6 of the Best – Bomber Jackets

imageThis Autumn there isn’t really a key coat or jacket that stands out as a leading figure or star buy, instead we have a whole host of options to choose from, whether that be the traditional crombie style overcoat, the Parka, the trench, military inspired but alot of them are great for the depths of Winter. What about when its get a bit chilly or there starts to be a nip in the air ? In the Fashion Industry this is called a transitional piece, an item of clothing that can see you through those inbetween periods when the weather isn’t too hot, chance would a fair thing, or too cold. Today I have a great example for you the BOMBER JACKET, rocked and made famous by the likes of Steve McQueen in the Great Escape, JFK busted his with far more style then then successor George W and how could we forget Ryan Gosling in the great ‘Drive’. Take a look at these great examples.

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You can’t go wrong with this example of a classic Jacket by Next

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A great example of a bomber jacket that’ll see you through the coolest of Autumn days from Tommy Hilfiger at House of Fraser

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A Classic British Jacket from a classic British Brand, Burberry Brit

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I know Im not meant to have favourites but this is a killer of a jacket from Jigsaw Menswear

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The original and still the best, the MA-1 from Alpha Industries,  plus comes in a whole host of colours

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To to finish off a brilliant interpretation of the Bomber Jacker from Kenzo, you can’t go wrongly

The Buyer’s Guide to Spring 2014 – Adrian Gibson – Harvey Nichols

imageOK, OK I know it feels like Spring might be a bit premature but I promise, if we really think positive thoughts, I’m sure it’ll come. Anyway, the subject of today’s Buyer’s Guide has over 20 years’ experience buying for luxury Department Stores, having worked at both Selfridges and Harrods. During his eight years at the ‘Town House Boutique’, Harvey Nichols, he has bought a repertoire of Menswear for the retailer. Harvey Nichols as a retailer, currently has stores in London, Leeds, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Manchester and Bristol in the UK and internationally Dublin, Riyadh, Hong Kong, Dubai, Turkey and Kuwait. The London flagship store is located in the heart of Knightsbridge, London’s most fashionable and exclusive shopping district. But, more importantly back to the  person in question, Mr Adrian Gibson, today he specialises in the Casual and Diffusion Collections, while continuing to introduce new and innovate brands into the Denim Gallery. So what is his top buys for Spring 14 ?

imageThere have been a lot of Animal themed prints in the last fewseason but I think this one is cleverly executed and is a great accessible price point by A Question Of

imageThis beautiful laser cut trench is from New brand to HN for SS14 Herno who produce understated but technically brilliant outerwear from Italy

imageHN (Harvey Nichols) welcomes back Versus Versace for SS14 starting with singer MIA’s collaboration which is printastic with the main collection arriving shortly.

imageThe move on from the Tiger this season at Kenzo is the Waveas shown on this knit … although we still have plenty of Tigers in new colour ways if you haven’t got one yet

imageThis Canada Goose jacket is in collaboration MulitmediaArtist Eepmon who designed the elaborate lining to this jacket.  Only 150 of the jackets made worldwide and the jacket is Exclusive to HN in the UK

imageI am a total sneaker collector and these McQueen Skull & Lace plimsolls are definitely on my list for Summer  ‘14

imageThe homage to super brand Givenchy continues … Love this update of the Star print with Summer Rose print

imageWe adore the quality and perfection of the Psycho Bunny Polo and this time finished off in attention grabbing Large Gold Bunny … Exclusive to HN in the UK is going to get you noticed

imageSweatshirts are my garment of choice at the moment and I think Neil Barrett’s are one of the most desirable … Colour blocked and sporty

imageBrand new in to HN but also Bang on trend … Amazing design and practical efficiency by Kris Van Assche

Make a splash – Six of the best swim shorts

Its been a LONG, cold winter, where we’ve been wrapped up like the remains of a turkey on Boxing Day. But as we keep on saying, Summer is finally here, almost as though if we keep on saying it, the good weather will stay a while longer. The men of not only the UK but across many countries, their poor legs haven’t seen day light now for almost a year, never mind go swimming !

Well, as you would have it, Clothes-Make-the-Man like to make life a little easier for our readers and so we’ve surfed the information superhighway from start to finish looking for some of the best swim shorts around, shhhh some might be on sale, so even better value, wink, wink ! Listen enough from me enjoy and get shopping, lets get out of recession, I’m sick of it !

