American Diners

American roadside diners, along with the Statue of Liberty, Route 66 and the Golden Gate Bridge, stand for America of the 50s/60s. Open all day and night they were places where one could anonymously pop in, grab a coffee, a slice of homemade pie to take a break from the tiresome road. They stand for the American post-war middle class family trying to live the American Dream whatever that may have been.

The American diner was for the newly motorized family, the lonesome adventurous traveller, the stressed business man. It was where Kerouac's character Sal Paradise in On the Road grabbed his apple pie and ice cream while he was chasing his hopes and dream from coast to coast.

My friend is writing a script on Malcolm X at the moment which got me to look into him and I found a great quote of his on diners (the person not the restaurant...but nonetheless)

“Sitting at the table doesn't make you a diner, unless you eat some of what's on that plate. Being here in America doesn't make you an American. Being born here in America doesn't make you an American.”

Images are from an exhibition at the Fox Talbot Museum

Buffalo album of the week....Dan Auerbach "keep it hid"

The Black Keys' singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach releases his self-produced solo debut, mixing, he says, "psychedelia, soul music, loud and soft guitars." Backed by a full band, he prowls the dark end of the street, with gritty, impassioned vocals lending drama to tales of romantic betrayal and suspicious minds. Guests include singer Jessica Lea Mayfield.

Keep It Hid proves both Auerbach's extravagant musical abilities and his encyclopaedic knowledge of the blues beyond any doubt, but it also proves that he still has no intention of letting anything new seep into his musical world. A shame, because unless he does he will remain more curator than true creator, for all his gifts. The black keys have always been one of my favourite bands and will always continue to be as I an an old man trapped in a young mans body and they keep providing me with that sound that sound like it has come straight out the early seventies and challenges the likes of cream and led zeppelin. Now Dan Auerbach has ventured on a solo album it increases my love for them as his sound is haunting and very unique!

Attention to detail... The hill side

The amount of thought, effort and care The Hill-Side puts into the sourcing and production of its collection signals a dedication to its craft that far surpasses any trend chasers!


The brand’s selection of fabrics – denim, chambray and twill sourced from a Japanese textile mill located in Kojima, Okayama Prefecture, an area famed for its decades-old slow-production style of manufacturing; and waxed cotton made by a company in New Jersey that has been employing the same eco-friendly application process of their food and pharmaceutical grade (read: non hazardous) waxes and oils for nearly 50 years.


Assembly is handled by a small, ethically run, NYC based manufacturer of heavy-duty leather and canvas goods, whose machinery and know-how endow each tie with a level of durability typically reserved for the most rugged work and outdoor garments.


These all go together very well with fashions and styles that seem to be timeless to our ever increasing wardrobes..


find out more about the brand here .. 

Vivienne Westwood

Time for another little rant this time about Vivienne Westwood, I know, how random.

So, over a year ago I went to this talk held in the V&A about climate change, global warming etc. Westwood along with a bunch of people from Green Peace, some scientists etc were sitting around a table and they began discussing global warming, issues with our consumerism etc.

And I just sat there becoming more and more annoyed and pretty infuriated. I mean don't get me wrong...Westwood is awesome...she really changed the course of British fashion and she is an eccentric, interesting character if there ever was one. But for a person who comes out with at least four different collections each year including accessories, shoes, perfumes etc to preach about the way we all consume too much and that we are heating up the world and will all die soon as a result just seems ridiculous.

She was telling us to never wash our clothes (she kept banging on about how she doesn't wash her bras at all...nice) and how we don't need a lot of clothes at all...we could basically take a dirty clothes rag and with a lot of imagination we could create a hundred different outfits with it which would not only be great for the environment but would make us unique and crafty individuals on top of it.

How can a big player of an industry which is the epitome of consumerism who is mass producing clothes and accessories and using Pamela Anderson as the face of their campaign tell us to not buy new clothes and to not ever wash the little possessions we have? She lives off our consumerism.

I felt that everyone at the talk was just lapping up what Westwood was saying...they weren't there to be enlightened about global warming...it was a chance to spot a celebrity and my presumption became apparent when people rushed over to her asking for auto-and-photographs once the talk was over.

Anyway, so I was super annoyed with it then and my annoyance got rekindled when I talked to a friend who knows people that work in the Westwood design studio. It is interesting to know that the studio throws away garments that have the tiniest fault on them..so a shoe with a crookedly sewn on buckle. I mean, yes with the prices that these things are going at you can't sell anything with flaws but to throw these things out rather than giving them to your employees?? And in the very same studio there are signs in the toilets saying: "Do you really have to flush?" and "Do you need to use that much toilet paper?"

