For a long time I became drawn like some kind of magpie to the most radical and eye catching shirts I saw.

Which is great. Everyone needs zany shirts.

But it is a bit like constantly eating chocolate for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

It might taste great at the start, but after a while you feel pretty sick. You really should do it only occasionally.

These kind of shirts just don’t GO with anything. At best, it’s your basic, like jeans.

So there's that, but there is also no artistry to wearing a loud shirt really. You can't build an outfit around it.


When I discovered designing shirts online, again the same problem.

I tended to reach for all the dramatic contrasts and ridiculous settings

Bright button threads, strange internal cuff colours.

Exact same problem – you end up with a ridiculous creation that doesn’t get worn because it doesn’t go with anything except the most basic of additions.

I must have about 20 shirts that are either so gaudy that I can’t wear them in daylight or so patterned that they have to be worn almost universally with jeans or black trousers.


Now however, I feel like I’ve learned my lesson... this latest is a grand, but everyday classic in white with blue window pane check.

As a bit of added smartness, I went with cream buttons rather than simple white.

It’s now one of my favourite shirts and can be worn literally anytime. Even a blue tie could work.

There is an important lesson here and that is that smart consistency in shirts really can stand the test of time compared to pointless impulse “shiny new thing” purchases.

Now if you’ll excuse me I just need to go and make a paisley…

Classic little summer number here from PG.

Quite a big price.

But having said that, it’s a good alternative to the classic Fred Perry with a pop-arty collar and a strong colour scheme.

It’s essentially two colours - blues - across three levels - and white.

This technique is underrated. Usually people seem to think that the more colours you’ve got, the better, but actually when you make up your outfit, you probably don’t want that many.

Think of your suit combo - Maybe one colour, with a second for your shirt. Possibly with a special third for a tie.

This is potentially where Fred Perry scores quite highly - one colour on the shirt, another on the piping, that’s it.

Where am I going with this? All I’m saying is the smart kids are all about as few colours as possible combined in an artistic way. And clearly they’ve got some smart kids at PG

Recently created and ordered a whole series of shirts online in a kind of mini celebration.

Not sure what I was celebrating. Probably just life in general. Or maybe it was just a burst of Mod-tastic exuberance that I know we all go through from time-to-time.

I bought those new desert boots from Hutton so perhaps it was simply that wanting something to wear with them. In other words the thought that I’m buying some new boots, so might as well go for a whole outfit.

Anyway so that happened. Details irrelevant.

The result is this beaut - a white shirt with nearly-pin dot polkas- in red and blue. On reflection cream buttons would probably have looked smarter, slightly contrasting with the shirt fabric, but there it is.

Classic design:
•    Button-down collar
•    Back tab
•    One-button cuffs with gaps for cufflinks

There was also a second shirt. More on this later.

Great, but niche track. Yes, yes I know they didn't write it but still.

Got some new desert boots made by Hudson, via the unofficial Our Favourite Shop of this blog: Atom Retro.

They are probably [big claim] the best desert boots I have actually owned.

Apart from the colour (tan) which pretty much goes with everything, the look of the boot is much more swept forward and angular.

This is unusual - most of the ones I’ve seen online are rounded, with a kind of flat “side elevation” if that makes sense. Which is annoying – it just looks rubbish frankly. As if you’re wearing clogs or something - they even have a heavy, clumping feel to them (even if they aren’t heavy).

By comparison, the Hudsons are light, look sharper (literally - almost to a blunt point) and even the crepe sole is more substantial than the usual. Which might explain why it feels so good to wear them – because it makes me feel taller!

So in summary, a pretty decent score for the record, certainly a rival to the Huttons or the Clarks that everyone raves about.

Might lose a few of you here, but I'm a big fan of this one - came out recently.

Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino.

The album has a strong futuristic 60s/70s vibe to its imagery and its sounds. I think those fans of old blues or rock 'n' roll among you might be disappointed - there is barely a note without a synth in it, but still, there are some uplifting and groovy tunes. This is what I'd say is the best one.

There are certain things you see in pictures and photos that take a while to register.

Years ago I saw either The Who or The Creation (I know it was one of them as it fits with their colourful, pop-arty vibe) and one of them had these striped trousers – navy and white.

Didn’t know what they were called, didn’t know where to get them – frankly wasn’t bothered too much at the time. I think I was more interested in getting a shirt like Keith Moon’s – i.e a button-down with epaulets on the shoulders.

But it’s funny how as soon as the sun comes along you immediately start thinking of more summery outfits.

For ages it was white trousers - a la The Style Council.

But then you get tired of that and move on to something else.

It’s like you go through your very own fashion trends, moving through different looks – influenced by life around you (i.e not Mod) and yet still relating it back to the sixties version of a look (i.e Mod).

As an aside - for whatever reason, since I got into the sixties Mod look, I’ve had nearly no desire to leave it. I stretch it - it just covers all bases – formal, informal, subtle, loud, arty and farty. But it doesn’t just do that – it just does it better somehow. The style is just much more keen on the eye than nowadays-style. So for me I get inspired by some really good thing I’ve seen someone wearing on TV or something – but then I adapt it into a Mod look.

