RampBoy

June 15, 2019

If menswear is a broad church, then tight shorts belong in the Book of Revelation

At this time of year, like many of you, I start scoping out the shorts landscape. What’s out there? What’s going on? What are this year’s options in a truncated trouser? How can a man who finds no dignity in the wearing of shorts, expose his nether limbs without wanting to curl up and pray for a flash flood? What can you do when you’re under the kind of duress only a 29C heatwave and a girl who insists on a, “day down the park” can provide?

The challenge is real. Because the fundamental problem with the shorts landscape is that they’re too slim. All of them. All shorts.

June 11, 2019

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This is not a garden office

I’m on a self-imposed spending lock. Every item of clothing I don’t buy, takes me that bit closer to being able to afford a garden office. Yep, I know, first world problems, what a cock, more money than sense etc… Well sorry and all that, but still. I want a modernist, glassy edifice. It’s been on my wants list for a long time Yet each month there’s a couple of shirts, a new pair of shoes and a jacket that irritatingly demand ownership, oblivious to the financial hooliganism it reaps on my current account. I need to stop buying stuff I don’t need. I should just enjoy the stuff I have. But for a committed menswearman, it’s tough. Particularly during sale time. Especially when there’s a shirt like this calling to me.

June 10, 2019

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The most interesting about industrial parks are the yellow walls

June 7, 2019

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A face-full of splash damage

If you had to pick a shirt that captured the restless and excitable ethos of east London’s Goodhood store, this would be it. Just look at this thing. It’s a wearable Mardi Gras; check, leopard, stripe and plain all tooting their kazoos, elbowing their way to the head of the procession. Whether a single garment can responsibly modge together four different patterns without risking personal injury is unclear. Only irresponsible wearers need apply.

June 4, 2019

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Useful for the extruded corn snack enthusiast

Sales are incoming in the UK. So the prudent individual will be keeping their wallet on lock until the 30% offs begin flooding inboxes. This site, however, is rarely prudent. With an apparently straight face, I’m about to suggest you invest £142, plus postage, plus proxy service, plus import duty, in a pair of trousers that look like pyjama bottoms. If you’re new visitor, I hope this effectively clarifies why this site is not for everyone.

June 3, 2019

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A boorish phalanx

The appeal of a casual, loose cut navy blazer is eternal. At least from the perspective of the committed wearer. If you’re a EG or Eastlogue head, you won’t need any convincing. Sportswearers, on the other hand, may eye-roll till their skulls splinter. After all, blazers are still very much in rotation amongst the ‘H&M bros’. And be of no doubt, this co-sign from the least evolved menswearists on the food chain has damaged the blazer’s pedigree. A Saturday night in a ‘fun’ pub is no longer complete without a boorish phalanx of ripped ’n’ skinny jeans, tattoos, thin-leather loafers, low-cut tees and emaciated jersey blazers. It goes without saying, this manifestation of the blazer should be drowned at birth.

What we’re looking at here is a different creature entirely.

June 2, 2019

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Toffee-brained, toddling narcissists

You should need a licence to wear a backpack on the London transport system. Ostensibly for carrying your junk, a backpack’s primary function these days is to inconvenience others. Backpack wearers on the Tube are, to an individual, toffee-brained, toddling narcissists. Banging into things, forcing themselves through, whirling around, barging, slapping, thumping and thwacking. Fuck you and your idiot bag. How can you not see the space your nylon-Quasimodo is taking up? How can you not be aware that every time you turn to giggle at your girlfriend, you twat three people in the face?

Irresponsible backpackers should be required by law to burn their spine-cases and wear one of these. Read More

May 31, 2019

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Finding some common ground

Sophnet and Nonnative have collaborated on a capsule collection, available now over at Coverchord. A couple of shirts, some trousers, a number of tees, that’s the extent of it. What I find mildly interesting is the idea of Nonnative (familiar for their clean, elevated simplicity) and Sophnet (who along with their sub-brand Uniform Experiment, seem to trade pretty heavily in logo-splashed, pattern-clashing, youth-wear) finding some common ground. To my mind this shirt is the pick of the result.

May 30, 2019

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Are you ready to be pelted with rotten fruit?