Talk about contradictions. So, really next time Westwood gets all preachy on people for using their washing machines and wiping their asses with toilet paper she should consider re-using her flawed items that are being so carelessy thrown out at her studio or, better yet, maybe she shouldn't be producing an insane amount of clothes, shoes, sunglasses, bags and perfume twice a year.

Bowery Blues

I just want to share a beautiful poem by Jack Kerouac after Jonathan posted about the Beats.

It's called Bowery Blues

The story of man
Makes me sick
Inside, outside,
I don't know why
Something so conditional
And all talk
Should hurt me so.

I am hurt
I am scared
I want to live
I want to die
I don't know
Where to turn
In the Void
And when
To cut
Out

For no Church told me
No Guru holds me
No advice
Just stone
Of New York
And on the cafeteria
We hear
The saxophone
O dead Ruby
Died of Shot
In Thirty Two,
Sounding like old times
And de bombed
Empty decapitated
Murder by the clock.

And I see Shadows
Dancing into Doom
In love, holding
Tight the lovely asses
Of the little girls
In love with sex
Showing themselves
In white undergarments
At elevated windows
Hoping for the Worst.

I can't take it
Anymore
If I can't hold
My little behind
To me in my room

Then it's goodbye
Sangsara
For me
Besides
Girls aren't as good
As they look
And Samadhi
Is better
Than you think
When it starts in
Hitting your head
In with Buzz
Of glittergold
Heaven's Angels
Wailing

Saying

We've been waiting for you
Since Morning, Jack
Why were you so long
Dallying in the sooty room?
This transcendental Brilliance
Is the better part
(of Nothingness
I sing)

Okay.
Quit.
Mad.
Stop.

Lucien Carr.... the original beat.

Lucien Carr who introduced Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs to eachother.

Carr wasn’t homosexual but had unfortunately caught the eye of a rather troubled and much older man named David Kammerer. Kammerer was Carr’s Boyscout Scoutmaster during his youth and later followed Carr wherever he went. Lucien never let on to anyone that Kammerer was constantly making advances toward him and the two actually spent a lot of time together. Carr was content to have a friendship with Kammerer but was in no way interested in him (or any man, for that matter) sexually. On August 13, 1944 3am, in Riverside Park, near Columbia University’s campus and the Hudson River, Kammerer again tried to win Carr’s sexual favour. When it was again refused he attacked him. Carr was no match for Kammerer’s size and strength and in self defense, stabbed him to death (ironically) with a Boyscout pocketknife. In a panic, he tied Kammerer’s hands and feet together with his own shoelaces, filled his pockets with as many rocks as he could find, and rolled his body into the Hudson River. After much deliberation about what to do and solicitation of advice from Burroughs, Kerouac and family members, Carr turned himself in to the authorities. He was sentenced to 20 years, but served only 2 years in prison at Elmira Correctional Facility in upstate, NY, which incidentally is 20 miles from my hometown of Pine Valley, NY.

Kerouac moved in with Carr (now out of prison for some time) after leaving Neal Cassady in California and returning to New York City in 1951. This was shortly after the publication of his first novel, “The Town and the City”. Carr was living in a loft apartment on West 21st and was working (to the dissaproval of the Beats) for the United Press.

Kerouac had been inspired at that time by a new writing technique somewhat credited to William Carlos Williams and dubbed “Spontaneous Prose” by Kerouac, in which the writer simply writes or types as fast as possible along a line of thought, expression, or general storytelling with “no discipline other than rhythms of rhetorical exhalation and expostulated statement”. I know this comes across as quite esoteric, but pretty much boils down to the simple concept of writing as fast as one can as the thoughts stream through their consciousness, not trying at that time to come up with the perfect word or phrase.

Kerouac had once been the speed-typing champion of the greater Boston area and this technique suited him quite well. His only complaint was that he was slowed down by having to insert new sheets of paper so often. Lucien Carr, being employed at the United Press, brought home a roll of teletype paper and suggested he try that. Kerouac was delighted that he only needed to insert one end of the roll into his typewriter and could go on for days. The novel Kerouac wrote in this fashion would become his second published (in 1957) and one of his most popular, “On The Road”.

red more about the beat writers here .

wants and desires...

Alya Kazakevich....

28-year-old leather craftswoman named Alya Kazakevich whose Chinatown shop has produced some wonderful bags whilst living in the city of new york.

