Our Favourite Fine Things
I love the long dark nights and cosy fires of winter. They warm and comfort us. It’s a predominately indoor existence, though, where the most special time is late at night when everyone else has gone to bed. The house is quiet and we can sit downstairs and throw a log on the fire (real or imagined), pour ourselves a nightcap, light a candle, and then retire into our favourite chair with a good book. It’s a great time to reflect upon the fine things in life.
If you’ve read Fine Things, Fennel’s Journal No. 8, you’ll know how important it is to develop a unique sense of self and communicate it to others. We can demonstrate this though our actions and by surrounding ourselves with special and sentimental things that reflect our personality and interests.
For me it’s a flat cap or a waistcoat, maybe a pocket watch or a wax jacket, or a fountain pen. They say that I’m a traditional countryman and writer which – above all else – is who and what I am.
Choice defines us, which is why it’s important to make the correct choice in such items. We’re shaping how people see us, and how we see ourselves. Get it right and we’re seen in the right light; get it wrong and things will niggle and gnaw.
Which is why I’ve spent some late nights documenting and researching my favourite fine things. At least, I’ve made a start. (It’s a long list…) And with the new Priory website being one such Fine Thing, I’ve taken the advice of Andy Roberts and his team at Hedgerow Creative to build this list online – using social media. Crikey. What is becoming of this self-confessed traditionalist?
I’d not discovered Pinterest before, but can now confirm that it’s totally addictive. So be warned. If you want to share your favourite things, and discover a load of new ones, then it’s a powerful place to do it. But it will challenge your desire to ‘Unplug’, what with its endless lists of all that’s alluring and moreish.
So what I’m saying is that Fennel’s Priory now on Pinterest. You can view my ‘boards’ here, which show the aspirational things that I dream of 'some day’ owning and using. The boards will evolve as I discover new things, but if you want to know what inspires me right now, then this is the place to do it.
The process has been something of a revelation insomuch as it’s reminded me of some of my earliest blogs about my favourite fine things. I’ve revisited these and, although six years old, they still accurately capture my tastes and styles. They enabled me to populate my Pinterest boards quickly, and reminded me of my ‘top five’ outdoor brands – my big discoveries whose products most accurately and completely capture who and what I’m about.
This is what I’d like to feature here, and I make no apologies for dangling temptation in your path. These are all top-end aspirational products. So we’ll have to save our pennies and drop subtle hints to our loved ones ahead of our birthdays and big occasions.
Here they are, my all-time favourite 'Top 5' brands:
5. Fjallraven
‘In at number five’, and new to my wardrobe, is Fjallraven. This Swedish maker of specialist outdoor-wear has pipped Barbour as my favourite range of coats and outdoorswear. They’ve been around for over fifty years, originally making their name creating an innovative mountaineering rucksack – the first to incorporate an aluminium frame – and continued to innovate with revolutionary condensation-free tents, sleeping bags, and outdoor clothing. The latter are made from a tightly woven cotton-based fabric that resists wind and, when treated with wax, is highly water resistant. This fabric is named ‘G-1000’ and is featured on their best garments today.
G-1000 is available in three different densities that provide different levels of durability and freedom of movement. But it’s the design of the garments that most appeals. They're really functional and ‘traditionally good looking’, and not as ‘country squire’ as Barbour. They’re designed for and suited to the extreme outdoors, for typical Nordic winters, mountain expeditions, and life in the boreal Northern Forest. The green and brown colour palette appeals to me (also the red, which is nicely on-brand with the Priory colours), as does their use of leather for zip pullers and badges.
I’m extremely taken by their range of anoraks, especially the Anorak No. 8 in Tarmac/Dark Olive colour. It has all the features I’d look for in a performance smock, such as a stormproof hood, multi-zip ventilation, kangaroo pocket and incorporated seat fabric. The Luhkka No. 3 poncho cape is the best I’ve ever seen, and is lined with Shetland wool for warmth.
The Fjallraven jackets can be combined with matching trousers and shirts. I especially like the super-durable Forest Trousers No. 6, that are also made from the G-1000 fabric, and the Granit lumberjack shirt with reinforced shoulders.
4. William Lennon
It’s said that you can tell a man by his shoes, so no list like this would be complete without a bootmaker. I could have included Hoggs of Fife (they make my everyday boot – the Rannoch Veldtschoen – and my ‘for best’ boot: the Glencarse), but ‘still at number four’ is my favourite aspirational footwear made by William Lennon.
Making heavy work boots since 1899, William Lennon make traditional made-to-order footwear in the English Peak District. Still manufacturing hob nailed boots, they are to be applauded for waving the traditional flag and making quality boots that last.
