1: DJ Mr Thing’s “Champion Nerd” mix of soul and funk – Nice and laid back, a perfect sound track to a bit of lollygagging.
2: Arc’Teryx Theta Ar Gore-Tex jacket – The best piece of waterproof outerwear I’ve ever owned, great at keeping me warm and dry on savagely wet and windy mornings.
3: Bananas – A little taste of sunshine in the morning, plus they keep you regular.
4: Coffee – Not instant shit, not vending machine shit, but the good shit, like Whittard’s “Monsoon Malabar”, shit that leaves you wired, but in a good way.
5: John Smedley knitwear – Nothing like a a lovely bit of fine gauge merino wool to keep you warm and comfortable when it starts getting a bit chilly outside.
Filed under: Style, Urban Advice | Tags: casual, dressing, fashion, football casual, one upmanship, paninaro, sartorial, sartorialism, sartorialist, Style, the sartorialist
Fashion? Style? Sartorialism? What is it? To me style is a complex yet simple thing, a paradox if you will. I like wearing good quality, crafted garments, made by people who give a shit (Albam for example), simple enough? Wrong. I can’t just throw this stuff on me and expect it to work now can I? You can’t wear red with green, or a brown belt with black shoes, my top more or less has to match my footwear (unless its a suit). Its a complex formation of rules, that sometimes, not often, I’ll fuck off and wear whatever. But if I can adhere to a combination of classic styling rules, slightly skewed by my own take on this nameless thing, then why do others seem so bent on ripping up the rule book, setting the shreds on fire, then pissing on the ashes?
Its not like traditional looks can’t be twisted and fitted to your individuality. Look at the Sartorialist (www.thesartorialist.blogspot.com) and see the pictures of the Italian men putting their own twist on a classic look and tell me that they don’t look good. So why do lads today insist on using the likes of Hollyoaks and The X Factor as inspiration? Skinny jeans, dirty white pumps or deck shoes, lumberjack shirt, shit haircut copied from Mark Ronson… Yeah you look great fella. Oh you want to look a bit more formal, copy George Lamb, just bin off all your socks, get a trendy grey streak in your greasy mane of hair, and roll those trousers up so you can see the best part of your calf.
Fuck. That. The Italians are a fan of the roll/cuff/turn up, and so am I (to a certain degree), but anything above calf height is fucking ridiculous and unless you’re an olive skinned, aviator wearing “Paninaro” wear some socks. But I digress. Style is individual, and I appreciate individuality, I just don’t like to think about people wearing the same clothes as me, let alone see it (I’ve gone home and got changed when that’s happened before).
So adopt things you like, just try and do it with your own twist or look for something that no one else has, and don’t be afraid to ask about what someone else has on, its a compliment. And I’m not telling you what to wear, but just don’t go out and copy people especially me because I’ll smash your fucking face in. Joke, I won’t, I’ll just leave you behind and move on, looking as fresh as ever.
