Friday 1 October 2010

Fri 1st Oct: Alex James at Timothy Everest










Chrissie Abbott and I were lucky enough to have a tour round Timothy Everest tailors in a quiet little hidden enclave to the side of Spitalfields. The epicentre of Everest's operation runs out of an 18th century town house that once belonged to Bloomsbury artist Mark Gertler. Timothy has restored the residency into a delectable destination for the most discerning dandy. If you duck down like Craig Schwartz in Being John Malkovich you can descend the low ceiling stairs into the basement of alphabetised bespoke blocks. Here are hand drafted patterns for the likes of The Prime Minister, Tom Cruise, David Beckham, Jazy-Z, Mick Jagger, Jarvis Cocker, James McAvoy, Colin Radcliffe, Casey Spooner and Alex James for who we came to visit.
Timothy Everest invited Central St.Martins textile students to invent a woollen weave that would work in both town and country for him to construct a special suit to subvert traditional tailoring. Winning participant Lauren Chiu engineered her tweed with a muse in mind and that man was Alex James. She wanted to modernise convention by taking inspiration from an urban customer that had retreated to a rural life - "The Dandy Farmer". When the competition was closed, Timothy considered contacting James to see if he would be interested in wearing the hypothetical suit. In accordance to his generous nature, James obliged. Infact, as we found out during our interview, he was spectacularly tickled pink and flattered to have been picked. To conclude the project Alex left his country retreat and held court in Timothy's house for press to visit and taste his "Blue Monday" cheese.
Each room of the establishment is colour coded with a red haired Annika Caswell residing in the red room where she hand sews the unique jackets. Here she is demonstrating the silk/cashmere mix panels being basted to a canvas understructure, and eased into perfect position. I was blown away at the methodical process the pieces undergo in the hands of this expert team of craftsmen. Apparently the motion of manoeuvres is akin to choreography and Annika loses herself in the instinctive flow of formulae. The sewing machine is scarcely used to seam the suits and instead a heavy iron steams and moulds this second skin. The roll of the lapel swirls in two conflicting directions after careful manipulation and rows upon rows of tacks, teaching the grain to stay that way. A sum has been equated that at least 10 of Everest's employees would have had part in making just one Made to Measure suit - that's not even the bespoke!
Up one floor from the red room is the green room where we opened the door and found Alex James sitting in his brand spanking new green suit. You can sense that the former "casual" has found accustomed appreciation for wearing a "suit of armour". He told us how he likes to wear a suit any day of the week and that it gives him a shield of protection and feeling of concealing comfort. The 3 piece set looked immaculate on his classic English elongated stature and this exuded immaculate confidence in the way he moved. I won't give away any more details as we have the interview on tape which will be edited and brought to you shortly - a film first for the fredbutlerstyle blog! All I will say is that he is every bit the humble and humorous gent you would wish him to be and restored our faith in GENTLE MEN.

To check out Timothy's blog, click here.

Friday 1st Oct: London's Next Top Tranny





I LIVE for Trannies (you may well have caught wind of that fact by now!). Infact its probably safe to say that I am a tranny trapped inside a woman's body (not quite sure how that works, but it is what it is). Although I attend many Tranny events I never get photos to capture the spectacle as Im always too busy enjoying the moment and loving every minute. However last night I managed to snap 2 of the judges Scottee (also in WMag) and Jonny Woo. Here is also Lady Bunny who is in London and made an appearance for the final of the competition. Along with Piers Atkinson I donated an accessory to the winning prize and Miss Fancy Chance stole the night with her Prince themed persona. She won the title of "Alternative Miss World" last year and now taken the title of Top Tranny from host The Fabulous Russella. It was a brilliant night and I had a ball............Russella making pancakes whilst lip synching to Christina Aguilera is always a highlight!

To read more on Alternative Miss World, read my review

Friday 1st Oct: Street Style Book Launch with Ted Polhemus






PYMCA hosted the exhibition and book signing for Ted Polhemus updated version of the classic "Street Style" at Shoreditch Book Club last evening. ROWDY got to meet the man who just wrote up "The East Enders" in this months W Magazine which featured the portrait of him by Tim Walker (see my issue at home here). I never did buy the original as it was always in the library at school so I'm glad I now have my own copy, especially this upgraded edition with new photos from the archive of PYMCA. Here is one such brilliant subculture style snap of Jamaican dancehall by Wayne Tippetts which I'm so pleased has been published in this way. So kids of the new generation, get your own signed copy here............. I know that I referenced it for my thesis on Tank Girl all those moons ago.............

30th Sept-31st October
The Book Club
100 Leonard Street, London, EC2A 4RH

Friday 1st Oct: Bishi - Curvy Icon on Vogue.it


Here is Bishi shot in the new issue of AnOther Magazine wearing one of my silver Heliocentric Electric hairclips. She's currently featured over on Vogue.it in a little film about her identity and life as a London Curvy Icon! Very proud!!!!!!!! So when are we going to see her on a printed page of Vogue....................... cmon Conde Nast, get with the program!

Thursday 30 September 2010

Thurs 30th Sept: Designers at LONDON show ROOMS, Paris



Here is an incoming snap from my Paris connection correspondent Craig Lawrence. A clutch of London's new design talent have shipped their wares across the channel for a showroom at Paris Fashion Week. They set off at the bewitching hour this morning in time to set up for opening shop first thing today - here is Stevie inbetween Craig's dresses whilst unloading. Read below for the complete list of who to find when you visit..........they will be in town until the 8th of Oct.

