In recent years, it's been lovely to see consistent popularity of Permanent Style's independent, long-form content.
Despite new media and the volume of images, re-posting of images, and algorithms that pretend to be people re-posting images, interest in what we do has continued to grow.
In that time there have been several new highs. But last year was the first time the site has received over 1 million unique visitors.
One million people, reading 6,041,585 posts. It's staggering to think about.
I would like to say a humble thank you to everyone, in particular to those that have recommended PS to a friend (the way we have always grown...) and taken the time to write a comment, adding their personal experiences to the conversation.
In terms of the future, I can only reiterate what I wrote last October: nothing is going to change.
We're not going to become a shop; we're not going to become a vlogger talking about what we had for breakfast; we're not going to join 'like circles' on Instagram or engage in other bullshit ways of trying to become popular.
Instead, we will continue to publish independent, thoughtful content on classic, quality clothing. On a website where we can control everything about what we do, pick niche advertisers, and create a searchable, categorised body of work.
The tide might be turning. Slow journalism might be making a comeback. That would be nice - there would be more things to read. But it doesn't matter either way: we're not following trends.
This post is not meant to be a pat on the back. It's meant to be a heartfelt thank you to all those that read and support Permanent Style, and a notice that there are more like them every day.
Thank you
Bravo!! Well done!
Bravissimo!
congrats mate. I refresh the home page at 9am every morning as part of my arrival at work ritual.
Nice
Thank you to you too Simon for the great website.
Simon
Very very long time reader here …. I dont use a username but I reckon if you tracked my 2 IP addresses I probably account for a few thousand comments ha!
Just a thought that popped into my head – whilst I hate to be too PC the pic above reminds me that the audience is likely predominantly “male, pale & stale”…
Have you ever thought about looking into the cross over of street fashion with the classical ideals that readers here more typically adhere to?
Nice point – personally I don’t think I’d ever go fully to the street wear side, but I do find style ideas there really interesting, such as more high/low dressing for example. Ideas of proportion and texture
Well done Simon that is some milestone.
Congratulations, well deserved! Thanks for the production of excellent content that helps me develop my style!
Congrats Simon !
Simon,
All us menswear enthusiasts who enjoy long form content on this topic are happy to hear that PS will not change.
All the best.
Long form forever!
Congratulations! And more important, thank you.
Congratulations Simon! Well deserved.
A couple of questions:
1. Why the off-cycle post about this? Is it because you hit milestone yesterday/today? Or you just didn’t think this was substantive enough to count as a normal post?
2. When you write “6,041,585 posts”, I assume you are counting comments there? As prolific as you are, I don’t think you’ve done close to 600,000 posts per year for the last 10-11 years!
1. Nice spot on it not being a normal Monday, Wednesday, Friday post! I tend to post things on Tuesdays when they’re not really a full post, yes. More of a note, an announcement or a thank you.
2. I mean that posts were read over 6 million times, not that there were six million posts.
Recent convert here just adding my voice to the chorus. This site is a revelation, a portal into a world that i’m glad exists. Thanks for all of your hard work.
Hi, Simon
Thank you for all the great work you’re doing. I can’t remember how and when I’ve learnt about your blog. The reason I’m keep coming back is not only classic clothing and everything related with bespoke fashion. Main reason is your independence, honest opinions and not following the mainstream media trends. No FB, no Instagram, no Twitter, I love it. Your posts are way longer than usual and reading it I know you’re treating readers as inteligent people who actually think about content they’re reading and it’s great. It’s completely different from what you can find today on the web and in my opinion it’s one of the biggest values that your blog brings.
PS: I can also put comment without loggin’ on which is rarity these days.
Nice, thanks Jack.
One thing about not following fashions in new media, at least you stand out!
For sure, in a world where everything “needs” to be unified. But as you mentioned, let’s hope there’s at least some shift in a way the media work because right now it seems like an actual content it’s just a way to put more ads on the blog/website. So where’s a content and where’s an ad, we can ask?
Indeed.
As a long time reader I salute you sir for your faithfulness to the original mission of Permanent Style. So keep up the wonderful work of educating your readers about the benefits and pleasures of being well dressed.
