In my case, the search for the right clothing has not really been a matter of fashion, but more a quest for the real thing: the long-lasting epitome. Once you’ve found this kind of garment, you just re-order, hoping that the suppliers continue to supply and are not lost in closures and incorpora­tions. In this perspective I can see the point of the Savile Row suit or the English gentleman’s fishing outfit, though in fact neither model draws me. The look I wanted, emerging into clothes consciousness as a sixteen-year old, was Ivy League, but as worn by my jazz heroes rather than by the inhabitants of Princeton, New Jersey.