Skyfall boosts cuttrhroat shaves

OK, I'm very excited because I've seen Skyfall and it's brilliant. My faith in Connery as the best 007 is finally shaken and stirred (see what I did there?), not his fault the movies are dated after 50 years of course but there it is.

Highly recommended, and notable from the lifestyle point of view because of the (gulp) bit where one of the Bond girls - I'm not going to give away any plot points by saying who - takes his cutthroat razoe and shaves him. OK, call me old fashioned but if anyone wants to shave me, like Hadi at The Valet (incidentally I once took some stick from a correspondent for having a valet - can I repeat for the hard of thinking, it's the name of my barber in Croydon, anyone can go there), they'd better be qualified or at least experienced. Some secret agent who's recently shot me by accident (it's in the opening sequence, no plot spoiler there) can, quite frankly, bugger off.

So I admire the people who're buying cutthroats from Shaving Shack, which tells me that since the movie launched they've noticed a 405% increase in sales. They're going to send me a sample(from The Bluebeards, pictured) so I can have a go. It comes with instructions of course.

I am daunted but will give it a go. And if I end up with a better shave than I get from my trusty Merkur, which cost five times as much, don't be surprised if I end up looking a bit narked.

Bespoke suit, bespoke lining..?

Sometimes there's an idea that sounds fun on paper but when you see it, you just wonder why you would. That was my feeling when I saw the bespoke linings launched by my first tailor, A Suit That Fits (sponsored link, anyone buying a suit through it will be rewarding me indirectly).

The principle is simple. You get measured for a suit in the usual way of course BUT you upload a picture to the website and they put it onto the lining, much as in the illustration on the right. Click on it for a bigger view if you like. You need to click on disclaimers confirming that you own the rights to reproduce the pictures - no doubt sneaky unlicensed Lady Ga Ga or 007 logo pictures (we've all been sloshed at the computer, come on) will be intercepted. Endearingly, the spokeswoman at the launch said "we're trying to avoid comparisons with Boots" or words to that effect - putting us all in mind of Boots, immediately, of course. This is the Boots where you take your picture in and they put it on mugs, tee-shirts, whatever.

But a suit lining? I find my other tailor, King and Allen, a bit restricted in that way if I'm honest; you get a plain lining and that's that. The paisley and jacquard offered by ASTF can be very appealing, but for me this is a little OTT. The spokeswoman said they found it worked well for wedding suits, and if that's who's buying it, fair enough. It's probably not for me, but if people are responding, good luck to them!

iPhone wallets: Cases in point

I've been looking at iPhone cases. Not for the shiny new iPhone 5, you understand; many companies are still looking into just what they do to be compatible with those (if you think the case people have a problem then bear in mind the power connector has changed, too). There are still plenty of 4s and 4Ss around.

There's a nice leather one from Knomo available for £50, the iPhone wallet. As you'll gather it's a combination phone and wallet so you need only to carry one of the things around with you, which is a step forward for blokes trying not to rumple their suits with too much in their pockets (you know this is a problem when, as happened to me relatively recently, a tailor takes your jacket and complains it's too heavy...or was that my mother, or wife, or all three...).

As you can see from the picture on the left it's nicely made and tastefully understated. The other end of the spectrum is the Bookbook by Twelve South, which you can buy on Amazon by clicking here (this leads to my Amazon affiliates site, I will get a small amount for every one ordered through this link).

When the review sample arrived (see picture) my initial response was that it was over the top, tacky and definitely not for me. My daughter, on the other hand, thought it was brilliant. "I love cheesy stuff", was her response, and it's certainly not for the understated.

Both are nicely made and would stand up to being pulled out of your pocket a few times. For me there's still a bit of a concern about pulling all of your money out every time your phone goes off, you never know who's watching; I hope I'm being overly cynical about that but in spite of the convenience I'll probably stick with a separate phone and wallet case for the moment.

What do other people use?

Running socks and skipping ropes

OK, been busy so it's been quiet in here for a little while. But following the piece a few weeks ago on my attempted lifestyle change I can confirm that around half a stone has vanished in three weeks with a belt notch being tightened on my suit yesterday. No, it didn't hurt and yes, I know leather stretches so this probably wasn't a whole "notch" in real terms.

The exercising I mentioned - using a skipping rope - hasn't gone quite so well. I've been testing some socks from Runbreeze and can confirm that if you find ankle socks/trainer liners comfortable they certainly do the job of cushioning your foot and keeping you cool just as you'd hope.

I've been using a digital skipping rope (pictured) from Kettler. I can confirm that this does the job - counts the time you've been working out, tells you about the calories you've been burning, or at least it did until I let my daughter loose on it. It came back with the display dead, I have no idea why, she couldn't have run out the battery that quickly.

