Filed under: on the mannequin, on the screen, on the streets | Tags: British, Channel 4, Cooper, Factories, James Eden, Lancashire, Made In England, Satnam Authi, Stockport, Stollbrand, Tradition
second of all, i wanted to bring this to light. a programme called Made In England which airs on Channel 4 tonight at 7.30…i recommend you give it a viewing! (unless you’re at a certain ball in Aberdeen)
this documentary from Satnam Authi looks at the manufacturers Cooper & Stollbrand, one of the last British clothing factories and situated in Salford…not too many miles from home.
Authi discovers how James Eden left his job in the City to buy a stake in the business three years ago and since doing so, has dragged the factory out of the doldrums and into the 21st Century, developing a business that produces garments for high street retailers and premium designer labels. Moreover, he looks at how the factory copes in the busiest time of year…the run up to Christmas. By following around the charming and highly entertaining workers, this documentary shows the necessity for strong relationships between employer and employee as well as the significance of Cooper & Stollbrand as one of the few remaining British representatives of the garments manufacturing industry.
a documentary such as this is highly important, as we now live in a time where more and more people are beginning to reassert a desire to know where their clothes came from and how they were made. To this day, Cooper & Stollbrand cut all their patterns by hand and still use the same exact techniques that were used in the mid- 20th Century, to sculpt, make and finish all of their designs. Keeping traditional values as well providing a purely British product has become more and more important to our nation’s top fashion followers.
what i find most intriguing however, (and probably more so as it’s a truly North-Western business), is the study of the ever decreasing industry itself, particularly up North. Lancashire used to be at the very heart of the clothing manufacturing world, providing outerwear for people all over the globe. unused factories still stand lonely yet beautiful across the landscape of my hometown Stockport, for example, and many other neighbouring towns. although it is fair to say that this industry was never going to last in Britain while China and Thailand for example drill our garments in battery-like workhouses, it is extremely satisfying to see the likes of Cooper & Stollbrand continuing to stand tall.
with their 100-strong workforce of craftsmen and designers, using traditional methods that have been put into affect for it’s seventy years, one can only hope that despite the current financial climate and decreasing British clothing industry, they continue to be an in demand, high quality provider of British attire.
x
Filed under: on the horizon, on the mannequin, on the mind, on the muddy fields, on the parchment, on the travels
I spent the summer wasting
The time was passed so pleasantly
Say cheerio to books now
The only things I’ll read are faces
I spent the summer wasting
- Belle And Sebastian
as the world persists to be in a frenzy as britain choose their next leader, people across the planet continue to wait for a flight home, mrs duffy becomes bigoted and our loo stays unfixed after almost two months, i’m finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate on writing my essay and presentation which are due in a matter of days. however, my concentration isn’t becoming more and more lapsed because of the above mentioned events. oh no, it’s because of one, definite, unavoidable piece of knowledge that continues to bounce around in my mind like mr blobby on crack…
IT’S SUMMER IN LESS THAN A MONTH!
ahem…yup yup. so instead of whapping out 3500 words on the vietnam war and 2000 words on the treaty of versailles, i am making plans…lots of not very likely to happen plans :)
- plan numero uno
not particuarly exciting, but basically, pass exams and become one of those people who do really boring things for hardly any money…you know…a worker! that’s the one. and do that working malarchy for about two whole months in order to pay off tons of debts and earn a bit of cash for the rest of the break. oh and it would probably be best to get some work experience at some point as well, hopefully in something i give a damn about, but i can’t see that happening…
- plan numero…two
aside from learning the word for ‘two’ in spanish :/ …go to glastonbury! while i was bopping away in nepal i was lucky enough to jump on a computer at a very critical point, the day the glasto lineup was released. to be honested i actually feel a bit dissapointed with the bands chosen, seeing how it is the 40th anniversary and there’s been so much hype about all these kings of rock n’ roll etc playing sets across the weekend. nonetheless, not all has yet been revealed and i keep having to remind myself that i could quite easily spend a month at glastonbury (if it lasted that long) and be quite happy, content and busy enough to never feel the need to go visit any of the stages! moreover, the idea of spending a sunday evening, caked in sunshine hopefully, drinking my bodyweight in brothers toffee apple cider and dancing to/singing along with/being put in a state of complete astonishment and awe by Faithless followed by Mr Stevie Wonder, is just mind-blowingly awesome!
fuck me…that video doesn’t half send shivers down my spine :D
- plan number three
the next couple of plans are solely based on whether i am employed for two and a bit months, or win the lottery. but if one of the two occur, the third in the series is to purchase a ticket for and attend one of these…
lineup including laura marling, seasick steve, van morrison, mumford & sons, ray davies and oh yeh…bob flippin dylan!
or…
lineup including doves, fionn regan, laura marling, beirut, johnny flynn, mumford & sons, megafaun and the tallest man on earth
decisions decisions!
