This lean and mean duffel bag was created for the urban warrior in all of us by New York based creative collective Nom De Guerre. The massive khaki coated canvas duffle bag feature soft cotton canvas handles and adjustable shoulder strap. It fastens with a central zip and pressed stud placket and also incorporate two open pockets on the inside. Noblesse oblige… More details here.

More images after the jump

Japanese luxury bag specialist ‘Masterpiece’ have just released a collection over at Oki-Ni.
The Line consists of backpacks, messengers, fannypacks & totes

View the rest..
a thanks to charlotte at Oki-Ni.

One of the occupational hazards for bloggers dealing with future trends and products is that sometimes you get hung up on something that will only be released next season or later, while you want it NOW. My own difficulty in delaying satisfaction arose when I first saw Acne’s S/S 2010 collection – those trainers the Swedish brand had conjured for the next Spring/Summer season immediately hit my wants and desires checklist. But as it now happens maybe I won’t have to wait anymore… Well, to be accurate Acne’s trainers won’t be available for a while, but my favorite online shop oki-ni has just received a cool selection of New Balance shoes that provide a nice cure for my condition. Originally trail running shoes first released in 1979, the New Balance U455 has been reinvented as a lightweight lifestyle shoe, leaving me with a new problem – which colorway to pick?

More images after the jump

]]> http://freshmesslife.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/martin-margiela-mono-lens-sunglasses/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:32:33 +0000 .V.C. http://freshmesslife.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/martin-margiela-mono-lens-sunglasses/ http://freshmesslife.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/boldstar-fallwinter-2009-footwear/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:56:54 +0000 .V.C. http://freshmesslife.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/boldstar-fallwinter-2009-footwear/ http://mandiefresh.com/2009/11/13/fracap-japan-mountaineering-boot/ Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:19:51 +0000 mandiefresh http://mandiefresh.com/2009/11/13/fracap-japan-mountaineering-boot/

Fracap Shoes are made by hand in a small Italian factory and actually just available to the Japanese market.
Heavy duty brown leather uppers are made from grainy leather and padded inside for extra comfort. Soles are extra thick and stitched, boots lace with contrasting scarlet laces through 5 d-rings and two hooks. Really solid, well made boots that will last for years and years.
Now availble for purschasing at Oki-Ni.

Info: Oki-Ni

As part of their Fall / Winter 2009 Collection, Nom de Guerre has released a massive khaki coated duffel bag with canvas handles and adjustable shoulder strap.  The bag is now available from Oki-Ni.

We all know a stylish look has a lot to do with cool accessorizing. Here’s one of my favorite accessories for this fall season, the Voyager Dot Stole by Japanese brand Nonnative. Made from 100% viscose, this dark blue tasseled scarf with yellow, green, brown and blue striped detail is the denim maniacs way to keep warm while stayin tru to da blu…

Get it here.

White painted leather low cut paneled ankle boots with a long square toe. As these age the upper will crack for a unique vintage effect.

The Once Around The Moon shoe can be found now via Oki-Ni

You can always rely on oki-ni to bring out the best styles the ‘it’ labels have to offer. This time its high shine black ‘Corpus Callosum’ sunglasses from Australia’s Chronicles of Never, a long time favorite of ours. With a heavy flat top square frame and reflective grey gradient black lenses, these glasses are perfect for striking a pose – winter style. Get your pair here.

חשבתי חשבתי, תהיתי תהיתי והחלטתי שהפוסט הראשון בבלוג יהיה בלוג תלונה. מן ‘אני מאשים’ שכזה.

אז מה הבעיה שלי בעצם? אני אוהב בגדים. מאוד אפילו. בעבודה צוחקים עלי שאני כוסית. באמת שלא מזיז לי. מצד שני, לאהוב בגדים, להיות גבר ולגור בארצנו לא תמיד הולך יד ביד. אמנם בשנים האחרונות הולכים ומתרבים הבוטיקים שמייבאים את מיטב הדברים מgsus דרך evisu, chinook, ואחרים. אז יש פריט פה, פריט שם ובייסיקים תמיד אפשר לקנות בזארה (ואפילו גולף לפעמים) ונכון שפתחו עכשיו גאפ (מי קונה בגאפ?) ו-ה’ ו-מ’ מגיעים או-טו-טו. אבל מה קרה שאנחנו צריכים לסבול ככה? במחירים מופקעים של יבואני קצה בבוטיקים ולא יכולים לקנות כמו בחו”ל את מיטב הבגדים, איש איש לטעמו וייחודו? נגזר על כולנו פול והדב?

