Archive for the ‘Accessories’ Category
Accessories, Trends
By admin on June 11th, 2009
Colin Chapman writes…
Spotted previously on the odd hipster about town, the vintage briefcase is definitely having a moment. On a recent journey from Soho back to Shoreditch, these battered but much prized bags were definitely evident on the street. We’re not talking the hideously square items that out-of-town businessmen carry their dreary worlds in – seemingly designed to collide with kneecaps on the Tube. Softer, roomier styles are the ones to look out for – including the daddy of all briefcases commonly known as ‘the doctor bag’ or Gladstone. And you don’t even have to get your hands grubby rummaging through charity stock as there seems to be a healthy selection available online.
Vintage leather briefcase/doctors bag from Prince’s Vintage on eBay
Tags: bag, leather, seen, street, vintage briefcase
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Accessories, Trends
By admin on June 9th, 2009
Colin Chapman writes…
Having just returned from a sunny holiday I’ve been thinking about ways to cover up in the evenings, when the temperature inevitably gets a little chilly but when a jacket seems a bit stifling. I’ve recently spotted fashion leaders Joe Casely-Hayford in a long chunky cardigan and Charlie Porter in a very fetching grey wool poncho, both great options for beating the chill factor whilst still proclaiming a bit of summer informality. Alternatively there’s the shawl.
The pashmina is a ubiquitous accessory for women, probably to its detriment, but hasn’t been accepted as a popular garment choice for men – yet. Scouring the web for pashmina alternatives, I came across these beautiful hand woven alpaca shawls and scarves. A bit hippy, yes but both models here actually look really elegant and the shawls would create a great contrast in an urban setting. See what you can find locally in terms of hand-made ethnic wraps, shawls and scarves if you’re traveling somewhere interesting this summer. You’re likely to turn things up in places from Morocco to South America and whatever it is has got to be more interesting than a nylon jacket.
Tags: charlie porter, evening, fashion, joe caseley hayford, men's, shawl, summer
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Accessories, Trends
By admin on June 3rd, 2009
Parisians supposedly have a saying; you can never have too many scarves on your person. As summer heats up this side of the Channel, and sunburnt necks become commonplace, we’ve been seeing looser neckerchiefs and bandannas slung around the coolest collars. Taking inspiration from Lanvin’s SS09 show, via everyone’s favourite luxo-blogger 00o00 to Liberty’s new dedicated scarf room (and Scarf of the Week feature), it seems the summer scarf is destined to become a bit of a practical trend.
A simple bandanna (Topman have some great ones) knotted around the neck to make a triangle at the front is the simplest way to do this, but any light material can work. This is the place to experiment with unusual patterns, colours and fabrics, so get raiding your nearest charity shop/your Mum’s sewing box/old t-shirts/Berwick Street…
Main Image Source: Streetstyle Aesthetic
Related Stories: Neckerchiefs: turning up everywhere | Poll: Brad Pitt in Cannes for Inglorious Basterds photocall
Tags: bandana, neckerchiefs, scarf, Scarves, Summer 2009
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Accessories
By Jonathan Smith on May 29th, 2009
There’s an urban myth that in London that you are never 8 feet away from a rat, it’s clearly bullshit but you try to get 8 feet away from a pair of Wayfarers this summer- you won’t. The number of companies ripping off the Ray Ban original is staggering with prices and quality ranging from £12 for a cheap pair from Topman up to £115 for a pair of Ray Ban’s from ASOS.
However if you’re like myself then you don’t want to wear this seasons equivalent of vermin but don’t want to spend £115 on some awesome but very breakable/losable/lendable sunny G’s. My suggested solution is these Cheap Monday Night Watch Wayfarers, cheap at 200 Krona (under £17) and looking more than your average Wayfarer with a squarer, more angled structure. These shades come in 3 colours: light turtle (pictured above), grey and black all available at Caliroots and though it is a bit of a snub having to pay the same again in P+P that you have for the glasses themselves (200 Krona) for £34 you have a pair of branded, wellmade Wayfarers that won’t make you cry if you drop ‘em under a bus.
Tags: asos, cheap mondays, ray ban, summer, sunglasses, topman, wayfarer
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Accessories
By Colin Chapman on May 17th, 2009
As fashion continues to trawl the Americana back catalogue, the boater pops up as a summer hat option. You’ll need bags of attitude to carry it off as well as this uber-Lower East Side hipster (it’s photographer Dash Snow) but hell, you can try.
