Pirate Palladium Radio

VICE Magazine asked me to help promote Palladium, and I couldn't have been more willing. Their boots really tickle and footprint my fancy for countryside grit, with raw earthy colours and hiking texture. But what marks them as unique is the urban edge that also comes into play, with a city attitude boldness and subtle 'sneaker' feel. The Palladium website is a great cultured read too, discussing the underground masterclass of UK life and style behind 'pirate radio lines'. If you get the time pop to www.palladiumboots.com and let me know what you thought. Hope everyones well!

Spring Moon Catch Your Shut Eye

I'm so grateful to live around folklore woods when Spring and Summer comes into bloom. There's something enchanting and magical about untamed lanes that are so rich in colour and crackling sound. I spent the last week daydreaming in my village wearing old grandad jumpers like so!

Bright Star Awake Forever In A Sweet Unrest

Many of you will know that I've injected an air of bohemia into my Spring wardrobe. I love the 'effortless appeal' and casual class that can come from this, but I've always been one that likes to put thought and even a theme behind my outfit choices. Thankfully a 'Bright Star' showed me the 'mid way' path and route between clothing execution and effortless indie admiration. The film with the starry eyed name is a visually intoxicating vintage romance, with fields foamed in lavender and landscapes that melt into watercolour. The men in the film are dressed in a perfect mix of tailoring and richly romanticised colours and textures. While the likes of Gareth Pugh are princes of androgyny in darker Winter designs, 'Bright Star' showcased a bohemian Spring androgyny; albeit subtle and possibly a figment of my imagination, but one that I admired none the less. Lou Daulton is a designer that encapsulates this romantic spark in my opinion. I love the purple cape that melts and drapes around the model in a beautifully intimate manner, and the jumpers have intricate shreds and cuts in them as if they'd fallen into nettles that electric shocked the tops into life. The boots have a heavy military stamp to them, but are tamed by cable knit jumpers and quirky hunting style trousers that could almost pass as masculine leggings. I cant wait for the Sunday market now to find some tattered gems that can recreate this inspired lookbook!

Smoke & Mirrors

My best friend Connie (www.constance-victoria.blogspot.com) has been wearing a lot of bleached denim recently. It was a colour I previously didn't appreciate, having always opted for dark and distressed skin tight blues. But I love the baggy and refreshingly light appeal of these vintage levis jeans which parachute out of army boots. Coupled with this I'm wearing a jaeger knit jumper with a DIY shredded cobweb tee.

Just Danze

I just had a terrific weekend full of heavy electric beats on a boat in Bristol. While my dancing might not have been to an artistic standard, I thought it appropriate to post an editorial that explores and evolves the sense of movement and expression. It reminds me that we can be 'works of art' ourselves when we want to be! Hope you all have a creative start to the week!

His Fearful Sequin Symmetry

I'm always amazed by how daring and eclectic some vintage jumpers can be, that 'back in the day' would have been standard wear. Take these jumpers below that I picked up for pounds and the odd penny. The mohair jumper looks like a bee stung puzzle with an art deco vibe, and the black sequin shoulderpad top is so relevant with Christopher Kane and 80's trends. Hope you all like them, and have a great weekend!

Shark Teeth, Clocks & Army Tags

Jewellery for a guy can be unsure grounds, but it can be an understated and essential key to polishing an outfit. I like to mix ambitious necklaces with simple and casual outfits, and on the flip side it can be the perfect committment to wear a chunky plain ring with tops that have a powerful avant-garde vibe.

Bjorg is a jewellery wizzard who's collection has a beautiful 'All Saints' stain to it. There's a mixture of military and bohemia; army tags are enscribed with whimsical lines, and shark teeth necklaces have a sharpened urban nature feel. Keys, rabbit heads and wandering eyes look like voodoo equipment from a hocus pocus log cabin, adding to this magical and eery treasure chest that's waiting to be charmed around the neck.

On her website Bjorg says how 'for me it's about defying conventions, finding the beauty in imperfection and creating something that not only looks good, but also resonates certain thoughts, opinions, emotions or even humor.' I couldn't agree more about this jewellery philosophy. For more information and looks, head to her website and let me know what you think. www.bjorgjewellery.com

The Queen & Prince Of Darkness

So Fashion Week has laid to rest its' suitcase for this season, with designers of all styles and staples having showcased in the most vibrant cities in the World. It was the Parisian streets that were treated to the gothic fantasy masterclasses of my two favourite designers, however. Ann Demeulemeester and Gareth Pugh magically play with dark designs, and while I might not be the gothic type, I'm always blown away by their visually intoxicating designs.

Ann's dark beauty was ever prominent in Paris. Sharp jackets looked like birds of prey dipped in blood red, with feathers spiking out like weapons and chains draped around the sinister body. Gareth meanwhile presented a stunning juxtapositon of strong and precise chevron lines with a vulnerability and subtle glamour. Softly flared trousers melted into the runway like warped waves, and heavy vein like chains gave the outfits an architecture design. It was a perfect marriage of dark fantasy with underlying ambience.

I'm already looking forward to what September Fashion Weeks have to offer now!