הקש ששבר את גב הגמל היה תיק שראיתי ב-oki-ni.com - חנות בגדי הגברים המקוונת מבריטניה. התיק, מבית המותג היפני ‘מאסטר-פיס’ נמכר בחנות במחיר גבוה ב-200$ ממחירו המקורי ביפן. ניחא. בחיי לא קניתי תיק במחירים האלה אבל התיק הזה הצית שרשרת אירועים כימיים במרכז הרגש שלי שהייתי חסר סיכוי כנגדה. התיק לא היה במלאי (המספר המצומצם שהם ייבאו אזל תוך שבועיים ואני הגעתי מאוחר מדי..). אחרי יומיים של בהייה במסך וניסיון למצוא איפה עוד אפשר לעזאזל למצוא את התיק החלטתי לעשות מעשה נואש – שלחתי מייל. המייל נענה בשלילה – התיק לא ישוב. שלחתי אפילו ליפן מייל (אני מחכה לתשובה כבר חודשיים)…

יצירת מופת

אחרי שנגמרה הסאגה ועברו כמה ימים שבהם הפנמתי שאת הסכום האסטרונומי ממנו הייתי מוכן להיפרד בשביל יצירת המופת (נבלות, בחרו את השם בקפידה) אני לא הולך לבזבז באוקיני, יצאתי למסע חובק תל-אביב בחיפוש אחר תיק דומה, מחליף, second best.

במשך יומיים שלמים, ברגל, בלי לפסוח על חנות אחת שהכרתי ותוך גילוי כאלו שאפילו לא שמעתי את שמן, חיפשתי תיק. חיפשתי… בחיי שחיפשתי. לא הייתי מוכן להתפשר על סתם תיק אלא רציתי את ה-תיק כזה שיצית בי את אותה שרשרת. אולי מינורית יותר, אבל שיצית. שיעשה לי את זה. קיבינימט, בסה”כ רציתי תיק.

כמה תיקים ראיתי לבנות. כמה בגדים. כמה אביזרים. למה? מה קרה? אני לא צרכן? הרי לפני רגע הייתי מוכן לוותר על כליה בשביל תיק חלומותי ואף מוח יהודי לא חשב לעשות עלי קופה?

אין לי תשובה ללמה מקפחים אותנו ככה, למה רק קבוצת חנויות מצומצמת כל-כך פועלת היום בשוק לגברים מודעים אופנתית (מטרוסקסואלים, הומואים, כוסיות, קורבנות אופנה – מה שבא לכם ^_^) אשר מוכנים מעת לעת להיפרד ממיטב כספם רק בשביל פריט לבוש כזה או אחר? לא ברור. למישהו הפתרונים?

ולסיום – בשורה משמחת – לפני כמה ימים נכנסתי לאתר ונראה שמישהו החזיר את התיק (מאז, באקט אובססיבי משהו, כל פעם שנכנסתי לאתר גם בדקתי את התיק) מיד שלפתי את הכרטיס והזמנתי. מזל.

oki-ni’s archive feature is one of the most exciting ideas happening online right now. Why can’t designers and labels archive their own clothes properly? Pieces of Raf Simons, Levi’s and Nike have been lovingly photographed, beautifully styled and catalogued by the website, showing creative director and buyer John Skelton’s passion for these brands.

Next up is a Margiela archive, property of the lovely Mr. Craig Borthwick, a man who perhaps knows more (and has more) Margiela than anyone else I can think of. I once ended up at Craig’s for a dinner party where I found out that he owned some legendary vintage pieces, such as the patchworked Levi’s that I have often fantasized and admired. Whether Margiela really is still at the helm or not, the men’s brand finally seems to be really getting the attention it deserves. With oki-ni having one of the best buys of any store, I couldn’t resist asking John more about this unique project.

MENSWEAR: You must have been working with and buying the brand for some time now. What keeps you coming back for more?

