1. Stripe tease It's a little-known fact that the French invented the polo shirt, which many people assume was the work of a certain American brand with a horsey logo. We recommend you take a look at French label Aigle's polo shirts, which come in a range of nice colours, patterns and stripes. We particularly like these two stripy numbers (HK$820, for the thick-stripe shirt, right; HK$1,150, for the thin-stripe shirt, left). Aigle is in Hysan Place, Causeway Bay, tel: 2148 5168.
2. Boot call The very existence of bootmaker John Lobb gives a lie to the notion that the French and the British can't work together and flourish. Owned by Hermès, John Lobb has come on leaps and bounds in recent years by adding a touch of, shall we say, Gallic flair to its solid, high-quality, hand-made English shoes. Of the new range that was shown at London Collections: Men (imagine, a traditional shoemaker presenting at a fashion week!), we love the canvas Savannah shoe (bottom; HK$5,250) and the arresting slip-on blue suede Yardley (top; HK$6,250). John Lobb is in the Mandarin Oriental, 5 Connaught Road, Central, tel: 2537 2229.
3. Lethal weapons Ordinarily we would scoff at people who say the pen is mightier than the sword, which in real-world terms is obviously poppycock. However, when talking to collectors, if you continually refer to writing instruments as pens, well, the pen suddenly becomes quite deadly. Montblanc is the gold standard among writing instruments and this year marks the 90th anniversary of the Meisterstuck, which has become something of an icon. To celebrate, Montblanc has released a tribute writing instrument in black lacquer with a red-gold nib (top; HK$5,300). If you're looking for something a whole lot more modern then we recommend the StarWalker Carbon fountain "pen" (yes, we're dicing with death here) priced at HK$7,500 (bottom). Montblanc is in Pacific Place, Admiralty, tel: 2523 6637.