Roll up, roll up. Behold the bearded lady, the human cannonball, the bear boy and the monster hat. This offering from Japan’s Kapital imprint is certainly a grotesque. A creature only its mother could love. That it’s a hat in the first place is only really clear due to a peak jutting from beneath the lumps, bumps and folds. Truly we are gazing upon the most John Merrick of headwear. One size fits all. Are you ready to be pelted with rotten fruit?

May 29, 2019

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Octopusing your kicks

Trying to stay ahead of the menswear pack is dangerous. With every step you can trigger an anti-personnel mine of bad decision making. Suddenly you’re the knob in the giant orange sunhat. Then you’re the guy trying to bring Farah’s back. When you find yourself at a barbecue wearing a Japanese radiation suit, you know something’s gone wrong.

On the other hand, grey New Balance, APC jeans and Carhartt work jackets aren’t gonna flame-up anyone’s feed. Far enough to be interesting? Not so far that you provoke secretive cackles? Where’s the line? It can be unclear. Either way, I suspect these leather kilties are on the wrong side of it.

May 28, 2019

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Totally resolute, utterly fearless

Yesterday, my girl was doing some household chores while loudly singing Crazy For You by Madonna. After about 20 minutes, I pointed out that I was now thoroughly aware that ‘it’s all brand new’ and if I ‘touched her once I would know it’s true’. She smiled at me and continued singing. Under most circumstances I’d expect such dry asides to wither a target into submission. A further seven or so butchered verses later and I had to concede defeat. I have to admire her confidence. Totally resolute, utterly fearless. The audible equivalent of this jacket.

May 27, 2019

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Keep a lid on your sartorial hysteria

So, I’ve basically clowned myself. I saw the above post on the Nepenthes New York Instagram last night. Edgy tee, giant hat, fantastic embroidered EG dungarees; all to be expected. But I immediately became obsessed with the white Malibus. Surely, I assumed, these all-white ones were a Nepenthes New York rarity? I Googled. Discovered that UK store Working Class Heroes had them. In my size. In the sale. For £80. WTF? I bought them immediately. If I’d only checked one Google result lower, I could have had them for £47.70 at Triads.

Turns out they’re easily available over here. I was Insta-gamed. Unthinkingly seduced by the stylistic preferences of a far away city.

May 24, 2019

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Weather-appropriate and demented

Sun’s out – guns have no place in the equation. If you want to stick a vest on and lope about in your no socks, your thin-leather loafers and your calf-hugging denim, fake-baked, with your big fucking arms swinging about like a zoo creature, then all power to you. Just do me a favour and don’t leave the stench of your generic airport-lounge aftershave all over this site. Yes, the weather is warmer. But there’s no need to squash your dignity beneath a mouldy pair of TOMS. Don’t let the sun barbecue your taste. Keep your focus brothermen, when the temperature’s high, interesting, airy shirting is a power move.

May 22, 2019

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Glacial punctuation

The white tennis shoe never goes away. A constant for most right (and some wrong) thinking menswearists. They’re just so damn useful, providing a glacial punctuation to pretty much any fit.

Come the warmer weather, you can yawn your way through any number of mainstream fashion articles (yes, we know John Lennon used to wear Spring Courts) featuring the same brands (Superga – seriously?) and the same breathless pronouncements (OMG you can even wear them with a suit.) However it’s rare for a decent looking new brand to come along. One that isn’t just a blatant Common Projects clone.

May 20, 2019

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An over the head engagement

This boldly striped hooded anorak from Living Concept is available in three colour-ways: olive, navy and beige. The jacket remains the same, but each colour represents an entirely different vibe. Go navy and you’re a six berth yachtsman, with a charter to party and a buoy in every port. Olive is the urban creative; one hand on After Effects, the other buried in a Peri Peri bucket. And beige? You’re shackled for all eternity to the lead weight of your own immaculate good taste; afeared of Ribena spills and cake crumbs, a handheld vacuum holstered and ready.

May 16, 2019

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A direct punch in the eyes

Okay, so this is all a bit what the fuck? Where do you draw the line with utilitarian experimentation? Could it be when the bottom half of your jacket is connected to the top half by a pair of braces?

