Hardy Amies - The Phoenix rises!

 For my first blog piece of 2012 I want to reintroduce Sir Edwin Hardy Amies and appreciating quality over quantity.

HA’s ABC of men’s fashion was first published by Newnes in 1964. Reading through it you soon navigate yourself back to a time when men (and woman) took a little more pride in dressing themselves not for the sake of fashion nor to impress their peers but so as to look their best, all of the time. It opens with a famous Amies quote

“A man should look as if he bought his clothes with intelligence, put them on with care and then forgotten all about them.”

Each entry is short and entertaining, ABC allows a fleeting insight into the mind of one of Britain’s most talented outfitters. Unlike the man himself I live by the ethos that there are no definite rules to dressing. If you like a garment, it fits well, looks good and makes you feel more confident then wear it, who’s to judge!?! We live in a very different time, the fashion industry is now a multi billion dollar machine, bulging with celebrity, dominated by the ‘it’ girl, the ‘it’ bag and our lives are lived in one position, fast-forward. This fast paced lifestyle multiplied by a harsh and uncertain economic landscape has played host to a new kind of consumerism. Markets are full to the brim with fast fashion, fast food, fast living, fast dining, fast reading, fast living…. Dead. Everything has to be stunningly accessible, websites don’t sell you things, you are presented with “what to buy”, “we recommend you try this”. Convenience is king! This winter high street stores have struggled more than ever. Is it the end to the high street?

I have a love hate relationship with the Internet, Facebook is a thing of beauty, near flawless in its design and craftsmanship. News travels in real time. Dictatorships have been overthrown with its help, riots fuelled with it. People have fallen in love over it and divorced because of it. The effortlessness in syncing your entire ‘digital’ life with every program and friend you have, awe-inspiring. Information is God, but do we use it? Like most drugs you need to get away from them from time to time and the internet is no different.

Brought up rather old school when it comes to buying things I like to do it in the flesh, a penchant for seeing things, feeling them, smelling them. I like watching other people shop, I both loathe and love fragrance departments reeking of synthetic laden new releases,  become seduced by the subtle woosh of the air conditioning, smile at the sound of clothes hangers scraping against their rails and the click of metal against metal as you re-peg unwanted products. The way in which the sales assistants sheepishly ask if you need help, the smell of cold/hot fabric yearning to be worn. That rustle of wrapping paper as your purchase is placed in the bag, you can feel the tackiness of the tape securing your purchase in place as the top is closed. Finally the hot jet of air as you walk out the door, an experience has just taken place… I love all that and you don’t get that from clicking a mouse. Time to leave your homes and get outside!!

Having never been influenced by the changing face of our high street or by the leaps and bounds in internet shopping technology, I admire them for what they are but I know my own disproportionate figure pretty well, I know which brands clad it well, which cuts highlight it and also which colours suit my skin. I shop unblinkered most of the time, stopping at select pieces checking the quality, eyeing the proportions, stretching the shoulders, feeling armholes, logging my thoughts and walking away. I have a rather short skinny torso, long but thin arms and long legs. I am finding it harder to find off the peg clothes. This wasn’t always the case…

Hardy Amies opened a store on Edinburgh’s George St. in Oct. 2007. I used to frequent here as a not so tall teenager. I loved it. The perfect balance of high street meets the row. It provided stellar customer service that all tailors on the row pride themselves on; the shopping assistants were laidback but efficient, impeccably dressed and most importantly honest. Sadly I no longer fit any of my garments and have since divvied them up between my more petite friends and family. Like all good things, the shop came to an end far to soon, the company hit financial difficulty after their Icelandic backer Arev withdrew their funding and new owners Victor and William Fung decided a new business strategy was needed. Tally Ho retail stores, hello once bombed out 14 Savile Row.

 

After a few years with little noise from the house a strange thing happened early last year BANG! Ad campaigns promoting the houses latest offerings arrived back on the pages. The website took its time to shed any real details on the come back but for me it all restarted with an immaculate AW11 collection inspired by Hardy’s life in the 1930’s European society circuit. Boasting shoes by Edward Green, a classic colour palette of greys, reds and blues. Structured and unstructured Prince of wales and windowpane blazers, double breasting in wool cashmere and that wonderfully British style icon... the contrast collar shirt. Safe to say a new lease of life has been pumped into a dying Savile Row establishment.

So who’s behind this resuscitation? After an award-winning year at Patrick Grant’s E. Tautz the ready to wear queen of Savile Row, Claire Malcolm. Claire was appointed as Designer at the fabled house of Hardy Amies in 2010. This new look by Malcolm maintains the classic British aesthetic while channelling continental styling’s, understanding Heritage brands she is moving with the times, introducing current trends whilst still staying true to the companies historic past. This balance has seen Hardy Amies soaring back to the top of British menswear once more.

On a perfumed note. A few years back I managed to pick up a bottle of Hardy Amies eau de parfum from the now defunct Roja Dove install in Edinburgh’s once famous Jenner’s department store, a steal at £60. Sadly there isn’t a single drop left and the bottle is now stored in my grandmothers perfume treasure trove/ graveyard. An understated chypre cut in half by two sensual white floral notes of jasmine and ylang-ylang both of which are draped in an astonishing hazy tobacco veil, grasped by the lapels with lemon oil, sewn neatly together with rose and myrrh and an androgynous wink towards the gentleman’s fougére with nuances of aromatic sage and earthy green patchouli. If this really is a come back for Hardy Amies then I eagerly await the roll out of new ready to wear and possibly even another new fragrance or at least a re-launching of this one, pretty please!

