AFS - ‘Chiltern Street Orthodoxy' developing. Yes nicely put.

2RS expounds that JS was never just about Ivy League, a good point and you could never survive as a retailer in the UK by solely focusing on that style. There’s other stuff in the mix and there’s nothing wrong with mixing jeans in with smarter items. It’s all very well to observe that some men need a set of ‘rules’ to fall back on, thereby implying that they are insecure, lacking in imagination and need to fit in, the poor things, then hold up absudly large turn-ups on jeans as looking good - because they are part of the JS look. I’ve seen men walking around London with chinos rolled up, which is okay if you’re off to the beach or about ride a bicycle, otherwise it just looks like you haven’t got the nous or self awareness to have your clothes altered to fit you before you wear them. Big jean turn-ups are no different, with wide jeans it looks even worse, done because it’s part of the rules of a subset who consider themselves to be cool. It’s that old ‘insider’ bollocks again.

You can believe me.  If you want to.  Or not.  I wouldn't care less.

There was certainly no intended sneering on my part, elsewhere in my post I commented that I liked his look, just not the big turn-ups which look equally daft whether they are worn in Soho or High Street, Portsmouth. I wonder how far out of London you have to live before this narrow mindset of feeling threatened by men who dress differently sets in …. the Home Counties, within the M25, the ULEZ zone maybe?  Honestly, what a load of tosh.

I can well imagine that a 20 year old arriving in London from the provinces would be overwhelmed and find themselves taken in by it all. I moved to the London suburbs at the start of my fifties and spent 15 years working 200 yards from Charing Cross. Don’t get me wrong, I love the vibe of the city and discovering all its history and nuances. I now wouldn’t want to live anywhere else, but there are no rose tinted glasses on about it, at that age you’re not so easily impressed ( by big turn-ups).

But there’s no insiders!

Robbie - sounds like you have a bad case of Daily Mailitis there. I've lived in London for 36 years, Hackney for 30. There are no no-go areas. This is not a divided American city. London gets better and better, 8 million people of remarkably differing backgrounds all crammed in together just getting along. There is nowhere in this city I wouldn't live, within zone 3 of course. Of course there were lots of white people who didn't like the new waves of immigrants who moved into the city in the 70s and 80s - 'white flight'. They moved out to the 'burbs and the sticks where they belong.  Perhaps that's why I feel London just gets better and better - all those who don't want to be here have got out, leaving the rest of us to enjoy the pleasures of this remarkable city.

Assimilation and integration take a long time, some communities don’t actually want it to happen.

‘I have always identified with, and been fascinated by, metropolitan life. I am still thrilled and re-energized daily by London's people and their diversity and energy. I enjoy seeing guys wearing inappropriate clothes. I like the display, the show, the variety of urban life and I want, in my limited way, to be a part of that. Woof is suburban, and many others on here are too. Well that's my idea of hell. ‘

I am semi detached, suburban Mr.James. Mowed the lawn one day. Yesterday I treated the patio to get rid of moss. Today was hedge cutting, which involves ladders, as they are taller than a garage. Once that once done, I could sit in the sun with a Budvar and James Patterson novel - which I had to start reading because I have read all the interesting stuff in the local library. Victor Meldrew is my hero. The rest of the world is mad - not him.

I can see the attractions of Central London but there is no continuity - neighbours come and go. My first school Our Lady of Dolours was in what is now Zone 1, Little Venice. Playground on the roof. Our house had a basement, so when we we moved outside the North Circular a semi seemed small, but there was a great community now gone and it was a good place to grow up or raise a family. If we had stayed where we were the house would have been ripe to split into several expensive flats. I don’t know what life would have been like before that happened. Friends and relatives in Queens Park and Kensal Rise could have made a fortune on houses but they moved to suburban areas that got run down, while posh people moved to Kensal Rise and some got murdered for their troubles.

I’m a bit of an odd one, having been born outside of London but growing up there, we moved up when I was pretty young. I went to what was then a grant-maintained school (London Nautical on Stamford Street), college in Battersea & then Kentish Town (what is now Westminster Kingsway).
I’ve lived all over London, growing up in Bermondsey/Surrey Quays, before moving to Acton when my parents moved out of London, a stint in Deptford for a few months, Hornsey, Stratham/Vauxhall and most recently, living the TRS dream and living very centrally, in an old tram depot on the Grays Inn Road. All before I moved to Ireland in 2011.

My first job was on Berwick Street, helping out a market stall that belonged to the uncle of a school mate. My second job was on Carnaby Street as a 15-year old mod working in Sherry’s & The Face.

I love London, it forms part of me and for the first couple of years living in Ireland I ached to return to civilization and leave this potato-ridden land behind. Now I’m older and content to visit a couple of times a year and have a wail of a time and no longer have to suffer any of the anguish of actually living there.

That’s about as succinct as I could make my feelings on the subject, I could write essays about it to be honest.

London I used to love. Pretty much for all the reasons 2RS gives. Fine reasons all. I’d be up there all the time for gigs, clubs and shopping. It’s possible Tim and I have crossed paths before if he worked in those shops. He’ll know that anyone who so much as glanced in the window would be dragged in and have poor quality clothing thrown at or on them.

I still visit my brother who never left London after uni and ended up with a very nice pad in Finchley, but I fell out of love with London and wouldn’t really care if I never went back. I’m only a forty minute or so train ride from Waterloo but just can’t summon up the enthusiasm.

My day to day pretty much mirrors Kingston1an’s and on the whole I dig it.

2RS- I assumed the London you love was essentially zone 1. But you say there is nowhere you wouldn't live within zone 3. That's quite a large area and a sweeping statement to make. I can take you to a few areas where you might think twice about living in. Your assumption that most of the people posting here live in suburbia appears pretty accurate though. My flat, with a view of the Thames,  is a 47 minute train ride from London.

Kingy - that's the first and last time I will ever be compared to Simon Schama. Thank you!

To quote the only person on there who was in vague agreement with me: he looks better than 95% of men out there.

For me that's admirable, even if I don't particularly care for those jeans.