Originally from Belarus, she has lived in New York for almost a decade, apprenticing with Barbara Shaum and the wonderful craftsmen of E. Vogel. Since 2009  a.b.k brings its own unique blend of influences to the leather craft. 

uses domestically produced, vegetable tanned leather . Each product is both hand dyed and stitched. Hardware comes from discontinued production stock or small leather hardware suppliers in the U.S.


She also produses sandals and shoes, but they are for girls..


her work can be found here .

Sport.........Illustrated

We live in a world full of sports publications, which people will still buy readily, but i stopped buying modern one a long time ago since i discovered the great publications of days gone by, and the attention to detail that was put into them with a lot of the covers being hand illustrated. i will be posting more covers in the future, but here are a few of my favourites for now...

'The Last Picture Show', 1971

I finally got my act together and sat down to watch a film that has been recommended to me for years, Peter Bogdanovich's, 'The Last Picture Show', 1971. With my continuing fascination erring on obsession with 1950's Americana, this film was perfect in depicting life in small-town America, post world war. 'The Last Picture Show' is a simple 'coming of age tale of teenagers in West Texas. Visually it was incredibly bleak, with baron landscapes and tumble-down shop fronts. The 'old boys' looked worn, the women, faded beauties, characters effected by their monotonous exisistance in this deadbeat town. 

The kids however, had an essence of change, it was the birth of the teenager. 

The clothing was a crucial element in this transition. As well as being technically very accurate in clothing choice, the fashion was awe-worthy. The main characters Sonny Crawford, (Timothy Bottoms) and Duane Jackson (Jeff bridges) oozed an effortless cool, with a fantastic wardrobe of themed shirts and Varsity jackets. The girls, in particular, Jacy Farrow (Cybill Shepherd), sported bullet bras and girdles, masked by pencil skirts, their boyfriends letterman cardigans and black and white saddle shoes. Youths were finally showing individualism, no longer mimicking their parents, they were rebelling. 

The acting performances were subtle, the writing was integral. It wonderfully captured the 'birth of the teenager' and the difficult transition it was to make. Much like 'A Catcher in the Rye' it's a perfect film to watch when you are in that period of your life but equally as enjoyable if you want to reminisce. 

David Rathman

David Rathman is a Minneapolis based watercolour artist. I stumbled across his most recent work "Rumble in the Jumble" which depicts the legendary fight between George Foreman and Muhammed Ali and can be seen in New York gallery Larissa Goldston.

I checked out his other work and it is very masculine, traditional American and pretty meloncholic. I can't say much about his style, techniques...etc as I am no art expert but even I can tell that his pieces are very emotional despite them being so hard and masculine...which is amazing that he was able to get that effect across using water colours as that is a very soft medium. Anyway check his stuff out for yourself...

Vogue Submission Rant

So, there is this Vogue competition every year. I'm entering this year which kind of pains me a bit as Vogue really embodies the type of journalism I do no want to get into but my uni course is basically forcing us to enter... Section three of the competition has to be a ranty opinion piece so I've done it on the very contradictory term of "new vintage". I don't hate vintage at all....I am just critiquing the manufactured aspect of it. So here goes...

We buy clothes to express something, if that something is profound or meaningful is not said. We follow trends, trends that are supposed to be new, indicative of the our time but in fact they are regurgitated silhouettes and fabrics from eras gone by. Trends which, instead of providing us with individuality like promised, become our shared urban uniforms.

Vintage clothes are “cool” and “stylish”. They are one of a kind so we are drawn to them. When you buy a vintage garment you are consuming somebody's past. The garment once had the ability to tell a story, it carried meaning, memories and substance for and from its original owner. When you buy vintage you express the wish to partake in this nostalgia but you cannot because as soon as the garment parts from its owner, or rather the owner parts from his garment, the memories and the meanings are lost. The sartorial slate is wiped clean.

The heart-shaped burn mark on the garment's right-hand sleeve which acted as a memory for the owner's first toke of a joint sneakily enjoyed behind the school's shed during fifth period becomes merely a hole, nothing more. A flaw in the garment for which you will try to score a 5% discount at the shop counter.

These flaws indicate that the garment, and therefore his owner, has a story to tell and this has become a desired attribute for consumers which manufacturers and designers have recognized. By transforming these flaws into commodities the very contradictory term “new vintage” is born.

Garments are given “characteristics” to make believe that they have been worn in numerous adventurous places, have exciting stories to tell and have had several rough days...the garment is mass produced to be one of a kind.

