Nice tune, never heard of him

There I was, surfing away when I stumbled upon this blog. A bit girly, with a vintage shop attached to it, but nice images and it featured this video. I have never heard of King Charles, or the song, Love Lust, and don't even know when it was or will be released.

But it's a catchy little number all the same.

Note the beard again. See what I mean? They're everywhere.

Some looks you're going to see more of in 2010

This is not a list of fashion predictions, in fact most of the things mentioned here are already well established on the style front. But the point is, they aren't going away.

You could even say that if it's on this list, it's time to look for something else.

Pinched turnups

The practice of turning up one's strides (usually jeans, but chinos also) by pinching in the material and the sides while turning up tightly. Gives a tapered effect. I had actually labelled this micro turnups in a previous post, before I was made aware of the intricacies.

Already quite a popular look among the hipper London element although I have yet to employ it myself, mainly due to the fact that it reminds me of the way I used to wear my jeans in 1987.

Plaid

Plaid, checked, tartan, madras, call it what you will - up to a couple of years ago, this pattern was striclty the preserve of hill walkers and church goers, and occasionally allotment holders. Then it began to be reintroduced to streetwear.

This year, we will see the total adoption of plaid among the mainstream. All the high street chains are producing plaid shirts so it's only a matter of time before absolutely everyone is wearing them again. Some would say absolutely everybody was already wearing them.

Deckshoes

Began to take a hold among the hipper Hoxtonites last year, and sure to be even bigger this year as the weather warms up. If you want to be truly trendy, pinch your turnups or just wear your trousers at half mast. Make sure you forget to wear your socks, too.

Fastened top buttons

The Moddish among us will say this has always been the smarter way to wear our shirts, but I for one have only recently reverted back to doing the top button of my shirts and polos up, after having moved away from the look towards the late eighties. Do you notice a pattern here yet?

Waxed Barbour jackets

These have been slowly making a return to the street since, oh, about 2007, after a decade-long holiday in the country. This year you'll be seeing every Tom, Dick and Harry in them.

The waxed jacket is your classic rainwear with a practical, hardwearing edge. Stinks to high heaven, but hey.

Pastels

Blame Crocket and Tubbs, blame ice cream vendors, blame who you like. Come summer we'll all be swanning about in baby blue and nursery pink. Pastel shades didn't really take a hold last year, despite the best efforts of the powers of fashion. This time round they won't give up until we all look like candy floss.

Beards

How, you might ask, would it be possible to see any more men in beards? Absolutely every bloke is now proudly parading a facial thatch. So many of us in fact that those at the cutting edge have resorted to growths of Grizzly Adams proportions to stand out.

So you might not actually see many more beards than you already do. But I will.
Because I'm cultivating another one as I write, and this time I'm going to persevere.

It is presently a bit tufty, but my friend Jamo has assured me that "it will come."

I feel like Kevin Costner with his Field of Dreams.

Parkour by pencil

parkour motion reel from saggyarmpit on Vimeo.

Parkour is this sport of jumping around buildings and street furniture like you are Spiderman. Some of the stuff these people do looks like they're being supported by wires or something.

It's a pursuit I wish I had the bottle to do myself.

And here we have it realised on paper. I don't know what's more impressive - the moves or the sketches that make them come to life.

Via Marcus Troy

Back on the bike

It can take me a good 20 minutes to get all my gear on for cycling, especially in this weather. By the time I'm finished I could comfortably do a lap of Norway and still feel toasty.

I haven't had the chance to get out riding for a while. First I got a cold,then it snowed, then it was Christmas, New Year, too much partying, not enough pedalling. So it felt good to be starting a new year as I meant to carry on.

Today's preparation took considerably longer than usual, in part due to my prancing around in front of the window, but mainly because I needed to put two new tyres on (Bontrager Hardcase). I reckon the whole process took 40 minutes.

I was riding for half an hour.

Perfect weather for it al the same, even if it was about -2 out there.

Rapha clobber:

Classic softshell
Team jersey
Neck gaiter
Winter hat
Bib shorts
Winter tights

Victoria's Secret: A few Valentine's Day ideas

I know what it's like - you know what you want to get her for Valentine's Day but you still need a few ideas, just to make sure you make the right decision.

This should fire the imagination a little.

And before you say it, I know the video is almost a year old. But, well, underwear is under wear isn't it?

Happy New Year from London

This is as close as we got to the fireworks at the London Eye, and we considered it an achievement to have got as far as we did.

It was like the whole of London had descended upon the Embankment. There was a point near Blackfriars Bridge when I'm sure my feet weren't touching the ground as we moved along.

So when we found this little clearing in between the masses and it was evident that there was going to be no chance of hooking up with my Uncle Steve who was the other side of a 20ft barrier, we stayed there.

The reason our spot was so clear turned out to be because there was a boat and a tree blocking the view.

But to be honest, if it's a choice between that and being buffeted by a horde of pogoing chavs, I'll put up with a bit of obscuring foliage and a funnel or two.

And at least we could get a good glug of the fizz in relative peace.

So that's where we saw in the turn of the decade. Us and 200,000 others.

Happy New Year.

New year nutters

There's something about being able to walk along the centre of a major London thoroughfare that brings out the lunatic in the best of us.

Like this woman. Most likely an upstanding member of society at any other time, but give her a closed road on New Year and it's like she's been given an audition on the X-Factor.

Prancing around the white line like a flowerpot man on acid. I noticed her friends had maintained a safe distance.

Thank crikey it's only an annual event.