25/11/2014
To my utter surprise and dismay I discovered yesterday that my H&M “Mauritz collection” trousers in Moon Tweed had worn through in the crotch area. While denim fans see the infamous “crotch blowout” as something of an expected war injury after a long period of hard use, it’s not something I expect after what I consider to be fairly gentle and…
26/10/2014
I love books. In a world where information is so freely available, so continuously updated and so prolific as to be almost worthless, there is something more definite and permanent about the print on paper. Whereas a blog-post can be infinitely edited and updated, when you put something in print the material should be considered and final, once it’s out…
03/09/2014
Another day of mid-week sleeveless wonderment is here, by way of this waistcoat, or vest if you like, from Levis. I have reviewed a Levis waistcoat before, and thought it pretty good. This one though is part of their Made & Crafted line, which is, as far as I can tell, a line Levis created to blend their history with…
14/08/2014
Regular readers will be well aware of the issues I have with garment manufacturers and their sloppy and inaccurate sizing, and how this makes it difficult to predict the sizing of clothes based upon their information. Argh, I feel my ire rising just thinking about it. In a recent piece I ended with the questions “Is bespoke the only way to…
28/07/2014
Over the past year and a half I’ve reviewed half a dozen more or less interesting books in the field of menswear, and thought I had a fair overview of what little is available. When visiting the UK recently though, I happened upon “The Fashion Resource Book – Men”, which I’d not seen mention of before. It was published in May…
26/06/2014
While on our usual Saturday morning trip to town this week, I joined WDG in visiting the new local ethical clothes shop. Ethical clothes shop? Sounds really lame and hippie-like, right? I could have come up with a more enticing and juicy description instead of a really poor, though short, description, so your derision is entirely my fault. Something along the…
24/06/2014
As I’ve mentioned before, one of the joys of writing a blog is in discovering new things. Travelling to a new place, finding new and interesting things, talking to people and hearing their stories and opinions. Todays review, which is almost the final review of the bakers dozen in this round, is from a brand that first came to my…
10/06/2014
For the 10th instalment of this series of Trouser Tuesday trouser reviews, I thought I’d do something even more different than changing fabric and style. We’re going to go 70 years back in time and take a look at a pair of trousers that were made for my Grandfather by Hector Powe of London. Bespoke maybe, at least made to…
07/06/2014
I’ve been asked occasionally for tips on how to get started sewing your own clothes, so I thought I’d do a quick post offering some suggestions on patterns worth getting. I consider patterns to be essential for the beginner, as the combination of good instructions and properly laid out patterns are a hard deal to better, unless you really know…
27/05/2014
Today’s trousers come from Swedish up and coming denim company SOSO Clothing. I have to admit, given the unfortunate name of the company and a website that aggressively promotes their discounts, I wasn’t expecting their goods to be very good. Which just goes to show how easily preconceptions can be misleading, as I will proceed to show you as I present the…