Displaying items by tag: Hot List

If you’re a stylish man you need a vertically striped suit in your wardrobe, this season. Trust me. Taking inspiration from one of Tim Burton's most stylish characters, Beetlejuice, the black and white is a little harsh and a bit too fancy dress, so it's lucky Pretty Green has this handsome two-piece in navy. One part Beetlejuice, one part 1960s Mod.

I’ve been looking for a nice vertically striped suit since last Summer when it became clear this was going to be a major trend and this fits the bill perfectly. The vertical stripes make you look taller and slimmer and, in this darker navy colour-way, it’s more evening and dressy. Wear with a simple T-shirt and loafers. 

Left & Below - Pretty Green - Striped Single Breasted Blazer - £280, Boating Stripe Tailored Trousers - £135 

See more character inspiration - The Hamburglar Sunglasses

There’s something pointless about a Summer scarf and that’s exactly the point. It shows a sense of style in a really easy way. Choosing a cotton scarf makes it less precious and, obviously, more warm-weather appropriate. Just sling it around your neck and off you go.

This light blue scarf from Paul Smith caught my eye. Not only is it a really good price, it’s covered in calming embroidered koi carp, no doubt from Paul’s love of Japan, with beaded eyes and it is a nice length which will sit easily around your neck.

Wear with other pastels or make it a soft highlight with darker colours.

Left & Below - Paul Smith - Steel Blue Embroidered Cotton Scarf - £105 from Harvey Nichols 

These vintage postcard intarsia knits just don’t get old. JW Anderson did them ages ago in tank top form and Hermès has done a few similar styles for AW18 see here  

This is TheChicGeek on one of his Famous Five adventures. All I need is a steam train and a canvas rucksack. Somebody pass the ginger beer!

Left & Below - Not sure where they got the model! But I like the jumper - Pringle of Scotland - Postcard Landscape Jumper in Black/Vintage Cream - £550

There’s something wildly indulgent, no, scrap that, ridiculously indulgent about a white Mackintosh. This option is part of a limited-edition collaboration with Maison Margiela and the Scottish rainwear specialists, Mackintosh.

Trust the house of Margiela to offer something impractical yet extremely desirable. One part lab coat, one part asylum, this will mark like crazy, but you’ll wear those marks with pride and it’s all part of the 'process'.

They are limited to only 250, with each one featuring Margiela’s signature stitches at the back and individually numbered.

Left & Below - Mackintosh X Maison Margiela - £1865

The velour tracksuit has taken some serious shit in the past. The images of Guy Ritchie, during his “Madge” days, being press ganged into one still resonates strongly and not in the right way. Juicy Couture was built on this tracksuit and look what happened to that.

That’s enough of the negativity. It takes a certain confidence to pull off a velour tracksuit. It’s one part Ugg boots and fake tan with a Michael Kors bag, another part tongue-in-cheek casual. It’s gone full circle and, now, it’s kinda cool.

M&S has this handsome navy number in its David Gandy range. All you’ll be left to do is surgically detach yourself from the sofa this Christmas.

Left - Marks & Spencer - David Gandy For Autograph - Velour Hooded Top - £39.50, Velour Joggers - £29.50

Below - Essex boy, David Gandy, going back to his velour roots

While the traditional tailored suit is in the doldrums it gives us an opportunity to try something different. With corduroy being the fabric du jour and doubling denim looking a bit, well, dated, it’s time to toy with the idea of doubling your corduroy.

I saw these jackets and trousers by Spanish brand, Lois Jeans, at the beginning of the year at various trade shows and it felt like the time was right for the return of these hippie favourites. 

A brand from the 1970s, they are a combination of jumbo cord jean jackets with matching trousers in lots of those 70s sludgy colours like rust and olive green.

This should be your new winter uniform: casual enough for the weekend yet put together enough for something dressier. Add a nice grey flannel shirt for a sunday lunch or a ringer T-shirt and trainers for drinks with mates.

