CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN

The cult US socially conscious sock brand with a mission to help those in need, Bombas, recently launched in the UK.

Bombas was originally founded because socks are the #1 most requested item at homeless shelters in the US. Through the brands ‘One Item Purchased = One Item Donated’ model they have donated more than 50 million items to those in need, at risk and experiencing homelessness.

Bombas prides itself that for  every pair of their wonderful socks purchased, a pair will be donated to someone experiencing homelessness (with antimicrobial properties for foot health and reinforced seams for greater durability), through their 1 for 1 model and with the help of their U.K partner St Mungos, so you can do good, whilst looking and feeling good this season. 

With its hero line of socks, slippers and underwear and they are offering seasonal options in celebration of Christmas-time and gift-giving.

Details on the Christmas range can be found below, including incredibly fun and festive patterns that anyone on your list will fall in love with.

• Holiday Dress Calf Giftbox
  
• Socks made for the full spectrum of cool-weather celebrations: Dress them up for your fanciest festivities, or dress them down for your wintertime walks.
• Festive Merino Wool Calf Sock 4-Pack Gift Box  A gift that checks all the boxes. Made of incredibly soft Merino Wool, a magical wonder-material that’s mind-blowingly soft and will keep you warm all winter. Including incredibly fun and festive patterns that anyone on your list will fall in love with.

• Christmas Snowflake 4-Pack Calf Gift Box These Bombas socks may look icy, but they’re cozy, warm and incredibly soft. Giving them is like giving someone the gift of a snow day, but better, because there’s no shoveling involved.

Colorblock Merino Wool Calf Sock 4-Pack. A super comfortable (and super giftable) sock drawer upgrade ready to warm hearts and feet alike, featuring natural moisture-wicking properties

To keep your feet dry and cozy. Merino Wool is like regular wool, but even softer, and never ever itchy

And its not just for the guys, for the ladies in our lives. Festive Merino Wool Calf Sock 4-Pack Gift Box A gift that checks all the boxes. Made of incredibly soft Merino Wool, a magical wonder-material that’s mind-blowingly soft and will keep you warm all winter. Including incredibly fun and festive patterns that anyone on your list will fall in love with.

So please remember give the gift of giving this Christmas with Bombas’ and for every incredibly comfortable item purchased, Bombas donate an item to leading UK homelessness charity, St Mungos through their One Purchased = One Donated model – so you can do good, whilst looking and feeling good this season. 

Has the clocks going back thrown your body clock ? Yes it’s great that it’s lighter in the evenings at the moment, but jeez those dark mornings are a killer. I’m lucky if I don’t end up going into the office half dressed as a vampire, after Halloween, as I’m still half asleep. Today’s post brings you 6 of the very best masculine scented shower gels to ease you in the day, invigorate you and set you up smelling like the alpha you are.

Harry’s complete hair, shaving and skincare range is complimented by these Shower gels which cleanse deeply without drying skin. The rich lather leaves your skin smooth and conditioned, long after your shower and is offered in four signature scents to kick-start (or wash off) your day, Redwood, Shiso, Stone, and Fig.

L’Occitan Shower Gel with notes of lavender, wood and nutmeg. Is not only good for you but is doing it’s bit for the planet too, as it’s also available in an eco-refill saving 82% packaging.

NIVEA MEN Sensitive Shower Gel soothes your body, face and hair. The shower gel with Bamboo Extract has been developed with your sensitive skin in mind – no more dry skin feeling after taking a shower! The caring formula with its invigorating scent provides your skin with long-lasting freshness, leaving your skin and hair feeling revitalised and cared for. Simply apply the shower gel to your wet skin and massage it onto your body, face and hair before thoroughly rinsing it off. Take good care of your sensitive skin with NIVEA MEN Sensitive.

This mild shower gel has a soft texture that provides moisturisation and protection. The formula is enriched with vitamin E, which helps prevent the signs of ageing, and Pentavitin, a thorough moisturising agent. Skin will be left smooth, velvety and supple, with a pleasant relaxing effect from the sunny and elegant notes of the Arancia di Capri fragrance by Acqua di Parma.

Bulldog Skincare’s Environmentally Conscious Shower Gels, come in four distinct fragrance; Original, Lemon and Bergamot, peppermint and eucalyptus, finally, vetiver and black pepper. These non-drying shower gels will gently cleanse your skin so you are ready to face the day no matter what it throws at you.

Synonymous with bath time for over 50 years, this classic from Molton Brown is masculinity personified. Tobacco Absolute Bath & Shower Gel. Warm your senses with the intensity of tobacco absolute, spicy-citrus elemi and cedarwood in this distinguished body wash. Top notes of elemi, bergamot and grapefruit. A heart of cedarwood, nutmeg and rosewood. A base of tobacco, leather and Peruvian balsam.

To say Marks & Spencer has an enviable heritage is, frankly, stating the obvious, with nearly 140 years of trading under its belt. As the UK’s largest clothing retailer,   it’s no wonder the vast majority of us in this country own at least one item of their clothing in our wardrobes. M&S have recently launched their limited-edition M&S Originals collection. The specifically curated collection of twenty-five hero items, reimagines archive pieces fit for 2021 to highlight M&S’ unique British design and the renewed interest in vintage, with a focus on more sustainable materials and responsible processes.

The Originals collection focuses on reinvested styles inspired by pieces from the M&S archive in Permanently housed at Leeds University. These iconic archive pieces have been reworked in modern cuts with renewed considered details with a confident and easy approach to style. The collection revives styles that are just as relevant today, from wool pleat trousers to a patch-pocket British wool worker jacket and a modern cut blazer in Harris tweed. Loose fit recycled cotton denim, a raglan sleeve oxford shirt and undyed organic cotton t-shirts and rugby’s are modernised through cut, fit, and attention to detail. The waterproof leather Chelsea Boot is also reworked in a modern silhouette for an updated take on this classic wardrobe staple.

