Wednesday, July 14, 2010

In discussion: Moments of style

What is life except a collection of moments? Without getting too philosophical on you on a damp summer's afternoon and given the fact that we are a style blog, lets focus on purely sartorial moments though in this instance. Of course there are snapshot of style which we look back on that evoke an odd sense of pride or happiness, others might make us cringe, question our sanity before diverting the blame on to the shoulders of an era or an embarrassing trend that once seduced us. Here we kick start our latest discussion topic by asking a few of our favourite menswear characters to discuss their moments of style...

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Tell us about your most stylish moment or memory. And the least.

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Daniel Jenkins, Retailer focusing solely upon British fashion talent.

"Most Stylish? I'm going for a memory way back in the midst of time. There is a photo of me as a (I'm guessing) 4 year old in bright red wellies, blue jumbo cords, tattersall check jumper and wool jumper with a slight pattern in it. I'm stood holding my grandfather's hand next to my little toy tractor and frankly I should give up on this clothing lark because I'll never look as good again. Whole thing is spot on. Perhaps I should get my mum to dress me more often?

As for least stylish memory I'm going to plead the fifth and say I've always been immaculate - which I can guarantee is a total lie!!!"

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James Shaw, Albam

Most stylish...My dad in a charcoal double breasted suit, pale blue shirt and knitted tie. Great watch and shoes. Definitely a memory that sticks in my mind.

Least stylish...The least said about that the better!

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Mr Hare, shoeist.

"My least stylish moment happened in Paris last week when I attended Esquire Magazines 7 Great Brits (I did note there were only 6 people there when I arrived). I forget who I was talking to but my champagne holding hand went into an involuntary spasm and emptied the entire contents of my glass, squarely into both of my own eyes. Have you ever maced yourself with champagne? It felt like I had stood too close to Dame Colin McDowell and security had sprung forth to restrain me before I asked him any awkward questions about young British fashion. For five whole minutes I stood blinded from chateau napalm in the garden of the Bristol Hotel, unable even to run for cover from the embarrassment. This would be a good story if it ended here but no. Twenty minutes later when I had regained 20/20 and cultivated enough conversation to be confident that memories of my earlier self tasing had drifted away on the early evening breeze, I was in the company of two stallions of the men's wear buying game. Just as I was taking another ample swig of the reason we were all there, stallion one says to stallion two 'Come on Terry, let's go. We're the last department store here.'

On reflection it isn't that funny, but as the diaphramic laugh propelled geyser of champagne from my mouth descended on the entire accumulated throng, I knew it was time to leave."

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Izzy, blogger behind The Dandy Project‬

"Most stylish: Getting photographed by a fashion student putting together an art book in the Marais in Paris and being approached by a German fellow who recognized the German officer's jacket I had on, all on the same day.

Least stylish: I showed up to college one day in a pair of rainbow-striped Nautica board shorts and got more than a few snickers. (This soon warranted a self-imposed uniform of plain white tops and dark denim.) Three years later, colorful board shorts were all the rage at my school."

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Syed, blogger behind Dapper kid.

"My personal most stylish moment would probably have to be either my first ever day of Kindergarten, or going to prize-giving in primary school.

For my first day of Kindergarten I was allowed to wear my own clothes in, and I have quite the vivid memory of the outfit I wore. I had these bright yellow dungarees with geometric patches on the left breast, something along the lines of a blue triangle, red square, and so on. It had one of those large pockets on the stomach, with really prominent white stitching. I also remember wearing these petrol blue leather shoes. They had a strap and buckle, with broguing on the toe piece. I think the memory as a whole stands out because what I was wearing was such a true expression of who I was at the time (actually I have to admit that I always keep my eye out for brightly coloured dungarees!).

Prize-giving in primary school is another memory that stands out outfit-wise. A neat, well fitted uniform is always good in my books. It consisted of a crisp white shirt worn with a striped, green and maroon tie. On top of that I wore a grey v-neck sweater with green trim and a black blazer with matching green trim. As it was Summer I was allowed to wear light grey shorts that were cuffed above the knee, which were paired with high grey socks that hit just below the knee and black leather shoes. I was also fortunate enough to have a grey wool school boy cap (more akin to a baker boy cap). Uniform probably elicits unstylish memories for most, but I remember my primary school uniform with a smile.

Oddly enough my most unstylish memory does actually have to do with school uniform! In secondary school my parents were of the belief that they had to buy clothing that I would..."grow into". It has been a number of years since I was in school, and I have yet to grow into the blazer I wore. My trousers were usually too short, as I was rather tall and tended to wear my brother's old trousers. Basically I looked like a bit of a scarecrow. Oversized would be an understatement, as most often I was positively swimming in my clothes."

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