AreYouMod.co.uk

black jeans ensemble

27/9/2015

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GABICCI VINTAGE 60s Mod Stripe Knit Polo Latte (Atom Retro) £64.99

LUKE 1977 Gingham Detailed Retro Mod SS Polo (Atom Retro) £59.99

Retro Mod Houndstooth Polo Top (Atom retro) £39.99

Terry The Doorman LUKE 1977 Contrast Collar Polo (Atom Retro) £30

GABICCI VINTAGE Retro Mod Raised Stripe Panel Polo (Atom Retro) £44.99

TROJAN Retro Mod Diamond Jacquard Polo Shirt (B) (Atom Retro) £39.99

The drawers were looking a bit bare for stuff to go with my black jeans, so I've been surfing Atom Retro for inspiration. Highly recommended - some great designs out there. And quite a variety of prices too.

Roll on Christmas I guess...

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Real Stars are Rare

27/9/2015

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It's pretty odd that this has happened at least twice now.

As with Liam Gallagher's Pretty Green, Paul Weller's new fashion label Real Stars Are Rare (slightly self-aggrandising, but then I suppose that's the Mod swagger coming through) is overpriced.

I don't doubt that the clothes are excellent quality but only have the pictures on the site to judge by. Likewise, looking at the pictures, they've got some pretty stylish bits and pieces and, it must be said, a quite creative outlook on some traditional Mod staples. Patterned trousers, plain-coloured Oxford shirts (for which there is a massive niche by the way, were they not so ridiculously expensive) and some quite natty suits (though they have a button too few on the front in my opinion) are all available where the usual suspects simply have no answer.

Yet among all of this, there is something missing. The prices are just wrong.

Take wine as a parallel example. The comparison between a £5 and £50 bottle of wine is clear; you would expect better taste and more enjoyment in the case of the more valuable one. But there is sometimes (in very prestigious establishments) that ridiculous bottle at the bottom of the menu priced at £2500. I can't be the only one that is thinking "what could possibly be so fantastically great about the taste of that bottle that it is worth fifty times as much as the previous one?" (or probably more likely: "What the fuck?!"). At some point along the scale, there can surely be no differentiation in taste: probably at about £80, the price becomes based simply on reputation and vintage. It crosses into a slightly weird area where it could actually just be made up depending on what the managers feels because it doesn't matter - no ordinary person is going to buy it anyway, and people who will buy it will probably be able to afford it whatever the cost.

So this blog has to ask RSAR: who are the ideal buyers of these products? I fear that Weller may be falling into the same trap as Gallagher once did - creating rockstar clothes at rockstar prices. Mod, as others have mentioned before, is not about names or labels. You can't just expect to command a high price just because it's Weller's brand. The vintage wine approach won't work for a Mod audience.

I admit again, if the quality really is there, then the products may be worth that price. But for me, an enthusiastic and committed follower and propagator of Mod style, who finds it difficult to look at a good clothing website without estimating how feasible it is for me to buy the lot, and yet whose income is about average for the country, THESE PRICES ARE JUST TOO FUCKING HIGH. Just crossing the line into the made-up area for me I'm afraid.

This is a huge shame because as I said, I would feel justified in trying out chasing RSAR's stuff if it were just twenty per cent more affordable. I just don't have the money to take that punt.

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Georgie Fame

25/9/2015

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That jacket tho.

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It's nearly scarf season again...

22/9/2015

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I'm tempted to go strolling down to Carnaby Street and get something for the upcoming cold months.

Peckham Rye is the place to go for your high quality silk scarf. Walking into that tiny shop is like walking into the Pharoah's tomb of treasures - so many styles, yet so little time.

Although I must admit... prices do seem to have inched up slightly since I last went there. I'm fairly sure I paid £55 for my one a few years ago.

Red / blue paisley silk scarf (Peckham Rye) £65

Purple with dark dots silk scarf (Peckham Rye) £65

Orange / blue paisley silk scarf (Peckham Rye) £65

Blue with white dots silk scarf (Peckham Rye) £65

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Pellicano menswear

20/9/2015

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This is new to me.

I haven't bought anything yet.

But it looks promising.

By the looks of it, there is not the widest range of stuff on the menu, mostly shirts and ties and various other accessories. However, I have no problem with that - it's rare that you find someone doing specialist pocket squares, for example and I'm sure by focusing on those few items they could become indispensable.

They also have a superb slogan which is great for Mod in general:

British Swagger, Italian Style

Very sound.

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Baby don't you lie to me

19/9/2015

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They're not Mod. But it's a damn good song...

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ei8htball earphones

13/9/2015

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These look pretty hectic - the first officially Mod earphones?

Marketing blurb below. Shame they're out of stock at the mo.

"High quality headphones by ei8htball. Described as 'Great Value Bass Monsters' by T3 Magazine, these earphones have a durable metal casing with cord wire system, MIC1 controller to pause, play and take calls, and an individually tailored sound curve. Do your ears a favour!

Specification:

Speaker: Single Low Mass/High Energy Micro-Speakers
Driver: 11mm Dynamic Transducer
Sensitivity: 99DB + 3DB
Frequency Response: 16 Ohms
Rated Power: 2mw
Max. Power: 5mw
Input Connector: 3.5mm Gold-Plated Jack"

EX811 (ei8htball) £?

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1.07 PRETTY GREEN #100mod

13/9/2015

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This is the next in my long-running series of posts aimed at nailing down the important pins on the map of essential Mod clothing.
So throw away your River Island shirts and your sailing shoes. Here are the 100 things you'd be Mod to try...

Blue camouflage "John Lennon" jacket (Pretty Green) £100

Black parka (Pretty Green) £180

Red shirt with paisley pocket (Pretty Green) £65

Navy grandad shirt with paisley collar (Pretty Green) £65

Founded originally by the legendary Liam Gallagher, Pretty Green's flagship store in Carnaby Street is a sight to behold. In more than one sense.

It's a treasure trove; the product of the big kid's tortured mind. Rugged parkas, camouflage jackets, mannequins of the Beatles; it's all in there, usually with the Libertines or Stone Roses banging through the shop's speakers. Even on a flying visit, you're likely to find a gem or two. The Pretty Green line recreates some classics in a far more creative way than many other brands.
So it is Mod. But not in the strictest sense and certainly not the gold standard as some seem to believe, as insightfully pointed out by gigslutz:

"There’s Pretty Green and some people believe that to be true mod clothing! Please. I’ve witnessed people wearing a big Pretty Green logo on their shirt and mocking what someone else is wearing, completely missing the point and hiding behind what they perceive to be the safety blanket of a vaguely mod-related label, unaware that though a label can be bought, a mindset can’t."

Nevertheless it's worth a look; it's rugged. This isn't great for everything - you won't find your slick mohair suits in there or a pair of check trousers. And it ain't cheap - shirts were about £130 each, making one wonder who exactly it was Gallagher expected to buy his stuff. But if you check the website now, that fortunately no longer seems to be the case.

What you will find is a line of genuine Gallagher-esque products with a strong, northern-Mod showing; slightly scruffy, but cool nevertheless.

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1.06 CHelsea Boots #100Mod

6/9/2015

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This is the next in my long-running series of posts aimed at nailing down the important pins on the map of essential Mod clothing.
So throw away your River Island shirts and your sailing shoes. Here are the 100 things you'd be Mod to try...

Looking for a few extra inches in height? Then these boots are for you. Whether you pick the extremely flash pointy-toed versions or opt for the more robust, more 'masculine' round-toed type, Chelsea Boots are a must in any Mod's catalogue of looks, simply because they are so cool without the faffing. Slip on and slip off. No frilly tassles, no fiddly laces and no pretence. They nod to style while being the footwear of action, a more subtle, understated type of cool without being totally in your face. Which is what Mod is mostly about after all.
And there are about a jillion different kinds - the market is spectacularly creative here in terms of quality, styles and, actually, prices. Some of my faves are below:

Black Chelsea boots (IKON) £64.99

Navy Chelsea boots (House of Fraser / Roland Cartier Clarky) £99

Brown suede Chelsea boots (Adaptor / John White Cheshire) £120

Black Chelsea boots (Jump the Gun / Loake) £160

Tan Chelsea boots (Jump the Gun / Loake) £160

Brown suede Chelsea boots (House of Fraser / Linea) £59

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My jacket's gonna be cut slim and check...

6/9/2015

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Brown leather belt (ASOS) £12

Navy blue Prince of Wales check suit (Adaptor) £220

Brown suede Chelsea boots (House of Fraser) £59

Ok, so fully achieving the Mod vibe with the title, but this is the new outfit I have planned for when I start my new job in a few weeks. It cost an absolute fortune, but, to use the words of Gordon Brown, I see it as an investment in style.
What with the overwhelmingly large salary increase I've inexplicably managed to land myself with, I thought it was time to stop kicking around in the same old (though don't get me wrong, stylish) black mohair suit and switch up to something more representative of the Mod prince-ship which I so obviously embody.

The words young, beautiful and stupid come rocketing to mind.

Anyway, full context is above.

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Are you Mod?!

black jeans ensemble

Real Stars are Rare

Georgie Fame

It's nearly scarf season again...

Pellicano menswear

Baby don't you lie to me

ei8htball earphones

1.07 PRETTY GREEN #100mod

1.06 CHelsea Boots #100Mod

My jacket's gonna be cut slim and check...

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