YMC A/W 2011.... by Shaun Dangerfield.

As I browsed through the lookbook I instantly thought how pleasing on the eye they were, another point showing how their clothing can be put together when you look past them as individual pieces.
I like YMC and always have, I would not say it's all my thing because like any label there are good and bad point's and it's all personal to the wearer as your own opinion is the only opinion that matter's at the end of the day.
Looking through the saturated photo's I appreciated not just the style's but the whole package as a photo and as a lookbook it was all aesthetically pleasing.
Very similar to what they turned out last Autumn & Winter and there are a few piece's I would happily buy. I have pin pointed the camo shirt and the navy work jacket in like a sweatshirt material as other purchase's during my last heavy splurge on winter clothing which I'll put into operation in a couple of week's.
Some gorgeous thread's out this year from other labels too and nice to see thing's progressively changing (in some labels and in certain areas of other labels) from your standard wear & tear that's been on offer for the last few years which have run it's course I think.
However I wouldn't say this was anything new from YMC but a good look for the coming colder months, I think I prefer the female range & style and what they have going on but whatever locked me in on these photo's certainly worked.
Without any more of my rambling's as I could be here all day I'll put up the lookbook.
Enjoy.

Shaun.

Ivy Styling... By Saul Wilks

I've been buying up some pretty ace bits of late - even if I say so myself. Impulse purchases seem to be a thing of the past, documented in the digits on past bank balances and there to be flogged on ebay due to not being worn.

With the amount of garments in my wardrobe getting to a saturation point I've really got into searching for unusual or one off items or, as in the case of the Woolrich trail parka, unspeakable bargains. Instead of rush buying of hitting up latest releases I've taken a more sensible and methodical approach to searching out things I really do want and will wear. One thing I've come to realise over the past few months is that they're certainly there to be found if you put the time in.

One of my latest additions and one that I'm proper made up about is this killer vintage Heavy wool varsity cardigan. I've been after something like this for a little while, wanted it to be original and have bided my time until the right thing came along. I managed to source this with delivery for a very reasonable price and in my opinion it leaves the likes of YMC's take on classic Ivy varsity wear in the dust.

You can't beat original one off items such as this - hailing from Michigan State, possibly from the 50s or 60s it captures Ivy League coolness perfectly. Brought up to date with the right accompaniments and this is no doubt going to be a heavy feature in my Winter ensembles... Proper !

Winter Is Upon Us.... by Shaun Dangerfield.

"What a summer that was!"....... or not as the case may be and it's time for my creation above to pack his sunglasses away for another 6 month's.

I love summer and winter equally but what I love about winter most is the jackets and heavy denim and boot's ready to be flung into action and so my search to complete a colder wardrobe is in full swing.

Kicking thing's off to the best possible start is for the jacket of the season out of the label's I'm into I just couldn't say no - the limited new Cameraman from Mr Cabourn...... easily his finest yet.

Waxed cotton upper in a gorgeous tan with Harris tweed lower section.

Nut button's and his focal point military metal clasp closures.

Fully lined in beige cotton.

Made in England and with a lot of love, almost as much love as what I'll be putting into it.... no, not like that you sick puppy, keep your filthy mind to yourself I'm talking wear'ability.

This month I'll be polishing off my winter wear's and tear thank's to a healthy discount. Expect tweed, cord and wool to be blogged that will see me through to the next time (like my man above) I unfold my sunglasses.

Shaun.

Something special from the mills of Woolrich...By Saul Wilks

I mentioned I was getting all manor of bargains lately didn't I? Well I managed to land this amazing Woolrich Trail parka from an A/W or two back in mint condition and still with tags from the 'Dope Factory' in Italy...

With the price tag still displaying a rather royal sum of 448 euros I managed to get this shipped for the more princely sum of 160 Great British pounds... Yes, Jammy vagina I know!

I can't seem to stop hitting up those golden snap deals at the moment, I've got more arriving soon in the post but I wanted to wait until this one was actually in hand before posting about it as the details of this jacket just have to be shown off. I'm extremely happy with it.

Coming in ripstop nylon with 100% wool inner this jacket is warmer than a woolly back mammoths coat and will withstand the rain, drizzle and all those other nasty outdoor elements. The details and features are pretty much endless and I could rattle on with a load of technical bollocks but then I'm not so much as an anorak but more of an admirer of true craftsmanship, so instead of me spaffing on I'll let the photos do the talking... Behold my new number one winter jacket. Ace.

