People thrifting "Ivy" labels and flipping them to UK obsessives.  Also, redundancy.

High time 'The Syllabus' returned to centre-stage.  Variety, as we know, is the spice of life.  Embrace it while you can, before Cameron, Brooks, Starbucks and Harry Stedman rule the entire planet instead of Gentle John and his (rapidly disappearing) kind.

Beautiful Edith wrote:

High time 'The Syllabus' returned to centre-stage.  Variety, as we know, is the spice of life.  Embrace it while you can, before Cameron, Brooks, Starbucks and Harry Stedman rule the entire planet instead of Gentle John and his (rapidly disappearing) kind.

Cameron's days are numbered, even the Tories recognise he has no opinions, no position and has never stood-up for anything he believed in.

A gentle bump.

Fair enough, it was out of order, I've deleted it!

woofboxer wrote:

Fair enough, it was out of order, I've deleted it!

Good man yourself, Woof.

Offtopic but.....

An interesting mention of Nottingham's Hockley district in this thread... I'm from Nottingham and still live there.   The Hockley district has always been a source of interesting style and fashion choices from clothing to furniture.   I used to get rare USA modern art print t-shirts from art supply shops there.   

It has recently seen a boom in vintage clothing shops building on the long established Wild Clothing (good for original pea coats, sports jackets, knitted ties and so on).  With the clothing shops, pubs, bars, art cinema, restaurants all pushed into just a few streets it has that air of intoxication, innovation and menace.    I've picked up some nice vintage pieces there recently.  There must be ten decent vintage clothing shops there and a big vintage outlet just around the corner on Parliament Street.   It's difficult to see them all staying open but for now there are lots of interesting Ivy League related items to be found with only a small amount of rooting.  These shops are all done out as though selling high fashion so they don't have that musty smell thankfully.

Just down from Hockley is Bridlesmith Gate area and Market Square with legitimate clothing from Austin Reed, Viyella, Jaeger, Barbour, Ark, Sa-kis, Zara, Fred Perry, Flannels, Ted Baker, Jones Bootmakers (wonderful Derby shoes), Diesel, T. M. Lewin (with their beautiful short macs available in multiple colours), Hawes & Curtis, American Apparel, French Connection, Paul Smith (the original shops) and more I can't recall.   Lots of these are tucked away but all there.

Across town in Rob Smith's vinyl only record shop that really is like walking back into the 1950s (if a small explosive device had gone off inside the shop).   What John Simons is to Ivy League clothing, Rob Smith is to 1960s soul music.

cheers
Mark

Last edited by MarkCoyle (2012-06-22 10:43:45)

In London now I find Seven Dials within Covent Garden better for clothes than Soho.  Soho is still okay for going out and I do, but it's not got a sense of the illicit other than on a few streets now.  Seven Dials has good pop up shops such as Barracuta, classic tailoring (though I see Wolsey has gone), cheap remakes (Pop Boutique) and some seriously good vintage shops.   The Vintage Showroom is a must visit there along with John Simons further west and north (but still walking distance).   They specialise in Ivy League, classic tailoring, European clothes and each item is well selected.  Just down from Seven Dials is the Ralph Lauren Rugby shop where I bought an absolutely perfect Ivy League herringbone blazer there last year, everything about it is spot on.   I know Rugby is following the preppy thing currently but go into the shop and into the small room with the blazers and there's much there to enjoy.   Many other key brands cluster around that area too.   Easy to miss when in London.  For those of a 'Modernist' as simplified to Mod orientation, you will find more  quality to spend time there than on Carnaby Street I'm sure.

cheers
Mark

I know 'Wild' well.  Hit and miss stock, useless (albeit pretty) staff, the owner stuck too far up her own arse to be of any use to man or beast.  There's another place, towards Slab Square.  All right for bits and pieces.  They had a nice Bruce/Palmer wool/alpaca golf cardigan in there the other week.  There's also a stinky place off Mansfield Road, where I bought the Grenfell jacket I passed on to young Harpo.  For jazz, 'The Music Inn' is worth a visit, although Dave Rose can be a moaning bleeder and is too into his big band and Doris Day for my liking.  'Hollies' is good for egg and chips.  'Backlash' was a building site the last time I looked.

Belper.

It takes years to assemble an interior look like that - very nice.

Tricky Sam wrote:

Lest we forget: quality over quantity, and a true feel for life and its smaller pleasures.

Spot on. It's a 'measured' blog. It lacks the frantic pace of those who need to blog to eat.  It's a conversation.