Billingham

   An appreciation of the finer things should happen by chance as well as by design. My recent interview with San Francisco's unimpeachable Mr. Peacock reminded me that one of my most appreciated items isn't a garment but rather my stalwart camera bag made by M. Billingham and Co.

   A gift from one of my favourite uncles, I refer to it as a stalwart because it's been with me to hell and back for around 8 years. It saw me through my student days, including the clumsiness of random proles with tall drinks at pubs, and has kept my possessions protected through my subsequent "professional" life. Its value doesn't just lie in its physical benefits - it's also given me a valuable perspective on designs of its ilk. Like many products of a bygone age, it could be said to have never been bettered

Mine! All mine!

   The website is worth a browse - the products are as valuable for amateurs and casual users as they are for professionals; the prices are hardly bank-breaking, and even though mine was a gift, I attest that they're worth every penny. The photovest below is strangely compelling for a man who uses a rather low quality point-and-shoot:

   I may have a yen for mixing things up but at the end of the day, quality accessories count

Product stills by Billingham

Outfit Digest - The Past Month

Consistency reigns

Broken iPod Blues

Image: Loot Ninja

   My iPod joined the list of the newly dead this month. I must admit, it had some serious stamina for an early Apple mp3 player that usually held a charge for up to half of the advertised 12 hours, given that it was bonded to me for 4 and a half years. It also possessed serious cachet as a design classic, considering it was the U2-branded version, though I had the good fortune not to inherit a drive full of the band's music, barring 'Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me'; one of the 5 or so tracks of theirs I like

   Suffice to say, this is an issue. Less of its pressing nature is linked to the days-worth of classic rock and soul that's eating up gigabytes on my laptop. The problem is that I've been re-exposed to contemporary pop and dance offerings via today's digital music-focused channels, which I'd managed to stave off via simple misanthropy, a staunch belief that music releases are becoming less interesting with the passing of the weeks, and an addictive habit that already prompted me to fill up a 20GB music player with over 4800 songs from different time periods, countries, genres, somehow managing to listen to every single one at least once in my iPod's lifetime

   I need a new 'Pod like I need a new camera like I need a new job. But the 'Pod has elicited the most interesting considerations for me (if I'm capable of interesting considerations, that is) - the camera requires a more diverse lifestyle to make its acquisition truly worth it, while the joblessness just makes me disappointed

   The loss of music on demand has truly awakened me to the fact that I spent most of this decade ignoring the bulk of its sonic selections, unless they had anything to do with Timbaland, Britney, Japan (the country, not the defunct pop group) or a film score. It was not total ignorance, for indeed, I spent a stint as a music journalist for a time (link below), as well as a stalwart member of I Love Music for 3 years, but I tired of being "on-trend," and it became clear to me around the time I stopped paying attention that I sure as hell was not missing much

   Nevertheless, it's late 2009 - to my shock - and everything is sounding rather 2006 at best. Or further back. And when the only hot new release that I find remotely enticing is the new Shakira single (utterly enhanced by watching the video, even though the song itself is so redolent of 1977, not that I was alive then), it's time to do what I've always done when music hits a dry patch - turn backwards and dig deep

   So, I'll be intermittently wasting time with a chart of sorts featuring what I was listening to this decade as we hurtle towards 2010. Singles, albums, the odd EP and my preferred listening material from past times when the world enveloping me would proclaim the Arcade Fire to be the future

   This column needs a little more diversity. So I may as well make the effort

Behold: My past life as a pop scribe

The Pocket Square Post

Image: Mainebows.com

   It really wasn't meant to be a week's gap between posts

   When it comes down to it, I'm not one much given to thinking so very hard about my clothing choices and the way my ensembles present themselves. Anyone who knows me would likely say that I'm not exactly one for consequences or results, and this is somewhat true of the way I wear - outfits just pop into being, like a bubble perhaps, or a manufactured pop group. They share a particular trait with mayflies, which is to be too brief in their existence to outstay their welcome

   But like mayflies, there does exist a certain consistency. Which in this case, according to a friend of mine who has dissected this habit in the text below, would be my pocket squaring and its ability to remain notable in a potpourri of colourful vestments that forces the eyes to focus, women and small children to stare, and the critical mind to whir into action and prepare a thesis that usually emerges as "Great!" or "Not good"

   So, big puffy folds - take it away, YF:

"If you use a fairly large pocket square in a soft, supple silk, you should be able to achieve one. If it's a vintage find, the age of the silk may help a bit too in terms of softness"

   And on the topic of folds that escape in all directions:

"For the second one, a lighter silk pocket square with rolled edges will do that quite easily"

   But how to get the maximum effect from your pocket adornments? How, indeed:

"It also depends a little bit on your jacket; there is a bit of leeway in how much "slack" there is in the pocket in the design. A little bit of slack is a lot better for the big puffy types. My suits' chest pockets are pretty tight; most larger squares are a nuisance. On the plus side, my TV folds are really ... straight

"However, these are just technical gaps. The actual art of folding ... well, it's a mystery"

