A desire to be dandy

In which G.M. Norton seeks sartorial perfection. 

On Christmas Day, my beloved bestowed on me a book that I’ve been coveting since I first heard about it about 18 months ago - I am Dandy. And I must say, the book, along with my Eves&Gray tweed brogues and Peckham Rye faux fur collar, has inspired me greatly.

Since starting this little slice of the interweb, I’ve been on a sartorial journey. 

Can you believe that when I wrote my debut piece on Norton of Morton, I didn’t possess a single waistcoat? Now I have about nine or ten. 

Naturally, I’ve made a lot of mistakes along the way.

For instance, perusing the beneficiary boutiques, I had a tendency to buy almost anything that was in my size. The result was that I now have about five tweed sports jackets that are a little too ‘old man’. Thankfully, I'm more selective now.

I feel like I’ve made important strides over the last year. Of course, acquiring a gentlemanly wardrobe takes enormous amounts of moolah (even charity shopping and the occasional bargain eBay purchase adds up!). 

If you don’t have oodles of pieces of paper with the Queen’s visage on, then you need time to amass the things you need. Time and good decision making.

For the last three years, I’ve added waistcoats, moleskin trousers, pocket watches, sleeveless pullovers, detachable collars and an almost indecent amount of pocket squares. My most prized possession is my signet ring from Rebus - considered to be 'the gentleman's ring', watch any old film and you'll spot one on the little finger of one of your favourite actors. Reach for the Sky, Dial M for Murder, they're everywhere!

As well as making darn fine progress during 2015, I also feel like I lost my way a little. I attribute this, in part, to the loss of my handlebar moustache. I instantly felt less vintage, if that makes sense. Now I’m sporting the pencil style, I feel like the antiquated jolly throwback that I am and I feel much better for it!

This year, my aim is to become more dandified. That doesn’t mean you will see me flouncing around like the late Sebastian Horsley or Beau Brummell. Just a little more daring in my style choices, I suppose. 

I'm enormously excited to see how 2016 unfolds and what progress I am able to make sartorially. 

G.M. Norton

Protagonist of ‘Norton of Morton’

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