John Skelton: It’s a bit of a weird one really. Every season I go into the showroom and just end up selecting so many more options than when I’m in other showrooms. I have a real thing about trying everything on before I write it and when you put this stuff on it just fits so well that I end up with loads of it. The tailoring and the knitwear is timeless. Im still wearing Margiela I bought ten years ago.

MENSWEAR: What have been your Margiela ‘highlights’ throughout the men’s collection, the pieces that have really made you go ‘wow’ or fall in love with the brand perhaps?

JS: There’s loads of them. I really fell for the tailoring in a collection around seven years ago which had the mix up waistcoats in it, still remember it like yesterday. Also nearly died when I seen the first cut’n’sew vintage Levi’s in Harvey Nichols around 1998. That’s actually the first thing that got me into Margiela when I think about it, they we’re like nothing else I’d ever seen at that point.

MENSWEAR: People seem ignorant or less aware of Margiela menswear compared to womenswear. What would you personally recommend about it?

JS: I’m not going to recommend anything about it. If people want to be ignorant about it then that means there’s less of us wearing it!!

A Margiela water bottle…

MENSWEAR: The archive series on oki-ni is really exciting, any dream archives or people with huge clothing collections you’d like to delve into?

JS: Yeah actually. I’ve got some really exciting meetings with some people in Japan that I am really enthused about but I cant give any names away at the moment. Also another Geordie boy who we’re going to be featuring soon which is going to be a new and interesting angle for us.

Also can I just finish by saying a huge thank you to Craig Borthwick whose Margiela archive this is. He not only provided the product but styled the whole thing himself and I think it’s the strongest, most authentic archive styling wise we have up. Thanks bro x

“It’s a brand new dance but I don’t know it’s name” - Fashion, David Bowie.

It’s a crisp Autumn morning today, the first Monday after London Fashion Week. We’re in the buzzing Refuel bar at the Soho Hotel, while a din of scribbles on notebooks, clinking glasses and steaming espresso machines hums in the background.

Writers discuss a film script to the left, a Quintessentially rep raps sales spiel to a prospective member to the right – both are wearing white shirts and jeans. We’re stuck in the middle sitting to attention talking fashion. Mmm bop, fashion!

A knife-thin waiter seems to slice his way through traffic to take our order. Suddenly, straight ahead, backlit by morning sunbeams, the Oki-Ni team strides coolly towards us, a blur of  style. They seem to be walking in slow motion to their own soundtrack.

As they arrive, there’s a rat-a-tat sequence of quick helloes, quicker handshakes, and sound barrier breaking coffee orders: fashion, it seems, doesn’t stand still. The waiter dissapears, as we pawkwardly pull out seemingly inadequate PowerPoint slides. Ahem, I mean ‘mood boards.’

Designer collaboration

We’re trying to strike up a collaboration between a client, Oki-Ni and a chic designer. Many have gone before us – from the long term sub-brand partnerships like Adidas and Yohji Yamamoto (Y3), to the countless one-offs designed to broaden a brand’s audience. I have worked on a couple of these myself – a laptop bag for Intel with Julien MacDonald and laptop jewellery with the lovely Roland Mouret, in order to help Celeron processors excite women as much as a killer pair of Christian Loubertins.

It’s true that it’s getting harder and harder to cut through with the one-offs; the short termist approach means the in-crowd may discard you faster than last season’s seconds.  It’s fairly low impact, too – you can’t build equity with a one off.  Still, there is something to be said for this approach, from a PR perspective. Liek celebrity seeding, it can give your PR to broader audiences the extra thrust it needs to get going. And  if your brand doesn’t have an existing connection to style or  fashion, then this first foray can be a fine enough PR stunt.

However, to create a bigger impact, gain more credibility, and to influence the pack leaders who exert an uneven influence on the rest of us- the fashion writers, stylists, or the style sharks who are prepared to fork out for one offs – committ more. That can mean giving your brand motifs over to be re-imagined – like Murakami for Louis Vuitton – and invest more in the link-up. You will inevitably create something utterly PR-able.

To get real traction, you have to look beyond the immediate future – think at least a year to three years worth of seasonal pieces, for instance. For maximim creativity, you have to mix your DNA strands with a designers’, so let your brand be genuinely melded up; you need contributions from both gene pools to avoid clichéd and obvious products.  And to drive adoption, you have to give fashion writers, stylists and shopppers something new and unique that they cannot get elsewhere – really wearable limited editions or one-offs.

