We all know that feeling when the nights start to draw in
and the temperatures drop, and I for one love this time of year as I get to
start layering by clothes. Don’t get me
wrong I like sunshine and warmth but I find the changing of the season and
wonder. With the fact it will start to
get chilly and even though currently we are in this limbo of jacket or no
jacket, jumper or no jumper dilemma I am going straight in to what is in this
Autumn with the new items at Next Menswear worth getting your hands on that
will see you through into Winter.
The Journal is an online collection of articles and essays written and curated by Thomas W Coombs, published bi-annually.
Once you have read the issue, see the Curated Articles of Note
section for some great words from elsewhere on the sartorial web.
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Issue 12; Not Just for Pandas
by T W Coombs
I live in two pairs
of sunglasses, a simple square aviator style and a classic brown tortoise shell
pair of Rayban styled specs. But they have one thing in common, they are
of classic design and colour. So, when
you want to brighten up your face what do you do?
Issue 12; The White Short Directive
by T W Coombs
The UK has been hit with ridiculous temperatures and even
though they have slipped over the last few days it is still summer. And a favourite of this season is the white
chino short, but they cause a problem if you are new to the white sort. And I’m not talking sitting on Grass, which
is a no no by the way. I am talking
about what to wear with them.
Issue 12; My Holiday Essentials
By T W Coombs esq.
As you read this you are probably waiting on your summer
holiday to come around. You will have the boring things like sunscreen so you
don't look like the classic Englishman abroad, swim shorts, a plug so you
charge the bundles of tech we take with us and the kindle is loaded up with
half the British library which you won’t read. You will also have your chinos,
white t-shirts and espadrilles. But below are my must haves for this summer
vacation.
Issue 11; All About The Cheese
A couple of weeks ago myself and Grace headed off to
CheeseFestUK the first held in Kent. The
truth of the matter we used it as an excuse for an up coming sports event, still
counts if they are a month apart right?
Issue 11; Good Enough For a King
By T W Coombs
Okay so I am not exactly Elvis Presley, which to be honest
is a good thing, firstly I am not a fan of his music, I don’t eat burgers
unless I have too, plus he is dead and I really want to go a better way than a
heart attack on the toilet. But one
thing he did have that was good was his Blue Suede shoes.
Issue 11; My Summer Songs - My Top Ten Summer Tracks
by T W Coombs
It is that time of year when you are chilling in gardens,
heading to warmer climates to sit by some sort of body of water and enjoying
long evenings relaxing. I will be doing
just that in a month's time, so I thought I would put together my Summer
playlist with ten songs that will be part of my own Summer sound. I’m sure it
says more about me than it should but here goes......
Issue 11; All About The Pastel - A Brief Glance at Summer
By T W Coombs
In 2017 we had Millennial pink, you remember that, a sudden
burst of bright pink shades on t-shirts, shorts, shirts and I even saw then a
pair of trainer not being worn by a twelve year old girl. Come on guys, some pink items are not right
on anyone above early twenties.
Issue 10; The Spring Lowdown - Part 3 - Rain Rain Go Away
With the inevitable weather during spring it was only right
that I give you three of the best waterproof jackets around, that are on point
in style and functionality. So here goes.
Issue 10; The Stranger on the Bridge by Jonny Benjamin - The Review
As you may not know but I am very into my Mental Health and getting men in particular to talk about the stress in there lives and dealing with problems to stop them taking their lives as every year so many do and it also can be stopped. So when Hearst Publishers asked me to read and give my opinion on ‘The Stranger on the Bridge’ by Jonny Benjamin I couldn’t say no and here we are. As part of Hearst Big Book Festival the Big Book Awards runs across the styles that their publications hit. Men's Health had three on the viewing board and this stood out amongst the others.
Issue 10; The Spring Low Down - Part Two - The Camp Collar and Print Shirt
By T W Coombs
Just as a random heat wave moves on from the UK we will now be hit with rain showers mixed with some Sun and lows of 4 degrees, which is always a nightmare when it comes to sartorial ideas. I would love to tell you all how to exactly dress but sadly you have to take the gamble of warmth or rain on a daily basis and you will find you get caught out.
Issue 10; The Spring Low Down – Part One
By T W Coombs
The sun is here, the heat is rising and we are still fully wrapped up because you can never be too sure and to be honest we are only weeks away from a snow storm that shut Britain down. But I have had a word and I’m sure we can get our SS18 wardrobe out soon.
Issue 9; Meet the Grey Owl
By T W Coombs esq.
With the abundance of street-wear hitting our streets and with the casual attire of Generation X some may think the old is out. But this is not the case, the dapper generation still want to master the art of the oldest accessory. Originating from 17th century, during the 30 year war in France, King Louis XIII spread this fashion which he took from some of his soldiers. But this is not the oldest bit of pea-cocking I know one simple one which can be taken back to the Egyptians. I am of course talking of the Tie and the Pocket Square.
Issue 9; Sock it to me
By T W Coombs
The lovely people at Bamboo Clothing kindly sent me a pair
of their socks from their Kingswear range to give them a whirl. So I slipped them on and popped them into my
everyday trainers and to show them off a little put with a turned up pair of
jeans. This is my normal daily work wear
and these fitted in nicely to the look, the striped pattern is a little treat
for the eyes and breaks up the mundane within an outfit.
Issue 9; The Lost Art
by T W Coombs
We live in a world where we have a small slim box of glass,
metal and plastic sat in our pockets (thankfully not clipped to belts these
days) that we can sort our life on. From
our diary, to notes, voice notes, dictionary, the list just goes on. But with this ease of life planning,
something is being missed. The elegance
of pen design, the thoughtfulness of the handwritten note, and the amazing
feeling of receiving a letter in the post, not just an email. We have lost a true art form.
Issue 9; The Fitness Triumph - Hitting My Summit
By T W Coombs
Firstly I have not completed a Marathon, Ultra Marathon, run
across the Sahara, nor have I scaled Everest as the title suggests. Far from
it, I am usually happy just to get twenty minutes of light jogging out of me
knees. That is if people still go
jogging, it seems to be that everyone just runs now, “going for a run”, “I am
runner”, so maybe I am now coming into my own runner prowess.
Issue 8; The January Blues
By T W Coombs
Surely the “January Blues” means that blue is in, right? If you are down then why, I know that you have already fallen from the wagon several times since the 2nd so you’re out of Dry January and that BigMac has buggered Veganary so you might as well just get into other new things. With that in mind I want to show some new things which are Blue and in no way depressing.
Issue 8; LFWM A/W 2018 – The Round Up
By T W Coombs
It seems only yesterday that I was trying to understand why
someone created items of clothing that were inspired by a Tellytubby, but that
was a whole year ago. And London Fashion
Week Men’s has already rolled round. It
is not really a week and is spread over three days in London. Alas I didn’t get to go to any of the events
but I have compiled a round-up of style coming for A/W 2018.