The Big 100

Well, I, or rather we, made it.  This is my 100th post on Simply Refined.  It seems like just a few weeks ago I was debating whether to launch or not, and here over 6 months and 100 posts later we’re still going strong.

First things first.  Thank you to everyone who reads and comments – it wouldn’t be much fun to do all of this without you.  Let me know below in the comments to this post what you like, what you don’t like, and what you’d like to see me do as we head up to 200 and eventually the one year anniversary.

I’d also like to thank everyone who supported my getting involved in style journalism from the beginning.  A year ago I had not a single post or article to my name, hadn’t yet met all of the lovely people in and around the West End, and would never have anticipated in a million years all that has happened since.  I won’t go through all the names here, but you know who you are, and thank you so much.

All you readers will know by this point I love to give my opinions on things, whether they’re asked for or not, but today I thought I would just mention briefly the most important lesson I learned from the most elegant man I’ve ever known, my mother’s father.  My grandfather always loved to quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, “This above all, to thine own self be true.”  Style, manners, and elegance come from within, not from without, and the smile you give to someone kindly in passing cuts a more dignified silhouette than the finest Savile Row suit.  Just my, or rather my grandfather’s, two cents.