Cologne and Cashmere in Clifton

Lets talk about British men. Why not women, you ask? Because men have captured my attention more-their style and demeaner more pronounced.  Perhaps it is because women`s styles overlap across the western world due to the influence of movie stars and magazines and a general interest in fashion. Or perhaps it is because, my man is far away and so a little eye candy gets me through my day. Or perhaps it is because British men are distinctly sharp.

Even in jeans, men had nice shoes and expensive jackets.

British men are upright, tight and tucked. They are clean shaven, with crew cuts and collars. Their shoes are shiny and their sense of style something to be rivaled with. As an American woman, you have to look as good as your friends, but here you have to look as good as your man. The men have edgy bold glasses and soft knitted sweater vests. AND they are tall and sexy and fulfill a peculiar Cambridge fantasy, I didn't know I had.

Somehow they manage to look both intellectual AND successful something I think many American men fail at.  To me, monetary success with American men is inverseley correlated with intellectuality.  If your thinking big thoughts and opening doors your a nice guy who finishes last.   Taking your time to dress nice and think before you speak is not respected enough in American culture.





Of course, there are many kinds of men in England as well as the U.S. who don't fit this; just like there are many species of plants that make up a landscape.  But from one landscape to the next there is still a distinct texture, hue and odour all its own.  As I walk around Bristol, this landscape is in full bloom.