How Dunhill Became the Gentleman's One-Stop Shop
Alfred Dunhill inherited his father's saddlery in 1893 and pivoted toward motoring equipment: goggles, leather coats, picnic sets.
Daniel Hurst · 2025-09-03
The Vault
Archival features, deep reads, and enduring perspectives.
Showing 81–100 of 166 articles
The Waistcoat: A Garment That Survived Its Own Obituary
King Charles II introduced the waistcoat on October 15, 1666, appearing at court in a long sleeved vest to establish soberer dress following the Great Plague.
Thomas Nakamura · 2025-09-03
The Peacoat and the Navies That Wore It into History
The peacoat's name likely derives from the Dutch pijjekker, a coarse pilot cloth jacket worn by Dutch sailors.
Marcus Wei · 2025-09-02
The Evolution of the Necktie, From Croatian Mercenaries to Silicon Valley's Rejection
The necktie's origin is military.
Catherine Avery · 2025-09-02
The Chelsea Boot: From Victorian Riding to the Kings Road
The Chelsea boot dates to 1851, when Queen Victoria's bootmaker J.
Thomas Nakamura · 2025-09-01
How the Patek Philippe Calatrava Defined Dress Watch Elegance
In 1932, Patek Philippe was struggling through the Depression and needed a product to reassert relevance.
Catherine Avery · 2025-09-01
The History of the Brogue: Drainage Holes That Became Decoration
The brogue's perforated patterns began as engineering, not ornament.
Sebastian Cole · 2025-08-31
Hermès and the Patient Art of Building a Brand Without Advertising
Thierry Hermes opened a harness workshop in Paris in 1837, crafting bridles and saddles for European nobility.
Marcus Wei · 2025-08-31
The Barbour Jacket and the British Countryside That Made It Famous
In 1894, John Barbour opened a shop in South Shields selling oilskin jackets to fishermen who needed protection from the North Sea.
William Ashford · 2025-08-30
How the Penny Loafer Crossed the Atlantic and Conquered Ivy League Campuses
The penny loafer begins in Norway, where cobbler Nils Gregoriusson Tveranger developed a slip-on inspired by traditional fishermen's moccasins.
Catherine Avery · 2025-08-30
The Fedora's Rise, Fall, and Stubborn Refusal to Disappear
The fedora takes its name from an 1882 play by Victorien Sardou, in which Sarah Bernhardt wore a soft, centre-creased hat.
Oliver Ramsey · 2025-08-29
The Cartier Tank: How a Watch Shaped Like a Battlefield Became a Symbol of Refinement
In 1917, as Renault FT-17 tanks rolled across the Western Front, Louis Cartier was sketching a wristwatch echoing their silhouette from above.
James Alderton · 2025-08-29
A History of the Cufflink, From Renaissance Courts to Modern Minimalism
The cufflink emerged in the seventeenth century as shirt sleeves grew longer and more ornate.
James Alderton · 2025-08-28
How Ralph Lauren Built an Empire on a Vision of Old Money
Ralph Lauren was born Ralph Lifshitz in the Bronx in 1939, the son of Belarusian Jewish immigrants.
Catherine Avery · 2025-08-28
How the Aviator Jacket Went from Open Cockpits to Open Roads
When First World War pilots climbed into open-cockpit biplanes at altitudes where temperatures plunged below minus thirty, survival depended on clothing.
William Ashford · 2025-08-27
The Omega Speedmaster and the Race It Won Beyond Earth
On July 21, 1969, Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the lunar surface wearing an Omega Speedmaster Professional, making it the first watch worn on the Moon.
Thomas Nakamura · 2025-08-27
Brioni and the Invention of the Red-Carpet Suit
When Nazareno Fonticoli and Gaetano Savini founded Brioni in Rome in 1945, Italy was still clearing rubble.
Daniel Hurst · 2025-08-26
The Signet Ring: Power, Identity, and Wax Seals Through the Ages
Long before signatures carried legal weight, a pressed seal in hot wax authenticated treaties and papal bulls.
Oliver Ramsey · 2025-08-26
How Rolex Became Rolex: A Century of Calculated Prestige
In 1905, a twenty-four-year-old Bavarian named Hans Wilsdorf arrived in London with an improbable conviction: that wristwatches, then dismissed as jewellery for women, could be made precise enough to rival any pocket chronometer.
Catherine Avery · 2025-08-25
The Oxford Shoe: Eight Centuries of the Most Formal Footwear on Earth
Before the Oxford became the gold standard of formality, it was a half-boot worn by students at the University of Oxford in the early nineteenth century.
Marcus Wei · 2025-08-25