Portillo and Abbott both went to Harrow County when it was a grammar school. Then Oxbridge. So Abbott was smart enough to pass the exams even if she does say some daft things nowadays.

I was in Catholic schools so Harrow County was never under consideration.

Portillo never carries any luggage on trains. He just clutchs Bradshaw like a Bible. His train is never delayed or crowded. He always has the correct ticket and never gets fined for the wrong train or train company. On arrival there is small talk with the inhabitants then local delicacies- - Eccles cakes, cheese, pork pies etc. Then it's off to an expensive hotel

I once saw Portillo filming these things, just him and one cameraman. They literally got off a train, hung around for a few minutes then he said his piece to camera as the next train came in, which they got on and left.

Sitting on my hotel balcony in the warmth of Penang, I take a look at the JS online winter sale, to my surprise they have in my size the overcoat I bought at full price in October, £200 off...... I’d been wanting an overcoat for 3 maybe 4 years, always waiting for the sale but all sold out in my size by then, so in October I decided to bite the bullet and pay full price to make sure I got the one I wanted, aaah ! I was surprised how big the discounts were, and at what seems a fairly wide range of sizes in some nice items, particularly the Ivy jackets, looks better than the sales in the last 2-3 years, maybe they’ve overstocked,

I'll be in John Simons a week Tuesday, much like Stax, I was surprised at some of the bargains there look to be had. Hopefully there's a few bits and bobs left by the time I get there. I've been giving serious thought to the cord jackets and a Balmacaan.

I wouldn't worry too much about paying full price for the overcoat Stax. You got a tasty overcoat that is almost unique. I just hope you haven't packed it for your trip to Penang! Ha

The vintage Pendleton jacket looks good to me. I don't need any more clothes and have avoided looking too closely at the JS sale. There do seem to be some bargains available though. Any idea when the sale ends? I'm tempted to pay a visit next week.

FOB chinos called Westpoint. Lovely light khaki colour with a front coin pocket slot detail. inspired by military trousers hence the name.

Alvey - did you see what the price was ? A couple of years ago 46CS had FOB chinos in stock, ( probably in lockdown), I've kicked myself for not buying then, also, did you notice if there was much in the sale that isn't on the website ?

Tim - Clutch Cafe - I took a look at their website, some expensive items but I'm sure great quality, I liked the look of the Anatomica shirts, a lovely green/grey stripe, made in France, 6 button front, Anyone had any of these shirts ? Read an article that said the Paris website is down, checked their Nagoya website and they had a few shirts in their sale, good prices which said including taxes when shipped to UK, but on checking their shipping terms it said in their Japanese English that taxes/duties would need to be paid by the receiver, also their shipping cost was around £50 !

Thanks Alvey, personally I don't rate AP knitwear these days, at least not the one I bought a few years ago that went bobbly even before it was washed,

Stax,

I was tempted to buy the AP wool saddle shoulder sweater. I think it's called Lanzie. Should I bother?

Sunspel knitwear is very good. I swear by their merino polo shirts. I only bother in the sale as full price they're silly money. The Uniqlo ones are good quality but have a much smaller collar.

Stax - Clutch somewhat reminds me of American Classics on Endell street - but 20 years ago. They’ve got some really interesting stuff in there although a lot of it is what I would consider very fashion forward or aimed squarely at those people who buy very expensive work (inverted commas) wear to sit at a desk and press buttons. They stock a good few of the Japanese socks though, which I like and I wanted to try on a pair of jeans. My cordovan Paraboot Avignon came from them last year too.

Were the chinos high waisted and trimmish, Alvey? Could be tempted by the olive, even if not made in US/UK (as it's so hard to find decent chinos).

I'd love a pair of the Rancourt in grain, to replace my much loved and long lamented US Made grain Weejuns. If they were a hundred quid cheaper, I'd be all over them but by the time I get them to Ireland, I'm looking at closer to 550+ euros, which is only a hundred quid shy of a pair of Alden loafers.. Import taxes and postage at this stage is outrageous. I was quoted 49 sterling earlier in the day to ship a single Shetland jumper here, turning a 99 pound jumper into 170 euros by the time it's posted and the duty paid. I'm genuinely at the stage where i wonder if I'm ever going to be able to buy anything worth having again, other than brief and infrequent trips abroad. It's completely untenable to buy online now, especially from the UK. Rant over, for the time being.