreement with that.
Cheers!
Mr Ewin. I wasn’t alive in the ivy heyday either and my only experience of living in the US was brief and many years ago before I had any idea of what ivy meant. However somehow or other I’ve arrived at a general understanding of the meaning of ivy league (aka natural shoulder) clothing. You enquired about ‘a universal source of truth that defines what Ivy style is’? Not as far as I know however the style has been defined and the info is out there and really not that hard to find.
Much as I admire your enthusiasm in the above article I believe you seriously underestimate the intelligence of your readership. Many IS readers know exactly what ivy really is. These type of readers are not the sort who buy an item of clothing unless it’s the type of thing they plan to be able to wear for decades to come and their clothes are not in fashion in the first place which has the advantage of their not falling out of fashion at a later date.
Related but not strictly ivy clothing of course belongs on this site and I think it has always has had a presence here. At the same time my recommendation for you (whatever it’s worth) is that in future articles you avoid pretending that ivy-related clothing is indistinguishable from the real thing. Also has already been noted your enthusiasm is a little excessive. That may well be the norm in fashion writing but here it appears anomalous.
Good luck with your future writing here and/or elsewhere (if you’re thick-skinned enough to continue here).
@Señor Yuca – Hey mate, forgive me for the delayed reply. I’m not sure if you’ll see this but I didn’t want to leave you unanswered in case you do come back and check. I appreciate you taking the time to write me back. I want to give you an equally thoughtful reply that hopefully illustrates my approach, and I’m going to address a few of your points individually below so I don’t mix my points by mistake. I hope this doesn’t come across as patronising, as I truly do not intend it to.
1) On source of truth
The terminology I used might sound a bit dickhead-ish at first, but I chose it very carefully – you’ll have to excuse my background in marketing/comms coming into play here, but often I see disagreements or misunderstandings coming from two people interpreting words or concepts differently. When it comes to discussing what is and isn’t “Ivy style”, one of two things can be true – (a) it has an objective definition or (b) it has a subjective definition (and therefore no one could really be “right” or “wrong” about it).
If we look at option ‘a’ from a general language perspective, words change definition over time. But that feels a little shallow, so let’s move further and look at how a definition could be objective. We could assign “authority” over the definition to: the coiner of the term, a single universally-recognised authority on the topic area, thought leaders (the term’s overuse in marketing irritates me, but by this I mean things like fashion magazines, fashion designers, etc.), or take a good old fashioned majority vote (which would require a survey I don’t have the funds, time, or – admittedly – interest in doing myself).
I’d like to propose a modern solution to the problem, by which I mean taking a look at how the results on the first page of Google define Ivy style when searching “what is ivy style”.
2) What is Ivy style?
When reading through the results on the first page of Google for “what is ivy style”, it’s easy to get an idea of things that count as Ivy style, but it’s difficult to define what it excludes. Outside of specific items which are mentioned – such as penny loafers, OCBDs, chinos, navy blazers, etc. – the only clear defining characteristics lent to it that I can see are: being worn by Ivy League university students in the 1950s, and being of a variable formality that suits a wide variety of social situations.
To be fair, we could agree that’s the definition – clothing worn by Ivy League university students in the 1950s that are of a variable formality to suit a wide variety of social situations. With that in mind, it might be easy to say baseball caps aren’t Ivy, and penny loafers are Ivy, for example. However we’re all limited by our own knowledge. I’ve personally never seen any 1950s photos of Ivy League students who are wearing baseball caps, but that doesn’t mean you haven’t (or vice versa), nor does it mean they didn’t wear them. But then again, even if they did, was it representative of the whole student body or just a segment (and within that, who is Ivy style meant to represent?)? The whole discussion quickly devolves into a rather dull exercise of data gathering, which I don’t think either of us is excited to do.
3) Respecting the Ivy-Style.com readership
Your point on “underestimat[ing] the intelligence of [the] readership”, I will admit, made me feel embarrassed. I did not intend to write a piece that came across like that, and I apologise to anyone here who felt it was patronising. That’s my mistake, and I’ll try to rectify it in future. My feelings towards the readership are quite the opposite, in fact – everyone here knows far more than me about Ivy style, and I find that exciting.