Atalanta Weller, Chau Har Lee, Christopher Raeburn, Craig Lawrence, David Koma, Dominic Jones, Fannie Schiavoni, Felicity Brown, Heikki Salonen, Holly Fulton, J.JS Lee, Jordan Askill, J.W.Anderson, Les Chiffoniers, Louise Gray, Mark Fast, Marjan Pejoski, Mary Katrantzou, Michael Lewis, Michael van der Ham, Nasir Mazhar, Simone Rocha, Todd Lynn,Yang Du

Spring/Summer 2011: Friday 1st October - Friday 8th October
JTM Gallery
40 rue de Richelieu (1er) PARIS 75001
+33 (0) 147 030 960

Wednesday 29 September 2010

Weds 29th Sept: Shoreditch Sisters visit Mrs Jones Emporium

















Yesterday evening I joined the Shoreditch Sisters for one of their after work jollies. When I imagine a W.I meeting I expect to see ladies of a certain age dunking jammy dodgers in a mint green china cup of strong tea. However, when I scaled the stairs to get to the dizzy heights of Mrs Jones emporium I discovered a dermographic of young 20 somethings giggling away and grappling at the cute poodle Betty. Cava was opened and we sat down to listen to an introduction about this Mr.Ben experience and the whole ethos of the emporium. Fee Doran (a.k.a Mrs Jones) has moved studios and opened up her archive to the public to come and browse, inspect and enjoy her catalogue of costumes. Each piece of the vast wardrobe is labeled with its origin and whom may have worn it originally. If you take a look at Fee's bio you will see that she has kitted out a spectrum cross section of the music industry with iconic garms and this is a chance to try them on! The Shoreditch Sisters took it in turns to slip into a Rhianna onsie and Kylie accessories. Although the purpose of this exercise is for enthusiasts to run loose in her dressing-up box, the garments are actually for hire or sale. Anyone can visit to invest in an original Mrs.Jones creation or snap up a new piece of jewellery in collaboration with Tatty Devine.
The emporium is a new home since Fee switched East for West and left a studio previously owned by Banksy, complete with writing on the wall! Now Fee has her studio / showroom / hair salon / general sensational wonderland above the PYMCA agency in Clerkenwell. On Thursday night PYMCA are launching the new edition of Ted Polhemus infamous "Street Style" with a book signing at the exhibition. Check out here for more info The other date you should be getting in your diary is a visit to Fee's fantabulous layer of customized furniture and closet of star's confidentials .......including a pair of Sid Vicious's boots, Elton John's boots and even a pair of leggings for The Darkness made up entirely of pairs of the fans knickers!

To keep up with Mrs Jones = click here for Mrs Jones Blog
To find out about joining The Shoreditch Sisters W.I for crafty fun, check out their Facebook
Thanks to the girls for modelling! Tina, Daniella, Elnaz
To see from the event, go to Fashion's Most Wanted for an exceptional blog!!!!!!

Tuesday 28 September 2010

Tues 28th Sept: Spinning at Shula's Wigwam





Yes that's right, I will be spinning some tunes at JaguarShoes this Friday with Shula's Wigwam who asked me to join them for this "Woodland" theme night! Shula's Wigwam comprise of Vickie Hayward and Chrissie Abbott who has just moved studios and here is her new wall of inspiration. I also had to grab this gorgeous photo of pastels from her brilliant blog......all of her photography has a dreamy cosmic quality.........just like her illustration..........and perhaps like her disc selection.........
.................head down to JaguarShoes this weekend............we're gonna have animal masks and other woodland type stuff on our heads.........and instead of felling trees we'll be playing some dance floor fillers........Ive been digging the crates all Summer like a squirrel collecting nuts and gathered a great stash of new tracks to get you out of hibernation and DANCING! Leslie Kulesh will also be playing .......

Monday 27 September 2010

Mon 27th Sept: Backstage at Giles










Thanks to Emily Beard for these amazing backstage photos from the Giles S/S 11 show at London Fashion Week. You may recognise Emily's name as a reporter for my blog when she intermittently covers features and also helps me when it comes to taking notes at interviews! Emily has her own blog "Between Peace and Happiness" which currently has fantastic insight into various backstage shows and inspiring image resource from her weekly "Sunday Scrapbook" posts. There is a really cute photo of Giles himself which is worth checking out on its very own merit!)

Sunday 26 September 2010

Sun 26th Sept: LFW Wardrobe










I'm never totally comfortable with posting photos of myself .........wreeeeeks slightly of "Being a dickheads cool" BUT then again I might be missing out on a trick as it seems every other fashion blogger flogs this side of their profile..........so here goes.......

Top to bottom:
1) Wearing dress by Goodone for the Fashion Targets Breast Cancer campaign - Polaroid portrait by Style Slicker
2) At New Gen Men, Photo: Sean Michaels
3) At Circus, wearing a cosmic metallic shirt I have temporarily borrowed from Craig Lawrence's drag bag. Photo: Oggy Yordonov
4) At Cooperative Designs Presentation at The Groucho Club wearing blue cord bustier and circle bag by threeASFOUR worn over vintage dress and Alistair Carr padded bomber jacket. Photo: The Swelle Life
5) At Giles party wearing Oscar De La Renta vintage sheer dress from a Salvation Army & my Dodecahedron necklace, circle bag by ASFOUR photo: The Cobra Snake
6) 80's Rainbow LYCRA body gifted to me from Patternity Photo: F.Tape Twitter