Friday 20 November 2009

Rav's 1% Selection

This next Top Ten comes from Rav Matharu also known as the ClothSurgeon. Huge admirer of Japanese design and culture, and a true sneaker head. This is an insight to what he is wearing right now and his favourite pieces. Young designer on his way to starting his own label. Graduate collection can be viewed viewed at www.clothsurgeon.com, and describes his style as a cultured materialistic. Enjoy...


1. Christian Dior Monsieur Blazer:


Due to its simplicty and quality, also the fact it fits like it was tailored for me by the man himself. I cant quite recollect how i attained this garment.


2. Vintage Aquascutum Double Breasted Trench:


This has been customed by myself. Originally bein a full size womens trench coat, I cropped it to the waist and took out the shoulder pads, fits like a 38" chest. The quality of the jacket can not be faulted and stands the test of time. Bought from Oxfam for £10.


3. Double Goose Leather V' Bomber:



Perfect for the winter months, this jacket would make you sweat in the antartic. This was bought about 5 years ago and is alot heavier then then the ones released this year, as it has a thicker leather then the nappa used on the new ones. With a detachable Possum fur collar, and made iconic by them Run DMC boys.


4. Vintage Varsity Jacket:

Varsity Jackets will be a timeless piece for me. This vintage one with red wool body and cream leather sleeves was picked up on eBay for next to nothing, and is probably my most worn right now. Probably from the early 60's and made by DeLong.


5. Paul Smith Floral Shirt:


Due to its distinctive floral print and fit Paul Smith shirts are my favourite fitted shirts. Purchased at Paul Smith in Leeds.

6. Supreme t-shirts:


Various Supreme tees, amongst my favourites are collaborations with Artists such as Terry Richardson, Charlie Ahearn and Malcolm McLaren. Sourced mainly from Hideout and Hip.


7. Levi Vintage 1901 501xx Indigo Immortal Jeans:




As I really only wear Levi denim, the Indigo Immortal has to be my favourite pair. They were bought from cinch quite a few years back. I fused the whole of the inside as they were falling to bits, this helped them not to tear so easy, and aslo tapered the leg for a narrow fit leaving fabric on the inside so they can be straightened again. Numbered and limited to 1010 worldwide, bought from Cinch in London.


8. Jordan Collection:



Being a sneaker head, I had to put some sneakers in my top ten. My Jordans are quite valuable to me as i have been collecting them for many years. Jordan VI probably beng my favourite shoe of all time, close runner up being the Jordan IV. The Jordan VII in Bordeaux colorway is quite a nice piece to have as it has never been retro'd.


9. Trickers x Present Boot:



By far my best purchase of this year. Since it arrived a month ago I have worn it anywhere and everywhere. Brogue detailed upper with a Vibram sole, similar to a Red Wing but with added sophistication. So nice I am considering a second pair. bought from Present, London.


10. Visvim Ballistic Backpack:


Taken with me on all my Adventures. As expected from Visvim it has high quality within its fabrics and production, bought for me by a friend while he was in Japan.

Thursday 12 November 2009

Ben's Selection

Next up for a top ten is Mr. Benjamin Glyn Phillips. Ben likes tattoos, fine attire and occasionally singing with his band, The 33. You may know him from modeling for the Tenderloin catalogue and I.D. or maybe just as the big friendly guy at hardcore gigs with the nice clothes on and the black hands. He is also the go-to guy if you're looking to get hold of excellent tattooing equipment. This is his first post for us, and strangely will feature no Tenderloin as he's saving that for a special post. Here's his first selection...

1. Horse hide leather double breasted jacket

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I got this for Starfish A vintage shop in Brighton for £45, its the only good thing I have found in Brighton vintage shops so far.

2. Woolrich woolen mills hunting jacket

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Picked this up in BEAMS in Tokyo. I think its from the 30's, it was not cheap but it's like new/dead stock . My friend Kei told me "Bensan you must buy now, may never see again".

3.Carhartt chore coat

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I just got this from my friend Dante Dimassa (who is a great influence on how I dress). It was a bit to big for him. It's form the 1940's and beat up in all the right places, one of the best work wear jackets i have ever seen.

4. Filson hunting vest

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This was a gift from my friend Tony Sylvester (who will be writing for this blog soon) I've worn it every day this week looks amazing with a chambray shirt.

5. Pendleton beach shirt

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This was found in the best vintage shop in the world, Jannteek in Tokyo. It's 1950's and dead stock .

6. RRL Heavy knit shawl collar jumper

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This is why I go to Bicester village for £420 to £65.

7.Buzz Rickson 4-needle set in sleeve sweatshirt.

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Buzz Rickson make the best sweatshirts, got this one from Peg and sons in Brighton.

8. US Football Shirt

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This is by Warehouse & Double Works. Warehouse is another must see shop in Tokyo.

9. LVC 1937 (i think) white stitching

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I don't think the real 1937 had white stitching but the cut is very good, very much like the 201.

10. Edwin 867

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For under £100 you cant get a better pair of jeans. I think you can only get them from Interstate in London, the cut is amazing as is the quality of the denim . I took the stitching out of the back pockets, I think it looks better that way. I have had this pair for 4 years and not washed them once, just let them air every few weeks our so .

11. RRl U.S. Standard Chino.

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Got these from the RRL shop in NYC, they are the best chino I have ever owned . The first day I put them on I spilled blue tattoo ink on them, gutted .

12. Old York B'Gosh bandana

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1940's repro cheap and amazing.

Monday 9 November 2009

Jim's Selection

And now for something completely different.....


Here is friend of the blog and founder member of Cardiff Skateboard Club Jim's selection of vintage Skateboard decks.


