Albam's new web photography

A welcome addition to Albam's website is some new photography, which features the clothing being worn by a model instead of being displayed on a coat hanger. Far preferable if you ask me. Albam make some great stuff, which looks even better on real people.

Folk AW11 Wool Overcoat

This one's a beaut. Available in charcoal, midnight, stone and white (not sure about that last one), Folk's Wool Overcoat makes a nice alternative to the ubiquitous peacoat this season.

Penny Stock Lookbook 2011

I don't know much about the US clothing company Penny Stock, but when I saw these drawings from their 2011 Lookbook, it made me laugh. Abe Lincoln in a chambray stripe button down? Teddy Kennedy in a pale blue floral Liberty print? Now that's what you call brand with a sense of humour.

Ripley Style

In Anthony Minghella's 1999 film version of "The Talented Mr Ripley", the elegant Italian suits and accessories are symbolic of the lifestyle that impoverished Tom Ripley lusts after. Particularly when they're being worn by the wealthy socialite, Dickie Greenleaf. Ripley ends up acquiring Greenleaf's threads, his tailor and his sartorial sense of style, even if he has to resort to some dark deeds in the process. Mind you I'd have killed to get my hands on some of this stuff too.

The Full Monty

When I was at uni, one of my favourite books was Patricia Bosworth's brilliantly written biography of the actor Montgomery Clift. In the book, Clift comes across as something of a tortured genius, a mummy's boy with a consummate acting technique, developed on the stage and honed working alongside greats like Alfred Hitchcock, George Stevens and Howard Hawks. I read that book cover to cover at least four or five times. Yet the thing that I was most entranced with was the pictures. Clift in a crisp white button down Brooks Brothers shirt and sports jacket. Clift taking Liz Taylor to a premiere in a tux. In fact Clift looked great in anything from a leather jacket to a baggy tweed suit when the mood suited him. (When it didn't, according to Bosworth, he could often be seen slouching around in jackets full of holes looking generally unkempt and "like a bum", but that's another story.) Anyway, I thought I'd share with you some of the man's looks and wardrobe. Even today, 44 years after his death, he's still something of a style icon.

Chinos

Some of the best chinos around for the money have to be those made by Dockers. The great thing about this US based company is that they have every style around from the big baggy numbers favoured by large American gentlemen, right down to the pencil slim variety worn by thin teenaged boys and ageing rock stars. Not being particularly thin, teenaged or a rock star, I generally go for the D1 style, which is slim without being skinny. And a big plus is the fact they come in six colours and four different leg lengths. You can pick these up for as little as £49.99 on sites like buy-jeans.net

Margaret Howell MHL Pleat Pocket Jacket

Popped in to the Margaret Howell Sale on Wigmore Street yesterday. Found the Pleat Pocket Jacket from Howell's MHL diffusion line reduced from £255 to £175. It's a heavy-ish cotton twill jacket, unlined with a washed out mid-grey colour. Design-wise it feels like a cross between one of those sixties box jackets, slightly cropped with small lapels, and a piece of workwear. I'm going to throw it in the washing machine a few times to see if it softens up.

Update: 15th September 2010. I've worn the jacket for nearly two months now, and machine washed it twice during this time (turning it inside out first - a tip from one of the MH sales staff). The fabric has softened only slightly, but what's really nice is that it holds its shape when you air dry it afterwards, and there's no need to iron it. The creases and wrinkles that you're left with (see photo above) add even more character to the washed out nature of the fabric.