Cuddles.

Brrr! Its cold in here, there must be some..... Ahhh - BIG, no HUGE fail! To save myself from further humiliation, I'll allow you lovelies to fill in the blank. Don't get me wrong, I'm not ashamed of my love... I'll rephrase that - knowledge of stereotypical, white, middle class, teen dramas whose issues conform to the banality of suburbia, It's just that, erm... Well I don't actually have an excuse - so please, do Judge! Anywho - enough about me and my apparent lack of cinematic taste. Tis the season of thermal vests + Long Johns (Is it just me or does the later give the wearer the illusion of rickets?). Without my M&S thermal wonders, I fear the winter months would leave me cowering under duvets, cradling hot water bottles and invading personal spaces for body warmth.

Thermals or no thermals, WE SPY shall be braving the cold this winter with thanks to Jose Abellar + David Ayala, aka Gilbert & Lewis whom have hand-knitted a variety of oversized, cuddly pullovers, that I NEED not want.

Hand-knitted Chunky Wool Pullover

 Hand-knitted Chunky Wool Cardigan

Shop Online Gilbert & Lewis

Pics courtesy of Gilbert & Lewis

Jennifer, Annabel, Phillipa, Sue.

Ahh... The simple days of school - Where currency came in the form of the bits + bats in your pencil case and "Cool" was measured not by the obscure bands you pretended to know and love but by the length of your school tie. Tuna baguettes with lashings of unbranded, E-number rich - salad cream and the sticky goodness of cornflake tart, whose sugar content was pure bliss for a ferrel child. These were just a few of my favourite things. School lunches aside, the acrid smell of wood polish is a scent that re-ignites memories of my days as a pupil, a pupil desperate to please and be a member of the "Teachers pet" society - yet distraction was and still is my downfall. From the dark chocolaty parquet floors to the uneven, wooden desks etched with past pupils messages of unrequited love (hmmm, I wonder if "JS + AB 4 EVA", are living happily ever after - Pfff!), were all laced in that distinctive odour. 

My recent trip to the big smoke had me accidentally stumble across Elemental, an antiques/vintage furniture specialist whom specialise in all things bright and industrial. The sweet smell of polish stopped me in my tracks to reveal school furniture of past. Once dismissed, now glorious!

School Table

Origin - UK

Year - 1950

Remploy Chair

Origin - UK

Year - 1970

Stacking Tubular Metal School Desk

Origin - UK

Year - 1970

My Favourite

Gym Horse

Origin - Belgium

Year - 1930

Pics courtesy of Elemental

Wrong.

Learning curves... Correction - mistakes! Many I have made in my younger years, all of which had been self inflicted tears to a "Best in show" ribbon, I pinned strategically to a make-believe best dressed ego, that was cultivated and pruned to convince myself that a kaleidoscope of colours and prints, draped over my awkward frame was a-ok... how wrong I was! A uniform of  Zebra print - high tops (shiverrrrr), stabilo yellow CK T's and the nothingness of 90's (the era that fashion forgot) diluted - stone wash, straight cut denim. Are just a few of my "Dont's" that would take pride of place on the Vice wall of lame.

For fear of a relapse, I seek distraction from the garish and the laboured (Ehem - Louboutin's of the male kind). Dana Lee provides just that. She's a man's man when it comes to design, where simple trumps the overdone and attention is placed on that silly old thing, known as wearability. Lets take a looky look at Basics that are not so basic in muted shades of deliciousness.

Laundered Blazer - Palm Rice Print

Classic Shirt - Organic Muslin

Weekend Fleece - Jade Pigment Dye

Loose Chino - Guava Pigment Dye

3/4 Twill-Sleeved Henley - Plum Over Dye

Loose Chino - Slate Pigment Dye

Jean Jacket - Generic blue Stone Wash

Classic Shirt - Indigo Floral Rice Print

Classic Jeans - Generic Blue Stone Wash

Linen Shaker Knit - Smoke Blue

Linen Shaker Knit - Jute Colour

Classic Jeans - Generic Blue Stone Wash

Pics courtesy of Dana Lee

Denim blah.