I started collecting skateboard decks around 2000. It was a way for me to avoid spending every penny of my earnings on getting wasted. A way to build something of value for my future…because the way I was going back then, I was going to end up with nothing but a ten year hangover and an empty wallet, but now look at me. I’ve got piles of wood hogging every inch of space in my flat. Dope.


Ok, so I mainly collect Deathbox decks. Deathbox is a British company that was started in 1987 by Jeremy Fox. He recruited an amazing team of British rippers, including Graham ‘Mac’ Maceachran, who did all the graphics. In 1995 the entire Deathbox team relocated to California, rebranding themselves as Flip and pretty much taking over the world with the help of Messrs. Penny and Rowley.


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The most OG deck has to be the Mac ‘Hitler’ mini. I remember seeing one of these in the window of Pugsley’s surf shop in Llantwit Major back in 1988. The thing just reeked of quality. It put American decks to shame…I knew then that this was something way cooler than the skulls and swords of Powell, the day-glo tackiness of Vision or the art department professionalism of Santa Cruz…this was RAW. Mac didn’t give a shit about drawing properly, he just put his ideas into physical form using his rudimentary skills. Once they were silk screened onto a glossy curvy skateboard deck they took on a new life…


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The Sean Goff is kind of a lame graphic by Deathbox standards, but this deck was his first with them and it marked their ascendancy to top of the pile in the UK. At the time Goff joined the team, Deathbox were a staple of every magazine. Skate Action, RAD, and Skateboard! wouldn’t go a single issue without some mention of Deathbox. At the time, they were the biggest names in UK skateboarding, even though…in these pre-digital times…most people had never seen any of the team skate in the flesh. At least not until Channel Four ran their legendary contest footage in {INSERT NAME HERE}…but that’s another story.


The next few decks are all from the early 90s. This was probably my favourite era for skateboarding. I think the best thing was just how fast things were changing at the time. To be honest, Deathbox got a little left behind after 1992 and if it weren’t for the phoenix from the ashes miracle that was the Flip brand…we’d have seen the last of Mr Fox and crew.


But this is 1990…and Deathbox are about to unleash one of their best graphics EVER.


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In my opinion, the most iconic Deathbox graphics are their teapot logo, the Dossett Jester, and my favourite, the Rocker Hydrant. I love the Rocker Hydrant model so damn much that I’ve got two of them. One is NOS with griptape, the other is slightly used. Either way these are rare as hell. One was an Ebay find, the other I got off a guy in France. I think this deck sums up everything that is great about Deathbox. The bold, naïve graphic, thickly applied in high quality silkscreen to a huge deck with preposterous concave, a pro nobody outside the UK knew, and absolute domination of the UK skate scene. Everybody was riding these, or knew these from seeing them in mags. Alex Moul rode these when he was making up new tricks every day. This deck was the epitomy of the underdog UK scene. It’s a tongue in cheek reference to the fact that, at the time, the fire hydrant was an icon of skateboarding and something we don’t have in the UK. The way I saw it, this was a big FU to the USA. Siiiick.


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The next two decks are a 1991 reissue of the classic Wurzel Organ Grinder model and a Dossett Marlboro. I think the original Organ Grinder is one of the best shape/graphic combos Deathbox did. This one has a more generic early 90s shape, but it’s minty minty NOS and has a flawless natural finish. The Dossett has a very similar shape and is also NOS. I like this graphic, it’s following on from a trend for offensive graphics that Deathbox have been a part of since their beginning, but which was also kicking off in popularity Stateside, as the Yanks had finally started to see through the moronic adherence to skateboard etiquette that demanded every board should be decorated with skulls or 80s throwback graphic design. Rocco and World Industries had given the industry a major kick in the pants and the new wave of companies were going all out to shock with decks like the Natas Challenger and Satan models, and various rip-offs of Disney and Looney Tunes icons.


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This brings us to 1992…and by this point I’ve lost interest in Deathbox. They started releasing lame graphics like the Nordien Quatbi Giraffe model…quite possibly the worst graphic EVER to disgrace a skateboard deck. They also lost the edge on the innovation front, and their decks started to look second rate compared to the super fresh products the Rocco camp were putting out. As a little taster of what came out of that era, here’s a Chris Senn Star Wars slick. You don’t get more 92 than that.


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We jump forward now to 1995. Deathbox have moved to California, Tom Penny is showing everyone how to skateboard properly, and Geoff Rowley is peddling his scouser stuntman schtick and releasing dope ass graphics like this Yellow Submarine deck. Ok, so it’s not a Mac graphic, but this is a nice way to round off the collection. I’d go a couple of Penny decks, but I’m hapy with what I’ve got.


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Way back in 1996, before Harold Hunter passed away, before they became a TK Maxx staple, before Ashton Kutcher and Dr Z were anywhere to be seen…Zoo York used to be dope. No, I’m serious…Zoo York used to be proper gritty, underground, raw to the core, dope.


These decks are from their first run and the Manhattan Bridge ones are totally iconic. I’d say these decks totally define the mid 90s. If you don’t think so, you probably never padded your tongues, wore a peaked beanie, or wished you could do dope nollie hardflips like Reemo.


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The stack. These are my stash. Interesting decks, decks I thought were cool, decks that I saw going cheap on Ebay and couldn’t resist, decks friends have given me. Some of the notable ones are early designs by Cardiff artist Godmachine, a Pritchard deck from 97, and a 96 Alien Workshop.


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This last one is a Crayon Deck. Crayon from Cardiff, and they are about to unleash some of the coolest and most ‘gotta get’ decks of any company for years, but that’s in the future. In their recent past is this one, done by my old housemate and top friend, Tom Hobson. I like the fact that it’s kind of rough and ready, but it just works really really well. These boards sold out and helped establish Crayon as more than just a throwaway company.


That's it. Hope you enjoyed the trip through my mild obsession.