Congratulations Simon. That’s a remarkable achievement.
What I appreciate most about Permanent Style is the symmetry between the quality and craft of your subject matter, and the quality and craft of your writing. It’s been a joy to watch PS evolve. Keep up the great work. Thank-you.
That’s lovely to know, thank you Dominic
simon
How long until a proper Rome visit? Ripense, Merola, Cenci – there is lots there!
Sorry… It will happen!
Hi Simon,
Congratulations on the number of readers.
What did you mean by algorithms that pretend to be people?
You mention not being a shop. I love The Rake magazine, but their website has done the opposite of you, it’s literally just a shop now with few editorials. Do you think they have hold heir soul or do they sell good quality items?
What are your thoughts on creating a listing of trade shows like Pitti and Unica that you’re at, at the moment?
Never seen you swear on here, is this a PS first?
Best wishes
Joel
Thanks Joel.
On Instagram two of the most depressing things are accounts that just search for popular images and re-post them, creating an account like a magazine or an influencer but with zero originality; and ones that actually show pictures of a computer-generated person, pretending to be real. The latter has grown hugely in womenswear recently, as has to show how inauthentic almost everything is there.
I swear when I’m tired.
Well done and well deserved Simon. Bravo!
Milestone! Congratulations! Daily I have to follow PS, despite the fact that I thought that I will never follow a blog ;-))
Great to hear that so many people have discovered your writing. You are a great writer with excellent ethics and I feel that you always are on your readers side. In menswear PS is in a class of its own.
Reasons for liking your blog:
1.) It’s fab!
2.) You write beautifully
3.) Zero snark/nastiness
4.) You’ve resisted the temptation of becoming a larger than life personality with comedic talents. Dread to thing the number of times you must’ve resisted that temptation. Personally, I couldn’t resist 🙂
Happy (first) million readers! Congratulations and.. keep up the good work!
Keep up the excellent work Simon. Congratulations!
Congratulations to all of us! And I am very happy that nothing will change. Sometimes lack of change is good. Keep inspiring us with articles so we can further develop our styles.
Keep up the good work!
Well done Simon. I was in Pollen Street Social when a friend told me about your blog; about 6 years ago. ‘Ooo, I’ll have some of that’ I thought. Have never looked back and I regularly thank my friend for his kind recommendation.
Cheers and go well.
As someone who has an interest in men’s tailoring there are many blogs which seek to appeal. Some I look at for a few minutes once or twice a month, yours I check several times a week reading not only the new but also older content to research ideas and gain inspiration. It is the knowledge and passion you bring to your writing that draws me back time and again. Congratulations on this wonderful milestone and I look forward to hearing when you reach 10 million visits, which no doubt will come very soon.
Excellent site ! Edward
Thank you, Simon, for all of the work you put into your website and the consistent quality of the posts.
Your website is one of the only sources that continue to inspire my love for menswear; a love that has become increasingly jaded as a result of the apparent celebration of the mediocrity and lack of creativity found in the majority of contemporary blogs and social media pages.
I cannot wait to see what the future holds for your page.
Celebration of mediocrity. Love it
Congrats. A few thoughts on why dial in regularly:
1. No politics, no lecturing, no virtue signaling.
2. Classic clothing. I’m over 40 and dress like it.
3. No snark in the articles
4. Polite commentators and responses. Quite the change of pace from the rest of society.
Simon
Congrats! On a side note – what would I wear to an italian wedding – picnic chic? A linen or cotton suit perhaps? How could I find a versatile piece that also had the right amount of sprezz? And if there is anywhere RTW / MTM even better! Thinking the armoury or Trunk etc. Impossible to find caruso in London though
Picnic chic? Blimey.
Yes, I’d look to linen or cotton. Given its clearly not formal, perhaps a green or tobacco linen?
Congratulations Simon.
I remember bumping into you very briefly when I was in GB chatting to Russell. That must have been about 10 years ago, so well done for covering so much ground and building up such a varied audience since then.
Hi Simon
Sent you a post yesterday. Did it not reach you?
