Throwaway culture

Posted on May 11, 2013 by matthew

The one thing I aim to get through with this blog is to buy less but buy better and have written a few pieces on the specific subject here. However whilst the better quality item will last longer it will not always last forever. I have practically lived in a Gieves & Hawkes cashmere cardigan for 4 years and the inevitable happened and I wore through the elbow. Now usually on a lower quality item you may just throw it away and buy another but with an item of this expense and after this length of time it seemed a shame to do that. So I added some brown suede elbow patches to it, which in turn gave some real character to it. When I say I added the patches to the jumper that may not be strictly true here, I persuaded my girlfriend to do them for me, (a girlfriend who can sew really helps reduce what was a ridiculous monthly tailoring bill). Anyway I have always found an item looks better once it has been worn and loved (not trashed), and this is a perfect example. For me this is very similar to raw denim (written about here) where the rips and fades make the jeans look so much better. I have a canvas bag that one side has gone blue from rubbing against raw denim and I like it more because of it.

Note* Now before I get comments about how I managed to get my girlfriend to stitch them on I will give you a word of warning. It may end in tears. Imagine my reaction when I found her first attempt included her stitching a patch in the inside of an arm. And no I don’t know how she managed to do that.

Note** I am in Florence for Pitti from the 18th till the 21st on June and will be tweeting here and uploading articles daily so keep an eye out. If anyone is also going out drop me an email at matthew@topgrain.co.uk, it would be good to meet some readers and/or bloggers.

Getting anal about trouser length

Posted on May 4, 2013 by matthew

Now first of all one word I never thought I would use in a blog post was the word anal but clearly I was wrong. Now onto what I actually want to talk about, trouser length. This is a topic which I see a lot of different views on and is clearly subjective. And it should be subjective, it should be down to what you like and what suits your body type. Different lengths play different ways with your legs, if you are really tall I have always thought a small amount of break helps to split up the body along with a large cuff (2inch pref). For shorter guys, a shorter trouser will ensure it doesn’t look like the trousers are wearing you and a clean front with no cuff will add length to your body and not break your leg up.

Like my last post there was a underlying reason why have been writing this. This time it is to say don’t always follow the trend on trouser length but do what suits your body type. Of course if the trend is aesthetically pleasing to your body type then go for it, but don’t just do it because it is the trend.

Below are a few pictures of where I like the trouser length (remember this is subjective.)

Note* Yes that is me with the strippers in the last picture

Justin Chung photography

Sartorial Doctrine

Me!

Sunspel Made in UK/Turkey

Posted on April 14, 2013 by matthew

If you follow me on Instagram you will see recently I have been wearing Sunspel t-shirts a lot. I have spoken about them before here and really can’t recommend them enough. From my experience they run a little short, so I have always gone for a M which works out well. One thing I always thought about Sunspel was that the product was completely made in England. When I recently bought a new t-shirt I was a little surprised to see in bearing a Made in Turkey label. I did a little research and it seems they produce around 40% in Turkey with the rest being made in the UK. (I got that figure from one of the forums so I can’t be 100% about its validity.) One thing that has disappointed me a little was that the Riviera polo (made famous by the James Bond films) is now produced in Turkey, for me that is one of the items that should be produced in the UK. I have always wondered why the polos have a high price on ebay and this must be why. Apparently the construction on the UK ones are superior to that of the Turkey ones. However, I do not own either so can’t really pass judgement on this. However one thing I can evaluate is the t-shirts. I have found in both construction and workmanship to be very similar. The one thing I did notice was the Turkey t-shirt was a little lighter in weight than the UK one. However this could be down to the nature of the t-shirts. My UK t-shirts I own are the basic coloured ones whilst the new Turkey t-shirt is the SS13 striped one below.

So what has motivated me to write this? Well I just wanted to show that just because something is not made in the UK, it does not mean that it is not of good quality. Also just because an item is made in the UK doesn’t mean it will be of high quality either. I have seen plenty of items that are made in the UK but the material and construction has been very poor. So my opinion is to put the items material and construction before country of origin.

WIAW

Posted on April 3, 2013 by matthew

My lack of posts has been terrible lately with only 2 over the last month. I have been extremely busy with work but I will post 3 times a week now. I really need to sort it out! Anyway over the past few days I have been to London and was able to grab a quick shot of what I was wearing one day so here goes.

Items:

Shirt- Alessandro Gheradi

Roll-Neck – Unbranded wool

Pocket square – Drake’s

Blazer – Ralph Lauren

Trousers- Incotex

Shoes- Alfred Sargent

Ovadia & Sons combat Jacket

Posted on March 26, 2013 by matthew

First of all sorry for the lack of posts recently, I have been so busy with work. I will try my best to post more regularly. The jacket below by Ovadia & Sons for me is possibly the perfect jacket this summer. It is made from Japanese cotton in the USA.In my opinion these types of jackets work best with the drawcord at the waist as this one has. The drawcord splits up the body and gives some skirting (very similar to that in suiting).

Buy it from Ovadia & Sons for $795 here.

Sebago Made in the USA collection

Posted on March 11, 2013 by matthew

One thing I am pretty excited about this season is the new range from Sebago. Sebago have just introduced a Made in the USA collection featuring the traditional penny and kiltie loafers produced to an unparalleled quality. For any fan of menswear and in particular Ivy league clothing these should be of real interest to you. Clearly they are made in the USA but the interesting thing is they are actually made in Maine, which was in fact the original place that the penny loafer was produced in the 1930′s. Everything gone into the shoes has been meticulously thought out from the traditional moccasin construction to the leather.

They have been made using Horween leather (produced in the USA as well). I guess Horween is most commonly recognised for its shell cordovan however they do have a range of lovely leathers. For example with the Sebago loafers they are made using Horween’s Chromexcel leather which is in fact the original pull-up leather. Pull-up leather is full grain (very high grade) that is either oiled and waxed. Having held the shoes I can add here that the leather is extremely high grade, with the oil still having a good presence in the shoes (I believe they were oiled not waxed).

They are produced in a range of colours but I am personally leaning to the Green and Navy as my favourites. I feel that using the Chromexcel leather they will develop a lovely patina over time as well. In terms of construction I believe them to be made using the traditional moccasin construction with a substantial leather sole. They can be purchased from Kurt Geiger or the Sebago flagship store on Regent Street for £349,99.

*Note* For true authenticity add a penny into the slot of the penny loafer and go for either no socks or a contrasting colour.

Top Grain

A footwear and clothing blog for men.