Sleazy Like Monday Morning...By Saul Wilks

As it says on the tin like...

80's sleaze driven boogie vibes with some classic and not so classic Chicago and house cuts.

Enjoy.

Ardour Brand Leather iPhone, Card and Money Wallets...

We have continued with our leather goods range and extended the wallet section but this time in the form of an iPhone sleeve.

This is our first collection with another range due in shortly.

Made from premium vegetable tanned leather, they are hand cut, dyed and stitched, topped off with our hot branded logo and available in a range of colours.
Tan and Oxblood
Tan and Blue
Tan and Green
Dark Brown
Ochre

It houses the main iPhone compartment with a pocket stitched either side to firmly hold cards and money, it makes a great looking iPhone wallet but for when you need everything in one place and for nights out you can now have your phone, card and money all together.

Available through this link in iPhone 4 and 5 versions....
ARDOUR BRAND IPHONE WALLETS

Shaun

Ardour Brand Indigo Line.... by Shaun & Saul

We are now just over two months in, due to not wanting to stretch ourselves too early we had the original intentions of keeping Ardour accessory based until after Christmas but that is now null and void as we couldn't help but get involved in the clothing side of things.

We are trying to not create a single look but to incorporate all the different styles we both enjoy and wear ourselves and it was only a matter of time before we dived head first into the world of natural dye.
It's something that has fascinated me long before Ardour and being able to achieve those intense colours is something we want to bring into a line under our label, using natural indigo pigment we have started on a line of clothing in tee's, sweatshirts, scarves and squares in various colours and washes.

We want to share what we do as we do it and these are the samples of the two tee's which we will be bringing out over the next few weeks.
One being a heavy overdyed deep indigo tee and the other being our light wash indigo tee.
The T-shirts are made in England and then hand dyed by us locally in England.

A much shortened step by step photo diary of where we are at, from the indigo up to the overdye tee, and lastly the light wash indigo tee drying and then pictured with our Ebbets cap hopefully showing the intense colours we are trying to create.

Today's Get Up...By Saul Wilks

Haven't done one of these for a while...

Featuring some of our latest and forthcoming fayre at www.ardourbrand.com

Ardour X Ebbets Feilds Stadium Flannel
Ardour Japense Corduroy Plum Scarf
Vintage 50s French Chore Jacket
Ardour Plum Marl Stadium Sweat
Levi LVC
New Balance 420
Ardour Polka Dot Pocket Square
Ardour Simple Navy Bi-Fold Wallet

Mix of the Weekend - Beautiful Swimmers...By Saul Wilks.

Been massively digging this mix of late, recorded last year for boileroom TV, America's Beautiful Swimmers laying down all kinds of goodness.

 Enjoy your weekend!

Ardour Brand X Ebbets Field Flannels

We've always held a strong admiration for classic American sportswear, so we're excited to bring you a first collaboration with true bastions of the aforementioned, Ebbets Field, with our very own Stadium cap.

Constructed in the classic 6-panel design, the Stadium cap is produced from 100% wool in Aztec brown with adjustable leather back strap to suit your head size.

Complete with our cream signature AB logo embroidered to the front panel, this looks as good on whether your patrolling the wall at outfield, or hustling on the streets outside the ball park.

Available through our site from tonight, the link being below....

ARDOUR BRAND X EBBETS FIELD FLANNELS CAPS

The sportswear logo will be tied into a number of American sportswear projects we are doing, we have some Plum marl Stadium sweatshirts coming with the same AB logo on and a run of classic Americana goods mixed in with a healthy dose of Ivy.

Keep em peeled....

Shaun & Saul

Andrew Weatherall 'Life Music and Art'.... by Shaun Dangerfield

"DJ'ing was a good way for me to do something I love that would pay for my clothes and records..."

The fantastic recent 18 minute short film on Andrew Weatherall's life past and future shot by Crossfire Productions.

Queen Vs David Bowie... by Shaun Dangerfield

The Diskery Birmingham.... by Shaun Dangerfield

On our last visit to The Diskery myself and Saul came out with a hefty wedge of vinyl that certainly tantalised our musical tastebuds.
We love this place, old school and easy going.  On a number of occasions now the pound section has come up trumps but we also keep pulling out those rare jams.

It is fairly rock biased but has a lovely little section of Disco, Soul, Funk and other assorted goodies from 80's electro and Boogie to synth that always crop up.
On my last but one trip there we managed to pick out some proto and early house and it just seem's to keep on delivering (or we buy what nobody else wants?.....).

Located in the centre of Birmingham it's becoming ritual now when he's up to go here for a few hours before a massive mixed grill in town, let me tell you boys and girls the lad Saul can eat, he can eat almost as fast as he can flick through record sleeves.

I've put a couple of photos up and a record that I found in there last from Project Future on Capitol Records, 1983 beef.... just add gravy.

"Boogie Cartel On Tour"

Baracuta on Film... by Shaun Dangerfield

For those who have not saw them before a few short films on Baracuta.

Here at Sinister it's all about music clothing and culture, and these all tie in perfectly so I thought I would put a few together in one place.

I've not had a year in my entire adult life where I've not had a Baracuta hanging up in my wardrobe and I'm pretty sure Saul's the same.