I’m not sure why - I feel like there is something masculine and upstanding about the Mod style. You have to be proud to wear it. Some kids these days (men mostly) actually look like they’ve literally been wearing the same stuff for weeks. Which seriously sends a signal about everything else, right? And there is an overwhelming sense that making an effort is somehow not cool when it comes to your look.

That’s a bit of whinging / clothing pop psychology there for you – take it or leave it.

So anyway I saw some kid wearing a blazer in the same style as that Who/Creation photo, so I’ve come almost full circle back to that picture in my mind. What he was wearing with the blazer I can’t remember, it was probably some inane band t-shirt, work boots and a red trilby hat or something but that is all irrelevant. The point is, there was an ingredient there that I am going to steal back for my own look.

It's generally called seersucker but I believe that might just refer to the fabric - but that pattern with the white and navy stripes is culturally synonymous with seersucker. I was going to finally get those trousers.

Then I saw the price tag.

http://www.brooksbrothers.com/Clark-Fit-Seersucker-Pants/MR00378,en_GB,pd.html

Never mind.

Presenting my new specialist area - Shop Mod Classics both here:
https://www.areyoumod.co.uk/shop-mod-classics.html

and also up on the main site menu - where to go to get those essentials for the Mod wardrobe this summer. The extra bonus is that when you buy from there you'll be supporting this blog (to no extra cost by the way!)

So thanks a lot!

This is a great pic – strong representation of the Mod look all over this image.

First point - classic button-down collar shirts (with the buttons done up all the way to the top - which is unusual for the look nowadays) in pastel colours.

Not sure if they’re Ben Sherman but they’re up there, even way back when.
 
Second point - blunt-fringed mop haircuts all round. Weller copied it for a while and it’s the original Mod look.

Almost fanatically smart. Obviously, Steve has the Marriott fringe (which again Weller adopted on during the Jam years) which has its own merits.

I vaguely remember some interview with Steve was saying about this and how this was "long hair".

Different times.
 
Third point - Kenney Jones’ peacoat. Looks like it’s in navy, a mainstream look but goes well with the Mod outfit because it’s snappy.
 
Fourth point - hardly seen - this is the pic where Ronnie Lane is wearing the check trousers - a very sixties look that is rarely worn nowadays.

Retro look.

Going through a bit of a phase at the moment in the build up to May 11th (more on this later). So this is the LG man being a crooner.

Decent tune.

Quick update: on some screens this post is displaying a bit weirdly, so here's the video link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDrPghDvYA4

So it turns out the premier for John Simon's Modernist production was a few days ago and these couple of bozos were present all along...

And in an additional update that was pointed out to me - where is John Simons'  shop?

Well, if you're feeling boojie - pay a visit to the Marylebone / Baker Street area in London and check this place out - 46 Chiltern St, Marylebone, London W1U 7QR.

And if you're feeling even more pleased with yourself, pay a visit to Il Baretto at the end of the road - delicious stylish Italian food to go with your new look!

Check this out ladies and gents.

Great little flick  - a few famous faces, some extremely quoteable lines (esp. Robert Elms) and of course the snappiest threads you've ever seen.

Still not clear precisely what it is we're supposed to see coming out in 2018 - is it a documentary? Is it a short docu-drama? Is it just a series of interviews set to music?

Who knows. Anyway this was supposed to be released this year so it must be any day now...

Here we go - mate at work put this on earlier.

I was originally unconvinced but on second listen, it’s actually pretty good – with a decent feel to it.

And no I don’t think he wrote it, and yes i know I've got onto it nearly a year late and again, no I don’t care.

Nice work LG.

Big updates from one of our favourite places today - Jump The Gun

JTG as we affectionately refer to them (or as TC does as he’s the one who’s actually visited the Brighton shop more than once) are not your classic Mod place

Classic Mod shops tend to be outlet-y - you get your standard stuff like crombies, parkas, desert boots and a shirt or two.

Which is part of the thinking behind completelymod.com actually – the idea that you can get some of this quite standard stuff for pretty neat prices.

Anyway some shops are not outlet-y - they are on their own schedule.

They’ll stock some standard bits and pieces (have to really)

But they also get a bit creative -they design and put together a few gems of their own.

I know when I visited JTG last they were stocking their own style of what they called “denim-style jacket”, which was basically a Steve Marriott almost trucker jacket. I think this was in suede or cord.

They also stock their own suits of course, which are fab.

But now they’ve gone to the next level.

They’ve brought out some serious Ruperts - check trousers- which I may just have to get involved with at some point.

My favourite of this selection is I think the Grey Watch – a creative twist on the Black Watch tartan that is much more subtle.

Decent price too - £65

Strong performance.

Find it absolutely fascinating how Japanese kids got into the look. I say “got into” but their look is so precise that they seem to be just as obsessed as some Americans once were. And I would say some British Mods too – both then and nowadays.

I especially like the attention to detail in terms of trouser length / loafers. It takes a special kind of OCD (as I would say all Mods are slightly susceptible to) to so comprehensively achieve the look they’ve managed here in a country nearly 6,000 miles from the original source and with a culture so completely different.

The fact they never saw an original American wearing the style - save in pictures - is even more impressive. Probably a testament to the look’s enduring style and class. More on this in The Ivy Look, which you can find in my All-Mod Library here: https://www.areyoumod.co.uk/all-mod-library.html
 
Good on ya.