Sir Edwin Hardy Amies left us at the not so tender age of 93 back in 2003 and for a while I thought his memory and name might also have left us too. As of last year the HA heart seems to be beating again and so far its looking…. Dashing!

Hardy Amies, 14 Savile Row, London W1S 3JN

Fancy this

This past month has been one of the busiest in my entire life. Hence no posting on justanothermanabouttown. BUT, last month had one of the biggest pulls view wise since I started this blog early last year. I plan to be posting regularly from now on but if you log in for the images I use then it may be easier for you to follow me on Fancy too.


A beautiful platform dedicated to uploading and "fancying" other users images you like.


The users or community leaves much to be desired, passions and emotions run high and sometimes the level drops to that of a playground but as a means of obtaining beautiful images pulled from all over the globe and internet then Fancy is extremely useful.


You can follow me here
http://www.thefancy.com/tincturesofdreams

Juergen Teller.... tell me hows its done!!

Some of us collect stamps, old coins, watches... cars. I collect fragrances, clothes, memories and design magazines. The current circulation of glossy mags contain some of the best work of I have seen in well over a year. 

My issues of Another, Vogue, Esquire, Gentlewoman, Fantastic Man, Dazed and Confused, Another Man, Wonderland, Wallpaper have some hefty dog earage throughout their Editorials but currently it is the work of Juergen Tellers for Marc Jacobs and Céline thats pleasing my eyes.

Ever the lens-smith Teller has over the years captured the essence of brands beautifully and simply. He is quite possibly the most realistic and recognizable fashion photographer working today.

The recipe; Shoot naturally beautiful people in unpretentious surroundings  and let the products speak for themselves, leave the images as raw as possible and apply tasteful amounts of 

overexposure.... simples! (oh, and a slight obsession with Le Nu)

MaSTeR gRuNGe LeN$

Moan

As the nights draw in, the streets darken, the faces become more obscured, visible living suspended in frozen air. As the temperature drops everything seems more alive.

On a blustery Edinburgh night walking home I steadily approach George IV bridge, the Bank of Scotland with its grand oxygenised copper hat looms above me. Im wearily stalking the streets on autopilot, drenched in L'Artisan Parfumeur's Patchouli Patch, neck to foot in Black ala Hedi Slimane for Dior homme. My ears are haunted by this music.... music that disturbs, freaks but strikes an unusual balance within me, almost comforting.

The track is a remix of Trentemoller's Moan, remixed by Trentemoller. The ostinato rolls on becoming more and more embellished, beautifully driving its harmonic simplicity further into the mind of the listener. The polyrhythms intertwine gracefully like snakes mating. Ane Trolle's vocal melody dropping in and out with a timbre like porcelain, aged porcelain on the verge of cracking.

Dark, muted shades of phthalo green flood the brain. A sense of being stalked by an aloof beauty, of being watched.... loved from afar.

Anders Trentemoller is a musical behemoth. Check out his work even if you are not an electronic music lover you may find yourself being moved, I did.

I felt the need to blog on this piece as it has been playing on my mind for the past few weeks. I needed to bring it to life and make it my own. I needed to scent it, I needed to give it an image and a place or season. Trolle's voice was moaning for me to become more attached, begging me to allocate a well selected fragrance and clad it in a "look" or "Feel". Funny how a new fragrance can strike a chord and bring things together.

L'Artisan Parfumeur we <3 you!

Thinking about you

Constantly thinking about you

I've been thinking too much about you

See the sunset with no sleep at all

Constantly thinking about you

And i can't get through this at all

I've been thinking too much about you

I've been staring at the floor

I've listened to all the tunes i love

But made me feel quite blue

Thomas Stubbs

Those who know me will know that my favorite menswear stylist is Mr Thomas Stubbs, master of the "Landan" look.

His blog STYLE & ERROR is the best menswear blog in the country, witty, stylish, informative and regular in its postings. Spiffing

Over at oki-ni have a gander at Mr Stubbs latest work for the styled by column rather dashing I say.

Here in the UK you can see Tom's work all over the place without even knowing it. Stylist for Dermot O'Leary on the X-Factor (Gary Barlow's stylist is Luke Day, very similar but using international labels) If like me you have a keen eye you can see his styling efforts on the red carpet.... Film premieres, charity balls, fashion events and even leaking onto the london fashion week menswear runways.

One of the aspect I respect most about his work is his use of British houses almost exclusively. Combining high end retail, Bespoke and when needed a little help from our stylish neighbors from Italy, France and the US.

Tom Stubbs constantly uses companies such as Spencer Hart, Thom Sweeney, Edward Sexton, Hardy Amies, George Cleverley, Emmett, Rake, E Tautz, Drakes with the odd venture across the channel for some J.M. Weston's or a slither of sprezzatura fun at Prada and Gucci.

My top 5 stylish gents in British fashion consists of (in no particular order)

William Gilchrist

Adrien Sauvage

Thomas Stubbs

Patrick Grant 

Gordon Richardson 

Stubbs currently contributes towards the Financial Times 'How to spend it.', The Sunday Times style, GQ, The Rake magazine and a regular for Finch's Quarterly Review.