Bower is my favourite, I have all colours for all occasions, along with t-shirts and vests for when the days and nights get chilly. It’s a joke now with my partner, “guess what I’ve bought!” Eyes roll, and the reply of “John Smedley. I’m glad it’s a jumper you love so much and not another woman, you’d have left me years ago!” Nothing comes close to the quality of a John Smedley.

When I buy a JS product, it is for its quality and design; so, I am truly happy when I am complimented for my style, with no reference to a preconceived idea concerning a brand and its average cost, what would certainly influence people’s judgment.

And please forgive my ‘leading to disaster’ English!

It makes up part of a list of things in life that add uncompromised joy at every opportunity: crisp Chablis, fresh cotton linen, open topped sports cars on sunny days, home grown herbs, fitted suits and hard heeled shoes, to name a few…

These aren’t the things that make a life; health, happiness and someone to share it all with are all you really need for that. They are just little things. But little things that make me smile every time I’m lucky enough to have one.

With miserable Marcus riding pillion on the back of my Lambretta, I had got the short straw. A good night was had and we decided, that cold mid February morning, to head home. The skies darkened and it began to snow and I knew what was coming next, when Marcus asked me if he could borrow my new John Smedley top as an extra layer of warmth. I had, in the past, lent Marcus another John Smedley top which was never returned so my reply, obviously, was, “You can freeze mate”.

So… purchased a couple of merino wool polo necks earlier on this year….absolutely excellent for winter golf or football spectating

Let me spool back again - further this time - back a couple of years. I’d flirted with John during those years, but had never been loyal. A powder pool cashmere and wool mix jumper had been the first, but others hadn’t followed regularly, and my eye frequently wandered. A piece here, a piece there, no commitments. But that was all about to change in that kitchen. Out of the washing machine, onto the vinyl floor fell a jumper. V neck. Made from wool and in a nice shade of dark red. I know what you’re thinking - “Their heads bumped as they bent down to pick up the luxurious garment, they laughed and looking into each others eyes…” Nope. Didn’t happen. The jumper was made by someone else, and it had shrunk in the wash to a size that even my childhood teddy would find uncomfortably tight around the armpits.

We laughed. Hard and loud. There was something extraordinarily funny about seeing something I wore, that was now so very tiny. Without me saying anything, the next day the girl presented me with another beautiful v neck red jumper. In it was the label “John Smedley, Made in England”. No turning back. From that day our relationship flourished; me committed and loyal to John. As for the girl, well she became my wife.

i still have the first smedley sweater from 1990.

SP

My Nan bought my Dad a grey merino cardigan and I remember liberating it from his wardrobe and wearing it, way oversized as it was, over my school uniform. I think I probably got more wear out of it than he did - at least until my younger sister discovered it’s charms too…then the battles began.

I now have quite a lot of John Smedley merino and sea island cotton and each season I covet more!! My children are 9 and 3 so not quite at the age to start borrowing from mum, although my little girl likes my purple belted cardigan from last winter or the winter before that!!

They appeared new, but I washed them, and now feel so cosy. I remember having Smedley vests when I was young, and am now nearly 80. What better tradition could you get?