background: ‘Rough 2′ [detail] by Brad Lochore

suede derbies: Ann Demeulemeester // technical necklace and incredible snakeskin-bonded translucent parka: Lanvin // all available @ LN-CC

Since I missed the ‘exceptional’ Raf archive sale last year, it seems there is a higher power out there offering me a second chance. Now all I have to do is get to Antwerp somehow in the middle of a school day (without missing anything)…?

Believe it or not, I think this is the first (and hopefully not last) ‘official’ outfit post on this blog. I have had reservations for ages about whether or not to do one, but recently I have felt like what I am seeing in the mirror is pretty close to what I envisage in my head, and instagram isn’t enough to convey the GENIUS that goes into how I dress myself any more [read with only a semi-sarcastic tone]. In addition, my wardrobe has drastically improved over the last two years, and I am slowly weening myself off coloured trousers along with some other questionable sartorial habits. I had always been weary of not wanting to look back at previous posts with bitter thoughts of “what on earth was I thinking?!”, as I sometimes find flicking back through other old posts featuring brands which I have since decided to h8 on etc.

Magritte – Deux Amants

I guess therefore that this post is my accidental interpretation of the Magritte. This painting is set as my desktop background, but it hadn’t even crossed my mind when I decided to photoshop a plastic bag over my face. So anyway this is what I am wearing: Thom Browne shirt, semi-cropped A.P.C. hoodie which I found this week in a pile of jumpers my mum never wears, Meadham Kirchhoff SS11 show bag I bought on ebay (yes, because it says Meadham Kirchhoff in HUGE letters – I didn’t go to that show :’( ), Margiela for H&M suit trousers and Raf Simons trainers. Another reason it has taken so long for this post is because I have never gathered the energy to actually ask my sister to take photos of me/had an outfit in mind/been on holiday and generally bothered before, and this took absolutely aaaages to photoshop, so if you have anything to say, even through gritted teeth, feel free to SHOW SOME APPRECIATION ↓↓

Note: the only comments I have been getting recently are from computer-generated (yes, not even REAL) eastern Europeans linking to their online ‘pharmaceuticals’.

WELL, Thom Browne’s Spring 2013 collection didn’t wow me by any stretch of the imagination. The same can’t be said for his new store in Tokyo however, designed by Wonderwall architect Masamichi Katayama, and unveiled mid-way through this week. It is in the Aoyama district (?), and is only the second Thom Browne store in the world, (discounting the miniature store-like concessions in Bergdorf’s and DSM Ginza). The photographs above and below by Takumi Ota describe it just as effectively as words – it is purely an extension of that utilitarian Thom Browne label, complete with full stop, in itself.

The Mad Men-esque, warm-but-cold, uncomfortably corporate atmosphere of the store is something which brands tend to veer away from when designing purchase-inducing spaces, and yet this is very much part of the Thom Browne vision and experience. I sampled this very thing in New York in October on the universities trip, when I rushed to the bottom of Manhattan in a yellow cab by myself during our ‘shopping time’ in order to see the original store for myself: it was just as stark as I had gathered from the relatively few photographs online, and certainly practically invisible from the exterior – in fact I would have assumed it to have been a dentist’s or a solicitor’s office should I not have known otherwise! Yet this made it feel all the more exclusive – a building locals must have walked past countless times without every having realised anything different about it – and I suppose this is what is being replicated in Tokyo. Another stop to add to our list for a trip to Japan sometime in the not-too-distant future…

Sorry in advance if this is OLD NEWS, but I recently discovered these images by Belgian photographer Jan Kempenaers, of abandoned monuments in Yugoslavia. Since I know so little about the country and its politics (as I have learnt, the monuments were politically-driven, and became pilgrimage sites for the Yugoslavian youth), all I will venture to say is that they are incredibly cool, and certainly make for a beautiful and interesting series of photographs, entitled Spomenik, which inspired three years of travel for Kempenaers from 2006-9. See the rest of the series on his website. I will be using these as reference points in my current art project, which is centred around the theme of ‘man and nature’.

I missed the Meadham Kirchhoff AW13 show, ‘Helter Skelter’. It was about devotion, and I was skiing. The first thing that came to mind when I caught up on the collection was these photographs of contemporary churches by Christoph Morlinghaus, probably because the concrete surroundings of the Tanks at Tate Modern, where the show took place, were visually quite similar.* I love the cold, morbid glamour of this collection. There is a definite atmosphere of recently widowed Italian dame, while the gold and silver shoes give a lovably schoolgirl-ish feel to the lower-half of each look. The first looks didn’t grab me particularly, but from the collection as a whole there are elements which I quickly picked out and adored just as soon – the crowns, shoes and veils especially, which seem to be harking back to previous Meadham Kirchhoff innovations in new, equally beautiful ways.

*I think I was also inspired for these images by my new favourite tumblr

I am ‘interviewing’ Edward this weekend, so it will be interesting to see his inspirations for AW13. The Rookie studio visit each season is almost my favourite part of each new Meadham Kirchhoff collection, and I am hoping they will post some photos of moodboards etc. too, because Edward told me today that they will all be gone when I visit. I too explored the concept of devotion in my last art project, which linked fashion with religious iconography. It was originally inspired by my love of Meadham Kirchhoff and fashion in general, and also by the interesting way in which Ben and Edward have often used the shrine motif in their sets. Their veiled AW10 collection rather coincidentally cropped up in my references alongside my own drawings of veiled life models in the style of the Madonna, so perhaps we have been thinking along the same lines for the past few months…?

If you have a spare 3 HOURS (!!) and an iPad full of unwatched films/a chatty friend, you should undoubtedly consider queuing for the Rain Room installation. Using seemingly invisible motion detectors, your movement is sensed as you walk through the rain, switching off the outlets above your head so that, despite being surrounded by falling water the entire time, you never in fact get wet.

The wait might seem unbearably long, but this is simply because people find it difficult to leave; and certainly once you have stood/sat for so much time, a whole ten minutes of standing amidst the intelligent showers seems deserved no matter how much the rest of the queue will despise you. I love rain in its usual context, let alone when I can be encircled by it whilst my Junya coat stays dry. The whole experience is incredibly comforting, particularly in the darkness, and although less than 12 or so people are admitted at one time, you only wish to be isolated once inside.

–> @ the Barbican

Raf’s classic style trainers for SS13 are blowing my miiiiiiind

–> large selection @ ssense

Destitute princes sleeping rough. A bin bag sea. Rubberised leather and gingham shirts. Goldielocks. Embroidery and Nike socks. Shadows. Waistcoats and sandals and chicken wire. Intentional holes. Scarlet Alice bands and MK lace armbands (NOT for swimming). Dresses. Middle partings. Coral, turquoise, mustard*. Abandoned Spongebob cushion and pre-melted candles. Meadham Kirchhoff’s offering for AW13.

*(ugh I know what you’re thinking, I hate that way of describing it too)

I remember seeing these amazing images by photographer Satoshi Minakawa back in 2009, but it never crossed my mind to blog about them. So when I rediscovered a booklet of them whilst doing a MAJOR tidy-up of my room the other day (in fact it was my first day of Christmas holiday – aren’t I good?!), I seized the opportunity to refresh my memory of these ridiculously cool Japanese trucks/vans/bikes. This is why I love Japan/ese people and have already mentally planned our theoretical trip there. When I’m older I will soooooo buy that purple, blue and white truck in the 6th picture and casually drive it through barriers into car parks with low roofs and park it next to smart cars and G-wizes and play Busta Rhymes ft. Mariah Carey and be generally bad. who is with me?

(text ur name + number to 0800-POP-TUCK-SHOP)