You can buy ripped, torn, bleached and shredded jeans that give the brand new denim a vintage feel, an edge and a history when in fact its history is nothing short of being produced in a factory followed by a short stay on a shop floor followed then by a longer stay on your bedroom floor.

James Dean, Marlon Brando, rugged cowboys and the members of the Beat Generation are all associated with wearing denim that stood for their non-conformity, masculinity and rebelliousness. Their choice to wear denim was symbolic, it reflected their attitude towards society and their jeans acted as a blank canvas upon which stories, memories and meanings were drawn on. Frayed denim was a way for them to express their anti-capitalistic stance, rendering the fact that you can now buy garments of the same nature bitterly ironic. The genuine meaning of garments which once served the purpose to tell stories, express views and attitudes have now become commodities, commercially driven artefacts which the trend-oriented consumer laps up to give themselves and their wardrobe individual significance when in fact they are merely partaking in an effective marketing ploy called new vintage.

fashioning depression...

Right now everyone seems to be in the same boat of having not a lot of money but beginning to not lose heart over it. Those of us who have less money have the chance to stand out. The way we dress can reflect on how we are feeling inside, so why not look damn good whilst doing it.

Just have a look at what all men in the Great Depression wore. The suits, hats, shoes and ties. Everything was well put together, among all races and classes of men, there was a unity formed by dressing with pride. This isn't just because all this stuff was intrinsic to the culture. Men in all times and all places have had the option of looking ridiculously unkempt. The point is that these men were under pressure to perform, to show that they were valuable, to demonstrate on sight that they were desirable commodities as workers.

A perfect example i found was this...

Tom, from the vintage showroom..

wants and desires...

A USN N1 Deck Jacket...

After i saw this jacket in the flesh on a friend of mine i instantly fell in love with it and will search the ends until i find one.

The U. S. Navy developed and used many different styles of cold weather gear and clothing during the 1940’s. A sailor’s duties are very often performed in the most challenging and harsh weather conditions while at sea, thus clothing needed to be durable, warm and functional. Winter jackets, commonly referred to as “Deck Jackets,” became the most cherished clothing articles of sailors during WWII and among collectors today. Most of the deck jackets used in WWII evolved from a dark blue zip-front design that was very similar in appearance to the U. S. Army’s Winter Combat Jacket (Tanker Jacket). By late 1943, the second version of this Deck Jacket design was being phased out of production and an entirely new design was being brought into use.

I found an excellent website who have made near enough exact replicas using the same detailing and manufacturing techniques here .

music for that friday feeling....

 From his 1975 album, "Journey to Love" here's Stanley Clarke with "Concerto Jazz/Rock Orchestra".

Blood Sweat and Fears

The magazine Blood Sweat and Fears will be challenging the traditional ways of putting together a magazine in the next couple of days. From the 17-21 of March Blood Sweat and Fears are providing a space for artists, designers, illustrators, musicians etc to interact with each other, take part in interviews and live photo shoots. The audience is encouraged to interact and participate and the results of which will be documented and available in a classic printed format.

As the debate of "print or digital" is now becoming ever more current Blood Sweat and Fears is exploring a new method of communication that involves the audience and allows creative spontaneity...in a way it is like a "pop-up magazine" where the contents jump out of its page into the readers face. This magazine really shows just how much magazines have changed in just a few years time, how digital is becoming more and more predominant and how the recognition of bloggers is slowly opening the world of fashion magazines to everyone as more and more contributors that are not "real" journalist are starting to write. The fact that even this magazine will appear in print format though just shows that print still has its place and can never really be replaced with the digital...it's just not the same.

To get yourself into this magazine head over to 65-67 Broadwick Street, W1...it's free!

RP/Encore

RP/Encore is a female/male accessories range made not for fashion victims but out of fashion victims. Californian girl Reid Peppard is a London based designer who uses rodent and bird taxidermy to create head pieces, cuff links, necklaces and coin purses.

No need to fear the PETA though when you are wearing RP/Encore. The dead pets have either succumbed on the road, through pest control or simply died natural deaths.

I'm in two minds about these pieces...I find them amazing and daring and they definitely have that "car accident" effect of "looking-grosses-me-out-but-I-can't-help-myself". On the other hand I just find the thought of wearing a dirty London rodent around my neck pure filth.

