Fred Perry's Friends - Sunspel and Bass Weejun

Modern clean-cut, classic men's dressing ultimately derives from the Beau Brummel colour palette, from Jermyn Street and Savile Row, and the country house style. More casual sub-sets from the same gene-pool include mod, preppy, le style Anglais et al. And as you will remember with set theory in your maths lessons, sets have intersections whose members belong to all those sets that intersect. In clothing terms, this is where we have our basics that complement each of the looks — a polo shirt or loafer, for example.

Classic Basics

Fred Perry have made it easier to pick up some classic men's clothing basics with the introduction of stock from our friends at Sunspel and the All-American Bass shoe brand in their Laurel Wreath Collection shops. The brands have an obvious connection with Fred Perry's mod heritage, but their availability also makes it very easy to acquire a timeless set of staples in one place. Match a pair of Bass Weejun penny loafers (as a knockabout alternative to your Alden cordovans), with a white Fred Perry Original (pre-piping) or red Sunspel polo shirt (below) and you'll be ready for a weekend in Brighton. Both polo shirts are made in England.

And if you're heading to Brighton, you may want to take the Guernsey sweater from Fred Perry (above) to protect against the cool breeze on the promenade. The wool sweater is made in the UK to an authentic Guernsey recipe, with the knitted stitching on the sleeve that identifies the Guernsey style.

Classics keep on giving

If the quality is there, the classics just keep on giving. Unlike here today, gone tomorrow fashion trends, you can wear this stuff from teen to pensioner and always look like an ace face - it refuses to date.

Laurel Wreath Collection shops, which you can find in London, Manchester and Berlin stock one-off pieces and, most interestingly, vintage Perry wear crops up occasionally too.