Letter from the Editor

The 10-year anniversary of The Rake is a good time to reflect. This may come as a bit of a shock to anyone who has had the misfortune of spending a few minutes in my company, but, unlike my learned friend and boss, Wei Koh — who grew up with the most comprehensive curiosity for cultural codes of clothing — my taste has always been somewhat regimented, literally.

I have been a bannerman for a very specific style of dress for as long as I can recall, and it is my father’s City dress look. The 1970s beckoned the end of an era in which all men who worked in the City (usually former army officers) would be required to wear suits, bowler hats, tightly furled umbrellas, bulled brogues and, on Fridays, a club or regimental and stiff upper lip irresistible — and the associated attire entrancing.