   For anyone looking to unfurl that mystery as they would a little slip of printed silk to enliven a jacket, here's a YouTube video to waste 59 seconds with

   This post is also for Marco. Because you did enquire, fellow

NP: John Powell - Happy Feet Score

Mad Men Myself

   I can see this little device doing more than a few rounds across the internet, so I'd suppose that I'm getting the hang of being "on trend" for once. The opportunity to insert myself between Joan and Peggy (oh, matron!) was too good to pass up, as was the option to reference my own eyeframed look. Even the bow ties hid themselves behind my avatar's shirt collars - is there nothing that this creation can't do; no facet of fantasy or reality that it will not capture? For when you reach its limits, you will indeed have discovered its tragic flaw - it doesn't get any better than this

   Ladies, I hope you, in particular, will enjoy this - I hear the program's collection of cocktail dresses and go go boots is truly to die for

Take A Walk

   And every now and then, pull up a pew

Outfit Digest - Variable Weather Response

   The heatwave had more than a good run earlier this month, but eventually, British Summer Time must maintain its reputation. So, it's all about varieties in suit, sportcoat and trouser weights, and a readily available umbrella, which was amusingly referred to as a "pimping stick" by an otherwise sultry Colombian girl on the bus, who had an anti-social - if droll - tendency to sing along to Spanish-language and r'n'b songs on her mobile

   Go Greens:



   Purple Rain and Anchorman Burgundy:

   New purchases include borrowed fake eyeglasses, green poly-cotton H&M sportcoat, burgundy H&M double breasted cardigan (with nods to Winston) and purple Aquascutum Ltd. by Nick Hart odd jacket, which was another lucky bargain second hand purchase. Beautifully moddish and slim cut, it should make quite a few rounds this autumn

   This has absolutely no new purchases contained within; it had been a while since I'd worn a suit, and a visiting friend from Shanghai, who wears them socially as well as formally (and also enlightened me with the history of my Aquascutum jacket), provided me with an excuse to do just that:

Pop Culture Thumbs-Down 20/07/09

   It's heavily dismaying to learn that Adam 'MCA' Yauch, Beastie Boy founder, campaigner for a free Tibet, and America's premier Buddhist Rhyme King, has been diagnosed with cancer. The band has been one of my largest musical pleasures and inspirations, particularly when I was learning music programming way back when - indeed, I'd say that they "saved" this angst-ridden teenager once upon a time, and my thoughts are with him, his family and his fellow Beasties. I hope he'll beat this

   This is only a Thumbs-Down because I'm tainting this post with a link to The Sun, but photos of Matt Smith and Karen Gillan as the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond have emerged as they film episodes of next year's Doctor Who. I'm particularly interested to learn what the sartorialists among us consider as to the new Doctor's outfit, which appears to be a compromise between the outfits of the previous two lead actors but, it must be said, rather lacks the personalisations of his previous selves, rolled hems and boots aside (yes, it does remind me of a certain designer I mention too often, but done on the cheap. And yes, it's more than a little bit 70s). I presume that the academic look, Harris Tweed included, is meant to counter the Time Lord's most youthful physiognomy yet, but they should have just run with it as was done for Doctors Five and Ten (points for the (clip-on, unfortunately) bow tie - it was about time the character started wearing them again). And as far as a professorial, 30s-inspired Doctor goes, it's truly hard to beat the creative whimsicality of Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy's ensemble; an imaginative mix-and-match combination that continues to influence me to this day. Still, a couple of tweaks here and there would make the new outfit rather memorable

   Meanwhile, JLS is currently at no.1 in the UK's pop singles chart. It doesn't even merit a link, but it's the UK lionising yet another bland boyband, so there you have it

On the Other Side of the Mirror, I See Lukas Renlund

   Lukas Renlund is one of the most interesting, and surprising, photographic talents that I've come across in some time. With his instinct for settings, layouts and posture, that isn't revelatory - it's the work that needs to be experienced to be believed, and there's a good deal of it available on his website

   Lukas is a 2008 graduate of the London College of Fashion and is currently based in Copenhagen, Denmark, creating his stylish, and somewhat abstract, images for a variety of clients and competitions. But I wouldn't wish to simply regurgitate his website

   In the manner of early Cecil Beaton and Horst P Horst, Lukas' work shows a particular affinity for surrealism, altered perspectives, trompe l'oeil and dream landscapes made bright, crystal clear reality. The imagery has a certain maximal quality due to the amount of detail contained therein despite appearing deceptively stark and minimal on first viewing, whether these be elements of the cloths, backgrounds, models or a combination thereof. As a fashion photographer, his work serves the dual purpose of soliciting a fantasy element to dressing that can often be overlooked, and bringing his craft one step closer to art by absorbing and rechanneling the creative teachings of the latter

   Lukas was on show last week at The Crate in Notting Hill as he wound up his Mirror Universe exhibition before departing for projects anew. The year may be well into its second half now, but he's still one to watch for 2009, and beyond

   And as a bonus; a full-body shot of my Apparel Arts/Junya S/S10-inspired outfit that was not taken by Lukas: