Saxon Footnote

 A little footnote to the recent Saxon stories, vintage jacket picked up via eBay. Excellent condition dark blue baggy style - for a tenner.

Garbstore Langdale Parka

Picked up this Ian Paley designed bit of Garbstore from eBay for just over thirty beans. Used to have it in khaki but it always appeared a bit washed out, despite the random navy pocket. The purple version offers something a little different, if only the same detail but in a very fruity colourway...

Th@t North

A new shop selling old (pre-loved) gear th@t opens tomorrow. Just hope it has website, because it's in Stockport. Th@t's too far to go. Even for smashing old school labels like these...

Vintage Voyeur

They've got a sale on. So buy something.

Sir Peter Blake

Thrifty Beatnik

Thrifty? Yes most definitely. I love a eBay pennies pick up and sifting through mothballed clobber in charity shops. Beatnik? Not quite up on hippy ideals, although I do have a scruffy goatee on the go at the minute...

If you're the same and you enjoy your vintage one offs and your forgotten 90s labels, then Thrifty Beatnik could be for you. Based in wor very own Newcastle-upon-Tyne, they specialise in gentleman's garments unique as they are original and pieces of fine clobber that are "individual as you are". Nicely put.

Stumbled across them via fleabay and immediately checked out three inexpensive old school Chaps shirts for under a tenner. With combined postage this trio of shirtings arrived at my door for 12 of the Queen's.

They have thousands of lines and I'll certainly be sifting through them again for more thriftily priced gems maaan, and if you want to do the same visit www.thriftybeatnik.co.uk

Vintage Teapot

 
Only stumbled across Teapot Vintage after they started following me on Twitter. Thought the name was a bit strange so followed the link and came across a pretty exciting vintage clothing retailer based in Manchester. A quick root sees that it's predominantly for lasses but they got a fair few used one offs for blokes - labels like LL Bean, Barbour, Lacoste Izod and K-way making appearances at reasonable prices. Nowt much in my size at the moment but will be keeping tabs on this site from now on. They've got the mandatory blog to follow too...

Music v Designer Collaborations

The most iconic music artists are often the most influential when it comes to clobber. Music and fashion go hand in hand similar to that of football and fashion. You only have to attend a gig and the crowd will be largely dressed similarly to the band. Mods and Rockers wore their hearts on their sleeves when it came to music allegiance and dressed accordingly. The Clash and Sex Pistols brought punk styling, anti establishment and anti label. Late 1970s and London and Coventry meet the West Indies musically, Madness and Specials music goers clad in Ben Sherman, Crombie and DMs, complete with cropped hair. 1990s Britpop and it's Blur in Fila, Oasis in Stone Island and Gazelles etc. The fans always follow suit. Just look at gigs these days - go to Beady Eye/High Flying Birds (aka Oasis) and it's the parrot heads clad in Liam's latest Pretty Green offerings (now in TK Maxx...). Go to Madness and it's still Fred Perry and Brutus. Anything Madchester then it's bucket hats, Adidas and loose fitting tees.

And designers ain't no mugs. They'll cotton on to the fact they're part of the cult, or at least try to stick their finger in the pie and force their way in, and cash in. And over the last few years there's been quite a few official designer v band collaborations. Maybe it speaks volumes that most of them are old imperial brands mixed with bands that are not quite the 'now' in music - maybe both music and fashion are dead.

The first I ever saw of these was back in 1999. Doctor Martens brought out a special limited 'Madness' boot to coincide with the Nutty Boys 20 year anniversary. And since then Madness haven't done too badly with the whole collab thing. 2-Tone staple clobber Ben Sherman did an official cross over with Madness including checked shirts, Harrington's and tees. Some of the gear was quite frankly horrible but the jacket and Polos stood out - unsurprisingly only available in black or white...

I've also seen on fleabay a Madness shirt by Aertex. A North west label, famed for dressing WW2 Desert Rats and the 1970 England World Cup squad, meets the North London Invaders. Bit of a strange one and don't know the link but I do know it knocks the spots off the Shermanator efforts. The Madness M taking pride of place on the chest of a cool blue gingham check.

Fred Perry were in on the act before Ben Sherman linked up with Madness. It may be disputed what brand was more associated with ska - Perry or Sherman - but theirs no doubt which band were truly ska and that's the Specials. The Laurel Wreath was given a slight 2-tone makeover and again the clobber was all black/white, shirts and polos the staple diet available. Since then Perry has also linked up with Amy Winehouse to make her collection. It was short lived.

Up the road in Manchester there's been a few. The centre of the music universe for a spell during the 80s and 90s, designers got it too. Not strictly a collaboration but Admiral linked up with the Mondays in 1999 to provide the band with swag on their reunion tour, and for Shaun et al to front the sportswear's latest advertising campaign. The campaign was ill fated as the brand went bust and as no one really rated the gear Shaun was unable to flog it off his own back to score smack.

Oasis were arguably the biggest band since the Beatles and have had the odd collaboration. Iconic brand Barcuta teamed up with them to create a cool limited edition Harrington. They also liked a bit of Manchester brand Kangol and several times the Kangeroo was sported on tour gear for band and back stage crew alike - often have a peek on eBay for these meself. The khaki parkas I've seen are pretty damn cool. And like it or loathe it (and again not strictly a collab) but Liam Gallaghers Pretty Green label is here to stay. Here you've got the rare example of musician creating a designer label and then approaching another musician for a collaboration with the Paul Weller label. Music v Fashion v Music.

 Finally the North West has always had a thing for its trainers. Plenty of Adidas Originals to be seen from the 1970s onwards. Bands like the Mondays and the Farm often sported the latest kicks, but two of the biggest faces from the areas music got the envious pleasure of having their own personal link with Adolph Dasslers training shoes. Noel Gallagher, the biggest celebrity trainer head if ever there was one, with his rather suave looking Man City coloured kicks, and across the city's footballing/music divide Stone Rose Ian Brown with his personalised Superstars in Man Utd red/black.

So there's the pick of the music v designer collaborations. There may be more but these are all bands and brands I like. Would I buy any of them? Probably not. Some would argue there's no individuality with this gear and it's simply a cash in and/or sell out. The flip side of the coin it means people can staple their colours to the mast and identify with both band and brand. And what do I think? Don't care. It's only a blog.

Vintage Fjall Raven Thinsulate

Pulled the trigger on this beaut the other day, couldn't help it. I know Fjall gets a slagging from certain sections of those ITK - that wholely unfair 'new Stone Island' thing and being stocked in the likes of Scott's didn't help its cause. However I love a nice bit of the Arctic Fox and always keep tabs for vintage bits popping up on the bay, also checking the smaller sized listings as the really old mediums listed in the Eastern Block come up as extra large sizings. I once had a cracking blue waterproof in a medium that was 26 inches pit to pit.

Anyway back to this one. Nice pearly white which defies its age - with curious amber and purple trim - and plenty of nice detailing on the front including a 'Blackburn Rovers' badge thing going on. Thinsulate material that will keep those North Sea rains and winds off my back at the Vic. Going to be toasty warm in this quality piece of jacketing in vint condition.