- plan number four
bugger off to paris for a few days… taking only a change of clothes, a toothbrush and my camera :)
- plan number five
buy myself one of these…
http://www.stauer.com/item/Stauer-1930-Dashtronic-Watch/17469
i’ve never been a watch person…ever ever ever. and i’ve certainly never been someone who will go out and spend an alarmingly large amount of money on a shirt or a pair of socks, or… a watch. i’ve found that to be a disgraceful use of cash, particularly if you’re a student or if you use the excuse, ‘oh it’s ok, mummy and daddy will pay for it!’ nevertheless, the second i saw this i actually fell for it…badly :/ so i’ve decided i’m going to be a cock and throw my morals completely out of the window when it comes to having enough to pay for one of these…sorry morals!
- plan number six
actually there isn’t really a plan number six, just a small bunch of ‘more likelys’… such as watch every world cup game with friends and family, play a load more cricket again, eat like a pig, go visit as many people as i can up and down the country without breaking the bank, do some volunteering, learn the guitar etc etc :)
right…now that they’re definites for the diary, back to good ol’ history…aaargh!
x
Filed under: on the mannequin
in response to one or two requests, here are some before and after pics of what has quickly become known across britain as ‘The Great Shave!’
before…
after…
so there we go. but i’m going to stop banging on about it now. it’s gone, over, auf wiedersehen :P
it was my birthday this week :)
unfortunately, none of these people turned up…
which is a shame (particularly the second one…she looks and dresses like the ideal girl)….however, pretty much all my favourite people on this planet did show a face, which made me pretty overjoyed!
nonetheless, all the fun has to end sometime and now is the beginning of pretty hectic four weeks in which i have to write 2 essays, 1 annotated bibliography, 2 presentations and eventually get fit for this everest tomfoolery…eek…
nevermind, im still all smiles for the time being :)
x
yesterday it was reported that Lee (a.k.a Alexander) Mcqueen had died at the young age of 40. i think even people least interested in fashion have heard of this great designer if not his work, as he really was one of the finest out there.
Alexander Mcqueen broke boundaries continuously throughout his career, crossing fashion with art and providing his fans and critics with awesome spectacles at every one of his shows. his work often exploded with creativity and passion and he continued to bring this not only to his events, but also to the high street. his most famous designs included the skull scarf and skull bag, the alien shoes and the ‘bumster’ jeans which somewhat defined the fashions of much of the nineties and noughties. moreover, he was loved for his ambitious and clever cuts which have inspired the imaginations of hundreds of new and rising designers across the world.
although i personally have only become particularly interested in fashion over the past two years or so, Mr. Mcqueen was one of the first designers i came across and i found much of his work pretty bloody brilliant. i’m sure he’ll be remembered for a long time to come…rest in peace pal.
x
Filed under: on the mannequin
to me, michael caine is one of those actors who really can’t seem to act, (for example, i don’t think he’s ever used any other accent than cockney in any film ever), however i can’t not like him…it’s the same with ray winstone….but not danny dyer, he’s just a prick
and one of the reasons why is that my god was he a cool, snappy sod when he was younger…
i’ve got a lot of respect for people who dress well and god forgive me, i’m even warming to the people who wear twead and cravats! mind you, i still despise gillets and bloody chinos. personally, i still wander around in jeans, trainers, wolly cardigans, checkered tops and band t-shirts, yet i’ve already ended up planning what i’m going to wear when i’m older and have money, with the plan to be a snappy fella being at the very top of my list!
