Monday, May 30, 2011

Eleven degrees of separation

Last year Matt was seen wearing the iconic All Saints Layer Boots (see below).


Along with the Paul Smith shirt, they set a trend of being easily obtainable off-the-peg items – which went out of stock the moment they were identified!
I managed to nab pretty much the last pair in the south of England before the scramble was on to find them.

Lots of people missed out on them, so the hunt was on for something that could be worn as a next-best option.

First up was the River Island Double-Eyelet boots, which had the distinctive layered leather ankle. Unlike the All Saints boots, they also had a second set of eyelets (as their name would suggest) which some people found distracting.

The also had a distracting zip on the instep of the boot, which made them easy to slip on and off without fussing with the laces.

Nevertheless, they were the best alternative, and as you can see from the comparison photo (see right), they certainly filled the hole left by the All Saints originals.

These had just come onto the River Island range, so were widely available and easy to find. However, they have now been discontinued.

So what alternatives are there now to the All Saints alternatives?


New look made an aged pair in black and brown (see above) and Aldo had something similar too (see below), but these were all much of a muchness.


Well, another alternative boot has recently come to my attention, which I thought I’d share with you.


They come from Peacocks, a budget clothing shop not far removed from Primark!

Just like the River Island Double-Eyelet boots, these sell for a bargain £25! They bear an uncanny resemblance to the River Island boots, so much so you’d be forgiven for thinking that was just what they were!


And finally, in a bizarre full circle, All Saints has just added a new style of boot that’s not that dissimilar to their original Layer Boots! Funny how things come around, isn’t it?


They are called Grain Boots, and have a layer of lighter coloured leather around the ankle. They come in a choice of Graphite (grey); Ochre (tan) or Sepia (mid-brown).

The Sepia seems to be the best match (see left).

A friend of mine put me onto them and he took a photo while trying them on in-store.


Do tell me what you think of them. Will you be getting a pair?

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Fashion illustration

Last week was fashion illustration grading, and here you can find some works:







TARDIS spotting

Last year I ran a piece on the various surviving Police Posts & Boxes that can be found around London.

Well, this weekend I was watching a rather kitsch Hammer film from the 1960s called The Anniversary. It’s not one of Hammer’s finest, but it does have an amazingly over the top performance by Bette Davis, who’s entrance in the film has to be seen to be believed!

It was shot at Elstree Studios, Borehamwood (less than a mile from where I live) in May 1967 with a scene filmed inside a shop on the local high street.
The Anniversary
It was during this scene I suddenly realised that in the background, on the opposite side of the street, was a full sized original Metropolitan Police Box, just the same as Matt Smith’s! (see right, right side of frame)

Annoyingly it is part obscured for its brief appearance, but it’s there nevertheless!

The next shot is from a slightly different angle, but again it is part obscured! Darn! (see left, centre of frame)

Right at the end of the scene though, you do get to see a bit more of it and this time there is no doubt! (see below, left side of frame)

You can watch the full clip from the film here: The Anniversary

The Prisoner
Now, all this put me in mind of a scene from my other best-loved series, The Prisoner. Again this was filmed in the Borehamwood area in 1967 and another Police box can be seen fleetingly in the background of a car chase during the episode The Girl Who Was Death. (see below, left of frame)


The reason these are particularly interesting is that a third box in the local area on the Barnet Bypass was due to appear in Logopolis, but due to vandalism not long before the paned filming it was demolished and the scenes were shot near Amersham in Buckinghamshire instead.
You can watch the full car chase from the episode here:
The Girl Who Was Death

The New Avengers
One of my readers put me onto this one.

In an episode of The New Avengers called Target, Steed, Purdey and Gambit get caught up in shenanigans at a training range designed to look like a typical English village.

Part of the street furniture includes a 1960s Police Box. it can be seen from the very opening shot (see above) and pops up throughout the episode in the background.

The best view of the box shows it has no roof lamp, and appears to only have one POLICE BOX sign above the front door (see left).
Ultimately the box comes to a sticky end, when Gambit deflects a bomb-filled pram in its direction, totally destroying it in the process! (see below)
This shows it wasn’t a real Police Box, unlike the ones listed above.


If what I am told is true, this was apparently the Police Box prop used on both Peter Cushing feature films – which makes this a travesty.
You can see the exploding Police Box here: The New Avengers

Seeing these shots, it also makes me realise that the ‘new look’ TARDIS is actually a lot closer to the real thing than the classic series or ever the early new series ever were.
Have you ever spotted a genuine Police Box in the background of a film or tv series you have been watching? If so, drop me a line and let me know. Maybe we can get a decent collection together.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

AND BY THE WAY FOR THOSE THAT HAVE ACCUSED ME OF BEING A LIAR ABOUT BEING IN THE KISSTORY 2 BOOK...FEAST YOUR EYES ON IT!




