Doctor Marten Boots

In the days when Axl Rose and Teen Spirit ruled my little primary school playground, anyone who was ANYONE wore Doctor Marten boots.  I wore pink leggings, a denim ra-ra skirt and (quietly now) hush puppies.  Suffice to say I was behind the times and I knew it.  Doctor Martins quickly reached iconic status in my wee pre-teen brain.  Ox blood ones were my favourites and I would like 8 holes for my laces please.  I was fobbed off by feeble excuses - mum said my feet were too wide and my dad asked was I a dyke or something?  I scowled as they then meticulously blanked all the sweary words out of my Guns ‘N’ Roses cassette tape.  Grim times.

Man Flower

This Saturday is the last chance for all you arty Edinburgh revellers to get in your Bowery bevvies before the venue closes for the rest of the summer.  Hidden away in the depths of the old Roxy Art House, The Bowery was set up by Ruth Moir and Jane Flett last year.   Both have a romantic fondness for New York’s lower east-side, and in wishing they could live there did the next best thing and set up The Bowery, hoping to emulate “some of New York’s energy and creativity that can sometimes be lacking in Auld Reekie”.   The gig venue and watering hole became an instant hit with Southside creative types who will miss it dearly when the keys are handed over to the Pleasance for the Fringe Festival. 
Saturday night promises to be a boozy send-off with The Bowery hosting The Song, by Toad Summer Party in it’s homely and intimate bandstand area.  To mark the occasion the dress code is floral and I’m struggling to come up with a cute outfit for my boyfriend.  With stripes and checks dominating the shops at the moment there’s little room for flowery designs, so unless he’s willing to wear vintage Hawaiian patterns or polyester 70s disco shirts there’s really not much choice.
I’ve found two tops that my boyfriend maybe, just maybe might not deem too girly or fancy-dress but both are stretching the Song, by Toad brief to its limit.  This gorgeous Seimani t-shirt from Tokyomade is silkscreen printed over and over to produce a sort of dandelion fluff effect.  And below, the Adidas Originals Circle hoody from End Clothing kind of reminds me of biospheres and pollen.  Actually if I’m totally honest I don’t believe either are particularly flowery at all, but I spent ages searching for them and it was a good opportunity to tell you all about one of my favourite Edinburgh hangouts. 

New Jumper

Oh oh.  I just shrunk my boyfriend’s new jumper in the wash.  You think if I buy him this one from Oki-ni he’ll forgive me?

Farah

Sharp collars, bright colours, drip-dry fabrics – what more could you want from a men’s clothing range?  My reborn enthusiasm for the Farah label came after days of channel flicking, sofa-bound as I was this weekend with some, as yet, undiagnosed rash my boyfriend prefers to call leprosy.  As luck would have it there was plenty on TV to penetrate my shroud of self pity.  Hours of Michael Jackson retrospectives and top 40 power ballads fuelled my cute-outfits imagination, but stumbling across the Ideal World shopping channel was the icing on the cake.  
Late on Saturday evening I found myself in Farah Hour, reeled in by tales of “fabulous flexible trousers”, “perfect for dog walking” and “cruises”.  The model, a 60 year-old man with a perma-denture grin and Just for Men hair, triumphantly stretched his waistband while the presenting duo explained this is exactly what you need for that curry binge on a Friday night.  But it wasn’t long before the old-man connotations of the Farah clothing range were starting to rile the model.  After several repetitions of the phase “my dad would love this” and references to middle age paunches, the model protested that the Farah jacket he was wearing is in fact “uber trendy” and that “love ‘em or hate ‘em – Blur and Oasis – very popular”.   This made me laugh heartily between itching and snuffling but also reminded me that Farah clothing is indeed a versitile and timeless men’s staple which should never be taken for granted. 
Most recently I have spotted George Lamb sporting Farah inspired lines, but Jarvis Cocker and a young Elvis Presley are also admirable Farah inspiration.   I would recommend you steer clear of items in beige if you want to avoid looking like the dad out of the Wonder Years.  But feel free to embrace new and old coloured ranges, buttoning shirts up to the neck and rolling up your trouser hems.  Check out Stuart’s shop for smart trousers, shorts and cardigans, many of which are reduced in the sale right now.   The sleeveless cardigan at ASOS is also worth a look, while Red Square has by far the best selection of bright polos and cute short sleeved shirts.