4) A change in terminology
I appreciate the point you’ve made that, no matter how logically I try to approach the way “Ivy style” is defined, there is a very knowledgeable core readership here that know how they want to see it used and where they want to see it used. I accept that, and in my future writing I’ll rely on what I feel is the broader and safer word; “preppy”. I appreciate the guidance.
5) On enthusiasm
I also appreciate your note on enthusiasm, however I won’t deviate from it. Somewhat selfishly, I write for my own joy. Particularly when it comes to hobby writing, and doubly so when it’s unpaid like it is here. I don’t believe that is unreasonable. Christian being the editor here, nothing I submit reaches the site unfiltered. He has and will continue to make his edits to my writing before it goes on the site. If we reach a point where he believes my topics and/or style are irreconcilably inappropriate for the blog, I’ll happily return to just being a frequent reader instead.
6) On thick skin
Don’t worry, my friend, I’m not too deterred. Ivy-Style.com gets an estimated 8,000 visitors per month, of which only a very limited few have left comments indicating issues with my writing. 99.9% neutral/positive reception to my articles is a result it’s hard not to be happy with!
—
In wrapping this enormous wall of text up (and I thank you for sticking with me), I want to express I genuinely appreciate the time you’ve taken to comment, and share your insight with me. I hope the above doesn’t make me sound like an absolute wanker – I took a lot of time assembling this response because of how much I valued your comment, and how much I wanted to engage with your points. ?
@ Brad Ewin – I am sceptical of your comment that “this isn’t paid for and I have no affiliation with Drake’s”. You also said “I don’t own any Drake’s clothing either, I just find their style interesting.” In you second comment you added “You seem to have taken pain from reading my article. I’m really sorry to have elicited that reaction from you. Genuinely.I just do this for fun, man.”
For fun? I have not seen you post on here before and yet you suddenly arrive to write a glowing review of collection from a brand that you have not even tried!
In fact, I did not “take” pain from reading your article. It’s you, given your lengthy comments above, who appears to be very pained by the perceptive criticism of the regular commenters. I may be old fashioned but I expect authors on Ivy Style (and other blogs) to genuinely know the brands which they are writing about. If you are going to write lengthy reviews of Drake’s collections in the future, please buy and wear something from the company before doing so.
Sebastian M appears to be a very pedantic, patronising and condescending iGent who dislikes any criticism of his favourite brands. He wrote “The Armoury doesn’t own Drake’s. Mark Cho and Michael Hill are co-owners. Look at pictures of both and you’ll easily see that Michael’s influence as creative director is a much bigger influence than Mark’s relatively subdued personal style.Ignorance isn’t a good look on anyone.”
From Permanent Style – https://www.permanentstyle.com/2013/08/drakes-buys-rayner-sturges.html – “Mark Cho, of The Armoury fame, bought Drake’s when Michael Drake retired three years ago.” It would there seem that Cho is in control, i.e. owns the majority of the shares. So Drake’s is a sister or affiliate company of The Armoury. Setting up such companies is a way of limiting risk that I have also used for acquisitions.
@Kenny – Ah, I think I see where I’ve caused confusion. I’m not reviewing the items from the latest Drake’s collection, I’m reviewing the lookbook. It’s my personal commentary on the styling rather than the quality and value of the items themselves. ?
If this article being ‘paid for’ is still on your mind, I don’t think there’s anything else I can do to convince you otherwise. Christian or the team at Drake’s might answer an email if you sent them one about it.
Mr. Ewin previoiusly wrote about an artist and turned in a profile of another before he offered to write about the Drake’s lookbook.
Drake’s has been an advertiser here for over a year or so.
Drake’s was not contacted that we were running this piece.
The model, Jason Jules, is a major fixture in the UK Ivy scene, hence the relevance on that alone.
Kenny, I’m English too — and sorry chum, but I believe you’re being rude, embarrassing and altogether ‘unnecessary’ on this thread. It’s a perfectly decent article about nice-looking, if pricey, clothes. Why the stress?
PS Nobody paid me to write this. But you can, if you wish.