Far Afield Portree Smock

 Nightshade purple. Slurple.

Summer Swag

With the summer fast approaching and with me dropping a fair bit of weight, I've had a massive clear out of big baggy XL numbers and replacing with slightly slimmer, almost trimmer larges.

First up a few Madras check shirts. A Barbour sample with double chest pockets and hidden button down collar, a staple Ralph Lauren short sleeve Yarmouth and a modern classic L/S by favourite British shirtsmiths tuktuk. All in a pleasing array of summeresque blues, reds and greens...

Summer wouldn't be summer without some cool as Connoisseur bits and pieces. The already iconic Mary Pigeon polo and Heron bucket hat. Also some pinbadges, for FREE, courtesy of Hess the Horse. Sharing some pinbadgelove indeed...

After a spell of weighing up whether to go Stan Smith or Reebok Classic for a cool white summer trainer, have opted for the Exofit Lo Clean. Boks won it being that theyre unlikely to be seen on instagram with the hashtag casuallyobsessed preluding it. #ThatsNotCasual...

Didn't really need another Jacket if I'm honest, but then do we ever need another one? An Oi Polloi issue Armor Lux parka for a criminally low £13 off eBay. In a lovely hue of Francais Bleu (French Blue) and also includes the Frenchies other favourite colour inside the hood and as the lining - white. Anyway 'Lux' like a decent parka anyway...

I'm away this week. In Scotland. And apparently it's going to start raining later today. And not stop until we come back next Saturday. So I've packed a mac...

And finally, with the Gascoigne film out in June (for one night only) a replica version of the 1990 England shirt, complete with his trademark number 19. Perfect for flinging a bit of garden furniture round when on tour in Scotland...

A sample of tuktuk

A recent shirting pick up from North West Messrs tuktuk. Actually a sample effort that never made it to general release. I don't know why though because it's mustard...

Pieces and Bits

January. That bleak month after the expense of Christmas where we claim we'll tighten the belts and reduce spending. And we do so. By shopping in sales. Here's a few bits...

Universal Works parka. Lying about this being a Jan purchase, was a birthday present to myself in November. Well, you only turn 31 once. Just haven't got round to posting, been trying to think of a Blur 'The Universal" pun. And I can no longer hold on For Tomorrow. Shit. 

CP Company sweat. Nice plain weave knit by Chester Perry. Again I'm sure this was bought before Christmas so this post makes no sense. For a bargain fee on 15 notes from CC forum.

Casual Connoisseur Weir. Another forum pick up for a score. Missed out on these Football Specials when they were released, but finally, after a severe delay of British Rail proportions, I've got one on board.

Whilst we're on on the subject of #LoveHats a blue Barbour bucket. So that's one for now, one for then..

Tuk tuk Marsh shirt. Oldham meets Madras with this fine design by shirtsmiths tuktuk. Love a shirt and these have fast become my favourite label, thanks to a fine mix of quality and style... Plus extras like stickers and sticks of rock.

Rains Jacket. Finally a cheap Mac from Danish designers Rains. Via a forum yet again for pennies. Lost some weight and took a risk on a M/L. Unfortunately I need L/XL. But I could lose a few more lbs. It really really really could happen. Get in, there's The Universal pun.

Shirts and Shoes

Shirts and shoes are two of my favourite things as you can probably tell from the volume of blogs regarding the subjects. Well here's another one on the handful of bits and pieces I've picked up over the winter...

First up shirting wise, back in September I picked up this very autumnal check from everyone's favourite French fashion house Faconnable. Every shade of orange, red and brown included with a splash of blue. Like taking a leafy walk under a crisp blue October sky and treading in dog poo...

Then up is another Fac shirt. FAC2 if you like. Opposite end of the seasonal scale this one. Nice short sleeved button down in a pleasing plethora of summeresque colourways. Also includes my favourite, and lesser seen, large Faconnable badge which seems to be a grouse playing hockey...

Towards the end of last summer picked up something I'd been trailing for ages. The Casual Connoisseur v tuktuk 'Carter' shirt. Although long since sold out via CC, tuktuk had a few down to half price in the sale. I promptly pulled the trigger on the only size left (luckily an XL) and turned out it was the last of the XLs. The last Carter known to man. Sotheby's you have my number. Anyway the quality is unreal and especially love the pocket detailing...

Now onto shoes. Something I desired from the first time I saw them. Clarks Seam Trek. A beautiful design by the masters of casual footwear. Not much else to say. Pictures say a thousand words...

Got a dirt cheap pair of Clarks via ebay at the end of the summer. Brand new in fact and for roughly a fiver if I remember rightly. Purely because the seller sold these as 'Dessert Drille'. So managed to snaffle the incorrectly titled trotters for next to nowt. Not the finest from the Originals range but champion for knocking about in...

Finally a strange choice to the Good Northern household. Well documented I'm not a fan of trainers these days, but purchased a pair of Beckenbauers. Did so for a couple of reasons. One I've always liked the styling on these adidas originals and two TK Maxx had the red sticker on them, down to £18 from £45. Probably won't ever really wear them much but I couldn't resist for that...

tuktuk

This Manchester based shirt making company have been on my radar for a long long while. But I've only just got round to purchasing my first ever one and consider myself to have wasted valuable time. I know tuktuk pride themselves on making quality shirts at reasonable prices, which they are, but being a thrifty type I prefer to wait for sales. And the last two years I've missed out as being a bigger gent these sizes tend to go first. Well not this time. Picked up this beautiful blue combi check - wonderfully crafted and a smashing fit -  in the required size 5 for just over £25. Love the slight brushed cotton effect and breast pocket with contrasting red button. Easily the best shirt in my wardrobe and for a sum that didn't break the bank.