NEW GUIDE TO A BETTER DAY FROM MR PORTER IS MORE THAN JUST A WARDROBE OF NICE SHIRTS.
The clever and stylish folks at mrporter.com have just published a definite guide on how to best improve our daily lives and God knows it couldn’t be more timely. As I look with disdain at my saggy tracksuit bottoms over the chair and grimace at my Grizzly Adams beard in the mirror, I confess I may have let myself go a bit over the last few weeks. Sustaining a daily routine with a sense of structure has proven harder than I imagined, add home schooling two young children in the mix and just a daily shower can make you feel like you’re winning at life.
So I was grateful when the Guide To A Better Day fell into my soup stained lap. Designed by London based design agency B.A.M, the handsomely created instruction manual is a well written and illustrated book to help men elevate their lives into some semblance of order and serenity. The pages are punctuated with pops of colour to book end sections and the guide is peppered with smaller inserts of quick and easy ‘How to’ tips from Getting Dressed In The Morning (not always straightforward) to stocking the right products in your bathroom cabinet. All of which is nicely illustrated on a National Trust colour green paper. As well as giving you the tools on how to look sharper there’s a detailed account on how to cook the best eggs - 4 pages no less from Mr Nick Korbee, executive chef at New York’s Egg shop and the sites Editorial Director, Mr Dan Davies’ entertaining observations on How To Appear Wise (on page 236). You may recognise some of the things not to say while ordering wine or touring an art museum.
The Guide covers all aspects of a typical 24-hour period and some way beyond, including recommendations of where to go to find the best pizzas or eco resorts in the world. The paper back offers practical how-to-guides, helpful tips and tricks giving men the tools to be the best version of themselves, making this a well curated edit from Mr Porter’s online Journal. The book navigates everything from your morning routine to exercise, grooming, work, mental health, style and travel, alongside expert advice on topics including how to talk to your personal trainer and how to get a good night’s sleep. It’s your definitive lifestyle bible.
A couple of my personal favourites is What Top Chefs Eat At Home, a surprising platter of comforting food that’s pretty easy to prepare, helped by mouth watering photos and a longer read by Mr Jeremy Langmead on The Perfect Home is What You Make Of It (page 265), which documents the writer and journalist’s amusing and rather exhaustive life of living in 24 houses since childhood. That’s an average move every two-and-a-half-years. I’ve still got rooms without curtains after seven years in one property.
The book also features profiles, interviews and insider tips from some of the worlds most interesting and well presented men, including Messrs Tom Ford, Jon Hamm, Virgil Abloh and Laird Hamilton. Reading about their impressive lives might shift the spotlight on your own short coming’s, but fear not and flip to page 146 and read Mr Adam Welch’s piece on Why Success Isn’t Everything, but why we are so obsessed with it. Its’ a gratifying read, as is the Health In Mind section, the title of which became a recently launched initiative set up by Mr Porter. Wearing their heart on the proverbial Prada sleeve, the generous Mr P folks are donating 100% of net profits of the book sales to the Health In Mind fund in association with Movember, the charity set up to bring awareness to male health issues such as prostrate and testicular cancer and suicide. Turn to page 157 for a really useful read on How To Talk To Your Friends About The Things That Matter and five ways to move beyond the jovial banter. Some nuggets of wisdom to take away for sure.
So once you’re done reading how to dress most appropriately for the gym, for work, for chilling out, for long haul travel and for a fancy restaurant, you just need to figure out which one of the former is open for business and go demonstrate your new found styling skills.
Retails at £30