Displaying items by tag: Jigsaw Menswear

Looking online, it appears they’re a sell out. Yes, a sell out! Raf Simons’ AW17 arm-warmers, those accessorises we never knew we needed, and making us think differently about our forearms, aren’t available online anymore.

Left - Raf Simons AW17

That £250 you had burning a hole in your pocket, can be saved, thank god, with a bit of customising and working some magic on leg warmers and socks from eBay.  

They do sell ‘arm-warmers’ on eBay, but they all seem a bit too short and tight, and actually designed to keep your arms warm. Duh! So, I started to look at large leg warmers, which you’ll be able to pull over your coat's arms.

It’s just trying to find a pair that is loose enough - the online pictures aren't great, but if it goes over an adult's thigh... - to fit over the arms of a coat that is key, and as seen in the Raf Simons show.

Left - Raf Simons - Knit Sleeves -  £244

I went for the black 'Referee' socks, which I'm going to cut the feet out of and then loosely sew around the cut.

They cost me just over £2, including postage, and are a good way to jazz up an old coat, especially with men's fashion weeks coming up. 

I think they would look best on a classic long wool coat, in a dark colour, like we saw on the catwalk. I have a perfect one from Jigsaw.

So, at just over a pound an arm, and 100 times cheaper than the originals, get covering those forearms. What have you got to lose?!

From Left - eBay - A selection of Girls/Ladies Referee Socks & Leg-Warmers from around £1.15

Right - Raf Simons AW17

News just in - Burberry president and chief creative officer, Christopher Bailey, who has been with the Burberry brand for 17 years, will stand down from its board in March 2018 and work with CEO Marco Gobbetti and team on a transition period until December 2018.

When Burberry’s renaissance began in the late 1990s, it was the perfect time to turn around a recognisable British name, dust it off and grow it into the new desire for luxury and branded products. We’d witnessed it at Gucci, under Tom Ford, and other languishing brands were thirsty for the same.

Burberry initially started with the Italian designer, Robert Menchetti. That didn’t last long and was soon replaced by an unknown designer, Christopher Bailey. 

Left - Christopher Bailey who turned Burberry into the billion dollar business it is today

Initially, and this was pre-Google, so you can forgive me, I thought it was the same Chris Bailey who had started Jigsaw Menswear and the soon-to-be defunct Uth. A great designer and businessman, I thought it was a perfect fit.

I quickly realised they were different people and I bought a shirt from that first 2001/02 collection. Admittedly, it was in the Harrods sale and it was very expensive, if I remember, and I still have it. It was in a stretch, striped fabric, one I hadn’t seen before, with metal Burberry branded buttons and epaulettes. There was something beautiful yet innovative which became the signature of the new Burberry.

I quickly became fan. Every collection had a strong theme and the pieces were well designed and had that all important desire factor. The brand got bigger, the shows became fancier and major events with Christopher Bailey overseeing every detail, from store fits to the music to the Testino campaigns.

Those Bill & Ben hats, the paisley collection and then there was the coats with the leather arms which are still yet to disappear off the British high-street.

Bailey is one of the greatest Creative Directors of our time. He’s up there with Tom Ford for a progressive and consistent luxury handwriting. Burberry’s growth and success is down to his balance of updating Britishness while respecting the past and knowing exactly what consumers want now.

While the average Burberry customer probably doesn’t know or care who Christopher Bailey is, for us fashion folk, we like to see the whites of the eyes of those designing and leading the brands we look at.

Seventeen years in fashion is a lifetime, especially today, and while “See Now, Buy Now” pushed him into a creative cul-de-sac, Bailey produced some great clothes and images.

I think he’ll probably take a break. Burberry has made him a very rich man. But, it is exciting what this talented man decides to do next. Perhaps he’ll join Angela Ahrendts at Apple, maybe a bigger fashion job such as Louis Vuitton, his own label or maybe something really radical like Amazon. Who knows?

See more Burberry related comment pieces:

Time to Ditch “See Now, Buy Now” here

Choose Your Rip-Off here

Somebody pass me a spanner! Or, should that be my blow torch?! Part of Jigsaw’s new ‘Raw State’ workwear-inspired collection, this jacket is looser than a traditional denim jacket, comes in Italian cotton and garment dyed to this amazing smokey colour that feels authentic enough to be worn by an Okie in the Grapes of Wrath: dustbowl chic, anybody?!

The shape is cropped and sits nicely on the waistband. I tried it on yesterday and it comes up big. Take a size smaller. 

Left & Below - Jigsaw - Raw State Welder Jacket - £249

TheChicGeek continued his journey north to the birthplace of Morrissey and Lowry - Salford Quays. Now, home to the BBC and ITV, these were the docks that supplied the world’s first industrial city.

Today, The Lowry theatre and gallery and the Imperial War Museum North are shiny centres of culture and the perfect backdrop for TheChicGeek’s latest OOTD.

TheChicGeek is rocking easy tourist chic, amongst the matchstick men, in a simple grey shirt and military green pleated trousers. Smart lace-up blue sandals, monogrammed belt and small backpack finishes this simple look. Bighead strikes again!

Credits - Shirt - Jigsaw Menswear - Trousers - River Island, Belt - Gucci, Shoes - Kurt Geiger, Bag - Mad Rabbit Kicking Tiger, Watch - Fossil Q Founder

With thanks to AC Hotels Salford Quays #ACHotels

See Birmingham

TheChicGeek is very excited to announce his London Collections: Men #LCM social media takeover of great British men’s brand, Jigsaw Menswear.  Follow everything he gets up to during London’s Men’s Fashion Week, wearing Jigsaw Menswear throughout. Check out the stylish new collection here 

Plus an extra special ChicGeek installation is taking place over the weekend in their flagship Duke Street Emporium in London’s Mayfair. Your eyes definitely aren’t deceiving you! Come down and check out what TheChicGeek is wearing from Jigsaw Menswear’s new SS16 collection plus get a #selfie with one of the many ChicGeeks.

Follow TheChicGeek during #LCM on Twitter & Instagram @thechicgeekcouk

An icon in the making, TheChicGeek is all for getting his hands dirty - just don't get any paint on his all black look. 

Nothing says 60s #WarholGEEK like a black roll-neck and slim black jeans. The Chelsea boots just add a bit of extra geography to TheChicGeek's factory. Slimming? Yes. Stylish? Absolutely!

#WarholGEEK

Credits - Denim Jacket - Samsoe & Samsoe, Polo Neck - Jigsaw Menswear, Jeans - Energie, Watch - Storm, Sunglasses - RayBan, Socks - Pantherella, Chelsea Boots - River Island, Hand Cream - Bulldog, Post Shave Balm - B.Men

Shot by Robin Forster on OlympusPEN

With thanks to Sonsoles Print Studio, Peckham

More images below