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.

What do you wear when you be illin?

Oh woe is me!

I'm currently lying on the gf's bed wearing my tartan pj bottoms and COS cardigan. My head and throat are sore and the rest of my body aches. This could be some kind of deviation from the dreaded Man flu but I'm not sure. However, I need to go out into the real world once I feel I can brave the cold and healthy folk which creates the problem of what to wear. Obviously I need to take my health into consideration so I will ensure that I layer extensively and guarantee that my neck isn't exposed. I have the words of my Nan imprinted deep within my brain - "Make sure you wear a scarf..or at least do up your coat properly." Other than my physical well being I have a mental consideration of wanting to look good. I have always wanted to look better than I feel. To me this is more important than how I actually feel and in turn this makes me feel better (does that even make sense?). I can illustrate this on a smaller scale: If I am hungover I like to make an extra effort in the morning/afternoon in how I look, always picking my most flattering and favourite pieces and teaming them up well. Once I am wearing my chosen outfit my sore and woolly head seems less significant and I can at least fool people (who don't notice my blood shot eyes) that I am fine and dandy. Am I alone in this?

In terms of today I feel my immediate choices are limited because of where I am. I don't have the full choice that my house brings. After a quick rummage of my weekend bag I believe I will plump in the following outfit. Starting from the bottom...my buddhahood black leather/velvet shoes and thick socks of course (it's damn cold out there), my COS black skinny jeans (they fit so well and are extremely comfortable), a clean, crisp Reiss white shirt (the brightness of the shirt will improve my well being, plus all men look great in a white shirt), my favourite black cardigan, finished off with my mac, arm warmers and scarf.

But first back to bed...

Oh poor poorly Steve... expect little to no sympathy here as some of us are suffering as well and somehow still at work (what am I doing?? Why isn't it hometime?). A good sickday outfit is essential though and for me would involve switching the white shirt for a nice plain T in soothing autumnal colours at the moment (though that's probably just me... I love those autumnal colours), a nice hoody (hood up, to hell with worrying about looking like a scal), a decent scarf, some wide-legged trousers or jeans and cashmere socks. Always with the cashmere socks.

Oh, and next time you visit, leave the germs at home!

News - Topman Launches the White Shirt

August 24th - this is a date for your diary. Topman have invited a select few designers to interpret their vision of 'The White Shirt' signifying the start of an ongoing project, titled very inspiringly - 'Man'. I look forward to the rest of the collection but right now let's focus on the up and coming release. First things first I don't believe in The White Shirt, as this collection shows there can be a tremendous amount of variation on this item of clothing and one can own and indeed wear a number of white shirts (on rotation of course) for different occasions. To support this notion I want two of the five shirts on offer. My wish list (it does extend much further than just this one collection but for the benefit of this post) includes Deryck Walker's effort which is short sleeve (which I normally tend to avoid), and elasticated complete with panelling.

My favourite however is Ute Ploier's design. Seeing this design has made me explore this designer further and I love what I have discovered. The shirt to spark this all off is based on the traditional biker jacket and features rib detailing on the cuff and hem a short stand up collar and quilted shoulder. To be honest though I have seen a very similar shirt on an online store and if i give up on waiting for the release date of the Topman range or if the racks are bare by the time I get to them I will buy this, just to ease any possible feeling of loss. I am sure that at £50 each the shirts on offer will soon be snapped up so I will do my best to be as quick as possible to avoid losing out.

When the shirts are as different as the ones chosen here the search for THE white shirt isn't important, we should just be on the hunt for the BEST white shirts out there and buy according to our needs. Currently when shopping I am constantly drawn to white shirts and at times have to tear myself away from the racks! As they are seen as such a staple in any wardrobe (male or female) I am intrigued to see how the designer has approached it; the cut, the material (too many white shirts are far too see through and cheap looking, I do not want to see nipples on display and neither do most people!). Sartorial features can and indeed do make a vast difference to the look of a white shirt and personally (just to be a little outrageous maybe) I feel these sartorial features can have more of a visual impact on this wardrobe institution than on any other garment. White shirts are certainly worth celebrating and deserve much more than their, at times, dull image.