If you’re a technology brand, some of the ideas you’ll get from a fashion designer might feel strange. Although you have design and engineering in common, you both have completely different views on for and function. However, you should try and roll with it. In the words of ridiculant Nathan Barley: “Today ridicule – tomorrow, really cool.”Mm, bop.

Oki-Ni have just received the latest delivery of Levi’s Engineered Jeans. This latest drop celebrates 10 years of this particular collection with a very limited 99 pairs of hand painted anniversary jeans, based on the original ‘First Standard’ fit from 1999.

Each pair have a completely unique hand sprayed finish in a bright color palette. The fabric’s a recreation of the denim used in 1999, an innovative mix of cotton and hemp in an intense green-caste indigo shade. It’s woven on a narrow loom with solid green selvage and finished with 18 carat gold button and rivets caste from original moulds.

The last one seemed to get a good reception, so I’ll try and keep doing these as much as I can (decent content permitting)

Hit the jump to see today’s finds…

- t

Dizzee Rascal “Tongue ‘n’ Cheek” Air Max 90 interview via Crooked Tongues, check out an accompanying video here. I’m a fan of Raskit, so it’s probably the fanboy within me that thinks these look pretty swish.

Common Projects Desert Boot in Camel, via Oki-Ni.

Preview of Lancier by Dita. Looking good from the lame teaser pics, but we’ll see.

Commonwealth x Reebok Omni-Lite round 2 (seafoam), now on Commonwealth.

Lamborghini Reventon Roadster, which I’m not sure I like more than the coupe. However, that ass is so hot I couldn’t front on it. Via Jalopnik

The Hundreds is huge, and now they have their own freakin’ magazine! But more importantly, they also have a range of sunglasses dropping, and they’re actually not too bad. I like the squared off shape of them. I chose this pic because it’s less homo than posting pictures of dudes, although this girl does have a bad case of manface…. via Hypebeast

Sneaker Freaker AIAIAI earbuds, pick them up via SF’s online store

N*E*R*D’s site has a nifty little 8-bit style game. It’s nothing amazing, but it looks nifty and you can waste a few minutes on it.

100% Store’s LED watch, I’ve been waiting on this since last year. Scheduled to release late 2009 (fingers crossed)

Finally, The Office returns on the 17th. Myself and Taz can’t wait, seriously the best show going around on TV at the moment. Woo!

Levi’s Vintage Clothing has continued to go into their archives to highlight some of the models that made the brand what it is today. The brand has chosen to explore the cold, hard life of a convict with garments like the thick sportswear knit, the 20’s sack coat and 30’s bay meadow’s tee. It draws on the experiences, history and struggle of serving time. There are also two models of the 501 available, the 1915 and 1978. You can see the full collection at Oki-Ni.

So… LET THEM EAT CAKE ISSUE 13 is out THIS WEEK, and for this issue yours truly came in and worked as the magazine’s Features Editor. And I have to say I’m very very proud of the magazine and absolutely blown away at what everyone has achieved.

Here’s a little sneak preview, an out-take from my New Designers feature, focusing on the very talented Martine Rose:

Photographer: Junichi Kikuchi. Stylist: Elliott James Sainsbury. Model: Samuel Slaughter at Storm.
Shirt by Martine Rose available at oki-ni, shorts by Christopher Shannon.

I interviewed Martine about her post-LFW success and her plans for SS 10. Elsewhere in the issue some of London’s best young fashion writers, bloggers, photographers and stylists come together for a creative showcase of all that’s amazing right now– featuring the lovely Steve from Style Salvage speaking to James Long about why menswear gets such a hard time editorially and the very talented Laura Clayton exploring the world of trashy jewellery. Best of all, I spoke to the legendary Sarah Mower about London Fashion Week’s 25th anniversary, which was one of my dream interviews ticked off the list….

Visit www.cakeit.net for more information, buying online and physical stockists.

Oki-ni has one of the most comprehensive denim guides around. All you ever wanted to know about denim including Denim History, Denim care, Denim finishes and more. You don’t have to be a Denim enthusiast to read this article – here.

