Garmology - A podcast about clothes, and stuff.

This week I have the pleasure of talking to someone I've enjoyed countless hours of seeing on tv, Patrick Grant. Known to many as one of the judges of The Great British Sewing Bee, Patrick has many more things going on, such as owning a traditional Savile Row tailor and a Lancashire garment factory. He's also working to revitalise manufacturing in the UK with Community Clothing, creating a communi...

Journalist Symeon Brown visits to talk about his new book about the world of influencers, "Get rich or lie trying". We cover the rise of the modern influencers, how social media has enabled new ways of guerilla marketing using young fans, the fashionable surgery and Brazilian butt lifts, the dropshipping and financial trader scams and at the end of the day, who is actually exploiting who? You can...

Holly Swinyard returns to talk about the history of cosplay and the old origins, how we've always been into dressing up, the potential mental benefits, making costumes, the golden ages of cinema, comics and Japanese manga and anime. There's even a mention of the cringeworthy "Tweedman" (regular visitors will recall this...). You can find Holly Swinyard on Instagram as @lilistprince and all relevan...

Following up on last week's Japanese theme, this week I'm joined by Ian Haydock, Lancashire born, Tokyo resident. We talk about his family history in the Lancashire textile industry, the joy of sifting through the Tokyo second-hand shops, especially finding forgotten British brands, how the ecosystem of vintage and secondhand garments works in Tokyo and the collector mentality. You can find Ian's...

Today's guest is Takè Sato, former fashion editor of Smart magazine in Japan and fashion editor of Monocle magazine. Today Takè is based in London and works as a creative director and fashion stylist. He recently published "An obsession made in Japan", about the "happy victims", fashion victims, as documented by Kyoichi Tsuzuki. We talk about the Japanese otakus (aka obsessives), loyalty to fashio...

This week we venture down a more scientific route with Dr Joshua M Bluteau, aka @anthrodandy, and his field studies within menswear and social media. Adopting the persona of @antrodandy, he went deep into the field to study how we present ourselves on social media, what we might gain and lose from it, what it does to us and how he got to know tailors.  You can find Joshua on Instagram as   @anthro...

My guests this week are Marie and Will from Old Town, micro makers of contemporary clothing with references to the past. We talk about the Blitz scene of the '80s and the twisty way Old Town started off, why they're not about nostalgia, where the inspiration comes from, how their customer base has evolved over time and the celebrity gardener who has become their biggest promoter (and the wives who...

My guest today represents tradition, resilience and doing what you do well. Hillary Bacon is the marketing director of Cordings of Piccadilly, a clothing establishment that has been basically unchanged since 1839, although the world around has changed fundamentally. We talk about how Cordings started and those important first products, how society has evolved, appreciating that some things don't h...

Today's episode is another insight into the world of vintage, courtesy of John Gluckow from New York. John got into the world of vintage sourcing and selling at a young age, moving on to working for Ralph Lauren, sourcing vintage for RRL, studying menswear and starting a vintage-inspired menswear brand in Japan. Some interesting tangents are taken, and we even got round to dating clothes from know...

In this episode, I take a trip down to Dandy Avenue with my guest Nathanial "Natty" Adams, journalist, author, suit designer and gentleman of taste. Natty is the author of the acclaimed books "We are dandy" and "I am Dandy", documenting distinctive gentlemen across the world, with photos by Rose Callahan. We discuss what clothing can mean, the reasoning and purpose of dressing differently, subcult...

Today we swing back to the business of fashion and my guest is Amanda Lee McCarty, producer of the Clotheshorse podcast and Instagram. With her own experience in the business to draw on, Amanda goes deep into the world of decoding and demystifying the world of fashion, both fast and slow. We cover a wide range of topics in our chat and also call out many of the moves the fast fashion companies use...

By popular demand, the garmsmen gather again for the now traditional Yuletide festive episode. Shaun and Jon join Nick for a wide-ranging chat about men's (lack of) fashion, bungled costumes in TV drama, finding rare tweed in Russia, Jons obsession with leathergoods, Shaun's obsession with comfy shoes, when a brand loses its way, what real farmers vs faux country gents wear and what is designer cl...