My favourite boot of theirs is the 78N traditional Derby style hob nailed boot. It’s study, of timeless design, and – clickety-clop – has hob nails on the soles. Great for pure traditionalism, terrible for icy weather, and perfect for ruining those horrid plastic linoleum floors.
Leather soles, however, have a finite life (they tend to rot and need replacing). So for wet and muddy conditions I prefer the rubber commando sole of the 78TC Traditional Work Boot.
For everyday and ‘about town’ use, take a look at William Lennon’s authentic World War 1 boot – an exact replica of those issued to British troops between 1914 and 1918.
All these boots are made from super-tough full grain vegetable tanned leather, have brass eyelets, and are made to authentic traditional patterns.
3. Old Town Clothing
At number three is Old Town Clothing based at Holt in Norfolk, who are tough to beat when it comes to traditional workwear. If their clothing is good enough for Monty Don, it’s good enough for me.
It’s difficult to single out a favourite style of theirs, as everything they do is excellent. Though I have to admit to a deep love for their Stanley and Marshalsea jackets in blue twill and Harris Tweed respectively, paired with matching high rise trousers and braces, and the pull-on shirt. Although these are supposedly ‘work wear’, they’re way too nice for wearing when doing heavy work in the garden or fields. Far better to keep them for special occasions.
2. Wilderness Outfitters from Bison Bushcraft
Rocketing to number two on the list, and a new discovery for me, is Bison Bushcraft – for their Wilderness Outfitters clothing.
This bushcraft company really understands the outdoors: that it’s not about ‘hardcore survival’ or dressing up and pretending to be soldiers. It’s about connection with nature. Which is why I love their clothing. Made from tweeds and cotton, and handmade to order in England, the garments look amazing and offer warmth, durability, and longevity.
(The Bison Bush Shirt I’m wearing in this video is made by them. It’s a smock with a robust tweed outer and is lined with cotton moleskin. I wore it last winter when fishing for a week at Redmire Pool. The NE wind was relentless and temperatures averaged -7ºC, but I remained ‘toasty warm’ inside.)
The Bison Bush Shirt is my favourite traditional outdoor smock. It can be a bit awkward to climb into, so I can see the value of Wilderness Outfitter's zipped version, which has a full length zip down the front.
I also adore their Guide and Forester tweed shirts in Autumn and Spring check. The first is an ‘over-the-head’ smock-style shirt and the second is a full-button version. Both are great, and remind me of the Joe Brown tweed mountaineering shirts I wore in my teens.
And if you want to upgrade from these shirts to one with reinforced super-durable ventile shoulder and elbow patches, then their Lowland Shirt looks great. (Match it with their moleskin trousers for outerwear that really performs.)
For durable and traditional outdoor wear, that’s rugged and versatile enough to be worn all year when working or exploring the woods, then Bison Bushcraft’s Wilderness Outfitters wear is my preferred choice.
1. Millican
Top of the list, obviously, are my long-time friends Millican. I absolutely love everything that they do. Based on a farm in the English Lake District, their values and philosophies closely match my own, and (bonus) they make the most exquisite travel bags. Over the years I’ve amassed quite a collection of their canvas rucksacks and shoulder bags.
You’ll rarely see me out and about in the countryside without either my Matthew the Daypack or Dave the Rucksack. If I’m travelling then I’ll probably use my Harry the Gladstone Bag; and if I’m in town meeting editors then I’ll carry large manuscripts in my Keith the Writer’s Bag and my A4 notebooks in my Mark the Field Bag. My DSLR camera often gets carried along with my notepad and pen in Millican’s Rob the Traveller mini-bag. Picnics are always accompanied by Les the Cooler Bag. All of these are in antique bronze, and feature in Millican’s ‘original’ range.
Millican’s newer bags are also great, especially Fraser the Rucksack, as their ‘rust’ colour perfectly matches ‘Priory Red’. Their latest release, which stopped me in my tracks and forced my heart to miss a beat, is the Wainwright x Millican pack in Wainwright Red. This is ‘the’ bag, for all its looks and (exuse the pun) 'back story'. It’s great. Really great.
I say again – I absolutely love Millican bags. They’re timeless, beautifully styled, expertly made, and contain the right values for life.
Maybe one day I'll have a bag named after me, though knowing my luck it would be called 'Fennel the Nappy Bag'. Still, I live in hope...
So that’s it. It’s said that ‘we are what we wear’, so these five brands pretty much define my tastes. But it’s only a ‘Top 5’. There are other brands that nearly made the shortlist, such as Tentipi tents, Pashley bicycles, and Conway Stewart pens; but they’ve already filled a Journal. The point is to make your own list, and then bravely show the world who you really are.
If you like this blog, then you might like Fine Things, Fennel's Journal No. 8
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