Buying casual for the Autumn

I've been buying casual clothes for my Autumn wardrobe and I'm happy to say the non-flashy, discreet-logo-only look is back in. My favourite barometer for this sort of thing is Fat Face; it sells good clothes that wear well, but some seasons it's aimed so squarely at a younger market the rest of us would look ridiculous. This year the gilets and above all tops are available in plain Autumnal colours and are likely to suit a lot of people. My wife says the mustard top I've just bought is less flattering than the darker ones they sell; I couldn't keep wearing navy blue forever, it was getting boring.

That said, the Henley T-shirt (pictured) looks pretty good. I'm not the same shape as the picture of course, which of us is? It covers the unwanted bulges well enough and with a white or off-white tee underneath it I find it hits the look I was after.

(Incidentally when did tee-shirts start sprouting buttons and long sleeves? I was always under the impression they were lightweight short sleeve thingies, I'd recognise this newfangled thing as a "top" - but it's very comfortable so I've bought it in dark green as well).

I hadn't heard of Fat Face seven years or so ago and it's become a welcome new name in the High Street. Another new arrival looks promising; Cornish company Seasalt is starting to sell online and in John Lewis (never knowingly undersold which is relatively easy when you never knowingly sell anything someone else stocks).

This picture is of the company's Neap Tide shirt which looks pretty good; there are also a lot of knitted items, shirts, gilets - everything you need to pretend you're the seafaring type, which I gather from this and Fat Face is the thing to do this year. Everything's available in sizes up to XXL, although as yet I don't know exactly how big that is - bit of a moveable feast, these XLs and XXLs.

The other company I've noticed creeping up on the High Street is Joules, a leisurewear company again. I bought a jumper from them in the summer and it's well made and comfortable but they only go up to XL. I'm clearly overweight but when an XL shirt won't go round you while all the other brands are fine you know someone's cutting their cloth on the slender side.

Watching the watches: Christopher Ward C9 Jumping Hour

I've been playing with the new Christopher Ward C9 Jumping Hour watch. Jumping hour or jump hour watches have a long tradition; it's at least a century old, Cartier made some notable examples in the 1930s and now direct sales organisation Christopher Ward has added a model to its portfolio.

The idea is simple enough; instead of the traditional two-handed clock face you get a traditional minute hand but the hour indicator is static, in some sort of window (see the picture). Every time the hour changes it "jumps" one forward. The complexity is in getting the movement to stay steady in spite of the energy required for this sort of push forward.

The design is therefore unorthodox and that's my first problem with this watch. Call me old fashioned but I like to be able to tell the time at a glance. Look at the one in the picture and your first reaction, if you're like me, is that the time on it is ten to 12 - but it's not, it's 12.50 because everything is past the hour that's on display.

In fact when I woke up the other morning and glanced at it - now remember, it's first thing in the morning, I've just been away and I'm a bit groggy - there's an IX in the window but that doesn't matter, I can just see the hour bit pointing straight up and assume I've slept through the morning and it's something past 12. It was actually 9.15.

I just think the ability to tell the time really quickly is a good thing in a watch. It's kind of why I have one.

You do get used to it, though. On day two I was enjoying working the time out a bit more and on day three it had started to become instinctive, although anyone else looking at the watch to ask the time would have found it a bit of a struggle. My wife and daughter both found the design a bit pointless, to be honest.

I've grown fond of it. Maybe it's a bloke/gadget thing. It's well designed, although the brand badge on the face looks a little tacked on. I'm a sucker for automatics and the customary viewing window on the back to see the Swiss movement, adapted from an ETA 2824, is the usual treat.

It's this movement that explains the price. Keeping it steady with the surge in energy required to make the hour jump isn't easy. That's why this is Christopher Ward's most expensive watch to date at £1150. It's well made and attractive and if you want something a little different then the jumping hour combined with the reliable timekeeping is certainly something to consider. But at that price - and I do accept it's one of the lower-priced Swiss-made jumping hour models around - it's an expensive gloat. At that price point you can start to consider a Tag Heuer from Goldsmiths Jewellers, for example, or for £60 more a Longines; an extra £350 - not a trivial amount I agree - and you're looking at an Omega.

These will be more basic watches of course. They won't be jumping hour models or anything like it. But moving over the £1000 mark means Christopher Ward is starting to edge into the prestige brands' territory. Given the company's overt rejection of celebrity endorsements, heavy marketing budgets and the traditional retail route in general, I do wonder whether it's going to be able to compete there no matter how swish a watch looks or how technically elegant its innards may be.