ASOS have the perfect hat (by B-Store) in black. It’s a pricey £175 but the rest of your outfit can be dirt basic (check Mr Snow’s Canal Street leather holster, white tee and black jeans combo) or keep an eye on ladies’ boater options on the high street. ASOS also have a bargain, natural boater with coloured, striped ribbon. It’s more likely you’ll face Colonel Sanders quips but is possibly a better option if you’re pale and interesting and working the Anglo take on the boater hat style. Just lay off the striped blazer to avoid period costume.
Main image source: Mister Mort
Tags: asos, b Store, boaters, hats, Mister Mort
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Accessories, Entertainment, Trends
By Will Reid on May 12th, 2009
Over the last few years, with the trends having covered skinny jeans, unisex mods, sexually-liberated hippies, shoulder pads, guy/girl jumpsuits and the his/her Eighties where basically anything went, I have tried my hand at many trends that tread the fine line between menswear and womenswear.
This photo recently appeared on Facehunter and, while originally in awe of this fashionisto’s rose accessory, I began to wonder if it would be one step too far and throw me into the realm of uncomfortable dressing (a fatal flaw when it comes to styling!) I happily carry a man-bag and have even experimented with Guyliner in recent months but I couldn’t be sure that I would feel okay with an accessory like the one above. Would you be willing too wear something so overtly feminine or do you like to stick within the traditional fashion sex boundaries?
Tell us on our Facebook wall!
Tags: Accessories, accessory, brandish, eighties, facebook, facehunter, fashion, fashionisto, guyliner, menswear, reid, rose, style, Trends, will, will ballantyne reid, willl reid, womenswear
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Accessories, Entertainment, Heroes and Celebrities
By Will Reid on May 6th, 2009
Calvin Harris, the Dumfries-born DJ who is often tipped with providing the backing track to the vintage wave of last summer, is currently topping the charts with his ‘I’m Not Alone’ and while watching his latest video I was suddenly aware of the BOT male’s striking similarity to another No. 1 popstar…
See after the jump for the big reveal!
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Tags: Accessories, brandish, bubble, calvin, Calvin Harris, celebities, celebrity style, dj, Entertainment, gaga, Glasses, harris, lady, lady gaga, male, music, musicians fashion, pop, reid, style, sunglasses, will, will ballantyne reid, willl reid
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Accessories, Luggage & Travel
By admin on April 30th, 2009
Shopper bags make a nice alternative to the rucksack, and Carhartt canvas bag from Asos (£48) combines utilitarian simplicity with interesting details. A glut of pockets is a terrible thing on trousers but on a bag it’s pretty useful, and the black straps and zip neatly punctuate the colour.
The warm tan will go well with jeans and would look particularly good with some pale green seersucker trousers or shorts for high summer as part of a neat, nouveau preppy outfit.
Tags: asos, bag, canvas, carhartt, shopper
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Accessories, Footwear, Luggage, Trends
By admin on April 22nd, 2009
Seb Law is a grown up business Editor by day, dj by night, and in between finds time to maintain his blog at The Staple and keep us entertained on Twitter. He kindly provided us with his summer picks, which get us in the mood for long days at the park, day trips to the beach and lazy pub garden evenings. Read on to find out what he’ll be wearing this season:
Bike
As the sun peeks around the clouds, bicycles begin to appear from garages. Travelcards are massively expensive, the bike lanes are brilliant, it’s good exercise and there’s nothing better than sailing past several of your usual buses en route to work; a bicycle is a summer Staple. If fixie simplicity is too hardcore, go Dutch as recommended by the NY Times and available at Bobbin, or delve into your Dad’s garage, eBay or Gumtree for a vintage model.
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Tags: acne sandals, bobbin bike, levi's shorts, menswear, seb law, summer picks, summer wishlist, t-shirt
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Accessories, Entertainment, Heroes and Celebrities
By Will Reid on April 22nd, 2009
Tavi, the famously fab 12 year-old blogger, is often cited as one of the most fashion-forward figures of the current style circuit. Fashion folk worldwide tune into her Style Rookie blog each day to get a glimpse of her latest get-ups and commentaries. When I saw this photo of her wearing her classic Slow and Steady Wins the Race sunglasses, I was reminded of one of my favourite males and his similar sunnies.
See after the jump to find out who I’m on about!