Source oki-ni

Ok, so not all of us were lucky enough to be able to attend Electric Elephant in the festival mecca de jour of Petrcane this year… Boo hoo hoo.  But lucky for us we won’t be able to forget about the love, sunshine and good times we missed out on, thanks to all the photos and videos flying about a week on from the festival in the cosmic afterglow.

Bought to you by the team behind Manchester’s Electric Chair, Electric Elephant is a small but perfectly formed party package that delivers; in terms of music, community and general good vibes – quite a feat when you consider that the summer festival landscape is both over populated and fatigued these days.  The focus is on quality with boat parties this year hosted by Electric Chair, Lowlife, Oki-Ni, Folk, Aficionado and Basement Boogaloo VS Downtown Sounds, with music brought to you by Andrew Weatherall, Theo Parrish, Daniele Baldelli, Jesse Rose, Bill Brewster, Phoreski, the Unabombers, Horsemeat Disco, Bad Passion Project, Disco Bloodbath amongst many others.

Seriously though, name dropping aside, after seeing the evidence below you will want to put Electric Elephant on your 2010 To-Do List immeeeeeediately.  See you there next year.

                             Andrew Weatherall @ Electric Elephant 2009

                                   Jesse Rose @ Electric Elephant 2009

                                 Lowlife Boat Party

                                       Oki-Ni Boat Party with Phoreski

                                    Oki-Ni Boat Party with Bad Passion Project

11. Kool Moe Dee

An underrated style inspiration for the winter.

12. Knuckle dusters

Regular readers will know I have a thing about jewellery and for me knuckle dusters have always held a fascination. They are physically appealing, protective and unsubtly masculine. Also feel nice on. And the best one is of course by the inimitable Hannah Martin.

13. Ally Capellino

Every style for A/W 09 is ultra special and as much as I hate that cliche about style and fashion (this blog will always be about fashion as opposed to style) they’re outside of fashion. The bags all have great names too; Arkwright would be a tough outsider type with a flesh tunnel; new boys Barry, Richard and Michael pretty dandyish with a penchant for too-short shorts and spotty bow ties in their leathery satchelness. Is that even a word?

And then there’s ‘Wayne’, now in high gloss leather…

14. Lanvin’s felt hat

Like any season you could pick out any random elements from the Lanvin show and blather on about them but this felt (!) hat, from Browns, is quite special. The colour’s just right, isn’t it? What do you mean it’s OVER THREE HUNDRED QUID? It’s probably worth it though, just imagine bombing to the grocer’s in THAT for your morning papers.

15. Nike Air Maxim

Been meaning to blog about these for ages. They’ve been out since July and probably been covered by every blog under the sun already but red, white, blue is classic, toothpaste stripe fresh, they’re a lot lighter than the usual Air Max and they just… well… work right now. You just KNOW THAT. Maybe it’s the mesh, reminiscent of a MUJI pencil case; is it wrong that I want one foot red, one foot blue?

16. Nike Air Max 90

Actually Nike have got some amazing sneakers out at the moment, especially these which – the HORROR – I saw in the windows of FOOT LOCKER yesterday. Is it just me, or is it a 100% more fun experience buying sneakers from foot locker than some wanky trainer boutique in Soho, when more often than not it’s just the SAME PRODUCT?

Whatever: that dirty jeans/white tee/black hoodie/Nikes look is good enough for Alexander Wang, it’s good enough for US TOO.

17. Wood Wood accessories at HANON-SHOP

Hanon-shop always has a gentle, well-planned choice of stock and these Wood Wood accessories are all just the perfect tan/caramel shade; the leather looks perfect, the quality impeccable. There’s a pocket wallet, pencil case and the perfect laptop case (goodbye PC world black neoprene).

18. BIG COATS- as typified by Patrik Ervell

19. Montagne Jeunesse

You walk into a local branch of BOOTS; you need something fun and cheap for your face and it calls out to you. A FACE COVERED IN MUD, 90s Sunset Beach packaging, and a RIDICULOUS ITEM COVERING THE MODEL’S EYES. Cucumbers, bits of chocolate, foliage, rocks… When you get home you put the clay on your face and it turns SCALDING. You wash it off and your skin feels sort-of amazing. All for NINETY NINE PENCE!

