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Matching this with a velvet pair of slippers is not just smart and bold, but also sartorially correct. He turned to Crockett & Jones for the job. Crockett & Jones, established in 1879, is not the most expensive shoe brand on the market but it oozes British craftsmanship and heritage; it is a favourite of Daniel Craig. The factory in Northampton offers a wonderful trip down memory lane, but at the same time, it takes that kind of heritage to know how things are done properly, not unlike the Windsors, you may say.
The slipper is meant to be a sensible and smart indoor shoe that did not wear out the floors or carpets or cover them in dirt. The wearing of the slipper and the smoking jacket was something that happened around the same time, although they were not developed in cahoots. The processes Crockett & Jones go through to make the slippers, with a set of paper patterns and fabric cut by hand as well as closing and lasting that is carried out by hand is not to dissimilar to how it was done when the company was established, and there are no plans to streamline this with mechanisation.
Embroidery on slippers makes all the difference. It ideally should be something sentimental or funny, I have my initials on mine for example, in case I forget. By having F-18s – the plane featured in the Top Gun sequel – embroidered onto his slippers, the Duke has managed to do both, and thus has made all the sartorial intelligentsia sit up and take notice.
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