Today Norwegian journalist and sustainable fashion advocate Tone Skårdal Tobiasson guests the pod to talk about wool, other fibres, the issue at hand and the initiatives pointing forward. Tone's career has seen her quite dramatically change sides of the fashion table, going from being a fashion magazine editor to being one of the countries most vocal critics of the industry. We start out talking m...

The Heritage Post magazine is celebrating 10 years of publication and writer Mathias Lösel drops in to talk about gentleman culture, denim and tweed, subcultures, individuality and rugged guys, that Florian Schneider cover, Churchill and how they work on expanding the minds of their readers. Find The Heritage Post on the web here and on Instagram as @theheritagepost . The free English edition of t...

This week designer Cristiano Berto drops in to talk about his years in Italian fashion design, his early inspiration from American styles, meeting Massimo Osti back in the day, making clothes that work together and don't expire when fashion changes, finding joy in fabrics and their makers, finding success in Japan and how to him sustainability also includes treating both suppliers and customers wi...

This week my guest, sustainability and fashion writer Melissa Watts, takes me down the primrose path of fast fashion and the problem of sustainability. We talk about the fast fashion pulled a fast one with their Higgs index, how the science of marketing is making consumers take on the industry's guilt, the problem of agreeing on some actual numbers and facts, the recent trauma porn landfills of ga...

In a quest to lighten the mood a bit, fashion historian and national esthetician Ragnhild Brochmann visits the pod this week to talk about historical peacockery, why teens have more fun, revisiting your younger self, the codes of accessories, how the 1940s had the best garment, why finding your style isn't the way to go and much more! Ragnhild writes a weekly column for the Norwegian newspaper Mor...

This week Neil Christopher stops by for a chat. Neil is known from underground legend ARN Mercantile, as well as being a sought after chap from all manner of companies. With a career starting in an unlikely and random way and pretty much continuing in the same vein, we get into the ethics of the industry, what needs to change, the business of making proper clothes, keeping your footprint minimal,...

This week Richard Ince is my guest. Richard is the sixth generation Ince making umbrellas in the family firm. James Ince Umbrellas has been making their wares in London since 1805, a whopping 215 years. We talk about how the industry has changed, how umbrellas have evolved, having faith in your product, flamboyancy and sustainability. Find James Ince Umbrellas on Instagram as @inceumbrellas and ch...

This week Mohsin Sajid stops by for a bumper session on his 20 years in the denim industry (so far), a rundown on denim history, collecting vintage sewing gear, which vintage jeans are the best,  zero-waste design, how denim is slowly moving from being one of the worst polluters in the fashion industry to something a little better and how Tencel is doing good stuff, hemp making a massive comeback,...

This week my guest is Leigh of The RE:DIRECTORY. After 20 years in High Street retail, Leigh reached a point where she could no longer stand behind the values they worked to, mainly going for quick profit and short-term gains. As an experienced buyer, she has seen the inner workings of the fashion business, from top management to the shop floor. She now promotes small, ethical businesses through h...

Andrew Groves is Professor of Fashion Design at the University of Westminster, London and curator of their menswear archive. He pops by to talk about moving to London as a young man, working with Alexander McQueen, being a  student while working in a sex shop, moving into academia as a lecturer, the one-upmanship of terrace culture,  why bad taste needs to be collected and shopping for the Menswea...

This week, Sam Binstead is back for a laidback chat about the world of slow fashion, local makers, mending, vintage, bond villains, the outdoorsy life, promoting the susty message on Instagram, the real way forward and making shoes from odd materials.  You can find Sam Binstead on Instagram as @Sam. Binstead and on YouTube here . Garmology is researched, booked, hosted, edited, published, paid for...

This week bespoke tailor Nicholas Simon visits Garmology to talk about the future of suits, how he was pushed into pushed tailoring, why Savile Row is still the epitome of suit-making, the difference between a good suit and a bad suit, bespoke vs made to measure, why it makes sense to own a really well made and well fitting suit in a great fabric. And, Nicholas attempts to describe the smell of Pa...

Ella Grifee is a solo maker based in Cornwall, UK. From her small studio she crafts shirts to order, from organic fabrics and shipped in recyclable wrapping. Inspired to start the company after being furloughed from a large fashion company, it seemed the perfect time to pivot into doing her own thing. We talk about life as a sole employee, working from home, the joy of making, Ella's favourite sto...