Is there anything, really, better than splashing out on a sachet of MONTAGNE JEUENESSE? Even the ludicrous name and the archaic use of ‘masque’ conjours up memories of a certain point at the end of the last century when Celine Dion was eternally on TOTP, Ricki Lake was still on Channel 4 and people still used VO5 hot oil.

20. Jean-Paul Belmondo hair

Begone “Shoreditch monks” (CADFAEL WAS SO 2005) and Alice Dellal undercuts. Has anyone really had better hair than JPB? Yes, but… you know what I mean. I’m buying some hair straighteners, but using them lightly.

21.Bassike drop-crotch trousers

From oki-ni again- a promising young label that seems to be all about quality and cut rather than hype. As opposed to the obvious drapey/deconstructed context I can see myself wearing them with a nice pair of low-cut Reeboks (maybe Reebok x Alife…), a very old polo shirt in a pale grey with a charcoal crew neck sweatshirt over the top. More on that notion later…

22. Return of photorealism

Courtesy of Comme des Garcons Shirt at colette. In its own way this is really timeless, and as much of a wardrobe staple than the ubiquitous white shirt.

23. HERO magazine

‘Hi Elliott we like the blog’ well that’s good HERO MAGAZINE because THE BLOG likes you too. In an age of dwindling print returns and endless, endless, meaningless online tomes created by this that or whoever how refreshing to see a clear-minded, well-written and beautifully designed tome that, as importantly, as lots of rather attractive young men littering its pages. It’s a magazine about models- the next models, the ones who will influence your hair, your poses, your facial expressions probably. The ones who will litter all the other magazines in ad campaigns etc.

24. Coat of the season

Imagine this, with Portishead’s “Machine Gun” playing in a white, Milanese room. It’s Raf with his Jil Sander hat on; the texture isn’t printed but actually swirls of wool smashed together in a marbled watercolour effect.

25. Leggings for men

Yes, that’s me in the second picture;  in an event that was destined to haunt me forever in cyberspace, I went out in Milan wearing a “Damir Doma/Givenchy-inspired ensemble” which included these Material Boy leggings under denim shorts. WHICH ENDED UP ON “THE CUT“; I felt like a bit of a ‘cut’ afterwards.

EVEN SO… leggings and slim tracksuit trousers are still strong for this season, and next, and the best ones are by TIM HAMILTON who merges the long john with the legging with the tracksuit bottom; failing that, LOU DALTON‘S jodhpur trackies fit the bill nicely.

26. Fanny and Jessy

You know what? Those girls are AMAZING and I’m really sorry I didn’t make the show, god knows what I was doing that night (probably Tweeting) but it doesn’t matter because they’ll probably be showing at MAN next or something and I’ll be standing in the back row probably, unable to see the trousers past the heads of club kids.

Photos are by Christopher James.

27. THAT Sammy Davis Jr. photo

Has there ever been a better hat and glasses combo? Has there ever been a better time to wear hats and glasses?

28. HEDERUS

Every little thing she does is magic.

29. Topman fingerless gloves

Useful, good colours. FIVER!

30. A Suit That Fits.com

Because their suits are bespoke, nice quality and produced under responsible conditions unlike high street suits. This site, launched in 2005, came from founder Warren Bennett’s bespoke suits made by the family he was staying with in Nepal. The same family is making the suits still, made well and for a ridiculously accessible price. I’m planning my perfect ‘fashiony’ winter suit from here- possibly double-breasted grey felt or flannel, or something a bit more Lanvin inspired.

Here is my lovely friend Michael, the best-dressed boy I know and the PR for A Suit That Fits (coincidence? OBVIOUSLY NOT) wearing one of his own pieces and looking dare I say good x 100. Hair colour optional but something I’m toying with…

When I first saw this t-shirt I saw it on DJ A-Trak. I thought it was the most gorgeous thing next to my Famous Stars and Straps holographic t-shirt.

Yes, he’s with my darling DJ AM=]

anyways… check out the other designs they have for you,man!

Shop OKI-NI

I’M NOT GOING TO APOLOGISE FOR BEING AWAY. Because I’ve been working *bloody* hard, then watching Come Dine With Me in the evenings.

