Club Chair Bulletin #10
Where I went last week, and the garms I acquired
What’s he been up to?
An excursion to the big smoke
I took a week off from the club last week, in fact I took a week off from everything and journeyed South.
Now, I’m sure you share my disinterest in me divulging every detail of my holiday, but I thought it beared addressing both to explain the absence of a proper meeting last week and because it hangs pretty much as an influence over everything else I’ll be covering this week.
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I am not a Londoner, not yet, and as such London sits somewhat as a momentous destination. Whilst I love to visit new places, I quite terribly dislike to feel as though I am a tourist. This, of course, is rather difficult in the capital when one hasn’t the slightest idea of how to get about the damned place.
Got to tick some spots off the bucket list, ALD, Drakes, John Simons, Brick Lane Vintage Market. Took a cliche photo in front of the Saville Row sign.
I’ve picked up a nice little list of pieces, places, and ideas which I’ll elaborate on as part of The Radar.
Recent Acquisitions
Izzi Madras Harrington Jacket
For a long time I had figured that I was not a Harrington guy, associated them far too much with the 90s brit-pop scene, which is distinctly not my scene in the slightest. There are, however, certain boxes one perhaps feels they have to tick when they are interested in a certain school of fashion. For Ivy, one such box is that of patchwork madras. This coincided with a lack of a good casual jacket in my wardrobe. It’s reversible too, which is a nice touch.
Patchwork Madras raises interesting questions about colour neutrality, which I have touched on in the past and I’m sure I will elaborate on further in the future. It is surprising just how many different garments this thing can be paired with.
In its reversed form, its a white, waterproof suggesting, poly-cotton hazmat-chic. Perhaps unlikely to see a lot of use, but fun for the full 80s Dad look.
Vintage Buckleback “Evis” Evisu Selevedge
The selvedge journey continues! Picked up for a reasonable price on Depop. Evisu is having a surge in popularity in streetwear spaces currently, though I was more preoccupied with simply picking up some decent jeans.
I’ve nailed down the fit I like now, these are coming in with a delightfully dad-ish 8.5” hem, and a generous length for some stacks. The buckle back is a fun retro touch, which contrasts with the back paint.
These are pre-lawsuit so they still bear “EVIS” on the red tab rather than Evisu, they definitely show their years, but have a lot of life in them yet. They’ve come in on a “one in, two out” ruling, replacing two pairs of non-selvedge, in-keeping with thought from the last bulletin, I’m still in the Kondo headspace.
On the Radar
Aime Leon Dore Basketweave Club Jacket
I came across this jacket in the ALD store, and it is haunting me. The price is absurd, but I can’t quite get over how strikingly lightweight this jacket is. It’s my opinion that the navy blazer, single or double breasted, benefits from some kind of modernisation, it almost certainly needs to be unconstructed. The basketweave fabric this coat is cut from possesses an unparalleled drape for a lightweight jacket.
Horatio Footwear
Regrettably, I didn't make it to Horatio’s recently opened “City Boy” brick-and-mortar store, but I think its done a lot towards legitimising the house. It seems a little as though folks were holding their breath and waiting for the reviews to come in on the product from other folks. Although I haven’t yet put my money where my mouth is, it seems like things are looking fairly positive.
Beli (and the restaurants I ate at)
This is not a food letter, and I’m fairly certain I’d be hopeless as a food critic anyway, but I have taken to logging my restaurant visits on this new-fangled app whatsit. This thing does away with star reviews and goes for match-ups instead, I like that, it makes it easier to rank stuff. Comparison is the easiest form of value judgment. Its recommendations are fairly dire, at least in my city, those in more major metro areas might have more success, where it shines instead is if you can get a few mates on it, one’s whose opinions you trust on food that is. Overall, worth a trip to the App Store to stick on your mobile, and maybe an excuse to try a new spot this week.
There’s plenty more I have on the radar right now, but I’ll be saving those for the next issue.
The Turntable
In between the repeat listenings of Charli XCX’s Brat, and Norah Jones, to keep my music taste totally indecipherable, ears have fallen on Clairo’s latest: Charm. Single: Sexy to Someone has been a hard repeat since it came out, and the rest of the record follows up with a swathe of new tunes that fit very nicely into Clairo’s canon.
Great as a morning listen, whilst breakfast is made and ablutions are applied. Keeps you in a nice space between ready to take on the day, and laid-back.