Alan Paine is often seen at JS, the stuff they sell under their own label is from Scottish makers like Jamieson and Lawrence Odie, good quality and priced accordingly. So any JS labelled sweater is a good bet.

Heavy knitwear is much like heavy tweed, nice to own, a thing of beauty, great for an outdoor walk on a winter day but with most buildings being a/c or well heated it soon becomes too hot to wear indoors. Perhaps with rising energy costs these garments will come back into their own?

John Simons own brand shetland knits are curious beasts.

I have a few of their Odie made finer shetlands that every year go to my local tailor as the bottom of the knits come unstitched.

Why, you fool, have you a few if the quality isn't up to snuff I hear murmured from the gallery.

Quite simply it's the colour ways. Having hunted high and low the two tone colours that used to be available at Chiltern Street were, by far, the most interesting. A blue with a hint of  purple, a peacock green with a subtle hint of blue, a deep rich navy - all stunning.

Yes, you can pick up cheaper. Yes, you can get sturdier but sometimes it's all about the sheer pleasure.

In many ways it's like a dating a red head. Wrong on so many levels but still highly pleasurable.