Ever wondered how working-class guys in old photos managed to look so dapper? Wonder no more. Jaunty Briton Chris Pickings has just opened Pickings and Parry, a Fitzroy men’s emporium purveying heritage workwear and manly accoutrements. It’s very Ernest Hemingway, with a dash of Steve McQueen.
The Triumph motorbike in the window; the vintage Faema espresso machine; the railway luggage racks and hand-painted signage… Pickings and Parry celebrates handsome, robust things made to last in time-honoured ways. Pike Brothers raw denim jeans are styled just as in 1937, and Merz b. Schwanen military-style cotton undershirts knitted in Germany on the original circular machines. There are brass and brown leather stationery sets and pocketknives, tweed caps, sturdy-soled work boots, motoring goggles and niche literature.
There’s even a baby barbershop – called Faulkner's – tucked in the back. Enjoy a haircut, straight-razor shave or beard and moustache trim, and leave with pomades and unguents for your own bathroom. Pickings and Parry is a portal to the days when men worked hard… and scrubbed up fine.