May 15, 2019

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Let’s face it, they’re probably not for you

I own a pair of these in tan. I can vouch for their superbness. I can also vouch for the fact that, over the last three or four years, Yuketen shoes have steadily risen in price here in the UK. What used to clock in around the high threes, have risen well into the fours. The low fours have comfortably broken the five ceiling. So while I paid around four for these a few years back, you’re now looking at a non-trivial £535. That’s over half a grand for a pair of casual shoes.

I mention this not because they’re not worth it, on the contrary, they’re some of my most loved and well worn shoes. I just mention it in the hope that maybe just one corpse-witted Brexit-liker will read this, momentarily stop pawing at their Weatherspoons breakfast and wonder if dragging the UK out of the EU has any downside. Admittedly, fans of the Weatherspoons’ ‘Miner’s Benedict’ (black pudding, toasted English muffin, Hollandaise sauce, if you’re interested) are not really this site’s target demographic. But in the country’s current intellectual stagnancy, you can’t rule anything out.

May 13, 2019

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Neither the means nor the purpose

There are rarely any major upheavals in the wallet game. Simple, plain, slim: that appears to the the mandate. I’m currently rolling with a grain leather, tan number from Master-Piece. The use of cash might be on the slide, but you’ve got to have somewhere to store cards, and business receipts at the very least.

I’d argue that a bro’s wallet should be up to the same level as his garb. If your narrative includes anything from Engineered Garments to Wacko Maria you really don’t want to be addressing the bar with an over-stuffed velcro Billabong.

May 10, 2019

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Is the inevitable dirtiness desirable?

I frequently struggle with VISVIM. Yes, I know, it’s cool because it costs every last fuck in your wallet. I get that it’s all made from Pegasus’ tail and Valyrian Vibranium. I understand that when a crafts-person begins making a pair of VISVIM boots, they’re entitled to a free bus pass by the time they’re finished.

It’s just to me, the brand mostly makes clothes that look like you found them in a wheelie bin. And not a good wheelie bin. A wheelie bin outside a bungalow belonging to an old man who wears tight jeans covered in motor oil badges and has shoulder length hair around the sides and back but a massive bald circle on the top of his head. A man who still listens to Springsteen and does that fucking ‘horn fingers’ bullshit if he sees you across the street.

For me, most VISVIM is a bit too plaid, a bit too weathered, a bit too tatty. These shoes however, are not.

May 7, 2019

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Completely impractical, but 3000% debonair

Crossing the streams between 007 villain and Thai restaurant manager, we have this number from Norbit by Hiroshi Nozawa. It’s perfectly reasonable to be afeared of the short-sleeved shirt. It’s a limiting piece. You can roll long-sleeves up. You can’t roll short-sleeves down. And for many, short-sleeves are a bit exposing. Unless you’re the kind of gym-bro who chants stuff like, “sun’s out, guns out” with no comprehension of how prickish it sounds, you’re probably on the fence here. That said, the inventive clothesman can still make this shirt work.

May 5, 2019

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It’s just highly likely

Out the other day with my girl, while wearing my giant Needles H.D trousers, I experienced a spot of verbal abuse. Just as we boarded a train at Peckham Rye I heard it: “look at the size of his fucking trousers”. A group of lads (obviously) augmenting their courage with slurps of Amstel. My girl told me not to look at them. I did anyway. They turned away and continued their ‘bantz’, with a vocabulary as slender as their jeans.

You don’t encounter that kind of small-town thick-wittery too much in London; I’d put money on them not being local. The typical south east London response to vaguely outré clobber is a sideways glance, perhaps a smile, and the occasional request for a street style snap. All of which is nice and cuddly. But looking at the sheer joy exhibited in the jumbo-trousered shots above, I can’t help but think my H.Ds would be even more enthusiastically received in South Korea.

May 3, 2019

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Fucking stupid geography

So we’ve got a Nepenthes in London. Which is great. What’s less great is that they don’t seem to stock the pieces I really want. Don’t get me wrong, I want most of the shop. But the pieces I really, really want, the game-changers; well, they seem to be only available elsewhere. Case in point. There’s this Engineered Garments embroidered Dayton Shirt from a few weeks back. Sadly a no from the London store; only available in one shop in Philadelphia. Now there are these Needles trousers. They look like something a late 1980s Robert Downey, Jr. would wear. Appropriate then, as my chances of getting them from the London store are less than zero.

