Bluebirds are so natural...

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and are gearing up for your new year celebrations (be that expensive or cheap, hangover guranteed or a quiet night in). I am now back in London where I belong after having a quiet Christmas with the family by the seaside and eating far, far too much. This festive season is all about excess but the January belt tightening is on it's way (oh dear) but fortunately we have the sales and the fashion weeks not too far away.

After my recent blog post you might have concluded that I would be out savouring the sales all day every day fighting over the rails and piles of so called bargains but that just hasn't been the case. I hate shopping in crowded shops, during the sale madness the clothes are scattered across the rails and floors and fellow consumers take on a more panic stricken animal attitude, either fearful eyes and a look of terror or they come out fighting, elbowing their way to the reductions. Sales can be a scene of desperation, style at times is forgotten. Some people enjoy shopping in this madness, sifting through all of the rubbish just to find that nugget of a bargain but not this consumer.

My first full day in London was spent wandering around Selfridges with EJ and the girlfriend, where last year I was fortunate enough to find some great things but this time I just wasn't in the mood. I'm sure there were some great bargains among the racks and rack of clothes but from my half hearted glances I didn't see anything, only the very fortunate or those who put in the most work succeed in arenas like the Selfridges sale. My mind was made up to vist b Store and the Shop at Blue Bird the following morning. In the interim I did venture into Liberty's and was seduced by some of the reductions, for example a Maison Martin Margiela navy suit jacket which despite the substantial price cut was still a little out of my grasp. A couple of APC items were tempting but my will power was strong enough to dissuade me buying things that I didn't really want or need.

Now onto more happier and successful tales and the wonders that were to be found within the Shop at Bluebird. Adam Green once chirped 'Bluebirds are so natural' in his song 'Bluebird' and it the shop felt very natural to me. It felt so far away from my previous shopping experience at Selfridges which left me questioning the whole sale thing. I walked out of the shop at Bluebird with a huge smile on my face, I had a bagged myself a white Givenchy shirt for £55 and a pair of wrap trousers from Unconditional for £125 but had also enjoyed myself within the shop, which is well presented and has attentive and extremely pleasant staff! There was so much to choose from, ranging from Raf Simons tapered trousers and that metallic shirt, Omar Kashoura cardigans and shirts (check out the scary myspace music) alongside rails of countless items that were great!

The sale purchases teamed up with a pair of old but quite rare converse (black with red trim).

The Unconditional trousers are unlike anything I have in my wardrobe. Wrap fly, tapered bottom, they are a play on proportions and so damn comfortable.

If you like me are dissuaded from most sales I would recommend visiting the Shop at Bluebird which was fruitful for me alongside ventures inside b Store and Concrete.

Let us know about your own success stories or nightmares with the recent sales.

Are fat men allowed to have style?

Oh I do enjoy a lazy Sunday surrounded by newspaper supplements, pastries and strong black coffee as the outside world looks uninviting, grey and cold! During such a scene I came across an interesting article in Style titled 'Pity the fat boys' where Simon Mills explores the notion that British men are increasingly overweight and badly dressed, mainly because they are fat. It seems that larger sized men don't have the same level of help on offer compared to their female counterparts, they aren't described as curvy or voluptious but instead at best called 'porky'.

Within the article he discusses how fat men have limited options in the style front, with most turning to oversized sportswear. Ironically clothes meant for athletes are loosely adorning beer bellies and moobs across the country. On the high street and online where can men who wear xxxl+ buy their clothes? On a quick google search it seems that a large number of stores that cater for such men are located in Wales and a quick visit to their sites didn't make me wish I had that build but at least there are some options out there in fact it made me feel quite the opposite!

