Films — Edits

Summer may be getting on but there are still plenty of balmy evenings and hazy days to enjoy before the autumn closes in.

Sometimes it takes just one retailer to unite an entire neighbourhood and restore an old-fashioned sense of community.  Here are five doing just that.

Our 2009 global round-up of the people, places and pursuits to improve the way you live, work and rest.

Where are the top 25 places in the world to call home? Listen to our countdown of the metropolises on the move and cities on the slide. For the survey in full read issue 25 of Monocle - the July-August 09 issue. But a warning: after listening to this report, you may want to move your base.

For our second annual Travel Top 50 survey, we covered more ground than last year sampling more properties, flat-beds, new terminals, railway stations, lobby bars, inflight snacks and sun loungers. We've also drawn up a list of suitably eclectic awards and hopefully have introduced a host of addresses and names you've never heard of before. As with our first survey, the selection process was the same - no readers' polls, no freebies, no press trips, just the confident opinion and good taste of our well-travelled editors.

In the days leading up to Christmas we have compiled a last minute gift list.

From luggage to watches to eyewear to mobile phones, this is Monocle's very brief shopping list for some accessories to get you through the coming winter months.

Whether idly doodling or hastily transcribing interviews in good old shorthand, Monocle recommends the best utensils for your daily tasks. From pens to paper, from U+ in Canada to Düller in Japan, our round up of the world's most stylish yet functional stationery makes up the perfect desk.

In the first of a regular monthly series of international street profiles, we popped down to Lamb's Conduit Street for a stroll and a little retail reconnaissance. Monocle's Saul Taylor reports.

In our opinion, late summer is the best time to head off on holiday - the sun's less fierce and many of the schools have gone back. Here are our top ten essential items for a tardy beach break: from sun cream to swimming trunks, tortoiseshell sunglasses to refreshing colognes, a great read and a must-hear CD, this is everything you'll need to stuff in your Tomorrowland beach bag.

From a good froth to a lazy day-bed, the perfect bathing club to the saintliest apothecary, here is our personal pick of some of the best things we've found to improve your life. For the complete Monocle Top 50, visit Issue 15 of the magazine.

A must-listen for the party season, sleek German sleighs, a whiff of spring and a euphonious robot make it into our Christmas wishlist. Here's what we want in our oversized stocking.

What are the global travel brands that will act as a reference over the year ahead? With our first Special Edition Monocle reports on the elements that are ignored by more traditional surveys.