The “Spring 2018” Han Solo

With all the excitement surrounding the release of “The Last Jedi” (which I’m seeing this weekend!) my Star Wars obsession has once again been reignited and kicked into overdrive (as often happens!) so I decided to put together a little warmer-weather look book inspired by everyone’s favourite scruffy lookin’ nerf-herder.

Han Solo is, without a doubt, my favourite character in the Star Wars universe – while a lot of my friends growing up wanted to be Luke, and most people these days think Boba Fett is the ultimate bounty hunter (for some reason) for me, Han has always been the most interesting, most human, and simply coolest character in the franchise.

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The “Carnaby Street” Rorschach

If you follow the blog over on Instagram you may have seen on my story that I recently re-read (for the fifth time no less) the stunning masterpiece that is Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ ‘Watchmen’.

The writing is, of course, absolutely stellar and takes a beautifully dark and gritty look at a world where superheroes exist, yet come with all the murkier parts of their humanity still in tact. Dave Gibbons’ artwork is breathtaking to say the least with a genius use of golden-age line work with some truly inspired colour palettes which really help to breath life into every panel on the page.

Of the two favourite characters I have, Rorschach is perhaps the most simply designed character, but as a result, I feel he’s most effective and most believable character in the book. A dark vigilante with no powers or gadgets (save for his grappling gun, built by former partner Nite Owl) Rorschach has a black and white world view where wrong is wrong and, as a result, must be punished with extreme prejudice.

Rorschach’s now iconic look was, in turn, inspired by a no less iconic comic book character; Steve Ditko’s ‘The Question’. The outfit worn by Rorschach throughout the book is a simple one; pinstripe suit, white scarf, Chelsea boots, trench coat, stingy brim fedora and his eponymous inkblot mask.

The “Surprisingly Accurate” BoJack Horseman

‘Neigh way, Jose!’ I improvised that line. I mean, it was scripted, but I gave it the ol’ BoJack spin.

Season 4 of the absolutely astounding animated comedy ‘BoJack Horseman’ recently burst onto Netflix and after a day’s worth of heavy bingeing and more coffee and biscuits than I’d care to admit, I’ve watched it all much too soon and now I’m sad there’s no more new episodes to watch.

To placate myself and to satisfy my cravings for BoJack (the character, not the illicit in-universe drug…!) I’ve put together this shockingly effective look-book inspired by the horse-man Horseman!

The Thirteenth Doctor: A Concept

Welcome to the universe, Jodie Whittaker!

What an astounding piece of news, the future is female. I’m so thrilled that the show has finally made this step forward and I can’t wait to see what Jodie and Chris do with the show; I think we’re in for a real treat in the coming years and the 13th Doctor will certainly go down in history.

Speculation right now is rife as to what Jodie will do with the role and what sort of bearing her gender will have on the character. She’s already being put through the usual run of the mill questions regarding how it feels to be cast, what she’s excited about, and more importantly, what she’ll wear.

Obviously, I don’t tend to focus on women’s clothes on this blog but with the casting of Jodie I thought I’d turn my hand to designing the Doctor’s new look. Obviously, I’m almost certainly miles off and she could end up in something totally different – but this is just an initial musing on my part…

Preparing to Say Goodbye to Twelve

At the time of writing there are only two episodes left for the twelfth Doctor. Tomorrow sees the finale of series 10 and then we have the Christmas special which will see Peter Capaldi exit the show by regenerating into an (as yet) unannounced actor or actress.

As I sit and type this on a breezy Friday morning, it suddenly strikes me just how unprepared I am to see the end of the twelfth Doctor’s era. Peter Capaldi has, without a shadow of a doubt, been one of the best things to happen to the show since its’ inception back in 1963. Capaldi’s performance has always been that of a true thespian; emotive, deep, layered, and complex. While other fan favourite Doctor’s only went skin deep with many of their more emotional scenes, Capaldi manages to illicit a real gut-wrenching emotional responses from the audience with the merest look.

The ‘Bang on Trend’ Forrest Gump

There seems to be a correlation between films by Robert Zemeckis and characters that become fashion icons; Marty McFly, Eddie Valiant, and perhaps most surprisingly of all, Forrest Gump.

The 1994 film sees Gump living his life in the most unwittingly audacious way, getting wrapped up in major historical events and meeting an entire pantheon of famous figures along the way.

Gump’s signature look has become a guerrilla cosplay for people who may not even realise that they’ve unwittingly taken inspiration from the eponymous Gump. The stone coloured suit, blue gingham shirt, and white leather Nike Cortez trainers made Forrest’s aesthetic instantly achievable by most people. In 2017, such a minimalist look with a focus on heritage trainers is at the absolute forefront of men’s fashion.

The “Gap Year” Dr Strange

So last night I saw ‘Dr Strange’ and was absolutely blown away by it – in my opinion it’s easily the best Marvel movie in a long time – it’s fresh and exciting, while also introducing some new and interesting elements to the MCU canon. Benedict Cumberbatch is stellar in the role and the entire cast shines in a beautifully realised world of sorcery juxtaposed with the ordinary, everyday world in which we normally live.

On top of all of this, the costumes featured are absolutely stunning and Strange himself looks amazing in all of his outfits, from the slick dinner suit worn in the early movements of the picture, to the training garb he wears as he learns his mystic arts, to when he finally dons the clock of levitation and becomes the Dr Strange comic book fans know and love.

The Bespoke Experience: Three Piece Donegal Tweed

As those who follow me on Twitter will know, I’m getting married in December!

It’s all very exciting and there’s lots of odd jobs still left to do, but recently I got to tick off a big part of my personal to-do list.

Donegal tweed swatch.

The other week I collected my three piece Donegal tweed suit from my tailor in Lincoln. I originally visited Andrew J Musson Bespoke in March to choose my fabric and order the suit which is a very generous wedding present from my Dad and his wife.

My first visit was rather daunting as I only had a vague idea of the sort of thing I wanted. Originally I’d planned for a Blackwatch tartan suit in a much more classical style but, upon talking to Andrew, my fiancé, and my Dad I opted for something a bit more appropriate for a winter wedding in the country.

My partner and I looked through about seven different books of fabric samples before narrowing it down to three (very different!) fabrics, one was a heavyweight wool in navy with a classic chalk stripe, the second was a brown and beige herringbone, and the third was the beautiful Donegal tweed I eventually chose.

The “Elegant Eccentric” Willy Wonka

As I write this, ITV3 is showing “Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory” in memory of the late, great Gene Wilder who sadly passed away recently.

While rewatching this beloved classic it struck me just how Doctor-y Willy Wonka is, from his mannerisms, to his mad-eyed playfulness, to the somewhat sinister nature of his seemingly endless factory. Indeed, many people have drawn parallels between Wilder’s Willy Wonka and Tom Baker’s fourth Doctor – indeed, they both share a love of eccentric clothes, big eyes, mad hair, and madder conversation.

In memory of Gene Wilder, and in appreciation of his wonderfully weird Wonka, I’ve created a look-book to best channel your inner chocolatier.

The “Rockabilly” Starfleet

“Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.” – Star Trek: The Original Series

As Trekkies all over the world celebrate 50 years of boldly going where no man has gone before, it’s perhaps fitting to create a warm, layered, and stylish look-book influenced by the 60’s chic of the original Starfleet crew uniforms.

The original costumes incorporated lots of TV friendly fabrics and designs and had a surprisingly basic silhouette at heart. The loose military vibe is easily forgotten when looking at the vibrant colours and textures of the costumes and the subtle insignia add great layers of detail in a time when it was easy to forget the little things.