While we were in House of Fraser chatting to John, he happened to mention the visual merchandising he does as part of his role at the department store, which includes styling. The Paul Smith mannequins, in particular, were John’s own creation, and you can definitely see the similarities in his style communicated on them. We love the mannequins, personally, who doesn’t love a rainbow-coloured ensemble?
This outfit caught our eye because of its sports luxe vibe, with Nike trainers that are very popular right now, and pale pink neoprene fabric – two elements that have been seen continuously this season.
Once again, we were unable to get much information out of our interviewee, but we did find out that she has just graduated her 4-year degree and that she looks fabulous! So there’s that.
Andre looked like he had just stepped out of an editorial when we spotted him strutting his stuff down the streets of the city centre. He told us that Pharrell is one of the main influences for his style, with music and street style inspiring him to try new things.
His smart suit seemed out of place (not that we minded) in such a casual environment, but we later learned that he was working, although he told us he dresses similar to this on a daily basis, whether working or not. Everyone loves a man in a suit, right?
He wears a Topman suit, French Connection hat and Flannels boots.
We almost pushed people over in our heist to talk to Lauren when we saw her walking down Oxford Road, for reasons I’m sure you understand after seeing the photographs. Her clothing was interesting and therefore we knew she would have a few things to say, and she definitely did!
“Fashion is shit” were her exact words, despite studying Fashion Design at University and having her own clothing brand, LNER (which happen to be her initials). However, her reason behind the statement was valid. She doesn’t want to conform to what other people believe is “fashion” or “style”, she wants to wear pieces that she has customised – like her boots – and create pieces that people come to her for, not opening a store in a quirky part of town.
Very Vivienne Westwood punk era, no?
Lauren told us she likes to shop in charity shops, as she can never find pieces of good quality in high street stores that she can afford. Her wardrobe is very colourful, something we gathered from the outfit she was wearing, and her style “depends how she feels on the day”. We personally would love to see her wardrobe!
Michael also works at House of Fraser, and although he didn’t have as much to say about his style as John, his outfit caught our attention whilst scouring the masses! He had a laid back, casual vibe in his presence that was clearly communicated through his checkered shirt, jeans and Nike trainers combination. We liked the bright pops of colour that came through in his trainers and watch, and the monochrome leopard print pattern on his hat. You looked great, Michael!
Again, this was a very quick interaction. This lovely man was more than happy to have his photograph taken, clad in a great pattern mixing suit, but unfortunately did not have the time to stop and talk. He did, however, catch many people’s attention with his outfit and bubbly personality, as a woman came up to us after we had taken the photographs and asked excitedly “who was that?!” as if we were the paparazzi! We should have lied and said Orlando Bloom, but we didn’t want the poor man to get bombarded by a group of women and their shopping bags!
‘Sam the man’ – is a phrase that has never been more suited than to the lovely gentleman we came across whilst having a few drinks at The Font on Tuesday night.
Of course, our attentions were first caught by his immaculate beard (if i had to pick one sentence to describe 2014, it would most definitely be “The rise of the beard and ponytail combo”, THEY ARE EVERYWHERE, BUT WE LOVE IT). But as we approached Sam and asked him to take part as a subject in our street style project, we were amazed by the man before us and his knowledge of.. well absolutely everything it seemed, and not in an arrogant “I know everything, please and thank you” kind of way, but the kind of way that was totally endearing and you know that he would definitely be the guy you want to consult before making any permanent life decisions. Oh Sam, how wonderful you are.
Anyway, enough fussing over the poor man who was expecting to have a quiet drink with mates and instead ended up in a stairwell with 4 girls asking him all sorts of questions, and lets get to the details of the interview:
Are you living in Manchester at the moment?
“Yeah, currently. I am working at Manchester School of Art at the moment in their sales department, I’m saving up to do a PhD next year. I’m going to do my PhD in International relations and Feminism.”
(SWOONING YET?)
Where are your clothes from that you’re wearing today?
“The top is Calvin Klein, and my belt i got made by a leather makers in Newcastle, and of course my shoes are Doc. Martins. My Jeans… well they’re actually women’s jeans from H&M. They fit better… or rather, fit how I want them to.”
My face, at this point, drops as I question why I, a women, cant look that good in my own women’s jeans from H&M.
What is the main thing that influences your personal style?
“Various things have influenced how i’ve dressed over the years, my style has changed considerably too from when i was younger to now, like i suppose anyones does. Music mostly I think influences me, musics always been a part of my life, like I used to be in an indie band, and then a jazz band, and then i was also in a swing band. But classic rock and roll is a main influence of my style.” Abbi then suggested James Dean… “yes I can go with James Deans, he’s cool.”
