I like a good belt, me. From a thin braided offering to a chunky biker buckle, they’re my proffered gravity-defying trouser accessory. But as the years pile up, and the pounds pile on, my paunch is finding itself more and more at odds with my waistline adornments.
So what are my other options? I’d rather walk about in my underpants than wear elasticated trousers. They make me think of the super-sized people who have to hire a golf-cart to get around Disney World without keeling over. And losing weight just isn’t going to happen when Subway have just launched a £3 lunch time meal deal.
As an upstanding citizen (and one happy not to get an ASBO for flashing my tighty whities) the job falls to braces (or suspenders if you’re a US reader), the shoulder-strapping saviours of trouser hems since being popularised in 1822 by Albert Thurston.
But they’ve had a bit of a chequered history, have the humble old braces. While they’re currently on the rise thanks to the popularity of the suited-booted Mad Men look, in the UK at least they’re still closely associated with the skinhead style championed by the National Front right-wing movement of the 1980s.
Also, this image of former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, caught recently taking out the rubbish wearing little else OTHER THAN BRACES makes a little bit of sick rise to the back of my throat. Sorry Ken, I’d pick you over Boris any day of the week, but this look’s more Albert Steptoe than Albert Camus.
So, have braces weathered the unsavoury associated storm of the Eighties to shine through in 2012 as an on-trend “boardroom-chic” accessory? Or are they still just a way of keeping the thumbs of shaven-headed yobs occupied instead of forming fists?
Take our poll below and let me know what you think! My dignity depends on it!
Winter is often a season of necessity versus beauty. Unless one has enough in his wallet to buy a piece like this Alexander McQueen (a cool £1,095,) fashionistos are left to settle for cheap and not always stylish alternatives. The gilet (or body-warmer) is a fickle fashion item and this season it has been made-up in enticing chambray by label Wings + Horns.
Gilets often look awful; after all, the Michelin Man-look has never suited anyone. However, when worn over-sized and unzipped with skinny jeans and leather brogues, your padded-tube of fabric becomes the key component of a high-fashion look.
I would say ‘Yay’ to the idea of a gilet- simply follow Brandish’s style advice and you’ll be looking awesome anyway!
In the aftermath of the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute Gala, fashionistos/as across the world have been gorging over that turban, Madonna’s wackiness, Rihanna’s brilliant tux and Naomi’s beautiful boycott. However, it emerged today that off the red carpet a fight was on and statements are being made across the fashion universe in response to reports that Proenza Schouler’s Jack McCullough was headbutt by 24′s Keifer Sutherland after McCullough supposedly knocked Brooke Shields over.
Surely not, I hear you cry. But yes, McCullough’s rep has confirmed today that “anyone who knows Jack McCollough knows that he would not hurt a fly…all we can say at this point is that he was the victim of a vicious, violent, unprovoked assault and that the matter is in the hands of the authorities.” How delightful!
The question stands- are you Team McCullough or Team Sutherland?
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.
At a disco the other night, the theme was ‘City vs. Country’ and stuck for ideas, a friend and I decided to go as tacky tourists. Cue vintage novelty braces, high-waisted denim shorts and charity shop shirts.
My charity shop bum-bag has been the focus of much attention. While it was only a joke item, a few friends have since been talking about it and I wonder if it could be worked into an actual outfit.
Outside of an outrageously-themed disco, I think I will wear the accessory when I go to India in March with cartoon-print Harem trousers, white plimsolls, a plain white vest and vintage sunglasses (at right.) Practical and high-fashion!
As we move to New York with our menswear coverage, the entire Brandish team has begun searching the shows for particular looks, gossip and moments that have caught our attention. And if there is one designer who has so far got people talking, it would have to be Duckie Brown. This label, designed by Steven Cox and Daniel Silver, has been trend-setting in previous seasons and over the last eight years it has definitely become one to watch for editors and writers alike.
So, with that said, what do you think of the label’s latest headwear designs. Loud, outrageous and not just a bit odd, would you be willing to rock this monumental millinery?
American Apparel, the brand synonymous with androgyny and men in skintight jeans, has just launched their Unisex Oxford Shirt. I have three sisters and I’m no stranger to borrowing the odd jumper (actually, that would be reclaiming,) and I have in past borrowed Ralph Lauren shirts and vintage blazers for a better fit and a slimmer silhouette. Russell Brand, a man who walks on to a talk-show in a jersey tunic dress and girl’s jeans from Topshop but still manages to be a sex god, would be a great example of unisex dressing at its best but what do you think? Is it worth the sartorial risk when you might see a girl in the same tee as you?
Would you go Unisex- vote in our poll after the jump!
In previous months, I have reported on the possibility that maybe Brandish is read by major celebrities. We preempted Russell Brand’s short shorts, the change in mood of Mr Mill’s Style Column in the Sunday Time’s Style Magazine and now, it appears that our editor Isabelle may have inspired Coldplay frontman Chris Martin’s new haircut. Days after Isabelle claimed skinhead-inspired film ‘This Is England’ as style inspiration, Chris Martin has appeared at a BBC Radio 2 song session with his previously curly locks shaved off. Simple chance or Sartorial steal?
Anyway, what do you think of this new look? Continue reading to vote in our poll.
Forgive that awful title but let me explain; Executive Item Execution (EIE) is the official ruin of an ever-so-stylish item as the result of a figure of authority telling you they have the same piece (and no, this has nothing to do with the fetish trend.)
To paraphrase and avoid any further confusion, I will put it into the context of my own life. Yesterday, a figure of authority commented on how “insane” my shoes were.This person went on to reveal that they actually had and often wore my shoes and broke into hysterical laughter as I stuttered and muttered a response that attempted to convey my anguish.
Call me vain, on a high-horse or simply unrealistic but how many names have been ruined for you by the child who used to pick their nose and eat it or mutter to themselves as they drew pictures of dead people? Sadly, the same applies to Margiela as it did to McDonalds (thanks, Morgan Spurlock.)
We’ve made you endure some pretty terrible things on Brandish (see here and here,) and now I present a sneaky snap of New Look’s new adjust-a-length jeans. The trick is you have to button up each different level of the jean depending on what you’re after; shorts, the semi-crop, full jeans or the button-embellished. Is it just me who gasps at this fashion indictment?
Mr Mills (yes that is the third week running we’ve mentioned him but this is truly relevant,) reported on this trend for the David Cameron-trouser-in-a-sock style only last Sunday and he also came to the conclusion that it was a modern-monstrosity.
Last week’s diet poll obviously hit home for a lot of you- but in a way that I had not expected. I confess to being a guy who is conscious of my weight and I have dieted. I see nothing wrong with wanting to fit into a pair of skinny jeans but thought I was of a minority. However, that appears not to be the case; 57% of you voted that there was nothing wrong with watching your weight and had therefore dieted.
I know that most of you are unlikely to be suffering from an eating disorder but it appears that ‘Manorexia’ is no longer a fad-word put out by editors trying to fill pages of a cheap magazine but a reality edging it’s way into pop culture.
I like a good belt, me. From a thin braided offering to a chunky biker buckle, they’re my proffered gravity-defying trouser accessory. But as the years pile up, and the pounds pile on, my paunch is finding itself more and more at odds with my waistline adornments.
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