 

These shorts from Kenzo @ Farfetch.com ensure it won't be a tight fit with this jungle print

These shorts from Kenzo @ Farfetch.com ensure it won’t be a tight fit with this jungle print

 

Say Aloha to these hibiscus print swim shorts. But maybe think twice about wearing them with one of the Hawaiian shorts we posting last week  OVERKILL

Say Aloha to these hibiscus print swim shorts by Hackett @ House of Fraser. But maybe think twice about wearing them with one of the Hawaiian shorts we posting last week OVERKILL

 

These Swim shorts will flatter pretty much any guy so before you fly off to you holiday destination, maybe invest in these from Paul Smith

These Swim shorts will flatter pretty much any guy so before you fly off to you holiday destination, maybe invest in these from Paul Smith @ mrporter.com

 

A nice take the the camo trend in these elephant print camouflage swim shorts from vilebrequin

A nice take the the camo trend in these elephant print camouflage swim shorts from Vilebrequin

 

Keeping it Classically British, not not union Jack shorts but these Spitfire, Made in Britain, shorts by Harry Elliot

Keeping it Classically British, not not union Jack shorts but these Spitfire, Made in Britain, shorts by Harry Elliot

 

These Flamingo print swim shorts by Howick @ House of Fraser are cool as long British Summer

These Flamingo print swim shorts by Howick @ House of Fraser are cool as long British Summer

Paris Menswear Show review SS14

Carven

Carven

And so onto Paris and into the final leg of the Mens Fashion week circuit for this season, well next season, never mind. Ahhh Paris in the Summer, the Champs Elysee, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, THE PACKED UNDERGROUND SYSTEM ! The first day of the Paris shows and its off to Carven, who were inspired by the great artists, not one in particular just a mix, or collage of them. We saw bright sherbet colours and artist smock style shirts and all rather wearable.

Valentino

Valentino

Onto an Italian Powerhouse, who has taken a shine to showing in Paris is Valentino, and rather then me tell you I’ll leave you in the rather stylish hands of Monsieur James Sleaford, a Englishman in Paris who just happens to be the Fashion Editor of GQ France, “One of my favourite shows was that of Valentino. It was a collection both rich in fabrics, colours, styles but equally very wearable! Whilst, many designers went for the floral print at a strong statment piece Valentino subtly used it in a comoflauged trouser print to add both colour and texture to an outfit but keeping it commercial at the same time! Whilst summer leathers were everywhere for the Spring Summer  collections – the Valentino vests were of the highest quality – styled in a clean sportswear fashion with both T-shirts and tailored trousers! This was sports chic at its best with a twist of Military flair!”

Please don’t think lazy of me but I sort the opinion of another fashion leader this time in the shape of Adrian Clark, Style Director of Shortlist. Dries Van Noten knocked it out of the park for this season. The Belgian designer’s use of print is unsurpassable and the combinations of his menacingly dark florals on liquid silk and satin fabrics worn with romantic military tailoring will set a precedent for Spring 2014.”

Kenzo

Kenzo

For both Kris Van Assche and Kenzo it was about forgetting Sports Casual for Spring 2014 and think Sports Formal. Van Assche managed to blend elements from suiting with casual outdoors attire plus added splashes of BRIGHTS for maximum effect. Whereas Carol Lim and Humberto Leon, for Kenzo, returned to their California roots, replacing the tiger stripes of their phenomenally successful sweatshirts with the waves and surf of Cal-I-for-ni-a and offered a BLUE-tiful collection.

Over at Hermés, silver was the colour du jour as Véronique Nichanian celebrated 25 years of producing exquisite, not often I get to use that word,  collections for the French Luxury house. As always she didn’t disappoint offering everything the Hermés man could possibly want from a Summer wardrobe.

Ami

Ami

To finish the day it was off to the Ami show, increasingly becoming a fave of Clothes-Make-the-Man, where Alexandre Mattiussi, showed us his sense of humour, sometimes in all too short supply in Fashion Land, he tried to convince us that budget airlines and the stresses of contemporary airline travel have and could not take the glamour and gloss off international jet set travel, obviously he needs to experience the delights of Ryanair and Easyjet a little more.

Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton

And to, what has to be, arguably, the most sort after ticket on the Paris schedule, Louis Vuitton. So, of course I wanted to gauge the opinion of the most sort after lady of Menswear Press, the alluring Catherine Hayward, Fashion Director of British Esquire. “When you’re the style director of Louis Vuitton, talented teams and big budgets mean it’s easier to be noticed, receive accolades and collect awards for your efforts. But for his Spring 2014 menswear collection, Brit designer Kim Jones proved his worth with probably his most successful collection yet for the house of Vuitton. Managing the notoriously uneasy balance between commerciality and artistically viable pieces of ‘fashion’, Jones’ road trip across the USA produced a mix of uber luxurious lambskin holdalls and back packs, bright orange crocodile skin bomber jackets and python sweatshirts and sneakers with a more down-at heel vibe across the casualwear; cotton drill varsity jackets and parkas decorated with carpet woven travelling badges plus oversize shirts and t’s which channelled classic bandana prints. With David Beckham sitting front row, Jones sent a red–carpet friendly finale of slick grey, black and monogrammed evening wear along the runway with quirky clothes peg detailing on lapels for added chutzpah.

Paul Smith

Paul Smith

Finally, from a Brit at a French house to a Brit at what has to be THE most British of houses, Sir Paul Smith, although he showcased his new Best of British collection during London Collections:Men, Paul still, for the moment, shows his signature line in Paris. When I caught up with Paul recently, sorry I don’t mean that to sound as wanky as it does, he explained how he thought his recent collections had become very dark and how when he had visited his archive he saw all this colour that he had become synonymous for. Well he wasn’t bluming well joking, there was Red and orange and pink and, I think you get the picture, essentially the catwalk and venue was awash with colour.