The knitwear range revives iconic classics. Many knitwear pieces from the first archive edition are made from responsibly sourced pure merino and Lambswool and include modern loose fit cardigans, chunky Aran cable tanks and crewnecks alongside a fisherman Gansey, and a heritage fairisle featuring a patch pocket in a modern palette of team red, airforce blue and cream.

Each piece from the collection is made with care, using more sustainably sourced materials including natural wools, organic cottons and recycled fabrics, linings, buttons and threads that have a low impact on the environment.

In the second of our sourcing the advice of some of Menswear’s wisest and best informed figures, this time we set them the question.

What is your favourite piece of clothing for Autumn/Fall 2021?

Damien Paul, Head of Menswear – MATCHESFASHION

“A relaxed leg trouser should be a staple in every man’s wardrobe and is a great example of minimalist ease – clean lines and a loose structure create a flattering and timeless silhouette whether in the office, the comfort of your own home or dressing up for evenings out. Look to brands such as Brunello Cucinelli, E. Tautz and Jil Sander.”

Pete Parry, Founder, Stranko

“Personally, my favourite is the Harley of Scotland knits that have just dropped. The colours are just beautiful and the fit and feel are luxurious.”

Adrian Gibson, Menswear Buyer, Robert Goddard

“We have seen a real trend for hybrid pieces this Autumn combining either sweats or knitwear with other fabrics such as nylon. This a great example from another new collection to Robert Goddard this Autumn, Swedish brand J Lindeberg. The Benny hybrid knit is made from mulesing free merino wool and features a quarter zip funnel neck. With added nylon arm panels and a zip finished chest pocket it has a soft handle but technical look that showcases the DNA of the J Lindeberg collection. The brand has New Head of Design for this season, Neil Lewty, who was previously at Hugo Boss and Tommy Hilfiger and he has successfully helped elevate the line whilst maintaining its previous commerciality.

We are going to be opening our brand new store in Harlow this month which is the first of a new updated shop format for Robert Goddard.”

Simon Longland, head of menswear at Harrods

“The Jil Sander double-breasted overcoat in grey is amazing and the large collar is just beautiful. Either that, or high and roll neck sweaters – you just can’t have enough for the cosy season.”

Daniel Greengrass,Buyer/Store Manager , Wellgosh

“I’m a sucker for a good over shirt. The Cav Empt Cord Design Big Shirt is one of the best we have in stock right now. I massively rate Cav.”

Harry Block, Owner, Copperfield

“My favourite piece for autumn winter 21 is the Engineered Garments FA Pant in black

Another item I’m most proud to be stocking this season and my favourite piece for AW21 are the Needles mohair cardigans. There’s been a big movement in menswear into the classic v-neck cardigan and Needles have mastered the fabric, patterns and shape that everyone wants right now.”

Spider-Man is set to be this year’s most popular Halloween costume, a new study has found.

Creative resource Design Bundles conducted new research comparing how much major film character costumes have been Googled in the last 12 months in the UK.

The study used data analytics to discover the amount of times character names followed by the term ‘costume’ were searched and found that Spider-Man came out on top.

The superhero played by Tom Holland in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was the most searched Halloween costume this year. Five other Marvel characters appear on the list and four names from DC. The only character not originating from either DC or Marvel is Harry Potter.

1. Spider-Man
2. Harley Quinn
3. Harry Potter
4. Wonder Woman
5. Deadpool
6. Batman
7. Hulk & Iron Man
8. Wolverine
9. Black Panther
10. The Joker

Spider-Man has the most popular character costume, appearing at the top position at an estimated 6,800 average searches per month. Marvel Studio’s announcements of Phase 4 content in December 2020 spurred on the hype for the latest Spider-Man instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home has accumulated over 60 million views on YouTube since the end of August.

Harley Quinn placed in second position with 5,400 searches following her recent appearances in The Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey: Harley Quinn.

Originating from the works of the British author J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter appears at number three on this list despite not being featured in a cinematic release since 2011. The wizard’s costume accumulated 4,100 searches.

In fourth place is Wonder Woman’s costume at 3,200 searches after the character’s appearances in recent films such as Wonder Woman 1984 and Zack Snyder’s cut of Justice League.

The comical mercenary Deadpool, brought to life in recent years by Ryan Reynold’s passionate portrayal of the character, accumulated 3,100 searches placing the costume at number five on the list.

With multiple portrayals in recent years, from Christian Bale to Ben Affleck and the upcoming performance of Robert Pattison, Batman comes sixth on this list with 3,000 searches.

Costumes of Hulk and Ironman came joint seventh position at 2,900 searches each. Both live action cinematic portrayals were last featured in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. Two more Marvel characters follow, with Wolverine in eighth position at 2,600 searches and the performance of the late Chadwick Boseman, last seen on screen in Avengers: Endgame before his death in 2020, puts the Black Panther costume in ninth position with 2,300 searches.

Finally, The Joker’s big-screen reinvention by Joaquin Phoenix in 2019 and Jared Leto’s comeback in Zack Snyder’s justice league in 2021 have placed the Joker in tenth place with 2,200 searches.

Commenting on the study, a spokesperson for Design Bundles said “With Halloween approaching and an ever-growing list of characters appearing in major films, people in the UK have more inspiration than ever for their costumes. Spider-Man has been a popular choice for many years, so it’s interesting to see how comic book characters consistently dominate in popularity over other franchises.”