What happened to the other 3 seasons?!
the Hatman is not amused…
Hey hey!
It’s the end of March.
It’s officially Spring…and it’s snowing?!
It’s not just snowing,it’s also bloody freezing,and windy!
They must be the 3 most hated weather combinations,(unless you count tornados,fork lightning and hail the size of footballs!).
The worst thing is that our little country can’t cope with any extreme (I use that term tongue in cheek!) change in the weather,everythingand I mean everything grinds to a halt!
Worse still is that as a fashion store manager I am currently displaying my new Spring/Summer ranges which consists of swimwear,little denim shorts,delicate tops and yes you guessed it…flip flops?!
The British Retail consortium announced that retail sales had improved in February…can’t wait to see what they report back for March!!
yeah it might look pretty,but it’s not good for sales of swimwear and flip flops!
It’s hard to picture it but,apparently good weather isn’t too far away…
about 4 hours on a plane should do it!!
There are some excellent Spring/Summer products out there on the high street,from the soft pastels to the eye catching brights with Aztec and Tribal influences everywhere!
Below is a taster of what you should be wearing when the weather eventually picks up…if it picks up!!
Firstly Topshop’s offering…
Find them all at www.topshop.com
New Look has some excellent ‘Eastern Trail’ products…
find all these goodies at www.newlook.com
For the sake of my sanity and my sales,I’m keeping my freezing cold,frost bitten,numb fingers, crossed for some nice spring sunshine…not getting my hopes up,got more chance juggling soot!
Until next time….
Stay safe,stay warm.
Oh what a circus…London part two
Hello again readers!
I’m writing this post en route to London,using Chiltern railways free wifi!
(Which is great,except its slower than a fat lad running a marathon in lead wellies!)
The purpose of my visit is work. It’s not all bad though because ‘work’ today consists of looking at new ranges and consulting with buyers over their prospective products.
Oh!..and afterwards I get to see my brother again for beers!
I can let you into a little secret though and tell you that this coming Spring/Summer season ‘clothing’ is going to be huge…I don’t mean the sizing!,I mean that wearing clothing is going to be huge!
(See I know my stuff!)
At least the sun is shining this time,which will make the whole experience a lot more tolerable.
Deep breaths as I head towards the joy that is the tube…
you can always tell the people that don’t use the tube that often…they’re the ones not scrambling or pushing to get on,or they’re the ones who actually understand what personal space is?!
London is definitely a ‘dog eat dog’ kind of city.
You either become the Rottweiler and bully your way through everything or you become the Chihuahua and do a lot of yapping,but ultimately someone soon is going to tread on you!
Pascal wouldn’t last 2 minutes on the Bakerloo line…
Two trains later and I’m on route to ‘Oxford Circus’,even at 8am with no stores open its busy…
My company’s main office is just off Oxford Street,so I head over with about half an hour to kill and go for my first caffeine hit of the day (god knows I need one after getting up at 5:30am!!)
Mortimer’s Cafe is the coffee shop of choice,it’s busy,lots of regulars drinking here (first name terms with the staff and all!) which is always a good sign.
Service was excellent and the coffee even better.
Then something odd occurred…I’m sat minding my own on a small table in the corner,checking in on Facebook,when two young ladies virtually sit with me.
Now it’s not a problem except that the place is half empty…they just chose to sit on my table,put their bags on the floor (right by my feet! I actually had to step over them to get out!),and continued to chat like it was normal?!
I came to the conclusion that…
A: they fancied me (not likely)
B: they’re so used to moving down the train to use up any available space,that they naturally do it where ever they can?!
C: and the most likely answer…I was sat in their favourite seat!
After my meeting ended,I strolled down Regents Street towards Piccadilly.
Most people visit London and hit Oxford Street for shopping…big mistake!
Oxford Street is not the best that London has to offer,apart from Selfridges,Topshop,and maybe Uniqlo it’s full of run of the mill stores you can find in most UK towns (just busier and messier than most UK towns!)
Regents Street and Carnaby Street just off it are far nicer places to shop.
Carnaby Street has a vibe all of its own,since the days of the ‘swinging sixties’ and the ‘Mod’ era it has been synonymous with style.
There are some very cool shops down here.
Where else could stand alone shops like ‘Ben Sherman,Doc Martens,and Puma (to name but a few!) look so right and thrive like they do…
It’s not just about the big brands down here though,go down some of the little side alleys and you’ll find some amazing little vintage boutiques,selling retro mod fashions!
(I mentally spent thousands down there!)
Carnaby Street also seems to be home to some of the coolest and quirkiest people too.
Most of the guys and girls in the stores look awesome,they are sooo on trend,or have a unique style that you could only do in London,and probably only do on Carnaby Street!
I sat with my brother (pint in hand) and people watched as we talked and put the world to rights!
“I’d love to work here,on this street,it’s so cool” I said.
“yeah it’s cool,but then you’ve got to think that,you look cool,you work in a cool shop that probably doesn’t pay that well,then you’ll go back to your shitty little shared bedsit in some cruddy crime ridden London suburb and barely scrape enough money to afford your tube ticket,let alone your next meal!”
way to go little bro,ever the optimist!😣
All I heard was “you’ll look cool”!!…
I headed back to sleepy town with the London dirt and smells still up my nostrils (nice image 😁) and thought about how great it would be to work in such a ‘happening’ place,then I remembered my little brothers words and came crashing back down to earth!
Don’t you just hate reality checks?!
