DMs...

Okay, so I've been ranting and raving about DMs ever since seeing some little Italian fashionista in a pair during Fashion Week and then I see this image from the Vice Global Trend Report and I'm like, okay - so you never know if they mean it or not, but hell - I can see it (a shame, since DMs don't seem to be able to see it at all, currently only stocking in one store in Camden and one camping store on Charing Cross road) but hey... I was always a monkey boots girl, but damn - I'm liking this look. Bring back the Seudeheads I say; it's all about the roll-up (alright, pin tuck Sniper) and an unlaced boot... yum.

Re-Brand ALERT!

It would seem that it isn't only the big swingers of the corporate world that take time to ponder the opportunities and neccessities of reshaping their public image. Let's just call this well known, widely recognised sticker art persona 'the Toaster'. The Toaster has been around for a rather long time. Initially appearing in random public spaces, proudly hand splatered on Post Office 'Special Delivery' dispatch note stickers, the Toaster has come along way. Now going for a more updated colour scheme and splashing that hard saved 'day job' cash on a glossy finish, custom cut run of ready made throw-ups, the Toaster is once again stealth tuned to dominate sticker art for another decade. Maybe.

Crooked Towers of London

Jericho by Anselm Kiefer features two splendidly characterful towers carefully constructed in the forecout of londons prestigious Royal Academy of Art. Cleverly constructed the towers resemble the makeshift feel of a shanty town hut but rest assured with a ridiculous health and safety legislature to answer to I very much doubt the construction of these towers was anything but scientifically calculated. You can even step inside and experience the eerily stark contrast of raw concrete against the big money marbled backdrop of the Royal Academy.

Boombox Hoodie / Musical Youth

Apparel designers take note!
Unless you are a socially concious designer, someone who would rather miss out on an opportunity to craft something of potentially exciting proportions than earn the title of 'bane' to future persons enforceably encountering a piece of your work, this piece of information could well serve you as inspiring.

I spotted, or rather heard this young chap, swaggering his way down London's busy shopping mecca stretch that is Oxford Street, geometrically flanked by two similarly sporty casual tracksuit donning youths. Being used to the sound of crappy mobile phone speakers spitting out horrid tones of modern symphonies, I was caught off guard as I neared these guys in a manouevre to quickly shimmy past them on the busy pavement, when the clarity of what could only be some form of mobile music device suddenly rang clear. Unbelieveably clear. I slowed up. Take two. Yes, somehow these guys were drawing enjoyment from a communal music source far superior to the regularly flaunted mobile phone. I tailed them for a moment before politely stopping the chaps to ask what device it was they were listening to. With a very defensive tone and a swift hand signal like chop the ring leader clarified that the sounds were coming from the portable speakers he had strategically placed in the hood of his sporty track top.
I laughed to myself and walked on before having the sudden urge to document this interesting observation I had just made. Looking back to see where these guys were I saw them slip between two double decker buses, cross the street and disappear into Footlocker. In to Footlocker I strolled, cueing my camera and prepping myself for Approach No.2, the result of which is posted above. The future of the hoodie? A potential USP in here somewhere?

I said it once....

... and I'll say it again.
Yep, with the continued resurgence and heavy referencing of the early nineties in everything that is 'youth culture', I'm ever so happy to report the return of the 'pin-roll'. Otherwise known as the 'pin tuck' method of turning up one's trouser leg to create a tapering effect of varying proportions. The pin roll technique was popular in that period, and grew inline with the widened audience for and influence of dancehall and ragga music. Ragga stars such as Shabba Ranks were well reknowned for their tastes in ridiculously baggy pants that required an especially adpated roll up method in order to prevent them dragging under the backs of shoes (a very popular style being commonly known as 'raggas' were a very slimline low profile desert boot). Hence, the pin roll was worn and influence it did. Maxi Priest and Shabba can be seen in full pin roll tapered pant glory in the video for 'House Call'... a classic if ever there were one!

A New Life

The way forward in avoiding the cliche that is fast becoming of 'White Plimsolls', is to source an artist with deft touch. Someone that you can place your trust in, wholeheartedly, to take pen in hand and deliver something of a fine tuned creative quality. What you want is for said individual to take the blank canvases presented to them and with the articulated flick of a wrist send the former white plimsoll into realms of uniqueness rarely seen. I stopped this young lady on the platform in Kings Cross tube a couple of weeks ago, asked politely for a photo and then continued my inquisitive line of questioning in order to secure details of what, where when and why. It turns out that there is a small shop in the heart of Brick Lane that can deliver such sweetly inked kicks for a surprisingly low fee (A whole £12 to this lady!!). A bargain and a deal indeed. search and ye shall find.

Note to lady: if you happen to recognise your sweet feet in this here image, I'd just like to wish you well. This may sound odd, but I randomly dreamt that we crossed paths again recently and somehow, even though I have not studied your photograph in detail (really! I'm a little odd, but not creepy!) I knew that the person in my dream was you, except that, on this occasion you had completely lost your hair. Yes, shocking I know, but sometimes people say that dreams have some significant underlying message or issue encoded within, so, again, I hope it doesn't suggest that ill health hath engulfed you. All the best.

Archaeology of sorts

You may or may not have noticed the recent push in the refurbishment of The London Underground network, where both it's functional facilities and aesthetic facades are receiving heavy remedial attention, primely in the name of improvement and partially in the name of the 2012 Olympics (I'm sure). If you havn't noticed or been in the capital to witness first hand, then you probably missed the opportunity of seeing such remnants as these in person. Poster campaigns reminiscent of times passed, and plenty of them. The essence of nostalgia for many. This one rings home for me with particular clarity as it features a very rarely tackled theme, the neurological condition Narcolepsy, a fascinating sleep related disorder that leaves the sufferer often dangling and drifting between the surreal, the real and the weirdly unreal. FAR OUT!