May 1, 2019

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From wanker-banker to Kubrick astronaut

If you look at the top-down silhouette, these loafers look treacherously like the kind of square-toed wazz worn by threadbare commuters. They bring to mind 90’s Patrick Cox shoes; a chisel-ended form that’s remarkably still championed by the accountancy community today. Perhaps the stubby look has come full circle? Could it a thing again? Swedish brand Acne appear to think so.

If I’m honest, the square-toe is a comparatively trivial element of these loafers. Yes, clearly, they’re white. But they’ve also got a sole unit that immediately teleports these from wanker-banker to Kubrick astronaut.

April 29, 2019

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I’m ashamed

My girl’s been away for three days, at a hen do in Barcelona. Yesterday I got so bored I ate her Easter egg. It was a big Smarties one. I ate it all in one go. I’m ashamed. But it was nice.

Now I have two issues to face. I haven’t told my girl yet, so there’s her disappointment – much more painful than anger don’t you think. And my broadening waistline. Is it bad that I’m more concerned about the latter than the former?

April 28, 2019

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Thanos may as well ‘dust’ you now

Being in turn indefensibly elitist and upsettingly superficial, this site rarely acknowledges modestly priced clothing. I am aware such things exist. I simply consider them irrelevant. As far as I’m concerned, you’re in the game or you’re not. I don’t care whether you have a perfectly serviceable, olive cotton blazer; if it was purchased from a high street chain you’re not in the game. If you’re wearing Ted Baker. You’re invisible. If you’re wearing Superdry, Thanos may as well ‘dust’ you now.

So, for this site to spotlight a sweatshirt that costs around £50, it’s either an extremely special garment, or I’m just being lazy. In truth, it’s probably a bit of both.

April 27, 2019

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A passerby hands me some change

At first glance, the jacket above looks fairly standard. Rumpled linen, plain, loose fitting. And it’s certainly that. Unlined and easy to throw on. It’s a spring/summer staple for a dude somewhere in the stylistic hinterland between terrifyingly obscure Japanese brands, and dancing for pennies and pre-packet sandwiches outside Victoria tube station. It’s a couple of hundred quid that looks like you found it on the pavement, alongside a carrier bag full of garden string and a slightly burned children’s doll. Obviously it’s cool as balls.

But even in it’s apparent simplicity there’s something interesting to note here. It’s utilitarian but progressive; the cut of this jacket is signalling an alternative to the prevalent menswear norms.

April 26, 2019

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No call for an asymmetrical fringe

Some dismiss it as diet Junya Watanabe, but for me, the Comme des Garçons Homme line succeeds in regularly offering wearable but interesting garments; the Comme DNA still clear and apparent. By eschewing the (over) reliance of aggressive top-stitching, large coloured panels, fractured logos and frequently restrictive fits of his mainline, Watanabe’s work for Homme just seems easier. Familiar certainly, but the kind of aspirant, crumpled luxe that’s come to define the dude who has a senior role in the creative industry, as well as the dude who wants to look like he has a senior role in the creative industry.

April 25, 2019

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Green-eye from other bros is an important USP

I’ve just bought a Nonnative hat. Plain navy, boonie style, neck strap; it fits perfectly. The hat’s lining is the same Liberty print fabric you see used for this coat. The hat was a non-trivial £160. The coat is £995. If that’s not enough to send you packing to Boohoo.com, then welcome. You’re in the right place. Because this is an insanely cool, insanely priced Nonnative coat with drawstrings, internal pockets and leather trims. It’s a game changer. It’s a piece that, when worn correctly, is basically an Infinity Gauntlet with a hood. Worn incorrectly and you’ll look like a dude who still listens to The Soup Dragons.

April 18, 2019

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Giant denim waist basket

This is not a sexy piece of clothing. It’s not even mildly sensual. Take this top for dinner and you can expect the conversation to revolve around Arya Starks’ kill list and whether Rey might be a Skywalker after all. Important topics no doubt. But unlikely to fly in the kind of provincial wine bar that believes chrome, leather and inflated prices is somehow sophisticated. The Kardashian-themed ladies in such places (I’m generalising here, but based from experience) appear to value exaggerated musculature, an excessively moisturised face and block-headed misogyny above all. A thoughtful bro wearing a denim pregnancy harness is not high on their hit-list.

