Blog posts to a minimum this month as I’m on a ton of shoots. Trying to keep up when I can. Check the new Raised by Wolves 2013 Lookbook. This Canadian brand have been going from strength to strength.

NEIGHBORHOOD BOOZE CROW INCENSE CHAMBER 

If you’ve been looking for a £250 ceramic bird then look no further. This one even has holes in the eyes and beak so when you burn incense inside it, the scent wafts out in a homely sort of fashion. After your house-guests drive through your enormous wrought iron gates, up your stone steps flanked by ominous looking gargoyles and solve the riddle given to them by the talking door knocker, you can take things down a notch as they enter the twisting corridors of your creepy ass house by racking up a few of these on marble pedestals on the way to the library. 

Available from Goodhood

Inside an Amazon distribution center.

Photography by Ben Roberts

Via Highsnobiety

Because I know the people of Tumblr like to reblog individual images so every blog looks nice and similar, here’s a bunch I found which I like. Do what you will with them. Presenting… 

Good photography in menswear this week 

#1 KONZEP SS13 LOOKBOOK 

Photographer : Shen Wong

Because : The model. the styling, that green.

#2 COMEFORBREAKFAST AW13 COLLECTION

Photographer : Unknown 

Because : The wood intersecting the dudes body and the pastel tones.

#3 LES (ART)ISTS 2013 T SHIRTS

Photographer : Keith Au

Because : Everyone will hate these T shirts and the idea is absolutely retarded.

#4 KELLY THOMPSON X ROOK 2013 SS13 ILLUSTRATED COLLECTION

Because : It isn’t a photograph.

#5 HEDI SLIMANE “AMERICAN COWBOYS” EDITORIAL FOR HERO MAGAZINE

Photographer : Hedi Slimane 

Because : It’s Hedi, Hero and some real ass cowboys.

ACTUAL PAIN - GENTLEMAN’S KNIFE

or… grab yourself a cheaper option from Komono 

I LOVE UGLY WATCHES 

A brand that blew up faster than a nitrous oxide balloon.

The Oddbergur Parka by Norse Projects & Oi Polloi

Norse Projects have teamed up with menswear mad Mancunians Oi Polloi to create this rather rugged offering made from non-waxed, sun wash British Millerain Cotton. It comes in hickory green or hickory brown and is finished with a removable velcro Norse X Oi Polloi badge. 

 Funnily enough it’s the badge which is the one thing that lets this coat down for me. I don’t like it, it’s too gimmicky. Just look at that picture and tell me that dirty little circle doesn’t ruin the symmetry of the piece. I know there will be people delighted with it but for me the interior label is enough. I know the badge is removable but then you’ve got an annoying black circle of velcro on your arm. 

 If you can ignore the badge then of course it’s a bloody lovely coat. Wonderful colours and marble effect, no doubt exception quality all round and you can’t go wrong with 100% good old British Millerain. It retails at €425 which isn’t exactly Cabourn level prices but it’s certainly one of the more expensive pieces from Norse. Collaborations are always a little more costly. That’s how they get ya. 

Backyard Bill - not a porn site

Backyard Bill has to be one of the coolest blogs I’ve come across of late. The idea behind it is not an original one, but few are nowadays. The blog’s charm lies in it’s execution and content. 

 Bill photographs interesting people in their homes. You’ll have seen it before. If you’re a photographer you probably came up with it at some point and thought it was an awfully clever idea. It is sometimes a nice way to grab some interesting portraits, but what makes it successful is the people you photograph and also not being shit at cameras. 

   The first feature I clicked on was one about Adam Holden and his daughter Lily. Adam is an excellent model, I first saw him a while back on the All Saints website.

(Remember when All Saints might have been cool and then JLS’s stylist killed it for everyone? Not to be a dog with a bone but slouchy, untied, grey leather boots and a pair of drop crotch tapered jeans takes you halfway to looking like an absolute bellend. Tack on a low cut, faded graphic t shirt and a beanie with enough excess fabric to resemble a scrotum and congratulations, you’ve made it!)