Focus On Detail part 3.... by Shaun Dangerfield

I love this parka and if it was fluent in English it would be belting out a rather obscure version of David Bowie's "sound & vision".
Modeled on a futuristic Santa Claus jacket (he's buffed up it's set in 2124) it's job is to protect it's owner from harsh winter's but also to keep you looking good while on that sled.
Absolute gumph of course I wish all of the above were true but tonight I'm just fully equipped with spinning a yarn.
This jacket from Monitaly is quite simply a peach, beautifully made and formed with attention to detail only rivaled on the like's of the Queen's finest tea time hand stitched doilies.

Sign Of The Times..... by Shaun Dangerfield.

If I had a pound for every time I have read about the twinning of the early 80's to the present day I would probably have a pocket full of 'oooooh' 11 pound coin's maybe ? double it up with the same in chit chat and I would probably have £24.
While I can understand how so many have come to think about this in Britain's (and the worlds) current climate with the economic state and the Tories in power bleeding the working class dry I can't help wondering why nobody has saw past this and taken the present day for what it is and appreciate it while focusing on much brighter day's than the early 80's that we have been compared with.
From the dark destitute day's of the 80's and the clear cut class system I can't fully accept that were in such a horrid place especially when your meeting so many amazing people at various night's who are having just as good a time as you and when fashion in it's various forms is thriving especially in it's niche markets and label's.
The whole heritage and workwear boom in it's own right surely would be a cheaper alternative to many fashion items ? The link's to back in the day would see to that wouldn't it ?
Not a chance and you can't link it up with a view that it's from poorer time's and twin it to the present day. Chore jackets and engineer jackets passing through hands for hundred's of pounds and if Junya Watanabe's effort's are anything to go by (although fantastic) you can hardly compare it to such testing time's where people were unsure where their next meal would be coming from and workwear was exactly that.... "work wear".
So while the working class are pretty hard done by at the moment a large majority are still seeing through it and clutching at the sunshine that is so desperately trying to surface. I look around at the night's I play at and where I venture to and appreciate the fact that all the people present are there for the right reasons and that they don't get down so easily.
The way they are dancing and the way they are dressed it's not a young movement it's nothing new it's just Britain getting on with it and not accepting that they are basically here to work in order to survive. Not this crowd.... the people I meet and the people I know are here making the most of their lives to the fullest extent.
And that includes clothing and music two massive factor's of getting through life with a rather large smile on your dial, there are other factor's that accompany these for example recreational drug's and travelling but I want to concentrate on clothing and music.
In the circles I revolve in people are dressing differently and more individually, they have done for some time and there are little scene's developing within scene's as lad's move on from a certain sub culture associated to football you can pretty much seal the lid on the coffin for any kind of movement within the football scene as it's dated and stale and now conform's within itself.
I know so many who have moved on and in a big part you can thank music and modern fashion, modern time's. Lad's are not dressing similarly but doing their own thing and putting their own take on it which is massively refreshing and again to my point it's not all bad and I refuse to be twinned with much darker time's, when your craving creativity step outside of the box and think about it as there are smaller scene's and movements evolving around fashion and music, there are no name's for it but you can see by how people are dressing as to who's part of it without having to be pigeon holed under a banner.
Musically we could be on the verge of a third summer of love in my humble opinion (for me anyway, maybe I'll enjoy it on my own) with such great night's flooding our streets and the togetherness it bring's it's certainly a far cry from a country with no hope in it's working class circles, if you want to twin us with 88/89 I can handle that and look forward to the free love attitude but without the large smiley face acid tee shirts obviously.
Here's to tomorrow.

Shaun.

Alfresco Boogie... By Saul Wilks

Around a month ago we threw a part on a rooftop in Kings Cross, London. Shaun is generally more together than me and had his mix up a few days after the party, I stuck mine up a week or so back but didn't post it on here so for what it's worth here's an hour and twenty minutes of the set I played to close the terrace at 'The Boogie Cartel Presents a Roof Top Terrace Party' at The Big Chill House, Kings Cross, London 06/08/2011.

Great day / night with a rainbow smiling upon proceedings during Donald Byrd, Love has come around -a hair on the back of your neck moment for all involved...

Unfortunately, the last 3 records are cut off the mix but for what it's worth, enjoy !

