Pipe and Slippers Man #1

Pipe and Slippers - The Classic Combination

I walked past a building site in Marlborough the other day and saw a builder contemplating his work with a pipe in his mouth, puffing away deep in thought. This was no old man either, we're talking early twenties. It was a heart-warming sight of unfettered individualism. Based on this scant evidence, I detect a resurgence in pipe-smoking amongst the youth of Britain. I do hope he wears a decent pair of slippers at home too.

The pipe and slippers combination, though much misunderstood over the centuries, is one of the classic pairings. Get it right and you transcend the zeitgeist, soaring to that rarefied plane of timeless classicism.

I've decided to pair-up some pipes and slippers I think work well. You can add your own soundtrack, but I'd suggest Pretty [Amazon] from Gregory Porter's Water album with this combination.

Porsche P 3611 Pipe

The Porsche P 3611 is in the classic billiard style, with bowl in polished briar and an acrylic mouthpiece. The ribs help keep the bowl cool. I believe Gubbels (1870) of the Netherlands make these pipes. Or perhaps made, as Gubbels declared bankruptcy last year - in which case these Porsche pipes could become very collectable. Maybe a Dutch reader can inform us of the current situation with Gubbels?

Winkers The Crays Slippers

James Ducker and Deborah Carré, our good friends at shoemaker carréducker, have a sideline in creating a kind of slipper (for the purposes of this article) described as a 'resort shoe'. They're called Winkers and the style you see above and below is from the Crays collection. Leather-soled, the upper is in Irish linen, with a crayfish design by designers and retailers Thornback and Peel.

Yes, I can see myself putting my feet up in a pair of Winkers, drawing on my P 3611 as the waves of the Mediterranean lap hypnotically in the background and the cicadas click their rhythmic percussion.