A foot nibbling frenzy

That headline is of course up there purely to irritate people who like SEO.

So anyway, I was on holiday in Center Parcs the other week and something caught my family's eye - the chance to try this remove-your-dead-skin-by-attacking-it-with-fish thing. These are not my feet in the picture, by the way - I was the noddy on the end of the camera, and it's a phone photo so not all that great artistically, but you get the idea.

Before I tell you much about it, though, let's take a couple of basics into account. The fish are nibbling the dead skin off your feet because this is how they survive - OK, but some less reputable establishments starve them so they nibble more off. This is a bad idea as it is simply cruel. Second, if you're thinking about this, you need to ask how often the water is changed. It's a small tub of liquid so any minor infections anyone before you has had will be transferred. You have to offset this against the fact that the fish will need the water to have matured a bit - they can't survive long in completely fresh water, it needs to have the right chemical balance. Feel free to ask your "therapist" about all of these things and if they're evasive don't give them your money.

The Center Parcs version looked OK so I stuck my feet in, ten quid for ten minutes. Tickly as hell at first, then not unpleasant except for all the kids walking past and pointing, going "eurgh".

And yes, some of the dead skin on my extremities did indeed go away. The woman in charge said I'd need to top up every month or so if I wanted completely soft feet (further research suggests actually a half-hour session is better for a first one, topped up by ten minute bursts once a month). I'm not going to bother - I don't need soft feet particularly and if my family hadn't been doing it I probably wouldn't have bothered even the once. But if softer skin is your thing, subject to all the cautionary stuff above i'd recommend it.

Later that day I had the second men's facial of my life. Last time it made a positive difference. If I'm honest, after the advice and help I've had at The Valet including hot towel shaves every other month or so, it didn't make such an impact this time. I gather I turned up clean, so all the scrubbing and stuff you get in a facial was a little redundant. It's a good idea to take an hour or so of time for yourself occasionally - but another time I think I'll stick with a hot towel shave.

Travel accessory: I got the power

I've been travelling a bit. And I got stopped by a security machine, not because I look shifty - much - but because the X-ray showed a load of wires with different chargers for stuff. This isn't a good look to a security person but it's kind of important - they soon realised I was carrying nothing suspicious but I was glad I was stopped.

One useful thing to counter this is portable charging. I don't want to be caught short by a laptop not working or something any more than the next guy, which is why the Duracell power range was particularly useful.

There are spare batteries, rechargeable ones and a battery charger in here, plus a USB-based portable charger. Once you've charged it up you have up to 5 hours extra talk time for smartphones, for example, by attaching them to it by USB. It's neat and folds up easily and for £39.99 is one of the cheaper items in its class. It'll happily charge two items at a time.

Duracell has helpfully issued its items in a carrying case (pictured) which, once you've established you probably don't need to carry the battery charger and spare batteries around all the time is a bit redundant. On the other hand if you're like me and used to sending alarms off because of all these damned cables and stuff in your bag,  maybe it's not such a useless thing.

Tweed for Movember from A Suit That Fits

It's nearly November and that can mean only one thing to the well-informed bloke and his friends - time to grow a moustache and get sponsored for male-specific cancer charities. Testicular cancer used not to be as widely reported as breast cancer (which a minority of men also get, we have the equipment) and it's not a competition, but there's still some awareness campaigning to be done.

The problem is I can't grow a decent moustache. I get a dirty great big gap in the middle and it looks ridiculous. Fortunately A Suit That Fits (sponsored link, I earn loyalty points but if I get to 1000 points because of this post I'll give fifty quid to cancer charities - fair?) is launching a couple of items exclusive to the charity and it'll donate money to Movember if you buy. I'm taking one of the ties (pictured).








It's not something I can see me wearing. But it's in a good cause. And I'm not buying one of the jackets (also pictured) because they look plain scary.

It's a great cause - do support it somehow.

Watching the watches: not quite Christmas

OK, OK, it's October so I've finally got to admit Christmas is very nearly starting to slightly threaten to arrive, in a couple of months.

So, watches. Loads of people think watches are an excellent buy for Christmas, for the very good reason that they can be indeed. In a few weeks I'll be looking at the new offering from Christopher Ward (for no better reason than it's a personal faourite of mine), but in the meantime I'm delighted that Terry Markham, assistant buyer and senior marketing merchandiser of Watchshop.com has offered some thoughts on what's going to be in vogue this coming season. For people wanting to adjust their wristwear according to fashion - and this isn't everybody - he sees four main trends which are imminent:

SLIM

Slim, elegant watches always sell but this winter, we expect slim watches to be everywhere, as most watch brands are producing a slim range. For the office, a slim watch is a great accessory to complement a suit and of course ensure you get to work on time.

