This time of year we normally run our Permanent Style Awards, where readers vote for their favourite brand or shop in a handful of categories. I then profile the winners over the following month. 

This year I thought we’d do things a bit differently. Rather than brands, I’d like to know what your favourite pieces of clothing are - in order to recommend specific things to readers, with specific reasons that help them decide for themselves. 

I think this will useful, as it gives particular recommendations rather than just shops in general - almost like an expanded ‘Top 10’ peice. It also means we avoid repeating previous awards.

So, these are the categories. Please let us all know what single piece of clothing you would list in each one, and why:

1. Your favourite item of clothing you bought in 2021
2. Your favourite item of (ready-made) clothing ever
3. Your favourite bespoke (custom, MTM) ever
4. Your favourite piece of ‘luxury’ clothing, and why it feels luxurious to you. (Not price, but fit, rarity, make, materials.)

I’m particularly interested to hear what people put for number 4. We talk a lot about luxury clothing, but it can mean quite different things to different people. To one person it might be a bespoke fit in jacket, to another the feeling of 12-ply cashmere, and to another the knowledge that no one else owns the same piece of clothing (as with vintage clothing).

I do hope you find the exercise interesting. I know other readers will find the recommendations valuable. 

I'll do a follow-up piece in a week or two, summarising some of the nominations and also giving my answers. 

Thank you

Simon

Imagery: top, my Whitcomb & Shaftesbury wrap coat, from the tailor's award for best artisan last year; below, the luxury (materials and rarity) of the PS Plaid jacketing material