City life: The double-breasted puts on a brave front
12:01AM BST 04 Oct 2003
Comment City life
By Andrew Cave
(Filed: 04/10/2003)
The double-breasted puts on a brave front
Showing off in the City is back in fashion. Conspicuous consumption became outmoded three years ago when smug dotcommers got their comeuppance but circumspection in the Square Mile hasn't lasted long.
"Style is back, without a doubt," says Stephen Bampfylde, chief executive of headhunters Saxton Bampfylde Hever. "There is a confidence that says 'it doesn't feel like I am going to be thrown out on the street.' The ski chalet and Ferrari indices are still down but you see more double-breasted suits than two years ago."
Tailors Roderick Charles agree. Bright suit jacket linings are back, says Martin, manager of the Bow Lane branch, although not those brash red ones of the 1980s. Gold and plum are the favourites. "Suits in the City are navy and grey," he says. "People want to show something of an individual touch."
Bampfylde believes the new confidence is fragile. Lunch is still for wimps, with middle-ranking executives needing to be seen to be sweating in the office. There is a need to demonstrate political correctness. "Previously, people were never unemployed, they were in consulting," he observes. "Now, an awful lot of people have been away in India doing voluntary work. These things earn you Brownie points nowadays."
Sited in the former Guardian Royal Exchange building on King William Street, the five-floor House of Fraser was opened by actresses Amanda Holden and Sarah Parrish. It claims it will provide "the answer to many City workers' most troubled City moments".
What can it mean? Weapons of mass destruction for use when Rupert in corporate finance gets a much bigger bonus? An instant upgrade to First Class on the red eye to New York? Nothing so trivial.
The answer, according to the store's 32-page glossy magazine, is "how to get to Bond Street and back for a spot of lunch-hour retail therapy".
Investment bankers confident enough to wear brown in town can snap up tan Jeffery-West stitch-lace shoes for £169 or Paul Smith weekend bags for £250. Staff will iron double-cuff shirts so bankers recovering from all-night parties can put them on straight away.
A book called How to Mow the Lawn is displayed amongst Kenzo and Ted Baker suits and there are tomes on other vital topics such as extreme golf and footballers' haircuts.
For the girls, the store could lead to serious platinum card-scorching. According to one City shopper who battled through the perfume stands on the ground floor, picking up just one of them brought a cry of 'Do you want to know the price of that?' from an assistant.
Upstairs, there's a veritable feast of Jimmy Choos, Pucci scarves and For All Mankind jeans. Even the Dior key rings cost £88. Price labels are stuck on the bottom of the shoes. You might not want to remove them, since if you've paid £350, you may as well advertise it.
Most of the stilettos are seriously unsuitable for pounding the streets of the Square Mile, which might provide a clue as to why Goldman Sachs has such high taxi bills. Or it might prove that old law of the City - she who walks tallest ends up going furthest as well.
One executive was surprised to attend two such events within a week, hosted by a fund manager and a City stockbroker.
"They were so formal it was like going to a really smart restaurant, even though all the girls were wearing Seven jeans," she says. "At one, the hostess telephoned Harvey Nichols and read out her proposed menu to check it would complement the wine she wanted. The caterer wore a smart apron, all the wine was expertly poured and the host perfectly matched the pudding with a dessert wine. Shame she forgot to serve it."
The group's marketing strategy is to eat away at the assumption that doughnuts are unhealthy goo eaten by fatties. "Samplings" were held during London Fashion Week shows by trendy designers such as FrostFrench, Gharani Strok and Julien Macdonald. "They went down briliantly with the models," a spokesman guzzles.
"We also took doughnuts to Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan. They are a treat. We don't eat them all the time."
Stacey Hawkes does, however. She was one of five people who queued all night to win two dozen doughnuts a week for a year. That's 1,248 doughnuts, or 262,080 calories. Let's hope she wins a personal trainer too, especially if she wants to get ahead in the City.
Bampfylde believes the new confidence is fragile. Lunch is still for wimps, with middle-ranking executives needing to be seen to be sweating in the office. There is a need to demonstrate political correctness. "Previously, people were never unemployed, they were in consulting," he observes. "Now, an awful lot of people have been away in India doing voluntary work. These things earn you Brownie points nowadays."
Therapy for the troubled
"The New City Dress Code Starts Here," shouts an advert for the City's first department store since Gamages of Holborn was knocked down in the 1970s.Sited in the former Guardian Royal Exchange building on King William Street, the five-floor House of Fraser was opened by actresses Amanda Holden and Sarah Parrish. It claims it will provide "the answer to many City workers' most troubled City moments".
What can it mean? Weapons of mass destruction for use when Rupert in corporate finance gets a much bigger bonus? An instant upgrade to First Class on the red eye to New York? Nothing so trivial.
The answer, according to the store's 32-page glossy magazine, is "how to get to Bond Street and back for a spot of lunch-hour retail therapy".
Investment bankers confident enough to wear brown in town can snap up tan Jeffery-West stitch-lace shoes for £169 or Paul Smith weekend bags for £250. Staff will iron double-cuff shirts so bankers recovering from all-night parties can put them on straight away.
A book called How to Mow the Lawn is displayed amongst Kenzo and Ted Baker suits and there are tomes on other vital topics such as extreme golf and footballers' haircuts.
For the girls, the store could lead to serious platinum card-scorching. According to one City shopper who battled through the perfume stands on the ground floor, picking up just one of them brought a cry of 'Do you want to know the price of that?' from an assistant.
Upstairs, there's a veritable feast of Jimmy Choos, Pucci scarves and For All Mankind jeans. Even the Dior key rings cost £88. Price labels are stuck on the bottom of the shoes. You might not want to remove them, since if you've paid £350, you may as well advertise it.
Most of the stilettos are seriously unsuitable for pounding the streets of the Square Mile, which might provide a clue as to why Goldman Sachs has such high taxi bills. Or it might prove that old law of the City - she who walks tallest ends up going furthest as well.
Catering for your every need
Being swanky at home is easier. Forget Gordon Ramsay cookery books; followers of the latest City dinner party fashion wouldn't dream of doing the catering themselves.One executive was surprised to attend two such events within a week, hosted by a fund manager and a City stockbroker.
"They were so formal it was like going to a really smart restaurant, even though all the girls were wearing Seven jeans," she says. "At one, the hostess telephoned Harvey Nichols and read out her proposed menu to check it would complement the wine she wanted. The caterer wore a smart apron, all the wine was expertly poured and the host perfectly matched the pudding with a dessert wine. Shame she forgot to serve it."
They love their treats
Sorry Amanda. House of Fraser's launch has been overshadowed by a doughnut. Krispy Kreme, the American company with the soaraway share price and eponymous edibles, launched its Harrods outlet at a preview party on Wednesday and counted more than 1,000 guests. Yesterday's opening saw 70 people queueing to get in and 200 served in the first hour.The group's marketing strategy is to eat away at the assumption that doughnuts are unhealthy goo eaten by fatties. "Samplings" were held during London Fashion Week shows by trendy designers such as FrostFrench, Gharani Strok and Julien Macdonald. "They went down briliantly with the models," a spokesman guzzles.
"We also took doughnuts to Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan. They are a treat. We don't eat them all the time."
Stacey Hawkes does, however. She was one of five people who queued all night to win two dozen doughnuts a week for a year. That's 1,248 doughnuts, or 262,080 calories. Let's hope she wins a personal trainer too, especially if she wants to get ahead in the City.