3 Short films, enjoy.

Baracuta's s/s13 video..... 



This was made by Antony Crook of the Rig Out to celebrate the G9 and 75 years of Baracuta.
The track is Toni Basil "Breakaway"....





London to Woolacombe.....

Band of Outsiders Anorak...By Saul Wilks

No matter how much we stick on that elusive BBQ sunset mix or keep our sunglasses at close quarters for the hope the sun breaks through the clouds, the weather has definitely turned - but that's cool. Everyone know's autumn and winter are the best months for digging out our best clobber and there's just something more satisfying about wearing outwear in shitty weather.

I fall into a certain category of gentlemen that happen to find the anorak or waterproof one of the coolest garments around, why others of the same thinking and indeed myself hold such regard for this particular piece of clothing often evades me, but I guess it's because the simplicity of the design and that feeling of wearing something that by rights shouldn't really look good on, but does, all add's to the attraction.

I've had many a'cagoule, anorak and wind-breaker pass through my wardrobe over the years, from my days as an up and coming scally where vintage Lacoste, K-way and old battered Peter Storm's were order of the day, through to the more recent Norse Elka's,  and I've loved them all.

Band of Outsiders is a label I've always admired from afar, especially their superb and simple jackets - many of which I've often salivated over. Scott Sternberg certainly has a great eye for beautiful, contemporary cuts and simple but sharp silhouettes - details that greatly appeal to me.

End Clothing are one of the only stockists here in the UK and this jacket was very much a part of my hit list for a long time, until it eventually disappeared after I waited too long for a reduction. I've searched for one ever since, both in the red and mustard colurways - both of which are equally as ace.

I've always consorted with yank ebay in the hope that one would crop up and low and behold after two years of looking one finally did, brand new with tags and for a mere 180 notes I had one shipped from the States. It arrived today and it's amazing - I can truthfully say that it's even more killer in the flesh than it looks on the net, finished in a waxed cotton and sharper than a stanley.

Sternberg must surely fall into the bracket of the aforementioned anorak appreciation society, for he has made one of my favourite pieces of clothing even more appealing, paring up classic vibes with the added inclusion of some carefully placed pockets and some other great details such as contrast white inner and smartly positioned neck tab.

I've often said previously that the pictures I've often taken have not really done the jacket I'm snapping justice, but I think in this instance that's not the case, looking carefully at the photos I've taken the simplicity of the design is unmistakeably effective, I could quite happily look at it for hours. That's the appreciation I feel for garments that are understated in design to the point they are just beautiful and this is the case here.

I've had many new purchases pass through since the last time I did a post like this, but I had to share this one. Accompaniments for the day were some well worn in Nudie selvedge, Our Legacy marl Great sweat, classic Burlington Argyle's and Pointer suede monk-strap's - pretty much a staple look, but one I love.

I've got a few more bits to post up over the next few weeks that deserve some blog space but for now I'll leave you with these.

Unfortunately I dropped my camera dicking about with the settings after I had taken these and I am therefore now camera-less.

Today has been a great day, but a sad one at that.

RIP Canon Eos 400D, you have served me well x

Hancock Article 6.... by Shaun Dangerfield

It's no secret I love a bit of the old rubberised cotton outerwear and I would eventually angle in on Hancock and try them out.

I wasn't disappointed, and although there are no real difference's between Hancock and say Mackintosh there is still a big difference in terms of cut and style and direction which Hancock seem's to nail in contemporary design.

The details, the cut, the design, the colours all feel that little bit extra and I know they are going to be big hitters as they become more established.

This is article 6 and is also featured in the video below showing the outerwear being made, a good 3 minute watch for you....

 

Buttero Tanino Leather Sneakers... by Shaun Dangerfield

Made in Italy vegetable tanned leather kicks, can't go wrong really can you and a big affair looming in my massive leather love life.

I love doing a little write up but sometimes the pictures do the talking, dare I say it but my best footwear purchase for quite some time, a perfect crossover kick.

A simple leather shoe with great detailing and an off white sole, leather lined internally....

Ardour Brand Tri-fold Leather Customisable Wallet.... by Shaun and Saul

We have been designing a Tri-fold wallet out of a soft vegetable tanned leather for a little while now.

It has room for 6 cards, it has a coin and key pouch, the note compartment and also a brass eyelet for a lanyard.

It is available in natural leather or you can choose what colour leather you would like and where, you can have two or three coloured leather pieces on there, a full block colour or a colour inner with a natural leather outer to develop and age yourself, the option is there to pretty much do as you like with it.
For example, if you would like a natural leather outer with an Oxblood leather inner, we can do it, if you want a certain colour we can try and match it for you.

It is then finished off with our hot branded logo, again you can choose where you would like it, the wallet is now live on the website at..... ArdourBrandlargeLeatherWallet

You can of course have it completely natural and untouched so that it ages with you and develops a natural patina as it darkens from use.  It will be made from scratch with a 10 day turnaround time for cutting, dyeing, stitching and manufacturing.

At the bottom I have included a shot of my own wallet which is around 14 months old and started out in exactly the same natural leather as our new wallet pictured on the left....