i also much prefer and therefore love girls who wear stuff like retro dresses rather than hotpants in summer and rock n’ roll leather jackets and boots rather than neon bollocks for another generic night at tigertiger, or just something with a 1960′s feel to it…they look a thousand times better than these fake tan clad bimbos on the streets these days
some obvious examples are…
zooey deschanel
cecile cassel
clemence poesy
lea seydoux
audrey tautou
Filed under: on the film reel, on the horizon, on the mannequin, on the mind, on the muddy fields, on the plate, on the projector, on the screen, on the stage, on the travels, on the turntable, on the waves
to begin 2010, let’s have a looksie back on the naughty noughties through the great power of a big fat list…
2000
1. i brought in the new year playing a shit board game and wearing a sparkly cardboard waistcoat that said millenium all over it :/
2. following the countdown to the year 2000, unsurprisingly nobody/nothing blew because of the millenium bug, although some may have sneezed… it depends whether they had a cold that day
3. although i do not know for sure, im pretty certain that in the year 2000, jarvis cocker did not hook up with that deborah that he was born within an hour of… despite suggesting that they should meet up when they were all fully grown at the fountain down the roooooaaaad… you bloody cow deborah, i don’t care whether your name suits you or not… you’re still a bint :)
4. america elected president george bush and fucked up the world for eight or so miserable years…. whilst britain began broadcasting big brother and fucked up the world for loads of miserable years
5. i probably ate a curly wurly
2001
1. stanley kubrick’s hopes and dreams all went to pot when 2001 ended up being fuck all like he had imagined in ‘a space odyssey’…. stupid stanley
2. the glorious wikipedia first launched on the internet, helping me improve every essay written ever since by a gazillion percent
3. some dicks blew up the twin towers in new york…and blamed it on the middle east… sparking the regular use of the word ‘terrorist’ for anyone that moves or breathes (ooooo controversial! but yeh i agree with that one particular conspiracy suggestion thing, but that’s it, just that one, so don’t judge me as a conspiracy nerd, because i’m not…. thanksss)
4. the sensational and only beatle really worth mentioning, george harrison, passed away :(
5. i both started and finished learning the saxophone
2002
1. a load of countries started using the euro, blowing every british mind for at least an hour when they went on their annual package holiday to spain, until they found the pies and chips and settled back down
2. all the scum in britain was put under the collective term ‘chav’ so that it was easier for the daily mail to describe them during their regular rants about society when not paying tribute to diana
3. pele began telling the world that sometimes he just couldn’t get it up like he used to
4. lots of people came to our manchester to see how good it was and take pictures and talk about it and love it and recommend it to everyone and also watch a few runners go round a track at the horrendously named ‘city of manchester stadium’
5. everyone at school voluntarily went in extra early… but to watch the world cup rather than to do extra science… or is some sad cases to see blazin squad mime their way through half an hour of painfully bad shit
2003
1. a bloke called johnny wilkinson twatted the ball over a bar in the last seconds of the rugby world cup, spreading a love of rugby across the nation for at least a week
2. tony blair shat himself when people started to discuss the failure the find any weapons of mass destruction during his bollocks campaign in iraq, so had one of these people, david kelly, murdered in the woods and tried to disguise it as suicide
3. saddam insane was caught chillin in an underground box and sentenced to death, whilst arnie took over the role as scary politician man and became governor of the OC
4. i reluctantly left the scouts after many happy years
5. the world lost some great names: johnny cash, barry white, katharine hepburn, concorde, dame thora hird from the stairlift ads and rod roddy from the price is right
2004
1. ireland banned smoking in all pubs, causing severe distress as old men are forced to leave their guinness and step outside for a feg
2. as i finally become cool by getting a mobile phone for my birthday, north korea banned the use of them…. because they’re simply mad
3. the film ‘the day after tomorrow’ scares the living daylights out of everyone and forces the world to go power saving crazy, introducing a trillion different things to stop global warming and polar bears from getting their feet wet
4. a huge tsunami buggered up christmas by killing over two hundred thousand folk on boxing day
5. a couple of blokes manage to explore well over six thousand feet below sea level, most likely to get away from all the shit that was happening up top…. in particular, greece winning the european championship… what the hell was that all about!?
2005
1. america didn’t learn from their idiocy so elected president bush again…twats
2. we didn’t learn from our idiocy and elected prime minister blair again… twats
3. pope john paul the second unfortunately popped his clogs and a german fella took over his job in the vatican… he celebrated his new position by munching on a well deserved curly wurly
4. because britain is ridiculous, any asian bloke seen with a rucksack suddenly became hated due to the london bombings in july
5. tons of famous musical faces and bob geldof joined hands across the world during the live 8 concerts in order to raise awareness for the call for complete debt cancellation and more aid for the world’s poorest people… which is fair enough!