Can you think of an style icons for men that weigh more than 15 stone? I can't think of any, can you? I suppose you can look at rugby players (who aren't overweight but certainly larger) for some inspiration. Jonny Wilkinson is far from overweight but always looks well presented in Hackett (who he is the face of). There are however plenty of example of men in the media glare losing weight. My favourite is Karl Lagerfeld. The famed couturier Lagerfeld was determined to lose weight, not because he was obese or suffered from health problems, but because he wanted to wear clothes designed for younger, slimmer men - clothes designed by Hedi Slimane to be specific. His vanity paid off: he lost 80 pounds in a year on the "Spoonlight program.

An extremely rotund Lagerfeld using the fan well to cover up multiple chins.

Slim Lagerfeld, still wearing lots of black but using far less material!

All is not lost though if you aren't skinny...

Larger sized bald man courtesy of the sartorialist showing how portly men can still look good. The secret here is the fit of the suit and his use of accessories!

It seems that from my research if you want to wear high fashion and designers the answer that constantly comes up is to change your lifestyle and work a little harder. If that all sounds like hard work then why not find the clothes that suit your body shape and stay healthy. Please avoid wearing sportswear in sizes that are far too big. Wear well cut suits and darker colours.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Will there ever be a style icon for fat men? Do fat men have it harder than fat women?

Further reading:
Style tips for fat men
Karl Lagerfeld's Diet book
Skinny jeans article
Big Fat Problem?

This is definitely a topic I want to come back to at a later date, once I have chance to mull it over a bit more. I think that it's harder to find a style icon for the larger chap because it's harder to find style icons for larger people full stop. A chap I do like the style of whenever I see him in the street/the local is Guy Garvey, lead singer of Elbow. I have failed miserably to find a decent picture to illustrate this point however... maybe one day I'll pluck up the courage to ask for an interview. He tends to stick to vaguely tailored pieces, most often seen in a shirt (God, I sound like a stalker) and in quite flattering colours. Overall, I think that what you have to remember is that when shopping for a larger figure, the basic rules regarding colour and wearing something that makes you feel happy still apply... and at least that's a place to start.

Largerfield still scares me though, big and small.

A.P.C. oh when will you open a store in the UK?

Paris label APC has dedicated fans the world over..I am becoming one of them (it wouldn't be accurate of me to describe myself as a dedicated fan yet because I've only flirted with buying a number of items) but it seems to have found its natural home in Japan, where shoppers lap up the brand's sharply functional style. Along with Katayama (the Tokyo store designer) APC have revamped their store in Daikanyama (which has been open since 1992) creating a much fresher homme store. Reading this news has made me question whether or not APC are ever going to open up such a store in London...they even have a store in the Philippines but not in the UK! Oh well at least they are stocked here and Paris is even closer with the new Kings Cross link! I do find the prices a little steep (the reason that I've not bought anything as yet) but I am getting over this the more I see the clothes up close. Before I was fooled by the seemingly similarity between the offerings of H&M which is always extremely reasonable (cheap) in the price stakes and those of APC which cost so much more but (on the whole) deservedly so.

This post also gives me the excuse to show images from the recent Winter catalogue featuring the effortless chic of stylists Camille Bidault Waddington and Christopher Niquet.

I adore this shot of Bidault and Niquet!

I really like the autumnal colour tones here.

Current APC favourite are the Plaid bag (as shown on The Staple), cotton checked shirts, their denim of course and the blazer shown in last Sunday's observer magazine (which I lost so cannot show you, please accept my sincerest apologies!) I will leave you with images of their famous jeans and that bag.

Warsaw gets a Guerrila Store...

I'm a big fan of Commes des Garcons and the people of Warsaw now have their very own guerrila store. Their GUERRILA STORE concept involves the opening of a store for a period of 1 year with a minimal renovation budget. The location for this latest endeavor was a former fruit store in a Stalinist era building, other labels should take note of CdG's redevelopment work in such areas. As always the store appears unobtrusive, set up in a dusty old building far from established commercial areas, with a bare minimum of expense and virtually no outside trace of it actually being there.

