End of term exams have now become my life. Time seems to seep away either by procrastinating or working, or pretending to work whilst procrastinating. The load is light but the years been lighter and its all getting a little to much.

The solution? An incentive, so if the work goes well then i intend to buy myself one special item as a well done, if it doesn't go well then most likely the same expense will go on drowning my woes in numerous south coast bars.

But what is the one stand out menswear piece for s/s2010 that should be my goal?

answers on a postcard.

In response to a renewed love of bands like Sonic Youth, the pastels, beat happening etc. and a relative lack of money i have decided to opt for a fairly Lo-Fi American surf/skate/60's look this summer.

This in short means a couple of old pairs of jeans cut off into shorts or the standard skinny jeans for the colder summer day or evening. T-shirts, which i may need to pop down to the local vintage shop to bulk up on, and shirts which i have in abundant supply.

However there are two things i am need off to complete this look. Firstly a new jacket, thinking perhaps some sort of heavy-ish plaid variety, much like the one ive been stealing off my house amte for a good time now, which can be picked up in most vintage shops at the moment. The second, and more exciting issue for me, is the need for a good pair of classic vans skate shoes for those lazy summer days. This type of shoe has been reissued fairly consistently and as such there is a fairly good selection of different models out there. 3 different styles have grabed my attention mainly because they are in the sales and are on the to possibly buy list at the moment.

The two pairs are from oki-ni, the half cab in the maroon colour way...

or the sk8 mid blue...

The other pair probably top the list for me and are from office. They are the mid skool 77 and again i prefer the blue colour way...

Part of me is thinking it might be easier to go for a plain white pair but where is the fun in being plain with shoes. Maroon is a new colour to me and it feels slightly intimidating whereas i've been looking for a blue pair of shoes, all be it in a darker shade than these, for quite a while now.

Any suggestions?

My posting is sporadic at best at the moment. Work,work,work is the problem and it shows no sign of letting up. For now just a few comments and no pictures for time constraints.

I've fallen in love with the Levi cord chukka boots by opening ceremony, stunning boots but only available in NY and LA i think ,so wont be getting my hands on a pair. Oh well worse things have happened.

After a few mildly warm mornings in the garden this week i've started to worry about spring/summer proper. I need to go shopping but with a limited amount of money, lets say £300 or so to my name there will be some carefully planned purchases coming up soon but i'm not sure what. A t-shirt or two is needed and some chino's, but apart from that my mind is fairly blank on purchases. Shorts from last year and cuts off jeans may just about do for the beach and a cheapish pair of plimsolls for my feet. I hate budgets. i sometimes dream of a day i'll live without one but to be honest i think it makes the buying experience so much more enjoyable when you really have to take care with your choices, it makes me really consider the quality and longevity of style of the items i buy instead of jus throwing my money at everything that takes my fancy.

Any suggestions on summer clothing would be very very welcome.

I'll be back with more time soon.

x

LFW Mensday

I'm a little late with this but thought i'd quickly say something about LFW this year. Went along to two shows on mensday firstly Tim Soar and then Omar Kashoura.

Tim Soar had a very good collection, i wasnt 100% sure about the styling employed, some strange layering and hair colour but the tailoring in general was outstanding. All the shirts and trousers were impeccably well cut and simple and were emphasized beautifully by some really stand out pieces on the upper body. I loved this tan long sleeved top thing (can't really say what it is?).

I also loved this jacket with the small layer over the thin lapeled ,longer cut under jacket. I guess some of the love i feel with these two is the camel suedes and leathers used and that colour matched with simple blacks whites and blues was one of my favourite colour combinations last year.

Omar Kashoura really blowed me away. Not only was the catwalk set in a lovely bar just down the road from the main area which was drowned in free cocktails and champagne as well as the obligatory vitamin water, Omar also gave one of the most incredible collections i've viewed. I won't swamp you with photos as im sure everyone has already seen them but this was my favourite piece. I loved the brilliant suiting and the heavy weight collars on some of the shirts are amazing, too often we see light weight shirts that billow and wave which is all fine, but sometimes we all just need a heavier weight shirt that holds itself especially in the blowier winter months. I also love the pairing of this stunning tailoring with the more casual nylon outerwear. This short metallic nylon cagoule is incredible and i cant wait to give this look a go maybe over summer.

Despite these two that i saw on catwalks my favourite collections was the Lou Dalton instalation snapped up by fashion east. Why Dalton didn't get a space on the catwalks i have no idea but the collection was stunning. Really fun and casual winter wear which was a breath of fresh air after the structured rigidity of Soar and Kashoura two collections. Go to StyleSalvage to see some of the superb zip detailing on the bottoms of the trousers and the jackets.

Apart from those there were fantastic collections displayed by H by Harris, Mr Hare and Martine Rose which im sure you can find information on in other places so that is all for today.

Battle winter blues with a look at Spring

Opening Ceremony has just released some photo's of its spring 2010 collection and it looks, well just take a look.

Not all the looks have these trousers but i'm quite fond of them and the whole thing is so simple. Well fitted slim trousers, beautiful sandals and a light and stunning t-shirt. Does it get any better?

We yes it gets better, i dont know if it is only me but i love jackets with slim sleeves and this one pushes that to the extreme. Slim arms and beautiful length i've kind of fell in love with this already and i dont think i'm going to get it out of my head until i can wear it in a few long cold months time.

Candle Light

Becasue of a strange arrangement in my room i cant charge my phone and laptop and use the lights. Seeing as i need to read i am having to light my room with a large pile of vinilla scented tea-lights a bought a couple of weeks back ( with the added advantages of alittle extra warmth and getting rid of some of the stale smoke smell which lingers in here).

Those two beautiful Carolyn Massey shirts are hung from my picture rail at the moment and they look even better by candle light, on close inspection and seeing as im looking for any distraction from work nearly all my clothes look better in candle light than under horrible bulb light which i've had a distaste of for quite a while.

This got me thinking about Against Nature by Huysmans, in this rather slow moving novel the main (only) character Des Esseintes studies a multitude of swatches to discover what colours would work best under lamp light before he paints his room. So why dont designers take more consideration about how night-life light effects colour when a lot of the times we wear out best clothes at night and for example greys which look almost silver in day light can turn in to murky brownish tones under yellow light sources.

Yesterday was the final day of the Carolyn Massey sample sale and the first day i could get along. After getting lost in hackney for 45 minutes and freezing myself to the core i got to flick through the few pieces left and made a couple of purchases.

I bought this greyish blue shirt with collar bar for £89 which was far over my intended budget on its own but i've been debating the collar bar for quite some time and it really is a beautiful shirt. Haven't worked out how to wear it yet to be honest. It doesn't really fit into my normal skinny jeans desert boot and shirt/t-shirt look and i need to decide how to make it look casual enough that i don't feel like a bit of a posh twat in it.

Apart from that i also picked up a white shirt which buttons down the right hand side seeam and then over the shoulder. It only cost me £15 which is a bit of a bargain if you ask me and it really is very, very nice. I think i might even like it more than the above mentioned one, the fit may not be as perfect and the material as nice but none the less it just works for me. It is simple and uncomplicated but really quite unusual and I feel awfully comfortable wearing it just like one of my other shirts.

If any of you missed it you really did miss out on a lot , sorry, but its true.