“I’m really not into this whole thing where brands are coming off like ‘all 90’s skate culture’. New Balance and Stussy used to be really great brands in the 90’s and now they’re being worn by people who aren’t into true skate culture and listen to modern house music and take too many drugs. Obviously thats an unfair generalisation and I don’t mean that in the way it probably sounds. The point i’m getting at is that they’ve lost their originality.”
Then we asked the classic blogger question: What is fashion for you?
” For me i feel its like this; You get a lot of your confidence from the way your dress, whether or not you’re having a good day you can get up and choose what you want to wear and what makes you feel good and your whole perception changes for the day. You might wake up and feel crap, but then you walk to your wardrobe and put on something that you love and then you’re like ‘ yeah i’m feeling great today’.”
Is Ethical fashion something you think about when shopping for your clothes?
“Massively Important! I try and buy mostly British Brands, or brands that haven’t been made over seas in scarily inhumane conditions. I was a politics student so it’s really massively complicated, like there wouldn’t be the work there for the people if the big brands didn’t go there but at the same time they take advantage of these desperate people and thats not fair. So yeah, I try and buy heritage brands usually.”
In that case, what are your favourite British brands?
“Fred Perry. Love Fred Perry.”
Our blog is focusing on fashion in manchester in particular, is there anything that you link or feel in particular about the subject of fashion and Manchester as a place that endorses it?
“What came out of the 90’s and the brit-pop scene is impossible to get away from in Manchester, it’s always gonna be button-downed cotton shirts, parkers, and in a way Brit-pop made manchester. You can’t get away from that, but i think people, especially in the last 7 years with Manchester’s development, realised you have to distance yourself from doing the whole Liam Gallagher-esque type thing. The Brit-pop thing was so big here that now everyones desperately trying to get away from that and rebel and its ended up with Manchester being this big hub of diverse fashion, people doing their own thing, and its really interesting and really good for Manchester because now you’ve got all these amazing smaller brands popping up all over the place, and i think a lot of its down to the students here, they’re doing a really sick job of it.”
So that was marvellous Sam, we hope you that you’ve enjoyed reading his interview as much as we had conducting it… Sam’s our new fave guy. Cheers to Sam for taking part in our project!
Unfortunately this was a very quick interaction so we have no name or details about this young lady’s clothing, but we do know that she studies International Fashion Promotion at MMU (like us!) so that clearly plays a big part in her life. We loved her colour combination, especially the 90’s style windbreaker.
Walking through the city centre, we were choosing where to go next when we came across House of Fraser. Now, as students, we definitely cannot afford HoF right now, but department stores are home to many different personalities and ages, so we entered in hopes of finding a designer drenched participant or a sassy 20-something with impulsive buying habits.
We definitely found someone sassy, as you can see in the photographs above, but John happened to work at the store instead of being a customer. He was happy to chat to us and clearly very interested in fashion and styling, which was showcased on the Paul Smith mannequins that he himself styled.
His outfit on that day consisted of a grey blazer from Italy, trousers and shirt from River Island, “scuffed” Zara shoes and an eBay bow tie that is “probably from China somewhere”. John described himself and his style as quirky, with details such as the stag broach on his lapel, giving his outfit something that many people will not. Although the combination of patterns and colours may not be everyone’s cup of tea, he seemed to like the outfit and so did we!
This is Elliot, a Customer service employee that we spotted in Oxford Rd’s ‘Falafil’, tucking into, what can only be described as, the tastiest looking falafel salad dish I have ever seen (THERE WAS HUMMUS!). However, it wasn’t the his tasty dinner that first caught our eyes, more his perfectly mismatched outfit of bargain finds, which totally, totally worked.
Elliot told us that of we had caught he 3 years ago, he would have had ‘short-back and sides’, been wearing something relatively smart-ish, like a pair of smart tapered trousers and a fitted shirt, and some classic smart brogues. However, one day he decided that that just wasn’t him, and began dressing to his own personal style. He told us that he has always been fascinated by his mothers clothing and how women’s clothes generally tend to fit a lot nicer and that he’s definitely not adverse to picking up the odd women’s shirt in high-street, charity, and vintage stores around Manchester.
Well Elliot, you don’t have boobs and for that we are jealous as we wish finding a totally on-point shirt that looks good in any fit was as easy for us girls without taking into consideration that buttons on the edge of bursting will never be a look thats in. THE STRUGGLE IS REAL DUDES.
Elliot wears unbranded trainers, grey cuffed tracksuit bottoms, and women’s checkered shirt.
hot vimto 