April 17, 2019

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I dunno, what do you think?

The Hawaiian shirt is a battleground between beauty and ugly where ugly always wins. In the UK, a sunny day brings out the ‘Hawaiian shirt ironists’. Frequently young and thin, they have short hair, moustaches, some kind of Japanese sandals or (ironic) Crocs and a tote featuring the logo of an independent garden centre. The screen on their iPhone will be shattered; the back will be covered in stickers. They use the word ‘like’ too much. They begin an answer to any question by saying, “I wanna say…” They’ll smoke other people’s rollies, but always have money to buy a pickled vegetable wrap. They’ll be wearing a hideous Hawaiian shirt.

April 16, 2019

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The honesty is off the charts

If you’re familiar with Japanese retailer Acoustics, you’ll know they boast an enviable roster of brands. Yacea, Too Good, Takahiro Miyashita The Soloist, Casey Casey, the Nepenthes family, Nisica, Sanca: the list goes on. You might also have noticed how they show the clothes. Raw, unfiltered, natural shots. Just bros, wearing stuff; snapped, usually outdoors. It’s a marked contrast to how western indies usually spend time styling the look, lighting the subject and positioning them against a modish industrial interior. The Acoustics models look like they’ve just tossed the kit on and gone for a stroll.

Case in point: this set of images featuring a giant body-bag from BROWN by 2-tacs. Dude’s just standing there, by a car park and a flyover. The fucks given are few. But the honesty is off the charts. Acoustics is basically saying that if you buy this, this is exactly what you’re going to look like.

April 15, 2019

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You are now both ‘style guys’

One of the problems facing the brand snob (and if you’ve even the slightest interest in this site’s usual contents, you are one) is that brands like Oliver Spencer are routinely ignored. It’s not that the products are bad, it’s just that they’re over familiar. Oliver Spencer is easy to buy, easy to wear and goes on sale like clockwork. Which is when that mate of yours, who isn’t at all into clothes, ends up in the pub in a discounted Spencer shirt, happily pointing out how you are now both ‘style guys.’

Thing is, if something’s interesting, it’d be churlish to ignore it just because it’s from a more ‘mainers’ brand. And I usually would. But today, I’m either feeling lazy or have a new found sense of wellbeing to all men. So here’s a pair of genuinely brilliant Oliver Spencer shoes.

April 14, 2019

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Nuclear sunshine

Beheavyer. Not a brand currently available in the UK. Perhaps not a brand you’ve heard of. But believe me, you’ll want to. With the rise of the right, the collapsing ecosystem and the introspective horror-show of Brexit, my confidence in the future of humanity is already in the toilet. But if some enterprising retailer isn’t trying to bring this brand over here as I type, I’ll assume we really have all given up. I’ll assume everyone accept me has secretly agreed to not to bother, to just let mankind descend into a welter of flailing fists, rabid dribble and nuclear sunshine. Ironically, exactly kind of situation this shirt is perfect for.

When gangs of irradiated Brexiteers try and steal your last tin of Spaghetti Hoops, the loose cut will enable maximum agility – stabbing the rascals in the eyes with a screwdriver will be a sinch. And that light cotton fabric means you’ll remain cool, even as the warheads melt your conservatory.

April 12, 2019

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Tealights on an imaginary beach

Canada’s Haven have unleashed new Kapital. Only for the headstrong, the drop includes the usual mix of mutilated denim, voluminous trousers, and skewed US references. Denim shorts with a skeleton bone print also feature; but for all our sakes, we won’t focus on them. This ‘Denim Fishing Kimono‘ is the standout.

If you’re looking for something that ticks all the boxes (Japanese make and styling, loads of pockets, beautiful fabric, attention to detail) this is your move.

April 11, 2019

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Toyota Yaris sponsors drama on 4

The Widow, Cheat, Line of Duty, Motherfatherson, Vera, The Bay. “Beautifully created drama sponsored by SEAT”. “Toyota Yaris sponsors drama on 4”. It’s all about the drama right now. Everything I watch must feature: at least one missing child; a troubled detective who has to juggle a difficult family life (a parent with Alzheimer’s, a fearsome monosyllabic son, or a secret sex-camming daughter will do nicely) a covert relationship between two married coppers; slow panning shots of bogland and a string of victims discovered with their lungs tied round their necks like bloody mufflers. Everyone loves a bit of drama.