A peek into the future with B Store

and the future is...men wearing a cross between brogues and sandals, I call them Brandles (More on these later.) More importantly though I've mentioned my love for B Store which stocks some labels and of course budhahood shoes. B store has been a mecca for new fashion talent since opening in 2000 and it now has an immaculately displayed Savile Row boutique. I've managed to get my hands on some images from a recent press day where some great and interesting items were displayed from the labels which can be found inside 24a Savile Row.

B - s/s 08 collection - This is top of my want list but I don't think I can wait until it's available in the store. Fast forward winter, just make it Spring! I was tempted by a similar jacket by Siv Stodal for Topman Lens but the fit was terrible (when I saw the fit is terrible I tend to mean that it is not fitted enough, that was the case in this instance.)

Above is a collection of shoes. I've mentioned that the boutique is best known for the footwear it offers - (budhahood shoes). I'm liking the grey brogues very much. The three on the left are intriguing. A cross between a shoe and sandal - the brandle. I don't think many could pull this off but it certainly is an interesting idea. This design could be the answer to the ever annoying conundrum of 'what pair of shoes do I wear with those shorts?'. The ordinary shoe can look to clumpy and many trainers can spoil the more tailored look of smart shorts - This wasn't an issue for me over the recent summer because I didn't wear shorts once. My legs are still as white as Santa's beard.

I've not taken EJ to this store yet but next time she visits I will certainly take her. It is everything a shop should be. Great designers on offer, beautifully displayed and friendly staff. Bring on January when the above should be available and I should have some Christmas money left!

We haven't been shopping in London for an age, have we? We'll have do a proper trip sometime soon... window shopping only of course as I am incredibly poor right now.

I love those shoes. LOVE them. Please never call them brandles again though. I think you will need to try them on and take a picture so that I can get my head around them a bit better. What would you wear with them? Contrasting socks? No socks? Hmm... I may have to buy these for myself. Quite like that jacket too. Very Clash.

Jimmy Fix it For Me

Apologies if I got you excited with the post name, this isn't a post about Jimmy Saville's style but I want to talk about the other Savile. From an early age (far too young to be even thinking of suits) I've wanted to be have a Bespoke Suit from Savile Row (yes I accept I was a strange child). For me and many others Savile Row is a symbol of the very best in men's dress. Bespoke tailoring can be seen as the Haute Couture of men's style and Savile Row has dressed every icon of male elegance from Nelson, Valentino and Astaire to Sinatra and Jagger. I will focus this post on one tailor in particular but I am sure to return to some others during my future posts. It is fitting to begin my exploration of Savile Row at Number 1 and at this address I find Gieves & Hawkes.

I won't bore you (too much) with the details although I find it interesting (I'm such a geek) but they do help illustrate the great history and almost institution like status of the tailors found along this street. The company formed from two businesses who were already famous in their own right, Gieves (which was founded in 1785) and Hawkes (which is even older, founded in 1771). Gieves & Hawkes has received Three Royal Warrants which has seen over 200 years unbroken service to successive monarchs. For any historians out there King George III was in power during the first warrant. Famous customers include Lord Nelson and The Duke of Wellington.

Tailoring has always been an intensely personal business. Today one of the challenges for Gieves & Hawkes is to provide the same personal touch to a fast-growing number of customers (the lucky ones who can afford it as prices for the full tailoring service begin at £2,250), adapting to their current lifestyles, to modern fabrics and to society's ever-changing ideas on how to look one's best. Helping them adapt and evolve is Joe Casely-Hayford, who helped define The Clash's military look and has dressed U2 and Lou Reed. As creative director Joe Casely-Hayford has now finished his third collection and is taking traditional English Tailoring and giving it a new twist and in the process is decking out new dandies in timeless elegance. Caseley-Hayford was also the first in what has become a long list of designers to collaborate on a diffusion line with TopShop, it is no longer only for monarchs or diplomats, the image and creative vision of the house is of beautifully made, bespoke clothing, one that would suit any gentleman (who save up for it!).

