Fred Perry M12 Polo - Made in England

A good polo shirt is an essential piece of any man's wardrobe. Now there are some good options of the market, but not nearly enough. Especially if you want the classics. Of course you have the iconic Lacoste, but nowadays they're not even made in Europe - at least not the most recent ones I've seen. You also have the ones from Ralph Lauren, but they're made in the Far East. Sunspel makes some descent polo, but I'm not even sure that they're made in England any longer and in my opinion a polo should be made in a somewhat sturdy pique.

But then we have Fred Perry. Most Fred Perry is not interesting at all - Poor quality and made a long way from England. However they still make some polos in England and from my experience they're very good, unfortunately not that many retailers offer the Made in England version. It does have some skinhead and mod connotations, but there's no doubt about its anglo iconic status and in my opinion it would go well with so many things. I'm definitely adding a new M12 to my wishlist for the summer.

READ MORE - Fred Perry M12 Polo - Made in England

New Balance - Pre Orders at Hanon

I would be lying if I said that I wasn't spending too much time eyeing all of the great offerings from New Balance. Hanon has made pre orders for the forthcoming season available and I'm tempted to pick up all of them. At least the made in UK or made in US editions.

These would be my picks

990

991

1500

1400

577

READ MORE - New Balance - Pre Orders at Hanon

New Balance 991

Of all the sneaker brands in the world I would personally only consider wearing sneakers from a handful of them. This is mainly due to the fact that they manufactured in the far east and I'm just not too impressed with the overall quality of them. Of course they aren't meant to last as long as a pair of well made, Goodyear welted leather shoes, but I often feel that something is missing.

And sure I do appreciate the innovation that a company like Nike continuously keeps on showing, but I prefer to appreciate it from afar, as it doesn't suit my aesthetics.

A company that manufactures - some - of their sneakers in both the UK and the US is of course New Balance and they're one of the only company, whose sneakers I would consider wearing.

At the moment I'm especially into the 991, which is somewhat innovative and pretty well made. These new colourways are a nice addition to the grey standard edition.

So if you're buying a pair of New Balance, I suggest you look, where they were made. It does matter.

READ MORE - New Balance 991

Fabric Knowledge - Ventile

colourswatch of available Ventile colours

I figured, that doing some small features on some very iconic fabrics, would help generate some knowledge and create an appreciation of good fabrics and well-made clothing.

The first fabric I would like to write about is Ventile.

The fabric Ventile was developed by Scientists at the Shirley Institute during the Second World War. But the idea was spawned in the 30's, when the British government feared, that there would be a shortage of flax, which was used for fire hoses among other things. So they decided to find a way to use cotton instead and that is how they invented Ventile.

Ventile is a hard wearing all cotton fabric, that is made of tightly woven long staple cotton fibres. Ventile is known to be both waterproof and windproof - and it's not on account of the breathability. The waterproofness is created because the cotton fibres expand when they become wet making no room for the water to penetrate. So Ventile is not waterproofed through a coating of some kind of wax, membrane or other coating, which is also why it never looses its waterproof abilities with wear.

Ventile is a favourite amongst hunters and naturalists because it is a very silent material. It produces no noise because it being all cotton. This is quite a contrast compared to synthetic and membrane fabrics like Gore-Tex, which can feel like walking around with Einstürzende Neubauten in the shape of a jacket. Besides the silent quality it is very tear-resistant and it doesn't catch fire easily. 

There are three grades of Ventile and they are intended for some rather specific uses. Ventile has generally been used in many situations throughout history. It has a long history in the military, on polar expeditions and it was used in the first successful climbs of both Annapurna and Everest. Unfortunately it is only made in one specific mill in the UK called Talbot Weaving, hence making the availability sparse and the price very high.

I have seen some beautiful jackets in Ventile from Beaver of Bolton (a lesser known brilliant English maker of country clothing),  clothes by Wings+Horns and Outlier, but I think some of the best have been made by Nigel Cabourn - the master of outerwear. This is of course mostly in a fashion context. I didn't include any actual military jackets, though I know the RAF smock is very appreciated.

Ventile and all kinds of goodness - Coyote fur trim,  goosedown filling, Riri zipper, and sheepskin lining

Harris Tweed with Ventile patches

In the Yuketen x Cabourn collaboration. Classic Yuketen Hunting boot (which are also deadly silent on concrete btw) with Ventile accents

READ MORE - Fabric Knowledge - Ventile

Archival Clothing - Webbing Belt

The blog Archival Clothing is a dear favourite of mine and I promise, that they will be featured a lot more here in the times to come. I came to think of them today because I was putting on an old, cherised belt made by J.M Davidson, which is an O-ring belt made of a sort of hard nylon webbing. A bit too flimsy for my taste nowadays.

Archival Clothing has made their version of a classic webbing belt using cotton webbing from the UK, leather from Horween (Chromexcel, of course) in the US and finally solid brass O-rings, that were also sourced in the UK. The belt was assembled in Oregon in the US, where Archival Clothing also reside (except for one of them, who recently left for NY). The belt also features Archival Clothing's signature red bartacking.

If you have ever had anything made of solid brass, you know, that the brass will tarnish and the webbing will feel hard at first, but it will also soften. However it will probably never feel flimsy.

The best part about the belt is probably the price - just around $25,- I would definitely be ordering one, if it wasn't because I have been thinking about making such a belt myself. I just need to get around to doing it. 

READ MORE - Archival Clothing - Webbing Belt

Nitty Gritty x Mackintosh

This is something else. I like it.

"At Nitty Gritty we strongly believe that an army green fishtail parka never goes out of fashion, especially if its handmade by people from the United Kingdom with decades of experience. For this season we decided to make our own touch on Mackintosh's coated cotton Kerrera coat with mohair lined hood. So, in order not to ruin the perfectly simple outside of the parka, we pimped it with a removable leopard print wool liner. What else could you possibly ask for? At least we are fully satisfied."

READ MORE - Nitty Gritty x Mackintosh