Bape Thursday No.6

Its been a couple of weeks since the last Bape Thursday so I thought I'd come back with a few random pieces of Bape stuff that I have.

First up is my Bape wallet. I think I've had it for about 6 years and as you can see I've worn it in well. It was a really clean natural leather, but years of use have given it a really nice worn & weathered look. The pale colour isn't very practical for keeping clean so I make sure to keep it away from raw denim (leather cleaning wipes are a must), but it will continue to develop its own unique look and the high quality leather means it should last me for years to come.

Next up is a Kaws x Bape Baby Milo keyring. As I've mentioned in previous posts I'm a big Kaws fan, and I love the Baby Milo character, so this is a great little vintage piece that makes my keys a little more interesting.

Finally I have a Busy Works coaster. This was a random pick up from the flagship store in Harajuku, and makes a nice addition to my coffee table.

Bape Thursday No.5

This weeks Bape Thursday continues the collegiate theme from last week with this athletics influenced tee. The front has a pretty simple Bape logo, but the pairing of navy & gold/yellow are a classic varsity sports combination with great examples such as the Cal Golden Bears or the Michigan Wolverines. This is further emphasised by the varsity style lettering and the classic heathered athletics grey.

But the part of the shirt I really love is the back print. It takes the APE lettering and turns it into a great athletics logo by adding the winged foot and the trademark Bape shooting star. It really reminds me of vintage Nike running logos and definitely captures the feel of a college athletics department.

Its another great example of Bape doing something a little different than the camo & ape heads that they're more commonly know for.

Bape Thursday No.4

This weeks Bape Thursday features a collegiate inspired Bape sweater. As I mentioned in a previous weeks post, a lot of my favouite Bape pieces are inspired by military or collegiate styling, and they do a great job of taking classic Americana styles and giving them the uniquely Japanese Bape twist.

The sweater takes a lot of cues from vintage sports jerseys with the applique numbering on the back (1993 is the year that Bape was founded) and the elbow pad detailing that you see on vintage rugby & football shirts. This is combined with the varsity B giving it that classic US college style with the addition of the 'A Bathing Ape' stitching detail.

Much like the previous Bape sweater I featured this is Bape in a really subtle understated way, but also featuring great elevated details that give it the varsity styling that I love and making it a really wearable classic piece.

Bape Thursday No.3

I think it was about 10 years ago that I got my very first Bape item, the cotton candy Bapestas. I first saw them on the Nike Talk message board and it was hard to resist a shoe that looked so different & crazy. Bape had taken the Nike Air Force One shoe and given it a make over by replacing the swoosh with a shooting star, and then using a whole rainbows worth of different colours in super shiny patent leather.

Each colour of the Bapesta was super limited, so this combination of eye catching colours & materials, and exotic Japanese exclusivity made them really special. They were the first thing I'd ordered from Japan, and it was super exciting to wait for something so different to arrive from the other side of the world (especially when they came packaged in Bape camo wrapping).

I love the classic Bape 'Cotton Candy' colourway, with the blue & pink contrasting brilliantly with the bright yellow shooting star and sole. I also like that this version has the trademark ape head detail on the heel. They're definitely not a subtle shoe, but they're great to break out on a sunny day when you want to go for something a little flashy.

Bape Thursday No.2

For the second Bape Thursday I thought I'd go with vintage a piece that you don't see too often. I'm a big fan of a crew neck sweatshirt, especially in grey so when I found this on ebay 8 years or so ago I didn't hesitate to bid on it.

The heathered sweatshirt material is great quality and I love the military inspired elements, with the striping on the sleeves (which are individual panels, not printing) and the Bape trooper badge. The details on the patch are great, I love the parachuting Bape letters combined with the shooting stars, and the classic flowing scroll at the bottom. The contrasting black and silver/grey stitching gives it a really striking & smart look.

Throw in a classic Ape Shall Never Kill Ape neck tag & the trademark sleeve tag & you have an awesome vintage piece. Much like the white camo hoodie from my previous post this is Bape in a much more subtle way than you normally see. Its definitely the side of the brand that I gravitate towards, particularly the collegiate or military elements and you'll probably see this reflected in the Bape Thursday posts going forward.

Bape Thursday No.1

It's been ten years since I first discovered Japanese streetwear brand A Bathing Ape, and over the years I've collecting a whole variety of interesting pieces. I thought it would be fun to showcase some of my favourite stuff from my collection, so welcome to what will be a regular series of Bape Thursdays.

My first exposure to Bape was back in 2006 through the Niketalk.com message boards. Back then everyone in the 'What did you wear today?' thread wanted to dress like Pharrell who was wearing almost exclusively Bape & BBC. It was the Bapesta sneakers that first caught my attention with the crazy colours and shiny patent leather. They were so different to everything else at the time and they were the first Bape item I got (more on those another week). But camo hoodies are Bape's iconic piece & so it was definitely one of the first pieces of clothing I wanted.

At the time I was living Portsmouth so visiting Busy Workshop in London wasn't very convenient, so ebay was the obvious next choice. One of the first things you learn about Bape is that there is a ton of fake stuff on ebay. But I did my research and through recommendations and legit checks on various forums I found the semi-legendary Bape ebay seller Pondon. It was super exciting to order from a seller in Japan, and definitely made it feel a little bit extra special.

I love the combination of the white camo panels and the raglan sleeves in contrasting grey shades. It makes for a super clean look with the Bape camo giving it just the right amount of interest. Bape popularised the loud all over print hoody trend, but this does it in a much more subtle way. It has all the usual great Bape details with the traditional ape head sleeve tag and the custom zipper pull, and even if it has no practical use I still think the full zip-up hood is kind of fun.

Although its ten years old its still one of my favourite pieces in my collection, even if the white is completely impractical to keep clean.

Ape Shall Never Kill Ape

One of the most exciting parts of visiting Japan this month was the opportunity for me to visit a bunch of Bape stores. I visited 5 different stores, but actually didn't pick up much. Bape's stuff is always a little hit or miss with its fair share of terrible product, and because everything's so limited it was difficult to get my size in the nicer stuff. In the end I only picked up two t-shirts. I think if I had been visiting in Autumn/Winter I would probably found more things as I always really like their sweaters and knitwear.

However the great part was Bapes stuff is sooo much cheaper in Japan. T-shirts on the EU Bape site are £70, but in Japan they worked out at £36! It was just a shame there wasn't more I really liked. I also grabbed a coaster, and a couple of Milo figures from the toy stores at Nakano Broadway.