Traveling today to watch one of my younger sons 2 best friends graduate today. He is now officially 1 of 50 in our State Police “SORT”! He’s also one of the youngest to have ever reached this level if not the youngest. He has eaten at my dinner table on average 3 nights a week since middle school and this was always his dream!! I couldn’t be any prouder!! So happy to see him fulfill a life long dream!!

When looking for something sartorial to buy from Rome, I opted for something new (vs. going vintage in Athens with a second-hand tie). When looking for great local artisans for neckties, my AI bot shared that pocket squares from Rome are maybe even more interesting and precious. It found me a store that makes both of these with their designs via local artisans: Cruciani & Bella. They are in the sartorial district near the Spanish Steps, but are not a fashion merchant. Co—Pilot nailed this selection. Given the heat and being shortly after siesta, I was the only customer. Once I asked about shantung and noted my salesman’s tie was grenadine, both staff were very engaging. The only limit is that they are just about to shut down for summer break and will receive their autumn collection upon their return. Their current coffers were limited for more interesting designs, including their typical extensive collection of madder silk. They even walked me through their bespoke tie process, but this was about something custom to Rome and Italy for me. About half way into my visit, I realized that the two staff were actually Cruciani and Bella! They started the store 30 years ago and still run it. They were endlessly patient, proud of their work, and are sending me one of their autumnal madder ties, which I was able to try, once they get their delivery. Photos of the store and the two items I took away are below. The tie, go figure, is a Glenn check, but in a fresco wool weave. The pocket square is madder silk and two sided.

Last Monday Morning I arrived in London. After checking into the hotel my buddy and I decided to get started on looking around. 1 of our first stops was John Lobb. We did not have an appointment and did not plan on commissioning a pair of shoes from them as we had already started the process with another company. When we walker in we were met by Neil. He is a 41 yr employee. He is a fitter and a last maker. He could not have been any more gracious and kind. He spent a ton of time explaining to us the history of John Lobb and how the process works. I can only upload 10 photos here, but trust me there are a lot more. The pictures of the shelves full of wooden lasts are only a fraction of what is there. All of these lasts are for current customers (within 15yrs). They are currently a Royal Warrant holders of 2 separate Royal Warrants, they have had up to 3 going at any point in time. The Gentleman in the picture does all the Shoe Polishing. That is his sole job! There is another room where the "closers" sit. They sew the welt to the upper and the upend welt to the sole. They each make their own thread, and each closer has their own style in thread so the shoes can be distinguished by who's thread is used to make it as well as who made your last. They all have their own style. The still do everything very much the sale as they have done for 150yrs. Same tools all by hand. You can see Queen Victoria's last, HM King George's Last as well as Jackie Onasis last. When all was said and done my buddy and I couldn't help ourselves and we commissioned another pair of shoes. The history and the pride of the entire process was too much for us and we had to do it. Neil has now become our Last Maker! The process is such that he will be our last maker forever, or until he leaves or we leave. All of our orders will go through and be made and supervised by him. It will take 5-6 months for the last to be made, then we pick Style & Color, toe shape, heel hight etc. Then another 5-6 months for them to be ready for a fitting. Assuming no major changes we will have the shoes shortly after. The entire process will take at least a year.

Not by the platform, but by my wife! I made a couple of purchases of used Allen Edmonds footwear over the weekend. First was a pair of black and brown saddle oxfords with lug soles. I’m thinking they would look great in snowy or rainy weather, when I don’t want to wear my leather soles. And these were cheap! Next, a beautiful pair of worn-once oxblood colored brogue, wingtip boots. They weren’t cheap, but the price was very reasonable. They come with shoe trees and shoe bags. I’m excited to see what I can do with them! Cindy may invoke the “Mitch blocking” settings on our eBay account

I saw these coffee brown bit loafers on sale at Nordstrom and I just couldn't resist buying them. Because I am an extra wide shoe size I have a difficult time finding nice shoes like this but these ran a little wider and they were a half size bigger and they fit perfect so I treated myself because it may be a while before finding another one I like that fits right. I paid about $325.00 for them. Then I went to Macys and they had a great clearance sale so I grabbed a few more that also fit! Check out the price on the black ones! The blue ones I got for $78.00.