I’ll leave the news and press releases to Drapers because they do it better than anyone else and instead for the next few days the blog is going to focus on MENSWEAR’S TOP 100 THINGS FOR A/W 09. Inspirations, items, music, people… things that have made me smile, made me not buy crisps in the hope of saving up for, and made me procrastinate whilst doing all that hard work. In no particular order…

1. 3.1 Phillip Lim sneakers

Blimey, Lucas has got a lot to catch up to hasn’t he?
From Odin, via men.style.com

2. UNIQLO cardigans

Which I really just couldn’t do without. I haven’t ever bought a cardie from the highstreet that was such good quality, such good shape, washed and kept so well, did its own little thing humming around in the background making outfits gel together nicely and all for £20. The stripe one MAKES ME DIE:

3. Katie Eary at Digitaria

Katie Eary is just amazing, you don’t need me to tell you that what with that hair and MAN and being in Vogue and the studded jumpers and everything, she’s also incredibly nice and so is DIGITARIA which is a new shop on Berwick Street, the nice end mind you. DIGITARIA is now selling EARY’s work of course which is just wonderful as finally people can finally actually buy it which is exactly what she intends it for. They’re also selling the equally wonderful womenswear designer Gemma Slack too. Below is the exciting window display that Katie did…

4. D.A.F.

Beatles whatever, D.A.F. are surely the greatest band of all time. I mean, just look at them:

If you’ve not heard of them yet then it stands for Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft and this is the cover for their excellent Gold und Liebe album which –despite coming out in 1981– sounds more modern and a million times more amazing on anything on the Little Boots/latest Fabriclive/MSTRKRFT albums. Their leather-clad, sex-obsessed image, stark photography and relentlessly minimal electronic music (augmented with thudding, old fashioned drums) is the soundtrack to a winter of clomping about in severely-cut jackets and Raf Simons gloves. They also has a song called “Sex Unter Wasser” which sadly is one of the weaker tracks on this release. “a 1980 concert in Düsseldorf had to be stormed by the police to bring the crowd under control.” says Wikipedia.

5. Acne’s “Trance” boot

Weird that something so ostensibly “ugly” on paper should work so well, but it’s the chunkiness that balances out the grungy layering up top in Acne’s A/W 09 spread. In other words, the rubbery sole and squared toe provide the metaphorical scaffolding for all the weight up top, the perfect full stop. I love the shearling ones.

6. Raf Simons double jacket

I hated the Raf Simons show. It left me cold, but more than that, offended. It’s because we’re so used to seeing sportswear and tailoring morphed into singular garments (Lanvin’s jersey suiting, Christopher Shannon’s impeccably-shouldered zip up jackets, and, naturally, Raf himself) but this time Raf divided the two back up and played them head to head like atoms in the CERN particle accelerator. Think of the deliberately “ugly” sneakers with the generously-proportioned suits; the neon neoprene gloves with banker’s pinstripe shirts and here, the apex; neoprene shrug, traditional tailored car coat. Too often in fashion, what feels odd usually points the way (think of gladiator sandals for women); too often, Raf just beats a path for everyone else to copy.

Available from oki-ni

7. Rockers tees from Goodhood

I’m not sure if these are past seasons or not. Either way I couldn’t resist putting them on here because a. they are AMAZING and b. have you seen the stock in Goodhood recently? They’ve got some blinders from GASIUS too but then what do you expect from him?

8. Jon Klassen’s illustrations

California-based Jon Klassen’s works are some of the most beautiful drawings I have seen in a long, long stretch of David Shrigley inspired hinterland. These were production ideas and concepts for the film Coraline, which I still haven’t seen yet. I don’t really know what Coraline does or who she is, but these warm, dusty and nocturnal images are exactly what I’d want my perfect wintery house to feel like. All tall ceilings, tobacco-coloured printed wallpaper, wooden floorboards and slightly 30s kitchens.

His work is just absolutely amazing and I’d quite like to live inside it:

9. Elizabeth & James A/W 09

Three words– OLSEN TWINS MENSWEAR.

If APC came up with this you’d be queing round the block.

10. Ayame socks

Another classy thing from oki-ni. Apparently John wears his all the time which is a ringing endorsement if ever I needed one…