Denim ey!... should in theory be the carbohydrate (a moment on the lips...) of my well balanced diet of apparel. Yet I have unintentionally cut this staple from my nutritional get up. With my wardrobe starved of essential starchy fibers, I am a man (a rather gaunt one at that) on a mission to pack on the pounds of denim goodness. Yet this synthetic material has been hard to swallow of late. I, like a depraved waif, have been frantically rummaging through perfectly aligned pillars of denim, desperately seeking nourishment of some form and yet my stomach still rumbles. Picky I am not, tis true I am yet to decide what Im hungry for... skinny, stretch skinny, vintage, loose, high rise, blah blah blah... TOO much choice - could that be the issue???

Acne, Monkey, Cheap Monday - all I have sampled and I have yet to part with my monies. However, my hungry eyes (loves me a bit of the dirty) has come across a relatively new brand, known simply as Them Atelier. Hmmm... I want to believe that their goodies are packed full of nutritional goodness, though I'm slightly put off by the overtly pretentious inclusion of the word "Atelier"(silly, I know!). I find it difficult to take any brand seriously whom go by the name of "House of" (House of Dereon - need I say anymore) or "Couture"... unless a member of the Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Paris (whose pretentious now - POW!). Lets take a looky look...

Pics courtesy of Them Atelier

Return of the Spy.

Ello Ello Ello, how are we all? BIG BIG (scrap that) Mahoosive apologies for my recent state of hibernation, my excuse? well.... I could reel off a long list of endless, exciting adventures that repelled me from publishing my questionable tastes and daydreams for you lovely folk..... though I'm struggling to think of one!! WOW - my fear of living a distinctly average life, might just be reality. Anywho, Apart from  frantically trying to remember an hour long password for my bloggy blog (epic fail), I still work the preferred hours of Miss Dolly Parton as a buyer whilst working nights trying to sell myself to the highest bidder (How the eff do you "Explain in detail, the reason why you would be THE perfect candidate for the role in question", without verging into self indulgence and egotistical vulgarity? tis difficult, right?) and interning at www.intro-clothing.com has kept my little ole self away from trouble. 

Enough of the catch up, Its time I bore you with the good stuff. I, a devout disciple of the Oliver people's testament, found myself becoming disillusioned with their samey samey rhetoric of late, desperately seeking a new revelation from the powers that be. A revelation that oozes all the goodness and delight of the past with a generous spin of the new. All things good comes to those who wait... Wait we did and the OP church doesn't disappoint with its latest offering of varying mediums and classic shapes. Like a faithful follower of the short sighted cause, I bow with pride and joy.

Kalder - Sandalwood

Golding - Antique Gold/Cocobolo

Abrams - Buff

Pics courtesy of Oliver Peoples

Little Spy.

Trench: Burberry

Shirt: Reproduction

Cardigan: Vintage

Chinos: Topman

Socks: Happy Socks

Penny Loafers: Bass

Specs: Oliver Peoples

Ring: Fancy Sexy Me

Although Sweet with a liquorice like sheen and delicious to the touch, these tasseled loafers boar a bitter-sweet aftertaste... Sweet comes in the form of its refined leathery goodness, evolving a debt ridden pauper (a degree in economics brought me nothing but a spiraling overdraft) into somewhat of a prince. As for bitter, well - the realisation that my clumsy man size feet had shrunk two sizes to an above average feminine size 7, left my content self burdened with a sudden wave of grief, frantically trying to persuade a somewhat unresponsive sales assistant that "I am a size 9, I swear - It must be the shoe". Does this also mean that gravity has had its wicked way with my 5ft 11 and a half (the half being very crucial) inch frame? Surely not! Can't be, or could it? Are my elf like feet destined to trot in a pair of Tom Cruise-esque lifts? Or will compensation come in the form of a doctor Seuss hat... Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Goodies.