(Image: Style Rookie)
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Tags: Accessories, ballantyne, billy connolly, blog, celeb style, celebities, Clothing, Designer Spotlight, Entertainment, fashion, Heroes, reid, slow and steady wins the race, style rookie, sunglasses, sunnies, tavi, will, will ballantyne reid, willl reid
Posted in Accessories, Entertainment, Heroes and Celebrities | 3 Comments »
Accessories, Heroes and Celebrities, Polls
By Will Reid on April 20th, 2009
Mickey Boardman is the infamous columnist at Paper magazine as well as a social butterfly and fashion extraordinaire. He is also the proud owner of a rather distinctive and intriguing look. Boardman blends paired down basics in block colours (Lacoste polo shirts, chinos, simple cardigans in luxury cashmere,) with extravagant costume jewellery and accessories. Chunky necklaces and lavish loops of gorgeous beads add a high-fashion touch to any simple look. But I worry it might raise a few eyebrows (and maybe a few fists) down at the local supermarket.
So what do you think- Yay or Nay?
Tags: ballantyne, brandish, fashion, Jewellery, lacoste, magazine, mickey boardman, necklace, paper, paper magazine, poll, Polls, polo shirt, reid, shiny media, style, style icon, will, will reid
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Accessories
By Colin Chapman on April 20th, 2009
It’s probably a first that Alexis Petridis at The Guardian picks up on a trend before the Brandish team but here’s an exception. Whilst Petridis’s column on Saturday featured the said accessory with a standard suit, I recently spotted a Liberty sales assistant making a much more imaginative use of the pocket square. He’d paired a vintage-looking, ‘farmer’ check Barbour shirt in cream/khaki with a Liberty pocket square in one of their classic, ‘arts and crafts’ prints in a cool, pale blue. Perfectly folded into the shirt pocket, the pocket square positively fizzed against the rural check of his shirt. Were this boy walking down the street in New York City he’d have been a moving target for The Sartorialist.
As I’m attending a stylish wedding reception this weekend, I’d already decided to give the pocket-square-in-shirt-pocket look a spin, but how to be sure about that folding?
As ever, YouTube comes to the rescue with its delightfully titled ‘The Art of Manliness‘ guide to the pocket square.
Pocket squares: Liberty, Image source: Dandy and Wit
Tags: Alexis Petridis, guardian, liberty, pocket squares
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Accessories
By Colin Chapman on April 3rd, 2009
On a recent visit to Matches boutique on Marylebone High Street, I couldn’t take my hands off this amazing mlutch bag. Whilst the Matches website (and no doubt producer, Zagliani) coyly describe it as a ‘document holder’ it’s most definitely a mlutch. Too big to be a lady clutch bag, expandable to fit um, a few flat items like the essential glossy mag, passport (I’m struggling here), spare pants.. ‘documents’? The amazing python leather has to be stroked to be really appreciated. Of course, such perfection comes at a price: £688.
Still reading? Though I’ve since failed to find anything quite so lovely in my luxury mlutch quest, Matches also stock this ‘pouch’ also by Zagliani at a less eye-watering £194. My suspicion is that alternatives could only really be tracked down in Italy, where no doubt there is an elegant store frequented by camp, document-wielding men with a penchant for expensive skins. If you find it, the Brandish team would love to know.
Tags: clutch, document holder, man, matches, mlutch, Zagliani
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Accessories, Luggage & Travel
By admin on March 25th, 2009
This bark-tanned leather shopping bag (239 Eur) looks slightly feminine, but that’s part of the appeal, there’s no faux macho-posturing from this bag, it’s just a simple over the shoulder tote. The true tan colour will look great with a navy suit or a pale Harrington jacket and it’s more interesting than your average laptop bag.
Manufactum produce the bag, so you can guarantee that it will last you a lifetime, and get better with age. They recommend cleaning it with a damp cloth until a patina starts to form and they guarantee the only synthetic material used is the stitching thread, old school class!
Tags: bark tanned, leather, Manufactum, shopping bag
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Accessories, Brand Spotlight
By Colin Chapman on March 23rd, 2009
Currently gracing all the best mens glossies is the Mulberry ad for the Eliot Tote bag. It’s rare for a particular model to be touted as the equivalent of a male ‘It’ bag but I guess Mulberry are applying a trusted formula here.
What makes this bag so lovely? The ad photography brings out the heavy grain of the thick leather looking creamier and much less starkly white than in the storefront image here. The ad styling also helps – layered neon knits under leather, low slung jeans also (crucially) in white. But nothing attracts attention away from that bag. Other selling points: the canvas handles look sturdy and practical. Its a tote – as with the cotton tote this exudes youthful exuberance, no PC-laptop lugging or sweaty footie kit here. It’s value suggests you only carry the best items – Fantastic Man natch, Tom Ford shades and it’s roomy enough to slot in your yoga mat. The price? Oh yes, a very It-bag £495.
Tags: advert, bag, Eliot tote, fantastic man, it, leather, mulberry, Tom Ford
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