The Sharply Dressed Artist

It has been a pleasure to be recently introduced to a very talented - and very well attired - local artist; Mr Christopher Langley. He was suggested as a contact though a mutual friend who knew we had something in common - the appreciation of suit and ties (and smart dress generally).

I met Chris for the first time the Red Dragon Centre's Costa coffee bar during a lunch break. I was wearing a white, short-sleeved shirt and hastily slung on a tie before leaving the car in order to impress. It did not, so he told me later! Oh the tie did, but not the way I had tied it. Before long he was showing me how to master the Windsor knot and such, and the extolling benefits of wearing a tie loosely so not to feel strangled or constrained.

And now I am hooked on the look - this has proven to be the image change that I was searching for. Oh, I had always had a fascination for the suit and tie look, the way it idealises the masculinity of the male body with its emphasis on broad shoulders and tapering waists, with the tie giving the whole ensemble a sense of symmetry. (And there are certain websites that are dedicated to this form of dress, but let's not go there, shall we.) And now I have established the basics, I want to delve further into my other passion... waistcoats!!

Being friends with such an influential individual does have its benefits too... afternoon tea at the Celtic Manor in Newport, dinner at the Liberal Club in London... I could so get used to that.

As I mentioned earlier, Chris is a talented artist and his work can be seen in Cardiff and its surroundings. Just last week he had an open evening of his paintings at the Waterloo Teahouse in Roath, where his colourfully rendered images of the locality brighten the walls of the establishment, reflecting the summer mood. He even created several works of original art on the train back from London, using the Inspire Pro application on my iPad mini. To see these wondrous images appear before my very eyes was indeed a privilege.

And, of course, here is a plug for Chris's website. Let me just state that I am writing and raving about Chris's works of my own accord - he did not ask me to do this! Honest, guv.