6. some bitch called katrina decided it would be great fun to wipe out the home of jazz along with thousands of other homes… bloody wind
7. liverpool became the jammiest of all sods by coming back from three nil down, to beat ac milan on penalties
8. i finally got out of the hell hole that was secondary school, went to the haven that was college, began earning some money and joined a band… :D
9. luther vandross, arthur miller, richard pryor and george best all passed on
10. i obviously started registering things that took place around me in 2005
2006
1. hard rock hallelujah becomes the song on everyones lips as the mighty lordi destroy the competition…. in eurovision
2. for those not to arsed about lordi however, fourth trace delighted the crowds with the likes of parallel games and the fiesta song :/
3. england did shit again in the world cup
4. saddam insane was finally hung for being a complete nob
5. syd barrett of pink floyd passed on :(
2007
1. we all learnt the ending to harry potter’s life at hogwarts and i still want to know what that little creature was under dumbledore’s chair
2. some daft twat forgot to do his research and tried to drive a flaming truck into glasgow airport… he musn’t have known that glaswegians are fucking mental and one happy chappy decided to smack the on fire terrorist to pulp in between tokes on his cig and chugs on his irn-bru
3. gordon brown took the leadership of the labour party and the government, irritating, worrying and scaring people up and down the nation
4. i had the best year of my life by farrrrrrrrrrrrr
5. the legendary tony wilson of factory records passed away and manchester mourned
2008
1. the international year of the potato and sanitation!
2. manchester united boshed chelsea in the european cup final rendering me voiceless for three days :)
3. michael phelps and usain bolt went mental at the beijing olympics and smashed a bollock load of records whilst britain did pretty bloody awesome as well…. then they all ate curly wurlys
4. somalian pirates proved that pirates do still exist
5. the worlds economy broke down as huge banks all over went bankrupt, causing every news reader on the planet to litter our ears with the words ‘recession’ and ‘credit crunch’ fucking over and over again
6. barack obama was elected president of the us, finally ending the disgraceful power period of bush and giving new hope to the world
7. an extra second was added to the year….whoopdedoo!
8. i travelled europe and got to see the oddness of a stoned bloke with a flower pot on his head in amsterdam, mass celebrations and parties in the host capital cities of the european championships and almost forgot every important document ever in a bar in bruges
9. we said goodbye to heath ledger, yves saint laurent, paul newman, charlton heston, eartha kitt and isaac hayes
10. sadly… i did not have a curly wurly once over these 365 days
2009
1. swine flu broke out, scaring the bejeeezus out of everyone with half a brain cell, whilst everyone else just got on with their lives, even when they actually caught the virus
2. michael jackson died at the age of fifty, resulting in everyone side-stepping what they had whinged on about for years, his paedo-ness, and instead broke down in tears everytime his name was mentioned
3. i decided that i would trek to everest basecamp next year
4. i attended glastonbury for the first time and had most definitely the greatest experience of my life bar none
5. england qualified for the world cup, sparking everyone to reaffirm that we will definitely win it this time…. mhmm
and that my friends, was the noughties… i hope you enjoyed wasting the last twenty minutes of your life… you’re never getting them back you know :D
x
it’s been an interesting week!
i’ve finally handed in all my essays and done all my presentations for the time being, so im free for a whole five days :)
recently i’ve definitely been keeping busy. aside from the tons of work i’ve had to do, i’ve been planning loads of fundraising ideas for this Everest thingy, for example im doing a bagpack tomorrow, holding a classic games night back at home and even being sponsored to grow my beard for FIVE MONTHS and maybe even dye it purple….if its accepted in Nepal!
i also attended the St. Andrew’s Ball on Thursday. it was slightly odd because there were hundreds of ex-public school folk who clearly had been to shag loads of these and knew exactly how to dance etc…. whereas I just drank a fair few vats of wine :/ it was an awesome night, made a thousand times better by the fact that I was wearing a kilt! i bloody love them! unfortunately, it ended a bit pants… some tosser thought it would be genius to rob my jacket from my chair and now if i don’t get it back and return it to the hirer place within a week, i’ve got to pay £200… yay.
but despite that, i’m all smiles and very much looking forward to doing nothing this week… apart from hunting down a Prince Charlie jacket :S
x
Today i’m disgustingly hungover once again and not sure whether im hot, cold, ill or hungry… the worst feeling in the world! So i was never expecting todays post to be particularly exciting apart from the occassional BLEHHHH! I thought instead i’d fill you in on where the hell ‘The Checkered Mind’ came from…
If you have a quick gander at these photos i’m pretty sure you’ll work it out for yourself!
that’s right…. i’m pretty much always placed in a checkered shirt :/
for the record, this is partly because i don’t think much else suits me (apart from the occassional denim ‘ian curtis’ style shirt) and to be honested on the whole i look like a tit in a t-shirt. It’s the same with jeans… i only own jeans! No trackies, canterburys or god forbid a pair of personality destroying chinos. It’s not because i’m a lazy shopper, i actually shop like a girl… its just that i stick to what i know best!
So to cut a crap story short, i was once called ‘the checkered man’ and i thought i’d just run with that…
bye now!
x
