I’m currently down in London, lapping up the (dubious) sunshine and attempting to dress in a way befitting of the cramped, and quite frankly torturous, morning tube journey. Turns out they’re not too pleased about being next to someone wearing a blazer with Margiela-esque shoulderpads. Basically, the heat is ridiculous and so yesterday I wondered into Convent Garden and bought some vintage sunglasses at Rokit.
And before I start I should probably apologise for that awful Daily Mail-used pun.
It is true though; Darius Danesh, the ‘Colourblind’ pop sensation, is said to be distraught this week as the cancellation of his latest venture (a musical adaptation of ‘Gone With The Wind’) is made public. The show has only managed to put on 79 performances and despite being an off-putting 3 hours and 15 minutes long, I am convinced that Danesh’s look is to blame. A thin moustache and pair of Noddy Holder-sideburns hardly attract the fashionably-inclined.
After all, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom” gets to wear a mask that mirrors the work of Comme des Garcons, Luella Bartley and even Gareth Pugh!
Next week might just be London’s most fashionable week as everyone (me included) does themselves up in hopes of The Sartorialist taking a picture of them. If you want to get Sarted, then you should probably take note of what he likes and doesn’t like.
In this Refinery29 interview Scott Schuman states that he likes ” [being surprised] by a new color and pattern, people really putting some new design sensibility into it, not just all black. I’m really tired of all black. I’m always most happy to see something that is completely unexpected”.
With this said, The Sartorialist has featured a large number of outfits with black in them lately, so maybe he’s changed his mind. Still, I wouldn’t take my chances.
I am mentally planning each and every one of my outfits for next week because Scott Schuman aka The Sartorialist is coming to London for the first time. He apparently thinks it is already summer in London, better check Accuweather Scott!
He announced the news on his blog yesterday, saying: “I can’t wait to shoot some of the famous London Sun Bunnies! or at least run into some of the Top Gear guys.”
Thank God he was joking, can you imagine an image of Jeremy Clarkson on The Sartorialist? It would be enough to commit fashion hari-kiri.
If you like Maharishi and are in London, then you’ll be pleased to hear that they’ve got a sample sale going on from now till the first of June. For a sample sale, it’s running for a pretty long time – but I’m sure that’s to accommodate for people who might be waiting till payday. Check after the jump for the directions.
Louis Vuitton have made a nice little video with Keith Richards, who describes his favourite bits of London in his trademark 60-a-day voice. I like the way it’s quite loosely structured and informal, but I do think that when he says at the end “London…Yeah…Travelling.” he sounds like he’s lost the plot. That’s what a lifetime of hedonism’ll do to you…Don’t do it kids, just say no!
After reading Dave Walker from Modculture’s comment on my tassel loafers post I had a look a the J.Simons website and what a treat it is! You really get a feel for his commitment to style and passion, and John himself has some really great stories from his youth:
“At 23, ambition started to creep in. We began copying American clothes, getting little old ladies to make them up for us. Next to the Hackney Empire we opened a shop and called it Clothesville. We’d take things like the Burberry raincoat and give it a twist, do it in corduroy.”
John went on to open The Ivy Shop in ’65 selling American clothing to young mods.
On our way back from the Arcadia Press Day we decided to make a detour to the Onitsuka Tiger shop off Carnaby Street to try out their new vending machine. As you can see it’s a quick and easy way to get a new pair of shoes, but hurry, tomorrow is the last day!
Just last night, the city of London was buzzing with the excitement of celebrity; that of the glorious Kate Hudson and heavily scent-sponsored Matthew McConaughey. Now I’m not going to lie and pretend that Mr. McConaughey isn’t one of my favourite actors because well, even I don’t get that offended by sticking to the sartorial sidelines.
While Kate Hudson went all out in John Galliano, our male centre of attention decided to go for what I assume is a Dolce & Gabbana suit. I can’t fault the look itself- grey is in right now and the open-collar is a pleasing antidote to the stylised-Dandy of recent times. So full marks for style but what about effort? I can’t help feeling slightly miffed when someone with so much designer access neglects the right to riskier fashion.
But who am I to talk? I am sitting in my pyjamas at 1pm (Budapest time) with my just-recovered and now decidedly Hungarian laptop, moaning to myself about a lack of celebrity tailoring.
If you read the titles of the latest Nylon cover; "London Calling," "Get inspired by the coolest city in the World!" and "Brilliant British Beauty from the Queen to Kate Moss," you would be forgiven for thinking this was just another ‘Cool Britannia’ issue where the rich and famous club kids, models and Skins extras give bullet-point answers to mediocre interviews and direct us on a wild goose chase that eventually leads to some dingy old club.
Are you a fan of killing two birds with one
stone? In a figurative sense of course, we don’t condone bird-murdering on
Brandish. One True Saxon‘s
spring/summer range has popped up online and they’ve made a travel brochure
that features a city soundtrack, bars, restaurants, clubs and places to start a
fight before yelling ‘Leave it Dave, He’s not worth it!’. Maybe not that last
one.
Cities in the guide include Madrid, Sydney,
London, New York, Tokyo and erm, Nottingham. You can view the new range at Goodnorth.com.
Philip Start has been in Paris at the menswear shows looking for new pieces for his London Boutique Start. He caught up with us and gave us the lowdown from the last few days:
Tranoï a small French retailer, had the best brands that didn’t have showrooms and some of the bigger names included Juun-J, U-ni-ty and Tillmann Lauterbach.
Philip went to the Dior show which he said was ‘a bit retro, all black skinny jeans and nothing new’. Ever since Hedi Slimane’s departure Dior has struggled to find a new style and Kris Van Aasche’s MC Hammer trousers weren’t impressing him: ‘My suspicion is that because he
didn’t invent skinny jeans he’s trying to make a mark but I’m not interested in
it’. Philip’s celebrity companion Brian Molko apparently wasn’t too impressed by the baggy trousers either.
New Yorkers are so skilled at creating something iconic and marketable. It’s one of the most recognisable cities in the world, and every street, shop or person can contribute to the New York brand.
Take the classic “I heart NY” tee for example. It’s bold brash and iconic. What’s more New York than that? What does London get? Union jack shirts, “My boyfriend went to London and all I got was this lousy shirt” and “Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go to London” (haha, that one’s quite funny).
The “I heart NY” tee can be seen everywhere in the world and has been adopted and modified for a million different purposes. All this must be quite annoying for New Yorkers hence this "Go heart Your Own City" T-shirt is one of the top sellers from Boundless NY.
I think its funny, but I can’t help being a bit put out by it. File under “Biting the hand that feeds you”.
Neon brights are in, but you don’t have to make like a London clubkid and wear purple harem pants with orange juice cartons around your neck (methinks it’s time for a UK version of Blue States Lose). Topman’s retro cut short-sleeved shirt (£25) would look great with turned up dark denim jeans for a rockabilly look. Another tack is to take the sporty look with neons, like with this yellow Souvenirs & Gallery anorak (£42) or 55DSL’s messenger bag (£16), which looks like the colours of a Twister ice lolly. Another one from Topman, this cute blue belt (£10) is just the thing to add a touch of panache to an outfit. Finally, New Balance’s yellow suede trainers (£51) add a flash of colour which can’t be beaten.
I’m currently down in London, lapping up the (dubious) sunshine and attempting to dress in a way befitting of the cramped, and quite frankly torturous, morning tube journey. Turns out they’re not too pleased about being next to someone wearing a blazer with Margiela-esque shoulderpads. Basically, the heat is ridiculous and so yesterday I wondered into Convent Garden and bought some vintage sunglasses at Rokit.
From:Why Arsenal will announce a new signing today