Pensioners shopping on the high street - Mutton dressed as ram?

During my weekend by the coast in sunny Westgate-on-sea I came across an interesting feature on Nicky Haslam in the Oberserver Woman magazine...(I had never heard of him before but apparently he is an interior designer to the rich and famous) it explores an interesting question, can a man of 67 shop on the high street and not look ridiculous?

Haslam is now 67 years old. Eleven years ago in the winter of 1997, he underwent a complete physical reinvention. His manifestation changed from a campish aristo seen in the middle ages to one inspired to 'pick the last vestige of youth from the stinking pit of old age.' He dyed his hair oily black and modelled himself on Liam Gallagher, replacing sober suits with battered combat pants, leather biker jackets and anaroks. Over the last decade Haslam has evolved his sartorial transformation, he is a style magpie as he has always 'aspired towards other people's looks.' If he likes what someone is wearing he accosts them in the street to ask them where they bought it. As long as you know what suits you (this is so, so important - something might look great on someone else but chances are they have a very different frame to yours), I think this is a fine way for men to shop - it makes clothes accessible. I rarely ask people where they bought something because I like finding things myself (...or after being gently nudged there by EJ and Susie).

So where is the style chameleon now? He has stopped dying his hair and allowed it to go grey (thank goodness) and he is shopping on the High Street. Haslam thinks men are served very well on the High Street and I certainly agree that things have improved significantly within the time that I've been spending money but there is still along way to go and many advancements to be made. Within the feature Haslam confesses an unforgivable thing...much worse than dying his hair...he has wardrobes crammed with 'Savile Row suits I've never worn...just got them made and then decided that I didn't like them' - this is pure poison to my ears and he should be punished. He prefers the 'disposable' suits of Topman which accommodate his changing fancies and mutated whims. I personally would like to see inside his wardrobe and see the types of bespoke suits he had made!

Haslam is a fan of recognising a great piece (wherever it might be found - currently he finds most of them on the High Street) and wearing it. As long as the piece is complimentary tot he person wanting it then there really isn't a problem. If however, the person is merely a magpie of style that has a nest full of shiny crap then of course there is a style problem. In this instance I can only judge on the editorial within the piece...but I would think it must be a little hit and miss with a chap like Haslam. His mantra that of 'it's rude to not try and look up-to-date' is certainly strange but in certain lights, kind of cool. A man of his age should know what looks good on him and his personal style should be pretty much there but of course he can be inspired by current trends. I recently went shopping with my Nan (who is 86 years old) and she needed a lightweight tote (she's not as strong as she used to be so can't lug her heavy leather bags as far anymore) and we ended walking out of H&M with the perfect one. There shouldn't be an age limit on entry to the high street, there should however be a warning sign that could read 'Think long and hard about your purchases, is it right for YOU?' but this sign should be ready by all ages!

If you are interested in the article and didn't get your hands on the Observer then you can read it online here

Mighty Oaks from little acorns grow

I had a day of sightseeing today but was fortunate enough to visit the new Oak store which has only just opened its doors. I can't (or maybe more truthfully the gf can't) go a day without a little window shopping and sandwiched between visits to Ground Zero (where we took advantage of Century 21 - I bought a bargain of a Martin Margiela white t shirt), the Statue of Liberty and China Town was the trip to NoLita. Only five years after opening their flagship Williamsburg boutique (which I visited early on in the trip) Oak co-owners Louis Terline and Jeff Madalena have made the famed East River crossing with great success. The store looks great and is home to some great pieces. The store introduced to new brands to me, Handmade in USA and A-Z (I've looked for links but as yet have been unable to find any) I went away empty handied but this was achieved only through a demonstration of terrific restraint from me. If you are ever in New York you have to visit both of the Oak stores (as they seem to have slightly different stock offerings)

Oak, 28 Bond Street, (between Bowery and Lafayette streets); no phone yet. For more information, go to oaknyc.com.