The form of men’s apparel we now know as the suit went through many iterations before arriving at its present form. But did you know that the exact day the modern suit was born is recorded? On October 7, 1666, Prince Charles II announced a clothing reform. Up until that point men had worn half pants and short jackets excessively decorated with lace and ribbons along with high heels and even makeup. This then shifted to a system based on the three-piece suit with a jacket, vest, pants, shirt and a necktie.
What spurred this reformation was a surge in the popularity of vests and the Great Fire of London. The unrest of the populace became focused on the royal court, so the change was a bid to improve the nobility’s public image by simplifying their attire to appear more frugal. One might ask why we know the exact date of the clothing reform, and the answer is that a man by the name of Samuel Pepys wrote it down in his diary. Despite being born the son of a tailor, Pepys rose to the highest position of power in the Royal Navy. He apparently wrote in his journal that vests were going to be introduced as apparel to teach the nobility austerity.

It’s been a little over 350 years since suits came into being. Even in our modern, increasingly-digitalized era, there are still plenty of analogue folks out there who prefer to use paper diaries and notebooks. Our recommendation to them is this diary cover. It’s of a type where the front and back covers of the book are inserted into pockets, and comes with a flap and pen holder. Another nice detail are two snap buttons to adjust for different thicknesses. The experience of writing in a journal or notebook is in a sense the act of engraving time. It’s quite similar to how bridle leather marks time by how flavourful it becomes as the days go by. Doing things the analogue way every once in a while can be nice for a change.