Nick Inkster
You mean a comment Nick? I don’t remember seeing anything. Can you try re-posting? Thanks
Actually has appeared just above this. Thanks
Nick
Oh good. Sometimes it takes me a little longer to publish things, if I’m travelling or perhaps overnight
Congratulations, Simon, on the wonderful achievement that this blog (surely it’s more than that really) is. Menswear has been a passion since I first started work in a relatively high end shop at the age of 15. My career has taken me in a very different direction, but an interest in and passion for high quality clothing has remained. I’ve had quite a bit of experience with MTM (with varied results), but would never have had the confidence or the conceptual language to tackle bespoke tailoring, had it not been for your excellent posts on this site (and those of fellow readers too).
Through PS I have discovered the wonderful Whitcomb & Shaftesbury, Sartoria Vergallo, Simone Abbarchi, Luca Faloni, Private White, Drakes, Trunk, Anderson & Sheppard Haberdashery; the list is not exhaustive. My own views or tastes don’t always coincide with yours or those of other readers, but I don’t think that matters at all. We’re adults and quite capable of having our views challenged and making our own judgements. I’m sure that I’m not alone in this and for readers like me this blog has provided an incredibly valuable service in making the world of bespoke and higher-end clothing so much more accessible. Thank you for that.
Many congratulations, Simon. Magnificent achievement
May I asked what brand is the briefcase? Thanks!
I’ve been reading PS since the early days when you were reviewing Hong Kong tailors and saying you’d never be able to afford Savile Row. The blog is a staggering achievement and your success is well deserved. Congratulations Simon
Hi Simon,
Sorry to post my comment so lately.
First, bravo for this feat! I can’t believe it that over the years I would – with such an assiduity – remain a PS reader! For besides the usual newspapers and magazines, nothing else has succeeded to hook my mind like PS has! Thus, I infer that something unique, crucial with far reaching implications is playing out through this blog. Indeed, if despite the huge amount of what I must read, I manage to read or catch up then what I’ve just contended must be true.
Presumably, at this stage all the first readers have their wardrobe in mind and it’s relatively clean. They know all the essentials: from shoes to even hats and umbrellas. And even in addition to all-would-be there items. Wouldn’t you say so too?
And we are still readers and will remain readers, because we are all members of communuity of learners. Perhaps, that’s the main reason I’m still a reader.
Live up to the goals!
John
I’ll pat you on the back! Thanks for not changing a winning formula or for getting carried away and over-commercialising the space. As with great clothing PS has balance. Well done – as a reader it is great to see it develop, yet remain unchanged in its purpose.
So nice to hear. Thanks
The fight back to regaining an attention span. Well done!
Exactly. Keep on battering them with tailoring measurements until they have no choice
Bravo Simon! Astounded to know there is now such a large community online. Not easy to accomplish but it makes sense that you have reached this milestone. Like many of your readers, I am drawn to quality articles in PS about classic menswear and related artisanal industries. l have learned much—and in such a pleasurable way—through you and many of your knowledgeable readers who post. Keep on writing and flourishing!
“…The tide might be turning. Slow journalism might be making a comeback. That would be nice – there would be more things to read. But it doesn’t matter either way: we’re not following trends….”
Not just more things, we all need GOOD things to read….keep up the excellent work.
Congratulations on 1 million readers!
Congratulations. I wish there was a PS
blog available in my early years. Living in NYC I had to develop my understanding of classic menswear and quality tailoring from the
original professional salesman and fitters at Brooks Brothers and Paul Stuart with a launch into Savile Row bespoke at Anderson & Sheppard .
Keep up the good work. I am still learning.
What a compliment, after all the years you’ve been dressing in this manner John. Thank you
Do you actually have one million individual active readers, Simon?
If so that a huge achievement – PS is now bigger than the Telegraph or NY Times. Congrats
Hi Eli,
Yes, but it depends on the timescale you use. I said that 1 million individual people read Permanent Style over the past year. Other publications might give that figure for a month, or even a week.
Not sure your figures on the NY Times are correct as well – Wikipedia says they have 130 million a month??
Many congratulations, Simon.
This calls for another limerick….?