Anyway,this is what I wore to London…
I’ve gone for the ‘Mod/casual geezer’ look…
A style tip here is to roll your skinnies above the ankles,wear some eye catching socks,always fasten your shirt to the top,and your hat at a ‘jaunty‘ angle!
Until next time…
Yap! Yap! Yap!
Stay safe
Happy Birthday Ben!!
Hello again!
In what is about to be the direct follow on from my last post,I am today writing about and wishing one of Britain’s iconic brands ‘Happy 50th Birthday!’…step forward Ben Sherman
I’m not about to regurgitate the history of this great brand in my post (if you want to know more about their history you can visit www.bensherman.com)
Instead,I’m writing to celebrate their half century of being able to reinvent itself many times,and to raise a glass to toast it becoming a British Classic!
When Ben Sherman first hit the clothes pegs in 1963, England was well in to the ‘swinging sixties’.
Ben Sherman were the shirts of choice for pop stars,film stars,footballers,but more importantly ‘Joe Public’ as they were also very affordable.
50 years on,still with the classic features that stood Ben Sherman apart from the others (the box pleat,the loop on the back,and the centre button at the back of the collar), the brand goes from strength to strength.
With stand alone stores in some of the best retail locations in Britain,and stores in New York (check the YouTube video of the store opening in Soho NY)
Ben Sherman has survived longer than many of its competitors.
How did they do it?
They moved with the times,but stayed true to their classic styling,you will see from the following looks,that they’ve moved on massively,it’s not just about shirts anymore!…they do a lot more besides!
They have diversified well,with the introduction of the ‘Plectrum’ range,the ‘Duke Street foundry’ and not to mention that their amazing ‘shirt bar’ with the four different fits,have all aided their transition from their humble beginnings.
And I’m a big fan!! (you may have noticed!)
So,’many happy returns Ben!’
Keep doing what you’re doing,fly that flag for the great British brands,from the humble ‘Oxford’ shirt to the new ‘made in England’ range, our ‘Ben’ will hopefully be around for another 50 years!!
Remember keep our heritage brands alive!!
Until next time…
Stay safe…and check out www.bensherman.com
This is England…this is style
Greetings from a murky,drizzly ‘Old Blighty’
Earlier in the week we witnessed spring in all it’s glory,the sun was shining,the birds were singing,the temperature was a ‘balmy’ 12 degrees!
That’s what I call spring
The nice weather has a profound effect on consumer spending too,sales of spring fashion and accessories definitely improved…
Then later in the week sales of umbrellas increased!
Unpredictable,that’s what British weather is!!
That’s more like it!!
So this week I ventured from ‘sleepy town’ and went down to our capital city…’Old smoke’ or London (pronounced Larndan by the locals!)
I didn’t go to London to see the queen,nor did I go for a shopping trip (although I could’ve spent thousands!)
I was actually there with my job,but took full advantage of an early finish to do a bit of window shopping,and have a couple of beers with my brother who is now a bonafide Landaner.
Not only was the weather appalling but the tube in rush hour was a real treat?!
I hit Oxford Street,then made my way over to the less crowded Carnaby Street.
Love the vibe down there,it epitomises all that is cool about ‘British style’.
I travelled down to ‘Embankment’ with the intention of heading over to the Tate modern to see the Lichtenstein exhibition…I never made it!
I got kind of lost (easily done in London!) and distracted by spotting Will Smith and his good lady boarding a boat on the Thames.
(I could never be a paparazzi,as by the time I switched my camera on my phone on,they’d taken off and headed in the opposite direction!!)
So from there I shot back over to Covent Garden and then the window shopping commenced…
Londoners have a cool style that you could only really get away with in the big city…I myself was rocking a classic blazer,my trilby,a bright yellow v-neck sweater,burgundy skinny jeans,a nice pair of brogues and a pair of floral socks (which caused a bit of a stir!)
I’m a massive fan of the film (and later TV series) ‘This is England’
If you’ve not seen either I strongly recommend you check them out.
It is funny,violent,sometimes deeply moving but always poignant.
A real masterpiece,cleverly written,with an amazing cast of characters.
I’m more of a fan of the style worn by the characters in the movie.
They represented England around the eighties,when the ‘Skins’ and ‘suede heads’ ruled!
Doc Martens,Fred Perry,& Ben Sherman were the labels of choice.
Which is where i’d like to go next with this post…
the same three labels are still going strong,in fact they are probably stronger than ever!
They have re-invented themselves,and have become ‘staples’ of great British style.
The ‘classics’ are still my favourite,make sure if you visit London,you go into Ben Sherman,Dr martens or Fred Perry…you won’t leave empty handed!
and now the looks…
Jeans,Trilby,and Knitwear all by www.bensherman.com
and Boots and bag by www.drmartens.com
Polo shirt by Raf Simons for www.fredperry.com and Jeans by Ben Sherman,’Tattoo ‘ boots and bag by Dr Martens
Blazer and Trilby both Ben Sherman
Brogue boots by Dr.Martens Super Skinny jeans by www.topman.com
Shirt by Fred Perry
Retro sweater by Fred Perry
boots from Dr.Martens ‘made in England’ range
shirt from Ben Sherman’s ‘made in England’ range
chinos by Ben Sherman
bag by Dr Martens
Knitwear and jeans by Ben Sherman
Flat cap by Fred Perry
Boots by Doc Martens
Hope you like my choices…I’m back in London again soon to check out yet more of our capitals finest shops,next time I’ll be heading over to Savile Row to stare longingly at the beautiful creations I most definitely can’t afford!
Until next time…
Stay safe.
The style Viking 