Pictured: Men's Citizen Stiletto eco-drive, £279

AUTOMATIC

Automatic watches seem to be increasingly popular. They’re certainly not the slimmest of styles but we believe the increase in popularity is largely due to a real desire for the more traditional watch technologies as an investment purchase. Men in particular seem to like the idea of wearing a piece of machinery and so brands are producing more low-mid priced automatics, making them affordable. 

Pictured: Davosa Pares classic automatic watch, £1195

BLACK

The old favourite, black straps and dials have been a watch staple since time immemorial, and this is no different as we head into winter. Black complements all colours, and always radiates sophistication.  So whether your watch face is square or round, a black strap will almost certainly go with any suit or casual wear from brown belts to trainers.

Pictured: Seiko Premier Perpetual Kinetic watch, £450

BOLD

Many timepiece makers are producing a strong, no nonsense face design, bold statement watches that grab attention with their design.  Combined with understated colours, these watches are for the man who likes a design that gets people talking.

Pictured: Mondaine Automatic Retro watch, £440

My thanks to Terry. My own tastes are towards the classic - more on that next time we're on the subject. From this batch I'd probably be happiest with the Citizen or the Davosa - I'm kind of into understatement and although the Davosa has a number of different dials as befits a chronograph, it masks them with a plain white dial and therefore looks less fussy than some.

Under the knife

No, I'm not going for plastic surgery! Or cosmetic surgery to give it its proper title. But increasing amounts of men are doing so - which is why I'm indebted to consultant cosmetic surgeon Dr. Jag Chana of Spire Healthcare Bushey for writing this excellent common-sense guest blog on what to do if you think it's for you.

According to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), male cosmetic surgery is more popular here than in the US. Men are increasingly opting for cosmetic procedures in order to improve their appearance and this is set to continue to grow next year. 

There are many reasons why we’re seeing an increase but perhaps one reason is media awareness.  We are surrounded by stories in papers, magazines and on TV of people having surgery and this has made people feel more aware and comfortable with the concept of enhancing our physical selves for the better.   

But perhaps even more surprising is the growing impact of “someone we know” having cosmetic treatments and this is particularly true of men. Most of the new male patients I see in my practice are the husbands and partners of my female patients. The majority of these men were always curious about surgery but it was only after seeing the positive results in their wife or girlfriend that they decided to bite the bullet and book a consultation.   

Surgery isn’t the easy option. There are always risks involved and it’s vital that anyone thinking about surgery does their homework and picks their surgeon very carefully.  If you are considering having something done, here’s my advice for selecting the right surgeon:    

Make sure the surgeon is qualified and recognised

Begin by looking for the right qualifications. Good surgeons will have an FRCS (Plast) qualification in Plastic Surgery and  should be a member of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) which is the only association recognised by the Royal College of Surgeons to represent cosmetic surgery.  It’s also the only society which audits the safety figures of each of its members. And consider if the surgeon has also consulted for the NHS as he or she will then have the highest level of training in their field.

Don’t be pushed

There’s so much information on the web making it difficult to decipher and choose the right surgeon.  There is a very simple fact with this marketing - the more commercial the clinic is, the higher the visibility, the more likely you are to see it.  But remember, this does not necessarily equate to the quality and level of experience and expertise of your surgeon.  It’s also very important not to be pushed into surgery by sales tactics, such as seeing nurse ‘advisors’ who may offer free consultations or give discounts on an immediate booking. Your consultation should always be with a surgeon who is actually going to be carrying out the surgery.  

Don’t go abroad for surgery

It’s not a good idea to travel abroad for surgery. Not only do you have no idea about the qualifications or experience of the surgeon, it’s likely that there will be no follow up or after care.   I’m increasingly seeing patients coming to me with complications from surgery carried out abroad.  Sometimes it’s correctable but it can be disastrous if it’s not.  It’s also important to realise that the NHS will not carry out corrective cosmetic surgery.

My current top male procedures are:

·       Liposuction

·       Male chest reduction (Gynaecomastia)

·       Rhinoplasty (nose reshaping)

·       Blepharoplasty (eyelid reduction)

·       Facelift

If you would like more information or considering surgery and would like to book a consultation with Mr Chana, please visit  www.spirebushey.com or telephone 0208 901 5505.