Got an appetite for corduroy? See TheChicGeek’s picks of the AW17 season here

Left & Below - Lois Jeans Jumbo Corduroy Jacket - £76, Trousers - £52 both from Idle Man

In a post-Brexit world we’re going to have to make more than leather shoes and Scottish cashmere sweaters. UK Plc needs to turn our world class creativity into a German style industry: manufacturing in volume and of the highest quality.

From small acorns mighty English oaks grow, so, when I heard The Shackleton Company was manufacturing their parkas in the UK, I wanted to find out more and see what we are paying for. The majority of the world's down parkas are made in Italy, France, Canada or China, so a UK-made is rather special.  I’ve dissected their new “Discovery Jacket” to show you all the different components and design details, so when the temperature drops we can keep the Union Flag flying high!

Entirely handmade in Cheshire. The majority of the materials are made in Britain with the odd exception, i.e. zips and zip pullers. The outer shell is Ventile, designed in the UK. The densely woven, 100% cotton uses the world's finest, long staple fibre. Ventile is not coated or laminated and the combination of the dense weave and swelling properties of the fibres, when wet, provides excellent weatherproofing. It's an entirely natural product - windproof, breathable, durable and quiet.

Filled with 100% of the finest, pure European goose down, it provides an unsurpassed warmth to weight ratio. It is a by-product of the food industry, in fact, a waste product, if not used for insulation. The highest quality of down, which The Shackleton Company uses, comes from the oldest, free-range birds. Each individual pocket of down is hand filled & stitched. No machinery is used. 

The adjustable hood design enables the wearer to create a wrap-around tunnel to protect against extreme cold. The coyote fur hood trim is removable. Tested in Antarctica to minus 20 Degrees centigrade, the coyote is shot as part of a cull program to control popuations in Alaska. The Shackleton Company do not use any farmed or trapped coyote. 

Large rubber zip pullers are designed with pimples on the reverse for ease of use with cold hands or whilst wearing gloves.

Four outer pockets - two chest (zipped) and two fleece-lined, hand-warmer pockets have press stud fastenings for quick access. Four large internal, zipped pockets - two close to body core for extra warmth for storing phone & batteries in extreme cold environments. Internal waist draw cord for a tighter fit - minimising cold air flow, providing extra insulation. Lower draw cord for a tighter fit and extra protection in stormy conditions.

Extendable storm wrist cuffs.

Internal patch -  “I hold that a man should strive to the uttermost for his life’s set prize”. Poet, Robert Browning, quote, engraved on Shackleton’s gravestone in South Georgia.

Left & Above - The Shackleton Company - Discovery Jacket - £1575

As American as apple pie and a lack of gun control, the cowboy shirt is one of the most romantic and masculine of menswear items. This beauty from Ralph Lauren's Double RL label popped off their US website and is constructed from a medium-weight Japanese wool blend fabric with a Concho button at the neck. Chain-stitched embroidery uses ombré threads in a vintage Western–inspired spur motif created exclusively for Double RL.

This is the kind of shirt you'll have forever and keep returning to time and time again. 

Left & Below - RRL - Stretch Wool Western Shirt - $495

A Halloween top you can wear all year around, Topman has teamed up with Netflix to produce a special collection to celebrate the launch of Stranger Things 2. The popular American show, set in 1983, based in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, is returning for a second even stranger series.

Even if you’ve never seen it, this ringer T-shirt features a cute design that encapsulates the best of being young in the 70s and 80s, all at a bargain price of 20 quid and definitely beats going as a kidnapped Kardashian.

Left & Below - Topman X Stranger Things Tee - £20

This green gets me every-single-time. The shape of this is pure Italian Mod knitwear. The floppy pointed collar and the ribbed diamond knit pattern will look great on its own, buttoned up, or over a T-shirt or shirt.

Expensive, yes, but you can wear this instead of a jacket until the weather gets too cold.

Left & Below - Prada - Point Collar Ribbed Knit Wool Cardigan - £560 from Matchesfashion.com