This garment is nothing if not dramatic.

April 9, 2019

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Everything feels numb

My enthusiasm for Inverallan knitwear is well documented on this site. After writing this post, my girl surprised me with my first Inverallan; a simple navy crew neck; robust, knotty and perfect. Coincidently I’m wearing it as I write. It’s warm. And looks luxe. Wearing this I feel around 17% more attractive.

Course menswear stands still for no man, so I’m already examining other items rather like the sweater I now own, but also different enough to entertain another purchase. Enter this knit from Japanese brand Joe McCoy.

April 7, 2019

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Half-suppressed sniggers: exactly what you want

Tanktops rule. Call ’em gilets, popovers, vests… The fundamental principle of a sleeveless body you can yank over a tee, or a shirt is still giving me the feels. So far this season the Engineered Garments ‘Cover Vest‘ has been owning the space – Instagram’s inundated with cop-shots. And with good reason, it’s an amazingly versatile piece, immediately elevating any fit. But there are some interesting alternatives. Conspicuously absent from western Instagram feeds is this piece from Ohh! Nisica.

April 6, 2019

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No accounting for idiocy

These Beams Plus trousers look alright. I had a pair just like them from Engineered Garments Workaday – you’re probably familiar with the style. They did exactly the same job as these: hardwearing, loose fit, good number of robust pockets. What they didn’t do was cope especially well with me being an idiot.

I was in a pool bar in Bristol. I was leaning against the bar ordering a round. I turned to take my drinks and realised my trousers were stuck to the bar. No I hadn’t seen the wet paint sign. No I wasn’t happy with the large black marks all over the front of my EG trousers. No the paint never came off. Those trousers are now shorts. Which leaves a loose-green-trouser shaped hole in my wardrobe.

April 4, 2019

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Braying, ruddy-faced lumps

I don’t like rugby. I don’t understand how it works. I don’t understand why the process of putting a ball in a hole, or touching a stick or whatever, while some other men try and stop you is of any interest to anyone? Also, why do people who like rugby have to be so fucking loud? And tall? If ever I have the misfortune to enter a pub when the ‘rugby’s on’ I can’t move for enormous-arsed burgundy jeans and canoe-like deck shoes. You squeeze through to order a pint and get your face simultaneously swatted by ten different quiffs; all attached to over-excitable, braying, ruddy-faced lumps, whose wives have let them out, seemingly to laugh as loudly as possible about ‘bumming’. Christ I hate rugby.

It’s a shame these Nanamica shirts are inspired by rugby. Because, as I say, I think it’s shit.

April 3, 2019

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Drawing comparisons between clothing design and architecture always sounds clever

April 2, 2019

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“Appropriate for a wide range of lifestyles and circumstances”

Vaguely in-keeping with yesterday’s ‘wedding guest’ theme, here’s another proposal for attitudinal formality. Of course, this thing is off its tits on madras. Big as a house, bolder than a boulder; this monster will kick your eyes out from 100 yards. Perhaps then, it’s only appropriate for the ‘right kind of wedding’. You know the sort; barefoot bride, kimchi ice-cream, some hairy dude playing a lute.

April 1, 2019

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Oh my Godddd, take our picture

Wedding invites are go. They’re out there. They’re airborne. They’re spraying in your direction like the contents of a colostomy bag piñata. Sooner or later, something’s going to hit you. Then you’re going to have to A) sulk, B) RSVP and C) think about what the fuck you’re going to wear.

March 31, 2019

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Treacherous territory indeed

This is by YSTRDYS TMRRW. It’s called the ‘Grown Up Shirt’ And my God if it isn’t grown up. This is definitely what grown ups wear. This is what grown ups wear when they’re dancing on the bow of a yacht, with a sunburnt forehead, singing Rio into an empty Corona bottle.

March 26, 2019

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Hiding in plain sight

This is straight up blasphemy. Your chosen God is irrelevant. Forget what you believe or think you believe. And on the off-chance you have an allegiance to a particular tartan, go ahead and chuck that in the McBin. You are looking upon the new world order. The unenlightened may only see a coat made of different checked fabrics. But come doomsday, those misguided souls will feel the endless prick of the devil’s own sausage fork.