Good behaviour (Pfff!) deserves more then a pat on the back, right?? Whoever said the best things in life are free (Janet and Mr Vandross you lie) haven't experienced those very endorphins that make you feel all tingly and fuzzy inside when parting with a bit of hard earned monies. So without much persuasion, I decided to treat my good ol' self to some well deserved goodies over the weekend...  Apart from the fact that I hadn't acquired what I originally set out to (Damn me and my indecisive ways) I can however, count on my favourite vintage gaff -Bionic 7, to give me just reasons to spend - and spend I did.

The Happiest of Happy Socks

Source Magazine

60's Vintage Cardigan - Ello Grandad

mmm Buttons

Repro Shirt

Bass Burgundy Penny Loafers

My little pony.

Couch commando was no playful game for the light hearted in the WE SPY household, more of a brute demonstration of my elder siblings clout over their impressionable, waif like brother. Their autocratic barks clearly defined my position within the pecking order, a position in which I remained still and unvoiced as they gorged on the pastel drivel of "My little pony" and her phony chums. motionless I remained, to ensure that the bribes and favours I bitterly adhered to, would buy me 22 minutes (excluding those pesky "Baby all gone" commercials and her mysterious, vanishing cherries - how did they do it?) of true bliss that came in the form of my mutant buds, the X-men. With my Mouth ajar and eyes glazed, I found myself in a trance of sheer content, that is until the ponies began to skip and merrily trip in their fluorescent world of do-gooding. Yet, my fickle and o so indecisive self has been converted to not only those damned ponies but to the confused half shoe - half boot, ankle hogwash... That is the desert boot. The blame?? Who else but the ever giving - Opening ceremony, whom shower us time after time with bits and bats of goodness. Without further ado, I gave you pony booties.

Opening Ceremony - M1 - Desert Boot - Pony - Taupe

$355

Opening Ceremony - M1 - Desert Boot - Pony - Black

$355

YIKES! 

Opening Ceremony - M13 - Rubber Soled Desert Boot - Pony - White

$455

Shop Online Opening Ceremony

Fix me up.

As a questionable looking child , branded with a monobrow and rainbow steel, jarred to my rutted teeth (11 years of metallic torture) I was an acquired taste, palatable only to my mother who saw perfection in an awkward looking son. I feared attention and sought to recoil my self-conscious frame to a world of one, where me, myself and I could play in my lands of make believe, thus popular (gross... what a nonsense word) I was not. - WOW, who knew I was such a drip. Violins not necessary, as I blossomed.... Swan Like - Nope! More average... like Joe Bloggs. Anywho, Before I bore you with my self-deprecation - the word "Popular" is a word that I meet with much distain matched with a sour looking face. Bitter maybe... Yet imagine the gurned disfigured look when I came across a brand called "SOPOPULAR"... Lame - the very word I uttered. I judged! I hold my head in shame, as I was met with pictorial delights showcasing their latest collection of slim silhouettes coupled with exquisite cuts and lashings of superior fabrics all treated with love and care from the three responsible Berliners. This will teach me not to judge a book by its cover, eh.

Pics Courtesy of SOPOPULAR

Tsar Philip.

The paternal Tsar of fast fashion Sir Philip and his privy council have stood and delivered yet another LTD collection to keep us the faithful disciples, the sartorial hungry hoi polloi and the demanders of aesthetic brilliance from revolt + protest against the hand that feeds us affordable goodness. The new equestrian livery comes in the form of tweeds, quilted textiles and just a measly helping of elbow patch's (Sir Philip you tease). I daren't have any favourites, for the fear I may upset the big man, but hey ho you cant please everyone. The horse print tie is a beaut and as for the quilted sweatshirt with cord elbow patch detail - well lets just say I quivered with excitement (I'm simple). BUT, there's always a but. I cant say I'm too keen on the detailing of the chinos Philip, nor the quilted Barbour-like outerwear (Eh, So Autumn/Winter 09/10... Yikes). Lets have a little gander....

Navy Quilted Sweatshirt + Cord Patch Detail - £36

Horse Print Slim Tie - £10

Black Silk Neckerchief - £10

Stone Contrast Cord Trim Shirt - £36

Stone cord Chino - £40

Grey Wool Mix Quilted Jacket - £80

Burgundy Leather Boots - £85

Shop online at Topman LTD

Pics Courtesy of Topman