New York, New Clothes!

I have just come back from a holiday in New York. Luckily during my stay there were quite a few sales on. I managed to get some fantastic shoe bargains in both the Saks 5th Avenue and the Bergdorf Goodman sales. A lovely pair of Prada’s and a shiny pair of Gucci’s. I also managed to pick up the McQueen Skull Scarf I have been coveting for quite some time – although that was full price. Boo…
As well as designer bargains, a fantastic store to visit is Forever 21 – I was in there for hours and came away with bags of stuff. Cool accessories and great clothes - all good quality too.
The New York ladies seemed to favour dresses and flats – either gladiator sandals or leather thongs. It was a heat wave while I was there though.
The best thing about shopping in New York for a Brit is the prices, the exchange rate is great for us at the moment so picking yourself up a bargain is really easy.
I am going back in Dec to catch more sales.

Polka Dotty

It is a sad fact but as a guy you don’t get too much choice when it comes to High Street fashion. Unless you are prepared to wander off the beaten track and hunt out something different you are pretty likely to end up looking like every other guy on the street. In the name of individual style it can be quite hard to strike out on your own.

Stripes and Checks have been the order of the day forever-more and the retro logo print T-shirt is back with a more than tedious tenacity.

However, fear not chaps. I have been noticing quite a lot of menswear coming through with Polka Dot and other tasty Retro Geometric prints. It’s all a bit 1960’s. This to my mind is never a bad thing.

Here is a picture of Primal Screams front man, Bobby Gillespie, looking rather suave and making my point perfectly.

I personally love myself stupid in this little number from Topman (I have one in Green as well) and am hunting out all the Polka Dottage I can.

So just say no to tired stripes, checks and T-shirts that look like an Opticians Eye Test board.

Geometry and uniform patters are the way forward.

Trust me.

It's ok, I know there's a snake on my arm and a frog on my bag, I'm fine with it

I will confess I recently spent a crazy amount of money on a Marc Jacobs Rana bag, the one with the frog clasp. It has a big gold frog on it, with beautiful shiny jewel eyes. It's a little bit mad looking but gorgeous.

I think it is the time to embrace eccentric fashion. It's ok people, you are not going to step out looking like Helena Bonham Carter just because you adorn yourself with a slightly offbeat bangle. Anyway Helena rocks a little bit doesn't she? Maybe? The English are supposed to be a bit eccentric, quirky fashion is what we are good at.

There is nothing better than wearing something that makes you smile and it's great to see quirky fashion on others. Life's too short for beige shirt dresses and flat sandals. No, wear a snake bangle on your arm or an big art deco belt, throw your work colleagues a fashion curveball.

There's lovely statement heels around, Prada did it last season with their flower stem heels and Mui Mui with their sculptured gold trimmed creations. Now the high street are creating their own versions. Kurt Geiger's latest ad campaign has some lovely shoes with three stacked balls for a heel. These Lotus heels rock. I got them in black. They are excellent and make you look like you are drinking in an 80's wine bar, maybe the Dagmar in Eastenders (that's going back a few...). It's time to make a statement.

Style Crime#1: “On me ‘ead son”

Nobody could suggest that David Beckham isn’t a stylish example of manhood. He’s made it ok for straight boys from Romford to be into fashion. Girlfriends across the land must have breathed a sigh of relief as their men started to realise that it mattered what they looked like.

It’s not all good though, Beckham is largely responsible for propagating a grooming trend that makes me want to reach for the clippers and take to the streets.

Take a look here (third photo along) to see a rear view of the style crime I'm referring to.

Go into any average town on a Saturday night and you’ll unfortunately see plenty of men sporting, what I like to call, “2nd Division Footballer Hair” (or the 2DFH for short). Spikey on top. Short on the sides. Mullety at the back.

Now being a fashion butterfly Beckham had the sense to move on from this particular hairstyle quite quickly but sadly many of the men who have adopted it haven’t been so prudent.

This earns its status as my first crime against style for the very simple reason that it lacks style conviction. It is so very ‘nothing’ – seeking to ape edgier styles without the courage of its convictions.

Even though it is worn very short on the sides and long through the top it lacks the balls of a punky Mohawk (a style Beckham has also used) it also doesn’t manage to have the Air Guitaring Retro-Chic of a true Stadium Rock Mullet.

It is hair for Men who want to ‘fashionable’ without having to bother about trying to be stylish – the male equivalent of the dreaded ‘Rachel Cut’ that plagued women’s heads in the early 1990’s.

Girls I implore you, if your boyfriend is still guilty of this crime against style, wait until he goes to sleep and get those clippers going. I promise you he’ll thank you for it in time.

We are paper dolls...

So me and my friend have decided to start a fashion blog, we think and talk about this stuff lots as it is. We thought it would be good to do something useful with it. So there is me, the girl doll and him, the boy doll. Between us we plan to take over the planet - one shiny accessory at a time.

Who knows now what nonsense we will spew into the world. I plan to share as much info as I can in the hope that I will gain even more good shopping karma.

So with that in mind I thought I would share this scarf tying guide. There's loads of silk squares around now, D&G had silk headscarves galore on the catwalk. Just add a Barbour jacket and you'll look like her majesty walking the corgis in Balmoral - spectacular. Just a hunch but you might not be brave enough to wear it as a headscarf, so it's useful to learn a few other ways of tying it. Hermes scarves are beautiful but pricey so try looking in vintage stores, there are some links to some great ones to the right. I am currently wanting the Alexander McQueen jewelled skull scarf so much it hurts. It's takes the retro jewel print of silk scarves my nan used to have but wrongs them up a bit with a sexy skull pattern. Now you try telling me I don't need a bit of that in my life...