Nonetheless it's still fine as a skipping rope, albeit one with a lighter cord than many people will be used to so you have to work harder to get it over your head. This is where the other component comes into play; you know, the unco-ordinated, immovable heavy lump attempting to skip for the first time in forty years when he wasn't particularly good at it anyway. I tend to last about two minutes before getting tangled up, so if I'm honest the 'cardio fix' running alongside the calorie reduction hasn't gone quite to plan. I will persist.

Still, three weeks, half a stone. I'm not at all distressed at that so far.

Related posts: Attempting a lifestyle change

Pocket squares for charity

Here's a nice idea. Car manufacturer Alfa Romeo (don't look at me, can't afford one) is issuing some pocket squares. The proceeds go to Heart Research UK.

Now, my dad died of a heart attack when he was not far from my own age (2 years in it) and that is my justification for spending £45 on three of the things. My favourite is the one designed by actor Tom Ellis - him off Miranda - and I also like the one by Peter Jones (pictured) and bought the PPQ one too because I wanted something in black and white.

The idea is that you show your support and knowledge of heart conditions by wearing one. I can't help but feel this is a bit of a cop-out; I'd rather think about looking pretty reasonable because I'm wearing one and giving a donation as separate things.

Pocket squares are odd. When I started wearing them my wife said I was looking a little too dandified. I thought more people were wearing them than she thought, and now they're just about everywhere. The trick is to wear them toning with rather than exactly matching your tie, otherwise they look like you've bought a job lot.

These Alfa Romeo editions are nicely designed, competitively priced (check Ralph Lauren or something for an equally good look and watch yourself paying double) and in a good cause. Click here to have a look at all six, find out about the designers including the aforementioned, Olympians and actual designers, and do buy one.

Attempting a lifestyle change

OK, it's like this. I'm heading towards 'can no longer claim I'm in my mid-forties' territory, and my dad died when he was 49. I don't smoke so I'm not that worried - much - but I'm aware that my weight, for example, is not my best friend.

So, having started to get into better habits thanks to the Fitbit I bought a couple of months ago I'm looking into other areas for permanent change. This Horizon programme, which you can watch until someone who owns the copyright takes it off YouTube, certainly offers food for thought:




It's 50 mins or so long but worth a look. I've also received a pair of sports socks which I'll be testing for this blog and have been promised a digital skipping rope on test, too.

I will let you know how I get on. At the moment I'm wearing 38in waist jeans from Wizard with a certain abdominal overhang (that's claret-gut to most). By Christmas I'd like a considerably flatter stomach and to be getting comfortably into 34in.

Why am I doing it this way? Because a couple of weeks ago I had the house to myself a few days. I thought, right, I can do something about this. I can go to the gym because there's no distraction, nobody to remind me that the lawn needs mowing or something, nothing to get in the way.

And work being work, I didn't. I just couldn't find the time. This tells me that my lifestyle needs changing urgently; if you can't look after yourself, Clapperton, you're going to go the same way as your father. My brother was 14 when our dad died; I'm not going to voluntarily leave my daughter at the same point in our life. But I have to work.

So, 15 mins skipping in the garden before a shower involves no travelling time, no real inconvenience, just getting up marginally earlier. And cutting down to 600 calories two days a week involves very little in the way of interfering with work appointments and soforth - I should be able to fit perfectly happily around other people, they won't notice.

With a bit of luck it'll cost me a fortune at the tailor because everything will need taking in.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, yes - announcing this in public is intended to help encourage others to do something similar where they need to, but also to embarrass me into keeping it up. I can't tell you guys I'm going to lose weight and then not do so. I'll let you know how it goes.

A rum thing

Don't look now but I think the sun may be on its way back - in which case there's every chance you'll be looking for a nice long drink. Which is why I'm pretty pleased to have been sent a sample of Bacardi Oakheart (thanks guys).

It's a spiced rum to celebrate 150 years of Bacardi by, well, asking us to buy more rum I suppose. I'm quite fond of rum in spite of being a bit more of a whisky man myself; the spiced rums I always found a bit of a mystery. Why would you buy a rum if you didn't want it to taste of rum?

It's actuallyvery pleasant. Stored in charred oak barrels which lends it an air of vanilla and a bit of smokiness, it's not bad with ice but really comes into its own when it's mixed with something else. Bacardi and Coke drinkers like it a lot; personally I find Coke in most of its forms too cloyingly sweet, but as they say your mileage may vary.

£18 for 75cl. A perfectly pleasant finish to the summer holidays.