Best Dressed Band #3

I just can’t get enough of Hot Chip’s  outfits.  Here are five lads who are experimental and playful in their wardrobe as they are in their music.   They combine a creative mix of junk shop finds with forward thinking pieces from quirky contemporary designers.  Endearingly unconcerned with fit or even the normal rules of colour engagement, they couldn’t give a toss that they look like wee boys left to run riot in the dressing up box at after school club.  
But there’s something about their beautifully created and highly finished sound which makes me think that surely they can’t be so haphazard in their clothing choices.  As mad professors of pop, their clothes reflect their vocation – their fearless mixing synth beats, guitar riffs and dub rhythms mirrored in the organised chaos of their clothing.
In an interview in The Moment, Al Doyle of Hot Chip explained the method to their madness:
“I think people think we just are wearing whatever, but we all think about what we wear, we just happen to look very different. I think simply because we look a little bit of a ragtag bunch, and because some of us wear glasses, to me, that just seems to be the reason that we’ve been branded as, like, nerds and geeks. It’s all quite confusing to us. But we have discussions probably every six months about unifying our look a little bit. But we just never really get around to doing it.”
But as difficult as Hot Chip’s style is to understand, Debenhams have placed their bets on Hot Chip for the fashion future, by naming a pair of sunglasses after them in attempt to attract more hipsters to their stores.   But with culture commentators Hipster Runoff  describing the Hot Chip brand of eyewear as ‘child predator glasses’, the dury’s still out.

Wounded Knee – Style Inspiration

If misunderstood genius is the look you are going for, take inspiration from the beautifully bizarre Wounded Knee.  Just as his music has prompted unhelpful comments such as ”bullshit” from the NME, his choice of Freddy Mercury gloves teamed with slacker satchel and lumberjack shirt may also attract unwelcome remarks.   If you ask me, I find his easy and effortless style as charming and likable as his soothing trance-like sea-shanty rhythms.

Tracksuits

My boyfriend seems to have caught a wee health bug of late, and up to three days a week he can now be caught jogging around the Meadows in his cute grey flannel tracksuit.   Tracksuits, believe it or not, are a daring outfit choice.  This is not about the everyman cover-up staple of hoodies, nor am I discussing the hangover merits of tracky-bs here.  No, I want to tell you about the head-to-toe matching tracksuit.  It is a precarious style statement most men shy away from, instead opting for safer and less co-ordinated sportswear.  They are indeed wise to be wary as the wrong tracksuit could have you looking more like a job seeker than achieving the hip-hop artist or buff gymnast effect you were going for.  As always the key to success is in good fit, a flattering colour choice and cleanliness, but be bold and confident and you could end up setting a new trend.

As tracksuits are the uniform of Norwegian electro rock band, Datarock, they have much to say on the merits of the humble sportswear cover-up.  In this month’s Clash magazine, Datarock’s Fredrik Saroea explains that one of the attractions of tracksuits is their impressive capacity to transcend style time and space.  While postmodern fashion cyclically harks back to reclaim dated styles and transform them into new garments, the reassuring tracksuit will always remain the same.  For Fredrik, tracksuits will outlive jeans in the future because their longlasting ability makes them more economical, even better for the environment you might say.  Having obviously thought tracksuits through much more than I’ll ever care to, I’ll let Fredrik continue:  “If you had a superhuman capability you’d wear a tracksuit in order you could go about your business, relax and of course effortlessly save distressed maidens”.  It’s a novel idea, one which might just take tracksuits away from the stigma of Wayne and Waynetta Slob, and return them back to superhuman status where they rightly belong.

Ebay has a mind opening range of full tracksuits to choose from.  You might take interest in the bright yellow Kill Bill ensemble for only £37.99, or how about the wide variety of Olympic tracksuits from around the globe?  You will also find new and nearly-new tracksuits from top catwalk designers or rather predictably, highstreet sports labels such as Adidas and Nike.  Currently for sale is this striking white and navy Oxford tracksuit – ordinary plebs might mistake you as a jockey but it’s worth sporting around exclusive gyms as you may be interpreted as a man of power and influence.  Either way it’s worth a punt.