11. Kool Moe Dee
An underrated style inspiration for the winter.
12. Knuckle dusters
Regular readers will know I have a thing about jewellery and for me knuckle dusters have always held a fascination. They are physically appealing, protective and unsubtly masculine. Also feel nice on. And the best one is of course by the inimitable Hannah Martin.
13. Ally Capellino
Every style for A/W 09 is ultra special and as much as I hate that cliche about style and fashion (this blog will always be about fashion as opposed to style) they’re outside of fashion. The bags all have great names too; Arkwright would be a tough outsider type with a flesh tunnel; new boys Barry, Richard and Michael pretty dandyish with a penchant for too-short shorts and spotty bow ties in their leathery satchelness. Is that even a word?
And then there’s ‘Wayne’, now in high gloss leather…
14. Lanvin’s felt hat
Like any season you could pick out any random elements from the Lanvin show and blather on about them but this felt (!) hat, from Browns, is quite special. The colour’s just right, isn’t it? What do you mean it’s OVER THREE HUNDRED QUID? It’s probably worth it though, just imagine bombing to the grocer’s in THAT for your morning papers.
15. Nike Air Maxim
Been meaning to blog about these for ages. They’ve been out since July and probably been covered by every blog under the sun already but red, white, blue is classic, toothpaste stripe fresh, they’re a lot lighter than the usual Air Max and they just… well… work right now. You just KNOW THAT. Maybe it’s the mesh, reminiscent of a MUJI pencil case; is it wrong that I want one foot red, one foot blue?
16. Nike Air Max 90
Actually Nike have got some amazing sneakers out at the moment, especially these which – the HORROR – I saw in the windows of FOOT LOCKER yesterday. Is it just me, or is it a 100% more fun experience buying sneakers from foot locker than some wanky trainer boutique in Soho, when more often than not it’s just the SAME PRODUCT?
Whatever: that dirty jeans/white tee/black hoodie/Nikes look is good enough for Alexander Wang, it’s good enough for US TOO.
17. Wood Wood accessories at HANON-SHOP
Hanon-shop always has a gentle, well-planned choice of stock and these Wood Wood accessories are all just the perfect tan/caramel shade; the leather looks perfect, the quality impeccable. There’s a pocket wallet, pencil case and the perfect laptop case (goodbye PC world black neoprene).
18. BIG COATS- as typified by Patrik Ervell
You walk into a local branch of BOOTS; you need something fun and cheap for your face and it calls out to you. A FACE COVERED IN MUD, 90s Sunset Beach packaging, and a RIDICULOUS ITEM COVERING THE MODEL’S EYES. Cucumbers, bits of chocolate, foliage, rocks… When you get home you put the clay on your face and it turns SCALDING. You wash it off and your skin feels sort-of amazing. All for NINETY NINE PENCE!
Is there anything, really, better than splashing out on a sachet of MONTAGNE JEUENESSE? Even the ludicrous name and the archaic use of ‘masque’ conjours up memories of a certain point at the end of the last century when Celine Dion was eternally on TOTP, Ricki Lake was still on Channel 4 and people still used VO5 hot oil.
20. Jean-Paul Belmondo hair
Begone “Shoreditch monks” (CADFAEL WAS SO 2005) and Alice Dellal undercuts. Has anyone really had better hair than JPB? Yes, but… you know what I mean. I’m buying some hair straighteners, but using them lightly.
21.Bassike drop-crotch trousers
From oki-ni again- a promising young label that seems to be all about quality and cut rather than hype. As opposed to the obvious drapey/deconstructed context I can see myself wearing them with a nice pair of low-cut Reeboks (maybe Reebok x Alife…), a very old polo shirt in a pale grey with a charcoal crew neck sweatshirt over the top. More on that notion later…
22. Return of photorealism
Courtesy of Comme des Garcons Shirt at colette. In its own way this is really timeless, and as much of a wardrobe staple than the ubiquitous white shirt.
23. HERO magazine
‘Hi Elliott we like the blog’ well that’s good HERO MAGAZINE because THE BLOG likes you too. In an age of dwindling print returns and endless, endless, meaningless online tomes created by this that or whoever how refreshing to see a clear-minded, well-written and beautifully designed tome that, as importantly, as lots of rather attractive young men littering its pages. It’s a magazine about models- the next models, the ones who will influence your hair, your poses, your facial expressions probably. The ones who will litter all the other magazines in ad campaigns etc.
24. Coat of the season
Imagine this, with Portishead’s “Machine Gun” playing in a white, Milanese room. It’s Raf with his Jil Sander hat on; the texture isn’t printed but actually swirls of wool smashed together in a marbled watercolour effect.
25. Leggings for men
Yes, that’s me in the second picture; in an event that was destined to haunt me forever in cyberspace, I went out in Milan wearing a “Damir Doma/Givenchy-inspired ensemble” which included these Material Boy leggings under denim shorts. WHICH ENDED UP ON “THE CUT“; I felt like a bit of a ‘cut’ afterwards.
EVEN SO… leggings and slim tracksuit trousers are still strong for this season, and next, and the best ones are by TIM HAMILTON who merges the long john with the legging with the tracksuit bottom; failing that, LOU DALTON‘S jodhpur trackies fit the bill nicely.
26. Fanny and Jessy
You know what? Those girls are AMAZING and I’m really sorry I didn’t make the show, god knows what I was doing that night (probably Tweeting) but it doesn’t matter because they’ll probably be showing at MAN next or something and I’ll be standing in the back row probably, unable to see the trousers past the heads of club kids.
Photos are by Christopher James.
27. THAT Sammy Davis Jr. photo
Has there ever been a better hat and glasses combo? Has there ever been a better time to wear hats and glasses?
28. HEDERUS
Every little thing she does is magic.
29. Topman fingerless gloves
Useful, good colours. FIVER!
Because their suits are bespoke, nice quality and produced under responsible conditions unlike high street suits. This site, launched in 2005, came from founder Warren Bennett’s bespoke suits made by the family he was staying with in Nepal. The same family is making the suits still, made well and for a ridiculously accessible price. I’m planning my perfect ‘fashiony’ winter suit from here- possibly double-breasted grey felt or flannel, or something a bit more Lanvin inspired.
Here is my lovely friend Michael, the best-dressed boy I know and the PR for A Suit That Fits (coincidence? OBVIOUSLY NOT) wearing one of his own pieces and looking dare I say good x 100. Hair colour optional but something I’m toying with…
September 5, 2009 at 5:50 pm |
been well into these post, so much to go off here. ive got an old knuckle duster neckless but i dont like the chain it’s on much. i want a big big coat, best way too keep warm this winter, i think il be wearing my leggings under trousers to keep warm too.