Leaning against the window of an m&s in mayfair two things become clear, the first; it is definitely a case of location, location, location when it comes to style - come to London and one will see more people, better dressed than anywhere else in Britain I have been to. And second; capes are on their way back in. Now, anyone who attended pitti uomo last year will, I'm sure be able testify to that fact, but to actually see evidence of it with my own eyes and more importantly, in everyday wear, is satisfying. I have just seen two gentlemen wearing them. One a black gentleman (when talking about capes is there really any other acceptable epithet?) Who was wearing matching, loud tweed cape and jacket with a tan pair of trousers and brogues - looking none too dapper and the other a chap who looked as though he had just walked from the Austrian Alps, complete with robin hood style hat with feather and a dark green cape that hid his arms. Rather dashing I should say.
There is, however, a negative: the omnipresent 'trainer'. When people watching in London, which I can't recommend enough, this particular piece of footwear is altogether too common.
If you are incapable of finding comfortable and vaguely stylish leather shoes, you simply are not looking hard enough. The trait is particularly unbecoming in women, worse still when they are wearing a well cut jacket and trousers/skirt. The contrast between the uniformly dark colours of the british working wear and the invariably garish white acrylic and nylon is most unpleasant to the aesthetic eye and ought really to be verboten in my humble opinion.
As for men wearing them, if you plan to run or cycle home, wear them with suitable sports clothes and all is forgiven, but all too often they are seen with the scruffy, middle-aged backpack-carrying business man who has usually either unbuttoned his top button and pulled down his tie, or more likely now isn't wearing a tie at all and instead has opted for the drooping, stained, yellowed formely white collar that displays his second and third chins for all to see. I realise that not everyone's feet or budget are suited to hugely expensive shoes, frankly my budget is well shy too, but that doesn't stop me from wearing leather shoes everyday, all day and furthermore succeeding in finding comfortable AND stylish shoes. If I do say so myself. I recommend you try Fly London and Dune to begin with and if you still come up shy, try going to Office, Jones, or some other highstreet shop. There is a pair of shoes out there that will be comfortable and make you look like you care a little about appearance.
In happier news, my espadrilles arrived yesterday and I am currently sporting the red and white striped pair as casual house shoes in an effort to decide a. if I like them and b. if I can wear them for extended periods of time. I am decidedly in the positive on both counts so far. Excellent news for travelling in style.
Musically, I have been enjoying a few different kicks recently. I am, as I write, listening to Patrick Sweany's album 'Every Hour Is A Dollar Gone'. It is a wonderful piece of Black Keys-esque (it is in fact produced by Dan from the Black Keys) blues rock, that has everything from the up-beat instrumental Burma Jones to the ultra laid-back Hotel Women - a lament for the 'hotel women' that have come and gone from our songsters life. On a similar-ish note, I have also been listening again to William Elliott Whitmore's 'Animals in the Dark', which is a fantastic, foot-stomping album full of vitriolic lyrics, cracking choruses and brilliant song-writing. I can't really recommend him enough. Have a listen to his performance of 'Old Devils' on Later with Jools: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLoTLq_ArHY. The other kicks are largely focused around metal, thanks to the slightly unusual composition of my current workplace I have found myself surrounded by metalheads and have been revelling in working to the sounds of Lamb of God, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Pantera. Perhaps not to everyone's taste, but if you are at all inclined to the harder end of the musical spectrum then a. you ought to have already heard all of the above and b. if you haven't, why the hell are you still reading this?!
I have got a couple of other things I wish to discuss, but I am tired having just played squash and not having stopped moving for the last three days, so you will just have to be patient.
Bon nuit!
Joe
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment