Welcome to Autumn

Bonjour mon friends, what’s the haps?

As you can probably tell by now the autumn season is upon us, in full swing. Those days when I wrote to you about feeling so hot that I could melt, totally unable to cool my jets in the New York heatwave, seem so distant now, as I write to you from a comfortably cool Ireland, reveling in the season that I love the most. And yes, that is largely due to the cosy clothes, layers and wrappings which are perfectly acceptable, and even encouraged and thought stylish, in these cooler months. This makes me happy. I like to wrap up because it feels almost like you never leave bed. There’s something superbly comforting about scarves and knitted jumpers.

Oh My Clog. Wood is Good.

Popular in the Netherlands for over 700 years. Can easily be hosed off if working in the garden, and allowed to air dry. When syncopated with foot taps, they form a special kind of dancing.

The clog has a great deal of versatility as a form of footwear, but this summer it has become more than a tourist’s souvenir. No longer fashion roadkill, the clog will have you hop, skipping and toe tapping your way onto the catwalk.

Cool Your Jets

Some people are naturally equipped to deal with heat, others do not have this God-given facility. I am one of the latter. When it gets hot, I am perpetually melting. The only place where I become human once more is beneath a cold shower or in a lovingly air-conditioned building. When humidity strikes, and neither of these two options are available I am doomed.

The only possible solution to this scenario is to combat heat with devilishly nice clothes. Breezy lightwear is essential for the melting months, and though the oppressive warmth might make you feel like you need to look like a troll, the opposite is true.

Party Tees

As Justice have perfectly demonstrated in their video for DANCE, everyone needs at least one or two interchangeable party tees.

There are few prerequisites for this genre of t-shirt, but for an unforgettable party entrance make colour, graphics and relativity your top priorities.

Chunk Clothing could arguably be the specialists in party wear. Their New York Sounds tee in cobalt blue is inspired by the New York subway map re-imagined into a pair of beat transporting headphones, to take you on the ultimate journey. Whatever subway sounds are like, it makes me want to hear them.

9935925b1b5e832bef8f2492a1075884.image.375x375 — The subway never sounded so good

Introducing……the best sunglasses in the world?

What is it about the Ray-Ban that makes everyone from the Men in Black to Sarah Jessica Parker slide a pair up their celebrified noses? And aside from the celebridoodles, a pair of Ray-Bans have become indispensable to the non-famous. Take a stroll around your nearest city and you’ll outcount your fingers by the number of Ray-Banners you see protecting the population from the sun’s glare.

Big Huge Bags. For all your stuff.

Mary Poppins was the ancient forefather of the practical bag. From her flowery zip-up she could produce anything, lamp stands, kitchen sinks, bottles of vino, probably people. Though if you’ve seen this version of Mary Poppins, perhaps you’d be more frightened of what she might bring out of her bag than before. True, the big bag can be dangerous. I always find that with a small bag I have the neceessities, I have a more wholesome, feng-shui approach to life’s essentials. Purse? – sure, keys? – why of course, phone? – yup, spare socks? – no, no, not really needed. When the big bag comes out however, the shoulder clutter comes too. The spare socks are in, along with a full size wall calendar: why not? Instead of a mobile I’d rather take the yellow pages and some coins for a pay-phone, and then comes the ‘second lining’, the most detrimental component of bag clutter. A swamp of cinema tickets, rail tickets, receipts, free breath mints, hair pins, lip balms, informational leaflets, flyers, copper coins. The list never ends. I have to keep my bags on the small side to ensure that my life remains in focus, but with a summer array of lovely bags for the buying, bigger is always better.

Button up Denim

What would we do without denim?

I have thought about this many times. According to Professor Wikipedia, denim is: ‘a rugged cotton twill textile, in which the weft passes under two (twi- “double”) or more warp threads.’ Sounds complicated, that’s the science of denim. And as all the best things in life (le macaron, the expression ‘sacrebleu!’ and Gerard Depardieu) denim originates from France.

If the only item of denim in your wardrobe is a pair of jeans, something needs to be done. This season is all over the denim shirt. At first I thought ‘Naaah’ but the denim shirt has a certain power. It can turn the ‘Naaah’ into a ‘Oh actually’ and then a positive ‘Mmmm defs’. With all its persuasive techniques, this variation on a theme is hipster springwear at its finest.

Mesh Around

There’s something spesh about mesh. You have to admit it. Mesh clothing has a definite feel for the cringe. It reminds us that fashion doesn’t necessarily conceal. It demonstrates the essential difference between the terms opaque and transparent. And it often shows us much much more than we’ve ever wanted to see.

In its most frightening form, mesh is synonymous with ‘Hi, look straight through me. See the bare skin. See the bare skin everywhere.’ American Apparel’s male department has a perfect example of this: their Nylon Spandex Micro-Mesh T-shirt. Nice colour, not so nice transparency; but doesn’t it look breathable.

Cycle on the Dark Side

I have summer plans. They involve two wheels, handlebars, a bell, a helmet, and afternoons with the Father. Air on your face never feels as good as when you’re cycling. One time I saw former Prime Minister, THE Tonester Blair while on a summery bike ride. I did wave, but he didn’t wave back sadly. In hindsight, it might have been because I looked less than respectable in my cycling attire, so in an attempt to get back behind the handlebars and brrrringing that bell in a way that would attract the attention of former Prime Ministers, it might be time for a visit to Dark Cycle Clothing.

Representing a comprehensive cross-section of the cycling world, Dark Cycle Clothing’s t-shirts prove, once again, that being on a bike really is for everyone. But as the saying goes ‘Different strokes for different folks’ Dark Cycle similarly suggest ‘Different bikes for different…….types……of species’. It semi works.

Das Monky Business

Admittedly, I’ve not heard about many monasteries in Australia.
I’ve never seen a monk on any Australian soaps.
Monks down under are more into t-shirt design perhaps.
That’s the impression you get from t-shirt designer specialists Das Monk, anyhow.

Das Monk is a graphic clothing label, the creative collaboration of husband and wife team Marc Hendrick and Anna Lunoe. Since 2007, they have been inspired by everything from cassette covers to cubicle wall doodles in their Sydney studio, and have found a happy urban home within Australia’s art and music scene. They rendez-vous artistically with emerging artists worldwide, enjoy wonderful weirdness, and their designs are fresher than home grown tomatoes.

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