 Saul W @ The Boogie Cartel presents - A Roof Top Terrace Party by The Boogie Cartel

Saul W @ The Boogie Cartel Presents, The Big Chill House, Kings Cross

Freddie James - Don't turn your back on love (Instrumental)
Patrice Rushen - Forget me nots (Munga cabin fever edit)
Donna Allen - Serious (Fingerman's nice to djs edit)
Feel - Let's rock
Collage - Romeo where's Juiliet (InnerWestSoul edit)
Komiko - Feel alright (Beaten Space Probe edit)
Sister Sledge - Thinking of you (Dimitri From Paris edit)
SOS Band - High hopes (OOFT edit)
Nu Shooz - I can't wait (XL Re-Rub)
Lace - Can't play around
The Whispers - And it goes (Mungas crack head mix)
Kastil - Low Luv
Donald Byrd and 125th street NYC - Love has come around (Deep&Disco edit)
Mona Rae - Do me (And munga gone done it edit)
HBB - Hunch Back Boogie
Affinity - Don't go away(1983 club mix)
Matt Hughes - Can't talk now
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Loleatta Holloway - Love Sensation (Beaten Space Probe edit)
Masters At Work - To be in love
Chic - I want your love (Todd Terje edit)

Treasure hunting...By Saul Wilks

I love rummaging  through old brick a brack shops, flicking through crates of old knackered records and avoiding the dust in some vintage boutique. Although I don't particularly wear much vintage stuff these days - I always like to have a look at what's on offer - I've found some real diamonds in the past.

Yesterday I got up at the crack of dawn so I could hit up the Spitalfields collectors and antique market, a favourite with stylists, designers and home to many eccentric characters vending their weird and wonderful products to an enthusiastic crowd.

Aside from Vintage clothing stalls you can find pretty much anything of interest and it's always a lottery what you might find. Yesterday I encountered an old Roland Sampler machine, the mangled remains of a WW2 Hawker Hurricane that had been shot down (which was displayed, quite morbidly, with the details of the pilot that was killed in the crash) and False limbs.

Although the thought of buying a spare leg or forking out on a knackered synthesiser wasn't really appealing, the thought of a few crafty purchases to bolster my winter wardrobe and a couple of record purchases very much were. In particular I've been after an original Harris Tweed for the Winter for when I'm out walking or going somewhere a little up market. Then I came upon the rack of jackets shown below, complete with lots of battered Barbour's, blazers and tweeds.

After having a quick browse through I stumbled upon an absolute gem, original Harris Tweed with leather arm patches - exactly the sort of thing I was after. After a spot of mild bartering with the Italian girl whose store it was I managed to get it for a plucky 45 quid.

Together with the earlier Barbour bargain and a shed full of records, It rounded off a rather successful day on the shopping front and left me craving Winter even more, thanks the true character and beauty of this -

Touch of the year...By Saul Wilks

I've had quite a bit of luck of late when it comes to nabbing bargains and my luck continued yesterday while out shopping in London. Having to stick to a tight budget these days, hunting out the bargains is a necessity that needs to be mastered and yesterday I put this mastery into practice.

Barbour isn't particularly a label that sends shivers of excitement down my spine any more, I've got a couple of things in my wardrobe that I wear and love but a lot of the stuff coming out from them these days looks a bit cheap, done to death or generally shit. Its become a bit monotonous and dare I say it, a little bit boring hasn't it? Enter To Ki To and some refreshing ideas and designs, the now season to season collaboration has brought about some iconic jackets and garments worth the price tags they command.

While on my regular nightly internet scouting routine a few weeks back I came across a gorgeous red knit, designed by To Ki To for Barbour, I was going to stick it on my wants list ready for the winter as It's an amazing bit of kit. Luckily I did't splash out the £144 it's going for online and in shops...

Yesterday on impulse while doing my normal rounds around the shop rich pickings of east London I nipped into the Barbour pop up store at Spitalfields market for a quick browse. My eyes instantly diverted to the knitwear rack and there, hanging up was the very same knit I'd been lusting over, in my size and with a oner slashed off the price. £44, perfect fit, thank you very much Mr John Barbour. Turns out they'd had a sample given to them of each To Ki To product and I just happened to land at the right time, even the bird that served me said I'd had a right result.

What an ace knit this is as well, the details and quality are amazing, definitely a popular choice for me when Jackie Frost comes a'knocking... Check out these picks and drooooool

An August day on the South bank...By Saul Wilks

I've just got back from another London exertion, as I'm sure you're all aware by now my girlfriend lives there so I'm lucky that I can spend half of my time in one of the true great cities of the world.

I arrived in the capital on Tuesday afternoon around 1pm suffering with severe sleep deprivation and a rather sore head. Having no keys to my missus' gaff I headed over to where she works on the South bank in central London. Now for anyone who has never been, the South bank is an area that runs adjacent to the Thames, showcasing the arts, home to the national theatre and generally pretty interesting to stroll down in the sunshine... Except on this particular August day, the Sun was no where to be seen and it was chucking it down with rain.

It looked more like a day in January than the peak time of our Summer, but unperturbed and sporting some rather natty rain wear I decided to capture a few pictures that caught my imagination while I passed the time on the banks of the ancient river.

What follows is a tongue in cheek interpretation of An August day on the South Bank...


Enjoy!