CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN
The extraordinary mens blog for the modern man
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A Designer collaboration to boot – Maison Martin Margiela X Converse

4921C2E9-18C2-4861-A572-E51846F5B8A0Converse are building a up a formidable Armada of designer collaboration with John Varvatos, Comme des Garcons and Missoni all within their portfolio. Adding to their ranks is Maison Martin Margiela, the mysterious, press and camera shy Belgian designer, known for reinventing and reinterpreting classics for both mens and womenswear.

Founded in 1988, Maison Martin Margiela is a fashion house which has always followed its own path, often outside the conventions of fashion trends. Margiela’s collections are known for reinventing volumes, modifying shapes, and changing the original use and movement of garments, derailing the classic notions of fashion through recycling, transformation and reinterpretation.

The first Converse Maison Martin Margiela collaboration features the Chuck Taylor All Star and the Jack Purcell sneakers, each completely hand-painted in Maison Martin Margiela’s iconic white paint. Covering all canvas, eyelets, laces and soles, they naturally crack and shed their outer coat of paint to reveal the original colours beneath, working to the maxim of, getting better with age.

The styles are available in four colour ways based on heritage colors from the Converse archives: red, black, navy, and Margiela-exclusive vintage yellow, and are lined in premium off-white leather. Ohhh but remember when buying them, they are all white.

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Are my shoes broken in yet Jeeves ? – Converse “Get Dirty”

136888C 242833_CNVS_CUT_291012 4057No, the title to this morning’s post isn’t some collaboration or invitation by Christina Aguilera. It is in fact the latest idea dreamed up by footwear brand Converse. We all know the situation well, we love new Converse trainers, whether they be , high tops or low tops, but, we LOVE them better when there are beaten up and worn in. Able to tell a story or two from adventures on nights out and holidays away, they always look so much better for a couple of battle scars. There really is nothing like your scuffed up old comfy pair of Chuck Taylors so Converse have invented the Well worn collection. In the new seasonal colours, including Butterscotch, Tango Red and Turtledove (or Light brown, dark red and light grey to us), these new style Chucks are part of a softer canvas collection with stained and distressed sole and toe caps, slightly dirtied and thinner laces. Generally you gets that comfy old shoe feeling the first time you put them on, ahhhhhh.

Inspired by this and the Converse expression “Shoes Keep It Clean, Sneakers Get Dirty,” they have created new music series which celebrates the hedonistic mindset of throwing yourself in headfirst and resurfacing with the marks and scuffs that prove it and wear them with pride. The “GET DIRTY” campaign stretches across 11 different cities around the globe and will feature performances by a mix of renowned international artists and up-and-coming local talent. Kicking off in Paris, “GET DIRTY” will jump, kick and scream its way across Europe, with events in Amsterdam, Antwerp, Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, London, Milan and Vienna. (for more details click on the clip below)

 

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Shoes for a long-ish hot-ish Summer – AskAnt

Good day fellas, it’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve done an AskAnt and the requests and pleas had started to mount up so I though I better pull me sleeves up, and help the good men folk out there. This week’s enquiry came via our twitter account, Clothesmakethem, for those of you interested. Young Donkey has asked ;

OK then, so let’s get this straight Donkey, you don’t want trainers, you don’t want boat shoes, nor toms or sandals nee flip-flops, I really don’t think you’re a work boot and shorts kinda guy. So, this might leave some lesser bloggers stumped, but no sir not me. Right then, off we go, the weather’s kinda starting to warm up, well some days anyway and with that comes that whole pandora’s box of problems of, what to wear with shorts, are shorts appropriate to wear to work, milk bottle legs, I could go on and on.

Anyway, first off, always a classic, or maybe an original is Clarks Originals Desert boots. They come in countless colours, suede, leather, striped, checker board and even Union jack. The Desert Boot is pretty much seasonless and is versatile enough that you can wear it with a suit, jeans or even shorts. Plus, obviously you can pay a pretty penny for them but overall Desert Boots, particularly Clarks Originals are really good value for money and super comfy.

Option 2, I’d advise you to look at the good old, Plimsoll and automatically when you think of Plimsolls you think of Converse. Now like the Desert Boot, the Plimsoll is unbelievably versatile and nowadays can be dressed up with a suit or dressed down with a pair of shorts. The overriding great thing with Converse is you can be conservative and go with simple white, in the Jack Purcell’s, who were launched by the badminton player in 1935 and you’d ask why not who wouldn’t, they’re a design classic that should be in every man’s wardrobe as a staple. Now, the other choice is you can be as adventurous as you want as they offer you the chance to design your own at their website http://www.converse.co.uk/. But I have to say, my personal preference has to be with their designer collaborations. Now their Missoni Chuck Taylor’s (or high tops as their more widely known) might not be everyone’s cup of tea but take a look at their John Varvatos tie up, available at, amongst others, www.MrPorter.com

Your final option is, a little leftfield and certainly won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but what I’m going to present to you is the Mock or Mocks.  They come in an array of hues and are inspired by moccasins (if you hadn’t guessed), these lightweight Driving shoe hybrid feature a lemon scented, odour resistant Coolmax insole, which I thought would be ideal, particularly with your urban cycling. The super lightweight Mock is available from branches of Schuh.

So YoungDonkey, all that is left for me to do is to tell you, the choice is yours ??? Do let us know what your decision was and  join us again soon for another style clinic.

A.M.