Old Town

Based in the North Norfolk town of Holt, Old Town seem to pride themselves on being a fashionably old-fashioned sort of outfitters. To take a tour of their quaint website is to take a step back in time, to the era of demob clothing, Powell and Pressburger, and post war rationing. Their menswear collection of workwear jackets, coats and trousers are solidly British in both cut and fabric, and customers can choose from a range of styles in UK-made flannels, tweeds and drills. All callers are directed to the charmingly named Miss Willey, who according to the website,"is able to advise on style, fit and to discuss the merits of the various fabrics." If you fancy looking like an extra from 'Brief Encounter' or 'I'm All Right Jack' go for the full outfit. If you'd just prefer a touch of the Old Town look, you could always team a tweed waistcoat up with your slim-cut Levis and Grensons.

Clothes for a walk in the woods

Above: Saturday morning on Hampstead Heath. As close as you get to being in the countryside in London.

Picture this. A crisp October morning, leaves crunching underfoot and Robert Frost's poem about "The road less travelled" ringing in your ears. What could be more perfect? Well, having some great togs to venture forth in would be nice. So here are my suggestions for making that autumn walk a little more enjoyable:
Filson Tin Cruiser Jacket (collars turned up)
Nigel Cabourn Four-Way rollneck
Oliver Spencer Beck Green tweed trousers (tucked into some nice thick socks)
Yuketen red wool rucsack
LLBean Cresta Hikers

Margaret Howell MHL Staff Jacket Corduroy

Now the nights are getting darker and the days a little colder, I've swapped my cotton blazers for something warmer - Margaret Howell's MHL Staff Jacket in an autumnal shade of heavy jumbo cord. The three-button jacket is smart, but not too formal and like other Staff Jackets from the MHL range the cut is boxy and slightly cropped with a single rear vent. It has three patch pockets on the outside, two proper internal pockets (both with button fastening) and is half lined at the back with a soft grey flannel. The preshrunk fabric can be machine washed, and feels really comfortable against the skin when you slip it on over a T-shirt.

As with my earlier review of Howell's Pleat Pocket Jacket (here) I'm going to update you in a while on how it's been wearing and how it copes with a couple of washes at 40 degrees.

Astrid Kirchherr

Some great images by the German photographer and artist Astrid Kircherr taken during 1960-61 in Hamburg. I particularly like her portrait of Liverpudlian singer Rory Storm (2nd from top). Kirchherr helped inspire the early Beatles look of mop top haircuts, narrow trousers and collarless jackets.

These boots were made for walking

Very much in the style of classic hiking boots, these Diemme Roccia Vet Boots are now for sale via the Tres Bien Shop. Sure, they'll look great with rolled up chinos. But they could look even better with Nigel Cabourn's Harris tweed pants, especially if you're into the whole Mallory and Irvine 1920s Everest Expedition look this winter.

Workwear for the working man

My recent post about S.E.H Kelly's workwear jacket got me thinking. Workwear has become incredibly fashionable of late, being used by labels like Engineered Garments and Woolrich Woolen Mills as the basis of their collections. But what about real workwear, as worn on building sites and in tool shops, used day in and day out by carpenters, train drivers and engineers? This stuff's bound to be dirt cheap I thought, but could it be a cool thing to wear? I started looking at some online catalogues - here's what a quick trawl of some workwear websites turned up:

First up is a 100% cotton twill engineers jacket and trousers (above) from Yarmo priced at £19.05 and £18.40 respectively. Not bad I thought, a nice shade of navy and not a million miles away from something Universal Works might have in one of their collections. The three button jacket has nice narrow lapels and the trews look reasonably slim. Team this up with a nice gingham check shirt and pull on some Jack Purcells and this ensemble could work I reckon. I did think they could have chosen a better model for their catalogue though.

Then there's a truly American piece of workwear, this Chore Coat from Pointer at £23.50 available in brown duck or denim. I liked this a lot, and could see myself not only wearing this, but paying four times the price for it at a fancy shop in Soho.

Next there's some combat pants from A.S. Elite workwear. These look good too, and cost just £12.45. The website doesn't say what they're made from (I'm guessing polycotton), but at this price, who cares?

Finally the Portwest Engineer's jacket. A nice simple design in 100% cotton, and a classic blue colour, almost like the Kelly jacket. Swap the daft shirt and tie for something by Olly Spencer and dump the pen, and this could look the business. The price tag looks good too at just £21.

So that's it. Not a bad selection and really cheap. If you get them home and find they aren't quite as cool as you expected, you could always wear them to fix the car or do the gardening in. And I'm quite sure if you trawl the net harder, you'll find better stuff that this. If you do, please send your recommendations my way.

S.E.H Kelly Work Jacket

New for AW 10 from S.E.H Kelly is this plain but nicely styled work jacket, made from a heavyweight cotton-twill woven in Lancashire. It's available in French Navy.

Grenson Smith boots

Longer and leaner than Grenson's Chukkas, these Smith boots would look great with some slimline jeans.

Available through the Kurt Geiger website.