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.

A Summer Wedding 2015

This weekend I attended my second wedding of the Summer, and as always with weddings I took the opportunity to get appropriately dressed up. As I had two to attend this Summer I figured I could justify a new outfit and thought a turquoise or teal blazer would be good Summer look. However I struggled to find anything in turquoise, but did find a great, well priced jacket in pale green from Topman.

I was able to add an element of turquoise with a bow tie from mrsbowtie.com (officially the colour is Aqua) that added a great hit of colour. I combined this with some neutral trousers from M&S and a Banana Republic dress shirt that I already owned. I finished the outfit with vintage cuff links and a plain white pocket square. I'm really pleased with how the outfit came together, I had a great time at both weddings and definitely felt appropriately dressed for the Summer occasions.

XX9 Vol.2

Last month I wrote about picking up the Air Jordan XX9, and how well they had performed on the basketball court. Since then I've played in them a bunch of times and I continue to love them. The one-piece woven upper gives great fit and comfort, and the zoom air & flight-plate combination provide excellent responsiveness and comfort underfoot. I also love the traction and grip.

So because I've been enjoying playing in them so much I decided to pick up a second pair. Now the XX9 isn't a cheap shoe, so I did a bit of hunting around online, and I was able to find the Riverwalk colourway discounted, so quickly snapped up a pair.

This design really showcases the potential of the woven up, with an awesome combination of Fusion Pink & Tropical Teal, with the pink the dominant colour in the front of the shoe, which blends into more of the teal colour in the heal. This combines with the over sized Jumpman logo in white which really pops, and another beautiful clear sole. I'm excited to have a second version to play in for my weekly game, and by rotating between the two it will definitely help to keep them in good condition.

Stuff I got in NY Part 3 (or stuff I tried to get but couldn't find so ordered when I got home)

Anyone who's been reading my blog recently will be well aware of my obsession with Russell Westbrook, which was only reinforced as Russ tore his way through teams in March & April while trying to drag the injury plagued Thunder into the playoffs.

As I mentioned in my All Star shorts post I don't really need anymore basketball jereseys, so a player tee was a much more wearable alternative. Unfortunately Westbrook tees were in short supply in New York. I found a couple in the Modell's opposite the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn but they only had xl's and double xl's. So I hit up every sports store we came across, but nowhere else had Russ shirts, just a whole bunch of Kevin Durant tees. I'm pretty sure we visited every sports store in Manhattan, but without any luck.

So I tried to find one online, but every online store was sold out in my size. I often find that stores that stock NBA gear only have a good size run at the beginning of the season, and if you try and get anything later in the season or during the playoffs they only have XXL's left, which has never made any sense to me, but they just never get re-stocks.

Fortunately once I was back in the UK I was able to do some more searching and finally found my size on ebay so ended up getting it shipped from the US to the UK. The Adidas NBA player tees are great quality, with a really nice three dimensional print effect that replicates the layers of sewn material that would make up the names & numbers. So while it wasn't easy to get, it was worth the effort to rep for Russ this summer.

Stuff I got in NY Part 2

I was actively searching for some things while I was shopping in NY, but this wasn't one of them, this was a complete impulse buy. While the Jaguars are my NFL team I'm also a big Peyton Manning fan. His ranking among the all time great quarter backs is a source of great discussion for NFL followers, but the level he's played at for his career means you have to admire how great Manning is and how much success he's had, even if its not always finished with a Super Bowl ring.

Modell's Sporting Goods near Madison Square Garden had a whole bunch of Nike NFL player shirts, and because a black Blake Bortles Jaguars tee didn't exactly excite me, I decided on a Manning Broncos tee. The Broncos logo on the chest and swoosh on the sleeve are smart details, and I love the bright orange colour that's going to be perfect for the Summer.

Stuff I got in NY Part 1

While I was in New York last month there were a few bits and pieces that I couldn't get in the UK that I thought I might be able to find. One of those was a pair of NBA All Star shorts.

As soon as I saw the uniforms for this years All Star game I was really impressed. They had a really smart vintage simplicity that I loved, and the monochrome black/white with hits of red & blue are just really classic. It was a refreshing change from some of the over designed jerseys we've seen over the last couple of years, and its best not to mention the horrendous sleeved jerseys from last year.

Photo from NBA.com

One thing I don't need though is another basketball jersey as I have a whole bunch that I rarely have occasion to wear. So I was on the look out for a pair of the West Team shorts. I'd almost ordered a pair from the NBA EU online store back in February, but the £42 price tag was a little steep and they sold out pretty quick. So I was on the look out in NYC and after a little hunting I found them in the Footlocker at Times Square. And because All Star was a month and a half before I was there, they'd been put into sale and I was able to get them for half off.

I've worn them a couple of times now and they're great to play in. The patches and badges are really nice details, I particularly like the significance of the five stars down the side, as explained by Adidas Director of NBA partnerships David Cho in XXL magazine...

"Running alongside of the jerseys we have the five stars and each star represents a borough from New York. Starting from the top star is Queens and it is represented by the metal grid from the universe structure that was built for the Worlds Fair in 1964. The second one down is Staten Island and the waves signify Staten Island. The third one is for Manhattan and its classic taxi checkered cab look. The fourth one is the Bronx as the birthplace of hip-hop so you have the vinyl record etching, and the last one is bricks or brownstones which represent Brooklyn."

Plus the NYC 15 patch is a great reminder of my trip!

XX9

Its been a while since my last blog post as the last month and a half have been crazy busy with work and moving house. But I'm back on top of things and have a bunch of stuff to blog about over the next couple of weeks. But way back at the end of March I spent a week in New York, and of course I spent a lot of time hunting for interesting sneakers, and the shoe I was particularly looking for was the Air Jordan XX9.

In February I wrote about how much I liked the XX9's that Russel Westbrook has been wearing, and my excitement for his debut Jordan brand signature shoe. However since then we found out that Russ's shoe is going to be a lifestyle shoe, and not a performance basketball shoe, which for me was really disappointing news, and made up my mind that I definitely wanted to get a pair of the XX9's.

I was very tempted by the white/silver All-Star colourway, but while visiting Flight Club I was able to find a pair of the legend blue/white/silver colour from the Gift of Flight pack. Flight Club is a consignment sneaker store, where for a fee they will sell your shoes, so have an incredible selection of rare and hard to find shoes. It was pretty impressive to see so many rare Jordans, LeBrons, and Yeezys, and even a pair of Freddy Kreuger SB dunks that are one of my all time grail shoes. I would definitely recommend visiting Flight Club just to see the array of amazing stuff they have.

The Ultimate Gift of Flight pack was a very limited pack that was released just before Christmas last year. It was made up of the XX9's and a pair of XI's in legend blue. Because XI's are so popular the pack was in huge demand and sold out instantly. However unlike most people who bought the pack for the XI's it was the XX9's that I'd wanted, especially as Russ wore that colour when the Thunder played on Christmas day. And luckily for me someone had decided to sell their XX9's separately from the pack, and because it's the shoe that's generally less popular I was able to get a super limited shoe at a great price.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I thought it was a shame that Nike never released one of the OKC Thunder colourways that Westbrook has been wearing, especially as the orange looks so great on them. However a trip to Nike town helped to solve this as I grabbed a pair of Nike Hyper Elite socks to go with them and give them the hit of orange they'd been missing. For anyone who plays basketball I'd definitely recommend the Nike Elite socks, they're incredibly comfortable and help to keep your feet feeling good during a hard game. I've played in the XX9 once so far, and I really loved them. The fit and traction were especially impressive, so much so that I'm really considering picking up another pair.