KISSTORY 2 BACKS MY MOUTH UP ...AND I GUESS YOU COULD SAY THAT MEANS SO DOES THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS...HUH? YEAH BABY!

I WANT TO MAKE IT PERFECTLY CLEAR WE HAVE ALL ERAS ALL MEMBERS OF COSTUME GEAR...HERE'S A SMALL SAMPLE






Alot of people have tried to copy our work....but the best is still simply the best...And I am it! I work my butt off to give the KISS army what they have begged for..the real stuff not Halloween novelty knock offs....enjoy these sample picks...Eric Carrs buckle...Genes elder pieces..you name it...

Smaller on the inside

Blimey - talk about getting things out of perspective and getting the wrong end of the stick!!

You’ve probably seen the news about the discovery of the screen-used tweed fabric for Matt Smith’s latest jacket.
It quickly caused a real buzz and was the talk of the forums.

I went to get my own supply from W Bill in London, and saw for myself the Aladdin’s cave of genuine Scottish tweeds and tartans that filled their warehouse to the rafters. I asked how many they offered, and it was estimated to be around 10,000 to 15,000 designs, not necessarily all held in-hand, but available to order.

The fabric used for the season six jacket is a genuine 100% new wool, woven in the Shetland Isles (see left).

So it was to my jaw-dropping amazement that I read the story on the Irish Independent website about how Harris Tweed Scotland were in ‘FURY’ – as the headline would have us believe – that the BBC had used an acrylic mix made in China for the jacket!!!


Soon the Daily Record picked up on the story, making the subject more emotive by headlining the apparent Chinese connection.


It wasn’t long before the national press got hold of the story, notably that bastion of Middle England: The Daily Mail.


The blame was now squarely levelled at the BBC.

Now, you need to read very much between the lines to find something near the truth to this story, and take into account the upcoming official replicas due from AbbyShot.

Last year AbbyShot produced a replica Tennant Coat, claiming it to be screen-accurate. Now I’ve done the research and know the original coat inside out and I was chronically disappointed with the result they produced. It was far from screen-accurate, missing on almost every point on the coat – honestly, don’t get me started!

So I took with a pinch of salt the news of their Matt Smith jacket, especially since the screen-used fabric from W Bill is some £60 a metre.
No images have been released of their version, and only a few details have trickled out in the commercial listings on sites due to Market the jacket.

On thing I did notice was the fabric to be used was listed as a wool/acrylic mix, leading me immediately to think they won’t be using the genuine Shetland Tweed.

It’s this fact that has been taken out of context and paraded as fact that MATT SMITH is wearing a cheap China-made replica in a nasty fabric!

The connection to the Canadian based Abby Shot was soon picked up in their home county by Postmedia reporter Randy Boswell, first in the Vancouver Sun, then syndicated in the Calgary Herald.


The same piece appeared the following day in the National Post.


Anyway, I wanted to get to the bottom of all this, so I contacted Lydia Walton at Harris tweed Scotland, who told me the following:
We were contacted by the Glasgow press agency at the weekend that said that the jacket that Dr Who is wearing in the latest series is a cheap Chinese imitation tweed - we of course were a bit put out as we thought that the time Lord would still be wearing a Harris Tweed jacket made in the time honoured way. Anyway, to cut a long story short it sounds from your research that it is not a Harris Tweed so therefore it is nothing to do with us!!!! However, buying a well made, quality Harris Tweed fabric is very simple and to buy one similar to Matt Smith vintage jacket in his first series then click on harristweedscotland.com to either buy online or find a stockist.
Good to see the press don’t put their own spin on a story to MAKE the story.

As Charles Foster Kane once said, “If the headline is big enough, it makes the news big enough.”

Teal polymer clay stud earrings by JP with Love on ETSY

Teal polymer clay stud earrings by JP with Love Jewelry
These beautiful earrings were made out of polymer clay. I tried to imitate vintage wood effect. Color is Lime green.

Color might slightly vary due to your screen color.
Light weight 2g.

This piece is polished and buffed several times until get a smooth and shine look.

Measurement earrings: Total : 3/4” x 3/4”
Surgical steel posts.

Every piece of JP with love’s jewelry arrives in packaged in gift box with a free surprise gift for you.

Square stud earrings
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Friday, May 27, 2011

Sneak Peak: Bellissima behind the scenes

For those of you who were unable to joins us for Fashion Week we had Jason Eng come and and take some behind the scenes snap shots. They all turned out amazingly well and we are simply not able to post them all on the blog, visit our facebook page for a further look of what went on on the big day.