I'm not sure about this one, Stevie. While I like the second shirt, I'm not sure how well it would work as a shirt. All of them seem to look a bit... cheap, but that may just be the lighting- although the fact that they're from Topman doesn't fill me with hope for high quality garments. I think the first one suffers from that a fair bit. I think a lot of them look quite incomplete somehow, like they were a nice idea for a design competition, but didn't really work out. Still, I shall keep an eye out. I do love white shirts though, albeit it not on myself- my uncanny talent for spilling food and drinks down my front and white coloured clothing does not mix. They are classic for a reason- you don't see enough boys walking around in a nice pair of jeans and a crisp white shirt these days, such a shame.

Rejuvenated by a simple white shirt

This post quite nicely follows up from EJ's post below...I woke up this morning, as I do most mornings, extremely tired and looking a little worse for wear (this wasn't a hangover I can assure you) but as I was getting dressed this morning my sartorial choices perked me right up. I had no time for a cup of tea or breakfast of any description as time was severely lacking as I peeled myself off my mattress. However, when I reached into my wardrobe, picked out a freshly washed and pressed white Reiss shirt and covered my weary, naked flesh I was instantly rejuvenated. There is nothing like a white shirt to breathe fresh life into you.

Talk of white shirts make me want to go home and pick up Issue 5 of Fantastic Man (which contained 'The White Shirt' - eight white shirts and what makes them such refined pieces of understated design) and made me re-read a piece of my own posts where I pleaded that white shirts are certainly worth celebrating and deserve much more than their, at times, dull image allows them. Unfortunately I am at work at the moment and off home in Kent for the weekend (which means only a dial up connection and although i like the dialing tone I don't like the pace of it) so there are no images to support this post but I'm sure EJ will find some great ones for you to enjoy.

As promised...

Our man Picasso sporting a more casual white shirt and looking amazing as always.

The quite spectacular Jonathan Rhys Meyers modelling for Versace a couple of years back. If there's a man that has repeatedly proven how good a white shirt can look, it's JRM.

Why stop at a white shirt? Why not white everything. It's possible that only Cecil Beaton could pull this one off so well though. Apologies for the dodgy image quality on this one.

Sod it

I simply cannot be bothered with these complicated outfits any more. From now on I will only wear white shirts unbuttoned with abandon, black trousers and a killer quiff. When I am older, I shall subdue said quiff, and trade the white shirt for a black one.
I shall be Morrissey.

I kid of course. I cannot do without accessories and bright colours. But, for today at least, I'm practising my whithering looks. Who are you channelling today?

Holding your nerve

I'm not sure if I've said, but I've given up clothes shopping for a couple of months. This is not, however, going to stop me encouraging others. I will share a tip though: now is the time to sale shop. Actually, that's not strictly true. The best time is probably in about another week or so, midweek. Hold your nerve long enough and you can come up with some real gems from the (don't laugh) Topman sale.

Not tops and jeans really, as there will only be bizarro sizes left (unless you're bizarro sized, in which case go crazy!). Saying that, I have noticed that there are some of those Topman Design white shirts left on the Topman website... Richard Nicoll in S,M and L and Deryk Walker in M and L, both reduced from £50 to £15 which is pretty decent. There's also this one by Carolyn Massey in S and L for £20. Not bad.

Deryck Walker white shirt

But anyway, what you really want to focus on is their accessories section. While nothing's really going to set the world on fire, it's a good opportunity to stock up on bright coloured belts for a quid and maybe experiment with some blue braces?

At the princely sum of £1 you can't really go that far wrong. What do we think about this zipper bowler hat though?

Even at £3, this is a bit much for me. Could be good for fancy dress though...

Instead of being up there in Manchester with you I am a patient at Susie's house! Oh well. there is always next week. There are some great finds. The shirts are a particular bargain. They were a bit thin for me, but the this factor aside the quality of them are great and a real bargain at £15! The real find for me are the blue braces. I have been toying with the idea of braces for a while now, ever since I watched This is England really and this desire was heightened further by the Beckham Arena cover. Sales in the high street are an opportunity to experiment with different looks...or as EJ suggests you could always stock up on fancy dress. In answer to your question, yes that hat should only be adorned in instances of dress of the most fancy kind. I too am cutting back on shopping and my bank balance is thanking me profusely but this is only temporary as i intend to buy quite a few things in New York. That said if I am well enough I might pop down to the Jumblist massive sale at 93 Feet East where I could pick up a few interesting accessories on the cheap!