Inglorious Husk

Hey everyone, hope you've all had a stylish Spring weekend. I've been quite busy in the freelance aspect of late, and one of the magazines I've been in a relationship with is Germany's 'Husk'. It's fairly underground at the moment, but offers a dark and thought provoking collage of photography, art and fashion from unexpected lights. I was fortunate to have written a feature on one of Alexander Mcqueen's last collections before he tragically died, and I'm thrilled for it to be a part of a publication I'm convinced will emulate the 'Dazed & Confused' persona over time. If you'd like to pick up a copy, head to http://huskmagazine.de/

Wasteland Flowers Dance Around Him

Winter might be the time to indulge in runway drapes and mysterious textures, but I love how Spring and Summer allows for colour to pop out. It might not be the sharpest or most 'fashion forward' of seasons, but coming from a bohemian town with heavy influences of folk music and people, indie and grunge is a genre of clothes I love. At the weekend carboot sale I found treasures that could have come from an Egyptian prince. A deep purple blazer, a vintage sheepskin jacket, a bobbled cardigan with leaf prints, and some military combat boots that add something 'macho' to the camp colours. Hope you all like the outfits!

Clement's Spell

While an obvious attribute of blogging is the chance to showcase our own style and thoughts, what I've come to appreciate is the art of others influence. There are so many online persona's that capture my imagination with their fashion talents and interests. And Clement Louis is no exception. He's a young artistic photographer from Paris, and colours his work as 'the esthetisation of death, loneliness, fashion, and fragility.' He captures a dark and sensual side of clothes, as can be seen in his collaboration with Rick Owens. And Clement's personal style is just as favourable, with effortless drapes and indie 'All Saints' style appeal. So for those that like to marry fashion with intelligent thought and stories, head to the stylish Frenchman's blog at http://clementlouis.daportfolio.com/

The Lovely Bones

Rather than having lazy hazy Sundays as is traditionally expected on this 'Roast Dinner' day, I like to end my week with creative sparks. Particularly as I'm about to go to a car boot sale this morning in the hope of finding second hand gems and treasures to breath life back into. So with Spring's influence creating a beautiful fresh patchwork in the fields behind my house, I'm hoping to play around with new photography styles to showcase my clothes and countryside routes. I haven't got much experience behind the lens, but am constantly inspired by the concepts and editorial ideas that frame a shoot. Maybe it symbolises the sun slowly cracking into light outside, but I'm so drawn to Paolo Roversi's breathtaking style. With a faded, tragic charm that mixes sinister and sensual emotion, his photos look like vintage scrolls from dark fantasy depths. Music also soundtracks my creative ways, and Patrick Wolf is the avant garde poet who enchants me without fail. So it's time to find some magic at the market now!

Party Monster Meets The Matrix

A little belated I know, but I'm trying to mix up my posts with equal measures of reviews, personal style and editorials. So in this post I take a final look and overview of the shows I saw at London Fashion Week a fortnight ago. There seemed to be a real 80's injection in lots of the collections, and Bernard Chandran was no exception. The textures stayed true to a sharp sci-fi feeling, with feathered shoulderpads evoking an electric jungle green that sparked to the eye, and peacock texture that looked like it'd caught on 'dancefloor fire.' Imagine the glamorous side of The Matrix, and you have the perfect juxtaposition of industrial attitude with playful'party monster' undertones. If Rihanna went down an 80's route, expect her wardrobe to fit this bill from Bernard.

I also had the pleasure of seeing Bryce Aime's collection at On/Off, and despite a slightly restricted view, I was still very impressed. The blocky avant garde shapes were like impressionist jigsaws, but it didnt fall into an 'ikea' spectacle, as purple laced and tattooed itself magically around the tights to create wonderful illusions. It looked like wood chippings that had been dipped in 80's acid. And the tops married electro visions with a 'Robin Hood' style shield, with capes, corsets and forest reds mixed together in a Medieval manner. For fans of daring Lady Gaga and Rihanna styles, Bryce Aime is a name to staple.

The highlight of Fashion Week for me was Iris Van Herpen's daring and conceptual collection. The runway started with golden thunder and lightning, sending us into an ambient trance. The models then arrived out of the wild lighting in truely unique items. Gothic black looking piano strings/bird feathers warped and bent around the body like a performing arts crow in a Neil Gaiman fantasy. Golden springs hang from the arms like quirky sleeves, and injections of colour shoot through the black wire to ignite the senses. The long dresses flow like grecian robes, but have a sinister sensuality to them, with an intricate design melted in that looks like silver veins. Even the ice white dresses stay true to these ideas, with a pattern that lattices about unconventionally but beautifully. The collection is almost like car parts that have been moulded into avant garde designs and sprayed in fantasy colours. The show was a visual drug that has left me on a constant high.

I regularly write reviews for brands and designers that get in touch with me, so if you like my biro style, I'm only an email enquiry away. I've just landed local work as a freelance journalist for The Stroud News & Journal, and while it might not be the fashion and music dominated magazine that I eventually hope to work for, I'm thrilled at my published stepping stones so far! Hope all of your endeavours are being spurred on by Spring's charming influence. Leave a comment, as I try and respond to every one of them!

Images taken from www.vogue.co.uk

The Fisherman Prince

Staying true to my festival quest, here's an injection of colour and vintage texture to my Devendra Banhart inspired Spring wardrobe. Maybe a wheelbarrow will soon become an indie man's best friend?