In two weeks time, on March 14th, we will be holding a launch party in London for our new book, The Casual Style Guide, written by myself and photographer Jamie Ferguson.
The party, at Clutch Cafe, will run from 6-8pm and the books will be available to buy throughout. Though if readers would like to have copies signed, they can come to Clutch any time from 4pm. We will be signing later too, it just might be a bit of a scrum!
The book will be available online about two weeks after the party. This is just to make sure all stockists around the world have their copies available at the same time. These copies won’t be signed, but there will hopefully be launch events in other parts of the world, and we’ll have the books at this year’s pop-ups.
The prequel to this, plain old The Style Guide, has also been reprinted, as it sold out a couple of years ago. These will be available alongside The Casual Style Guide online and in stores. If anyone would like to be a stockist that we haven’t already talked to, please do get in touch.
But what is the book?
Well, like The Style Guide before it The Casual Style Guide is constructed as a series of street-style shots featuring (in our opinion) some of the most stylish people in the world. Jamie has a huge archive, and we mined through it to pick the ones we think best illustrated our favourite things about casual clothing – and wanted to discuss.
The discussion takes the form of comments on each page, suggesting what makes an outfit particularly good and what readers can learn from it. This was one of the things that we found made The Style Guide so popular – it wasn’t just a street-style book, but had observations attached to each outfit.
The Casual Style Guide is also improved (in my view) by adding Jamie’s voice to my own. We both comment on each image, and given we have different styles (in clothing and in writing) the combination both broadens the perspective and brings in a little entertainment.
The other advantage for all those that are sick of the sight of my face is that there are fewer pictures of me in this book and a few more of Jamie.
The book is organised into five sections, representing five genres or ‘paradigms’ of casual dressing: Western, Ivy, workwear, tonal and English country.
Of course these frequently overlap, but by starting with these types of categories, I think it makes the vast world of casual menswear a little more digestible. Most people will identify with one or two of them; few will regularly wear them all.
As each chapter progresses – one commentary often building on the last – it adds up to a cohesive but broad guide to casual style which I think readers – particularly those starting out – will find quite useful.
Now and again you also get to hear from people other than us. Five of those featured have given us their own views on their outfits, so you get to hear the thoughts of Basile Khadiry, Luke Walker, Robert Spangle, Ethan Newton and James Harvey-Kelly.
We’re also grateful to have outfits of mine in there from a few other photographers I’ve worked with in recent years – Alex Natt, Milad Abedi and Mohan Singh.
As with The Style Guide, the book wouldn’t have happened without our sponsors, and bootmaker Viberg stepped up this time, electing to be the sole sponsor and have their own section at the back. There Jamie and I talk about the Viberg we own, why we like them and how we wear them.
Thank you Brett, for everything.
The Casual Style Guide will be available online and with stockists in about four weeks – two weeks after the UK launch party. It will cost £35 in the UK.
The list of stockists will be announced at that point here on PS. Please do visit one in your country if there is one local to you – reward them for making the effort to ship the books out and have them in person.
For the launch party, no RSVP is required, we just look forward to seeing you all and celebrating the past two years’ work that has gone into this book. Thank you very much to Clutch for hosting us.
The Style Guide (the original with Kamoshita-san on the cover) will also be available online at the same time and with most stockists.
