Winter Accessories

Over the last month or so I've picked a few new accessories to refresh my day to day outfits. Autumn/Winter is definitely a good time for accessorising as the cold weather means you can mix up materials and add some layering and texture.

I picked up a new Timex watch as my last one had stopped working. I think I'd had it for about six years and I really loved it. Unfortunately it had a mechanical fault, and it really wasn't worth the expense of having it repaired when it only cost £45 to start with. I tried to find an exact replacement, but Timex had stopped making it, but I was able to find one that was very similar. 

I love the simplicity of Timex's watches. The military field watch styling is both casual and smart depending on how your dressed and its firmly established my new go-to everyday watch. Like my previous Timex this model was also under £50, so it's awesome value.

I always find a new tie is an easy way to refresh my work outfits, and when I found this blue & green striped tie I decided it was worth splashing out on. I think it was 50p well spent, and continues my run of finding great tie bargains in charity shops. It doesn't have a label to say where its from, but it definitely has a classic polo style to it.

Lastly I picked up some heavy duty winter socks from Gap. I have 3 or 4 pairs of these now and they're great for cold winter mornings. I love the combination of heathered blue and brown shades, combined with the bright red.

XX9 Vol.3 (RW)

I added another pair of the Air Jordan XX9 to my collection this week. I've covered how much I love the XX9 on multiple occasions, so when the Russell Westbrook edition ghost dropped this week I had to grab a pair. Luckily they released at House of Hoops in London, as the last couple of shoes I've wanted haven't released in the UK.

They're the player edition colourway that Russ wore for the All Star game this year. The only difference is that they have the RW logo on the tongue instead of the 23 that were on his original version, & instead of the orange pods on the sole they have the 30th anniversary Jordan logo.

I've already worn then once, and like the other XX9's the performance is awesome so it's great to have another pair to add to my basketball rotation.

Most wanted sneakers Fall 2015

Sometimes I'll go for quite a while without there being any sneakers that I'm particularly  interested in, and the more pairs I have, the more discerning I become about what I buy. But sometimes a whole bunch of stuff appears that I'm super excited about, and Fall 2015 is shaping up to be a pretty good season...

1. If you've been following my blog you'll know how much I love the Jordan XX9. So I was very excited when this pair were announced this week as part of the 'Feng Shui' pack. The turquoise midsole and purple jumpman really pop against the super clean white upper. Theres talk of these being a China only release, but hopefully I'll get a chance to pick these up.

2. I've never been that into the Jordan VIII, but there's something about this '3 Peat' colourway that I really like. I think its the contrasting white and black colour-blocks and then the bright details (that represent the three teams that Jordan beat to win his first three championships) that give it a great '90s throwback style. You could definitely see the Fresh Prince rocking these with a brightly coloured shell-suit.

3. I have a couple of pairs of Jordan 1's in red/black/white, and a pair in black/royal would be a welcome addition to my sneaker rotation. The low top version is a little different and it makes for a versatile shoe for autumn.

4. I really like what Converse have done with the Chuck II and I was very tempted to pick up a pair in royal blue from the release pack. But I'm a sucker for maroon, and I love this colour that was just announced as one of the Fall colours.

5. The Air Max Sensation is another '90's era basketball shoe that brings back great memories for me. I vividly remember a kid from school called Alex had a pair of these and I always loved the oversized chunky feel and big max air units. They also have the swoosh on the toe-box that is one of my favourite details from that era of Nike basketball shoes.

6. This is where things get really interesting. Apparently the Hornets colours of the Jordan XIII which were originally player exclusives for Chris Paul when he played for New Orleans, are actually being released. There's nothing confirmed at the moment, and no word on when this is happening, but as the XIII is my favourite Jordan shoe, and I'm a big Chris Paul fan so I'm pretty excited about this. Hopefully its actually happening, they won't be too limited and that I'll be able to get a hold of a pair.

...to make a Champion

Way back in July I was in Leicester for the wedding of one of my university house mates. We stayed over for a night and the next day we took the opportunity to have a mooch around Leicester city center. Its changed a lot since I was at university, but it still has some excellent shopping.

I've been looking for a varsity style jacket for over a year now, so I was super excited when I found this satin Champion jacket in Well Gosh that ticked all the boxes. I had been after a traditional leather sleeved letter-man style jacket, but I love the bright red satin which perfectly captures the feel of vintage Starter jackets and old school basketball teams.

Being a '90s basketball kid I have a real nostalgia for when Champion made NBA replica jerseys so the embroidered 'C' logo on the chest, and the arch logo on the back are a real throw back to some of the best years of the NBA, plus the red/blue combo goes great with a Clippers jersey.

No Closer to Heaven

The Wonder Years had always been a band that had kind of passed me by until they released The Greatest Generation in 2013. I really loved that record and since then they've become one of my favourite bands. So I was pretty excited when they announced the release of their new record No Closer to Heaven and the pre-order bundles available.

I went with a CD & tee bundle, I really like the simplicity of the white on navy design and the simple but very effective TWY logo in the center. It also came with a mini note pad & pen set which is very smart.

The Hundreds x Grizzly

Some how I managed to completely miss that The Hundreds had collaborated with the Grizzly grip tape company to put out some awesome bear themed products back in October 2014. So I was pretty excited when I came across this tee while doing some random shirt browsing.

I'm not a skater so I don't know the history of the Grizzly company, but I love bears so I didn't hesitate in adding this to my collection of The Hundreds tees (Bobby Hundreds favourited one of my tweets a week or so ago which I was unreasonably excited about). Because it had been around since October it was also marked down to under £15 so it was a bargain as well. I got it from skatehut.co.uk whos service was excellent. I love the 90's air-brushed art style and the roaring bear is especially awesome!

And thats the bottom line...

A quick update for today. This sweet vintage WWF/WWE Stone Cold Steve Austin camo hat arrived a couple of weeks back. I'm not exactly sure when I'm going to wear it, but it combines my current loves for Realtree camo & Stone Cold so I couldn't resist bidding for it on ebay!

Adventure Time!

Back in February I wrote about the Realtree camouflage sweater I got and how I was hoping to get an Under Armour jacket while I was in NY at the end of March. Unfortunately I couldn't find any stores that stock Under Armour's hunting gear in suburban Manhattan, so I had to order it online when I got back from holiday. However due to the awful service from Yodel (the courier company), it was not a smooth process getting it. I won't bore you with all the details but it ended up being a very slow and expensive process.

But I finally received it last month and I'm really glad I persevered with it. I got the Realtree Xtra Full Zip Fleece, which has a smooth outer surface, but a soft fleece inner which will be great for keeping me warm when out in the elements. It has a good fitted cut, without being too tight which is perfect for outdoor active wear. The Realtree Xtra camo gives it great depth and detail which looks awesome and is contrasted nicely by the Under Armour details in neon green.

We've done a couple of days of hiking through Epping forest over the last month, but its been a little warm for wearing a fleece. But I'm planning to go away in September to do some hiking and adventuring, so I'll definitely put it to good use in the Autumn weather.