I love the controversy of this collection though. Peppard challenges our views on fashion:

Most members of the fashion world have no qualms to wear a dead fox or rabbit in the form of a jacket as you can't tell what the animal once was and these animals, for some reason, are seen as objects of luxury even though they roam around in dirt and catch diseases just like rats and mice do. Peppard though, by recycling the city's leftovers, and by altering the animal only by removing its insides makes the actual common use of animals in fashion an uncomfortable experience for us.

I also think Peppard is on to something with her dead fashion...as fashion "dies" every six months to make room for the next new trend, its life expectancy lower than that of a mice living in the underground, it just makes sense to wear something that is already dead...if its dead it can't die anymore and maybe this could be a trend made to last.

Denim, standing the test of time..

I spoke to a very interesting artist who is taking part In the pursuit of the perfect denim wash Edwin will embark on a project spanning 12 months that will see modern day society's Tinkers to urban Soldiers live and breathe in their Edwin's. 

Edwin reconnaissance staff will be diarising the ‘wear evolution’ through visual mediums from the Photograph to the Blog, giving the public access to the project and its prominent protagonists.

Selected Edwin styles worn by our army of individuals, specifically chosen for their diversity and ‘stand out’ qualities, will be featured with regular updates, thereby cataloguing the chosen ones lifestyles in a pair of Edwin jeans.

find out more about the artists and what i happening to the jeans here ...

Inspirations: The Beat Generation...

Talking to like minded people yesterday, I have once again begun to believe I was not made for these times, and these ideas have come about by looking at the beatniks and the movement of a generation, as they tried to capture the attitude of the Beat Generation as a movement that was anti-materialism and anti-mainstream culture. Just as the beatniks sought freedom in music, literature and self-exploration, their fashion reflected less concern with appearance and more attention to the inner workings of people.


The Beat Generation took its name from the idea that young people were downtrodden, exhausted and disillusioned with the materialism of post World War II America. It was an attempt to reach intellectual and spiritual enlightenment by accepting loose, free-flowing development, whether it was music, literature or drug use. As a result, beatniks embraced freeform jazz, open verse poetry, modern art, cutting edge literature and liberal politics.





With the help of my friend Ricardo, who will hopefully become a regular contributor we will look much more in depth as to what a beatnik actually is in a much much historical and cultural context..

Inspiration: J.D. Szalla

I stumbled across this interview/photos of J.D Szalla, an artist trying to make it in New York on the website Style Like You which takes videos/photos of "Style Musings of the 21st Century".

There are so many blogs on the web with street style or people taking pictures of their daily outfits but what makes this website different is that interesting questions are asked to interesting people and that, in combination with great videos and photography, gives the reader access inside the minds and wardrobes of really unique individuals.

What I found so interesting about J.D. was that, on the one hand, real thought went behind in what he was wearing as he looks for functionability in fashion and he adds random things found on the streets of New York to his outfits giving them a unique touch but on the other hand he wears thigns that are known and obvious to him having grown up pretty rural. As J.D. said about himself; he is no "hipster". Check out the website (hyperlinked above) for the full interview, more pictures and the video.

Salvation Army Sweater, Leather pants were a gift

On where to find inspiration: "In fashion you can't look at nothing, you have to look at everything! It's about seeing everything at once because everything influences you."

Harley Davidson Boots with embellishments found on the streets of New York.

"Most of my fashion comes from looking at women's shit. I look at women's fashion and that's really the inspiration for men's fashion. Men are really boring as far as they dress."

Vintage suspenders, Salvation Army shirt, pants are from a reenactment website

"I'm not a modern hippie or anything like that. I'm definitely not a hipster."

Michael Kors suit, Coach scarf, 1970's pin

"I appreciate the work by any designer who has the ability to make something that's not only fashionable but functionable. I think Michael Kors has done a great job on that."

Fur Traper hat found on the streets of New York

"Fashion is an amazing medium because it's like a living painting."

A summer must...

The Clarks desert khan shoe..

once again the clarks originals are doing things right again, with the ever increasing number of colourways and materials of the desert boot, the wallabe and many others the desert Khan shoe is a hit for the up and coming summer...

The vintage showroom...

2010 is proving to be a good year for mens fashion as the style has begun to become a lot more focused on heritage, which is coming in the form of vintage clothing and various brands taking part and doing it well, but my favourite shop at the moment has to be the vintage showroom as they are doing it so well it hurts a little.

I caught up with the owners and partners in crime Doug and Roy who have been doing this for a few years now and have a shop on Earlham street and a stall at portobello market on a saturday where you can find some gems.

They invited me down to their studio, and this is what i saw.....

To see stuff like this and much more check out their shop on Earlham Street, i doubt you'll be disappointed!