March 25, 2019

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Highly suggestible audience

There’s been much talk of the damage to the UK economy post-Brexit. Car manufacture, farming, medicine, transport, fishing; dire forecasts all. But what of the businesses likely to prosper after the country we already have is back in our hands? I suggest the time is right to launch a cult. Think about it. There’s a massive market. We’ve already got over 17 million people ready to believe in any old cobblers.

A cult has low overheads. All you need is you and a microphone. Once you’re up and running you can photocopy some pamphlets – these can feature some drawings of moon men and a short essay about the wisdom of crows. And think of the margins. There’ll be a joining fee obviously, but that will be quickly subsidised by further payments as members move further up the ‘Step Ladder of Enlightenment’ (working title). In no time at all you’ll have the money to buy this jacket – then you’ll really look the part.

March 23, 2019

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I bought a pair of Needles H.D Pants

Baggy trousers are a well worn topic on this site. I’ve discussed, purchased and worn Barena, Bru Na Boinne, Eastlogue, Ordinary Fits and OTHER/Shop (RIP). I’ve sized-up in Engineered Garments. I’ve even had a pair made for me to my exact specification. I’ve also dabbled in entry-level Needles. Yesterday however, I went nuclear Needles, I bought a pair of ‘H.D Pants’. I tried them on two years ago in Nepenthes in New York and I laughed so hard the sales assistant thought I was being disrespectful. I tried them on a year ago in Peckham’s Alpha Shadows, took snaps and Whatsapped them to my girl. She quickly pinged back that if I wanted her to continue being my girl I would not be buying the trousers.

I now own the trousers. I’m wearing them now, in a Peckham cafe, writing this. I feel simultaneously superb and ridiculous.

March 22, 2019

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Subdued business

Some serious geometric realness here from Japan’s Bru Na Boinne. It’s like someone’s fired a cannon through a Hasbro warehouse – there’s definitely some Qwirkle in there, possibly even a bit of Rummikub. We’ve seen a fair bit of this kind of thing recently, notably from last season’s Noma t.d x Engineered Garments collaboration. Even so, to me, this piece still seems pretty fresh.

March 20, 2019

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Almost time to switch

This headpiece is called the ‘Educator Hat’. It’s from Nonnative and available now over at Coverchord. Not sure where the whole ‘educator’ thing comes in? Looks to me like something worn by low-level Death Star personnel. The guy who mops the trash compactor perhaps?

Even so, it’s been time since we’ve looked at a new bucket hat. Mainstream fashion coverage is still yawning on about 90s this and 90s that; oversized sportswear and yes, bucket hats. But I don’t see bucket hats as especially 90s. I think of the 1960s; Jack Lemmon, Woody Allen, Hunter S. Thompson. I love bucket hats. Especially when framed by the seersucker, ‘three-roll-two’ language of prep – they offer a wrinkly, often disheveled punctuation to an otherwise neat fit. It is, to my mind, this incarnation of the bucket hat that contemporary Japanese designers frequently choose to channel.

March 18, 2019

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Remiss to ignore

Gosha Rubchinskiy is back. I say this, not with effusive pleasure, but merely as a statement of fact. Rubchinskiy’s previous branded incarnation didn’t particularly chime with me. Footy sportwear with cyrillic lettering don’t fit with my fits. But, as I say, he’s got a new line, GR-Uniforma, and due to his residual cultural impact it would be remiss to ignore it.

March 17, 2019

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On the right side of try-hard. Just.

My passion for furry shoes continues; oblivious to the unpredictable UK climate, relentless unsolicited comments and basic common sense. I wore my ‘hairy cow’ Paraboots last night out on the pops. A bloke I had never met told me I had nice shoes. Not sure if he was taking the piss, but I thanked him all the same.

I think furry shoes represent an acceptable level of urban glamour. They’re different; I mean statistically it’s unlikely you’ll find a large number of dudes wearing furry shoes in most environments. But crucially they’re not too razzle-dazzle. They’re not too fancy-boy. They’re not covered in rhinestones and chains. Furry shoes are definitely on the right side of try-hard. Just.