Anyway, Adam, the stylish fellow has a really decent sense of style. He’s the kind of dude that kids see on their tumblr dashboards and reblog with the words ‘this is how I will look when I’m older.’ I can’t find out much about Adam, but he looks a bit like Solid Snake and If I had to guess what he used to do I would say it involved wearing a white vest and keeping a shotgun behind the bar. 

 I don’t really recognise many of the people on Backyard Bill, but it’s a great archive of inspirational interior and portrait photography with some short, snappy interviews. If you like this, you’ll also definitely enjoy Frende Von Freunden which is arguably better and full of more well known people and places. But everyone knows about it and this blog is supposed to be cool, ya dig?

5 choice caps for Summer.

I’ve aways preferred the slightly more mature cap offerings in menswear. I don’t like the camp cap style popularised by Supreme and now sold by just about everyone trying to make a quick buck in the hat game (if you do like them see Norse Projects, I Love Ugly, Publish, Quiet Life etc). I think they make adult males look like they’re selling knock off DVD players out of a van. So I try to seek alternatives. Bare in mind I didn’t really consider summer materials when I picked these, I just like them. If your head gets too hot just take the dam thing off or suffer for your sartor. 

1.Supreme Enamel S 5 panel

2.Norse Projects Wool No Logo

3.Wood Wood Logo Wool Cap

4.Etudes People Laranja 

5.Maiden Noir Leaf Camo 5 Panel

Absolute beauty of a cap from Deluxe made from speckled navy tweed. Speckled/flecked/blanket fabric is this years rising star it seems, with everyone from Norse down to freakin Primark using it, although I haven’t got a clue how the Primark stuff is made. When my Dad saw me wearing some blanket denim Edwins he said it looked like I’d left a bunch of tissue in the pockets and washed them. Surely a fabric worth forking out for. 

Will set you back around £55 which in the headwear market of today seems quite reasonable. 

Decipher some Japanese and figure out how to buy it here.

My pal Greg who knows way more about menswear than me does a blog which is way smarter than mine. Here’s an extract from a good post he did recently called ‘Heritage in the Absence of History.’ Far too many brands are guilty of this, and many of us are probably guilty of buying into it. 

“Remember when you used to go for a pub lunch with your family at Christmas or something? You’d go to a quiet village outside of town, sit down at the old, varnished oak tables and peruse the beer-stained piece of yellowish paper, normally headed with some kind of etching-style picture of the pub in question, before quickly making a choice between Hunter’s Chicken, Burger & Chips or Lasagne. It really was that simple. Or at least, that’s what I thought.

Thanks to the wonders of marketing, I’m reminded by the gastro-pubs of today that we really went there for ‘Proper Pub Food’, which in turn means ‘a bunch of shit that you never cared about before’. It can’t just be a burger now. It’s 100% British Beef quarter-pounder – spelt out, because numbers are too common – seasoned with mixed herbs, topped with salad and extra-mature cheddar, served lovingly in a crisp ciabatta bun with ‘hand-cut potato chips’, all with a side of ‘traditional burger relish’ – another way of saying ketchup, but with some little black speckles mixed in. At times, sitting staring at the pretentious beef before me, I wondered if these guys were ever even there the first time around at all.

I can’t even count the number of conversations that I’ve had with individuals about the heritage / work-wear revival. It’s been refreshing to some extent. I have a lot of time for brands such as Norse Projects and Carhartt WIP, who are working to provide the menswear world with environment-ready clothes that will also look good and last.

I do worry, however, that work-wear is taking the ‘work’ out of menswear. One friend joked at a recent tradeshow, ‘Why are you going to look around? Let me help you; lots of browns and khakis; heritage silhouettes; tedious nostalgia.’ Is this really what we want? Isn’t there more that could be done to innovate, as well as satisfy current demand?”

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