Things to improve your life 2009

Monocle’s bumper October issue gives you plenty of bang for your buck. Our new Retail Awards honour the shopkeepers bringing refined and original ideas to the world’s high streets and out autumn Style Directory will ensure that you look the part when you hit the town. Elsewhere, we meet Milan’s elegantly dressed older women, question the relevance of the UN and the mayor of Dallas tells us how the city is staying safe. Order your copy today.

Residents of Munich know how to dress impeccably – but some also know how to get undressed, outdoors and in the middle of the city. Monocle Films meets members of the German Association for Free Body Culture who bare it all.

Bavaria’s rich manufacturing heritage shows that there is more to the region than the Alps, sausages and beer. Monocle Films takes a tour behind the scenes of renowned art materials manufacturers Faber-Castell, Gmund Papier mill and Theresienthal glassmakers to explore how traditional ways of making have endured thanks to a legacy of familial entrepreneurship.

Lederhosen and dirndls aren’t just donned for Oktoberfest in southern Germany; tracht has been experiencing a renaissance in recent years with many wearing these traditional clothes every day. Monocle Films travels across the region to meet the makers and retailers who are successfully keeping this traditional heritage alive while adapting it for contemporary tastes.