Unbuttoned - G. Bruce Boyer's Life In Clothes The Hogtown Rake

Bruce Boyer has a new book out called "Riffs: Random Reflections on Jazz, Blues, and Early Rock." You can find it now in most major bookstores and online. It's a collection of essays Bruce has written about some of his favourite artists, including Jimmy Smith, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, and many, many more. As a special treat, Bruce has recorded three of these essays, interspersed with the songs he's talking about. If you are listening to this on Spotify, they should be right there in the podcast playlist. If you're not on Spotify, you'll have to head over there to give them a listen.

Bruce has sported a beard since the 1960s and he explains how that gives him more in common with the counter-culture than you would have thought. Plus, an excerpt of Bruce's thoughts from "The Problem with Jeans" documentary.

Bruce and I both have a long relationship with the Italian mill VBC, as journalists, collaborators and friends. In this special episode, Bruce shares his experiences with the maker, their mill and their creative director.

Bruce Boyer has been commissioning suits, jackets and trousers from London's famed tailoring house Anderson & Sheppard for over four decades. In that time, he has gotten to know the house, and its cutters and tailors, quite well.

Almost fifty years ago, Bruce Boyer left the world of academia to pursue a career in menswear writing and journalism. Since that time, he's witnessed the fashion magazine industry change from an editorial focus to an "advertorial" one. But he never lost his passion for exploring what and why we wear what we wear.

Bruce Boyer has worked with an awful lot of craftspeople over the last sixty years. Some, as a customer or collaborator. Some, as a journalist and documentarian. And almost all, as a friend and fellow sartorialist. He's been lucky enough to hear stories and share moments in workshops and cutting rooms that he wouldn’t have otherwise. But it isn’t just great memories, it’s also great lessons.