There are people who arrive at style through magazines, and there are people who arrive at it through literature, Ben Miles belongs to the latter camp.
Growing up in Derbyshire in the early 1980s, Miles and his school friend Rich didn't find their way to jazz and Ivy League clothing through any obvious cultural pipeline. They found it through Jack Kerouac and those long, restless passages about bebop and the open road, as well as their fathers' record collections, which they listened to as kids and quietly pilfered as teenagers. What followed was a self-education in mid-century American cool conducted from the East Midlands: suede Gibsons from Robot in Covent Garden, purchases from Flip on weekend trips to London, Ray's Jazz Shop in Seven Dials, and West Coast jazz blaring out of a Ford Anglia at full volume.
Today, Miles is known to television audiences worldwide for his work on The Crown, Andor, The Capture and a string of acclaimed stage roles. But spend five minutes talking to him about clothes, and you quickly realise that the actor's instinct for character and detail extends naturally to everything he wears. His wardrobe is not a collection of things, rather it is a set of stories. A deadstock 1966 US Army t-shirt that somehow escaped Vietnam. Real McCoy jeans built on a 1950s pattern, and a John Simons Ivy navy hopsack suit reserved, in his mind at least, for a front row seat at the Miles Davis Quintet's Kind of Blue sessions. Additionally, long-term readers of our blog and mailout editorials may be familiar with Miles’ fantastic playlist capturing his love of mid-century jazz.
He came to the shop in 1990, he says, and felt like he'd walked into another world. Some thirty-five years later, the feeling clearly hasn't faded.
CAN YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST SIGNIFICANT PIECE OF CLOTHING YOU PURCHASED? WHAT WAS IT AND WHERE WAS IT BOUGHT?
Yes, I bought a pair of suede Gibsons from Robot in Covent Garden. This must have been around 1982 or ‘83. They were a sand colour, with like a tiger stripe top and Doctor Marten soles. I wore them to death, even though they gave me blisters for days at first. School wasn’t too keen on them, but I loved them.
WHEN WAS YOUR FIRST VISIT TO THE SHOP, AND WHAT WERE YOUR FIRST IMPRESSIONS?
It was probably 1990/91 in the Covent Garden store. I remember feeling like I'd walked into another world. I was just beginning to be able to afford new stuff at the time. Before then, Flip was the place of course. Then Interstate and American Classics, but John Simons was just so cool and very, very classy.
WHAT ITEM OF CLOTHING COULD YOU NOT LIVE WITHOUT?
Tough one. I was going to say my 001X jeans from The Real McCoys. They're a 1950s 501 reproduction that are just so solid and wear beautifully. But thinking about it, I recently bought a vintage plain white t-shirt from The Major's Tailor out of Hudson, NY. It's deadstock, US Army issue, manufactured in 1966. As I was. That's probably why it means so much to me: made the same year I was born, never used, destined for the Vietnam War, but somehow spared the horror. The maker's stamp fades the more I wash it, but hey, nothing lasts forever. It’s an iconic design that will never go out of style.
WHAT IS YOUR NUMBER ONE STYLE TIP FOR THE READERS AT HOME?
Know your clothes’ history. Don't overthink it.
DO YOU HAVE A SARTORIAL HERO?
Jack Kerouac. To me, he pioneered mid-century American cool. Sportswear, work wear, military, formal, he did it all.
IF YOU COULD CHOOSE TO ATTEND A CONCERT FROM ANY ARTIST, DEAD OR ALIVE, WHO WOULD IT BE AND WHAT WOULD YOU WEAR?
Probably The Miles Davis Quintet around 1959. The Kind of Blue line up. I'd definitely wear my John Simon Ivy navy wool hopsack suit.
Editorial photography by Alex Natt.
Listen to Ben's Playlist below.
