Something that has caught my eye and, to a certain degree, concerned me for a wee while now is the mild and somewhat slow burning bastardisation of the traditional quilted jacket. Don’t get me wrong, I am a fan of style progression and the industrious ways that young bucks and deers go about transforming “classic looks” to achieve an individual (and sometimes postcodal) tribal style that, a year down the line, catches on and the big guns of the high street pretend they invented. However, no nod is given to the artisans of the fashion world who often cut and paste the generic or classic into their uniform.

The quilted jacket that British and American greats like Barbour, Aquascutum and Polo Ralph Lauren have been making year in, year out since the early part of the 20th century seems to have been stolen from under our noses and is now being worn by everyone from gormless T4 presenters to the Wombats. Ridiculously, these guys are pairing the coveted hexagonal duvet-esque coat with skinny jeans, half a tub of Brylcreem, a deep V neck tee, a stubbly double chin and Brick Lane “pumps”. It looks utterly shit.

Here’s how to look good in the quilted coat.

Pair it with good shoes, i.e. leather brogues (Trickers, Grenson, Alden) or tassled loafers (Bass Weejun, Bally, Barker Black). Then get a quality shirt (Hilditch+Key, Aquascutum, Brooks Bothers) and a tie (Ralph Lauren, Gieves, Liberty). Finally, get a quality weight slim denim (Atelier la Durance, APC) or a pair of chinos (Polo, Hackett). Put all of this together well and then you are ready to wear a quilted number.

Get all of this right and you will have packs of 10s chasing you down like randy cheetahs, begging to marry you on the spot.

MR MONAGHAN