You can look like Mr Drew from ‘Educating Essex’ in this slip over/tank top – According to the Channel 4 website, students have described him as ‘Entertainer, educator, evil overlord and legend.’
Would love to be seen as an evil overlord in my job!
100% soft knit cotton slip-over available in black or navy blue.This top is an ideal way to stay warm by adding an extra layer and can be worn over a shirt or t-shirt.
Great Christmas gift idea!
Sizes: 2XL – 5XL.
Tags: big men's clothes, mens fashion
A couple of months ago I bought a shop mannequin on eBay to make photographing clothing easier without the need to hire models at £20k a day. He had been described as ‘well-used’ but he was in serious need of repair (with car filler) and painting.
Ivan in serious need of filler & repainting!
We christened him ‘Ivan’ as Bev in the office reckoned he looked Eastern European and we couldn’t pronounce Demetrius and thought Gregor sounded a bit pretentious.
I took him into my local Homebase in a shopping trolley to be scanned for matching paint colour but I couldn’t get a close enough match so I had to repaint him in full. The kids soon got used to the half naked chap standing in the kitchen – although I think all their friends thought I was a bit barmy and he gave my ex a hell of a shock!
Ivan in fancy dress
Finally I finished him in time for the new winter collection. Here he is wearing the new Father Christmas joggers – well I wouldn’t mind him coming down our chimney at Christmas!
Ivan in Santa's Xmas Joggers
Tags: entrepreneurship, Marketing, retail display, starting a business, window dressing
How about this to liven up your gym routine? Have a look at this french advert on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEH4Yum4nN4&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Just found a photo of Jamie Oliver wearing an azure blue polo shirt that looks very much like the colour we sell, over a checked shirt. We think this adds to the wearability of what is one of our biggest sellers! To try this look, team the azure polo shirt with our wine checked Oakman shirt and Life and Limb pinstriped trousers.
Polo shirt Wine checked shirt Pinstriped trousers
Layering with poloshirts
One of our regular customers, Ian, dropped in this morning to top up on T-shirts for his summer holidays. Whilst he was here I persuaded him to slip on one of our new lightweight summer jackets from Life & Limb. This jacket is made from 100% soft cotton so could almost be worn like a hoodie with its detachable jersey lined hood. It features biker style zipped pockets, decorative stitching and epaulettes typical of the styling you’d expect from Life & Limb.
Ian models the Life & Limb canvas biker jacket in size 6XL with our plain T-shirt in pure white in 5XL and the Rockford comfort fit jeans in dirty denim. We have a bike repair shop next door so this is an ideal spot for modelling men’s urban casual wear!
Life & Limb is the younger brother of Oakman – launched in 2003 as a new contemporary brand for the independent men’s fashion market. New styles are designed at the company’s studios in West Yorkshire and each season we select a number of garments and have them made up in larger sizes from 3XL up to 6XL or 7XL.
Tags: big men's clothes, mens fashion
My children are on half term hol this week so it’s always a huge juggling act to keep the promotional machine going. At last I’m adding to the blog by mobile phone. In the meantime, pulling thistles out of the lawn, cleaning windows, paying suppliers, checking the cash-flow forecast…
If you get a chance to read Saturday’s Telegraph Weekend section, have a look at Hannah Betts article ‘On the trail of the silver fox’ in which she gives 10 lessons on how to dress like Italians!
Here’s a brief summary:
- The pleasure principle: Italians are secure in their sexuality so they can enjoy their clothing, and the ladies love it.
- Investment of intellect: Put thought into dressing – and be seen to have done so. Hannah says ‘the Italian regards the British lack of engagement with such matters as witless.’
- Formality with sprezzatura: There is no direct translation for this word but ease, or studied carelessness would do. In other words, do dress for the occasion, but don’t look too rigid. ‘He wears his clothes, rather than said clothes wearing him.’
- Tinker, tailor: ‘That is, avoid resembling the former, by employing the latter.’ Use a tailor, or at least buy the correct size. You can’t hide bulk under ever baggier clothing, when shoulder seams are half way down your arms it creates a round shouldered look, when tops are way too long it makes you look dumpy.
- Colour confidence: You don’t have to have ‘over-studied colour co-ordination’ but you can enjoy shopping for colours that suit you. There is no need to wear black all the time – I promise you it doesn’t suit most pale flabby Brits.
- Sensual texture: Hannah’s words ‘What woman doesn’t want to bury herself in a tactile embrace of cotton, linen and cashmere?’ Hear hear!
- Attention to detail: The Italian male is obsessed with the detail but Brits can be incredibly slobbish. In essence ‘laundering, pressing, non-wilting hems and a mama who teaches her sons to sew on buttons’ says Hannah.
- Quality control: This is all about choosing the best source for your look, so in Italy it would be Milan for suits, Florence for leather etc. However, at Extra Large Clothing we try to put the look together for you with photos of real men wearing the product as far as possible so that you can see how different items go together. You don’t have to do the sourcing – it’s all done for you.
- Age cannot wither him: It is possible to age gracefully – smarten up your act, get a good haircut….
- Subtly scented skin: Again this is about presenting yourself at your best. Even if you are unhappy about your figure, you can still look and smell good. Use cologne.
We Brits have lost the plot – there was a time when all of Europe looked to the Englishman as a style leader. It’s time to put the effort back in chaps!
Tags: big men's clothes, men's jeans, mens fashion
I love the sound of Google Goggles, an app that allows you to take a photograph of anything with your mobile and search for the product online. Like that pair of jeans or shirt somebody is wearing in the pub? Take a photo and view through Google goggles and it will let you know the brand, where to purchase and how much it is. Back to my wine theme (one of my favourites, let’s face it!) – take a photo of the bottle of wine you are drinking in that pricey restaurant and see how much you could buy it for in the off licence.
Sadly, I don’t have the iphone 4 needed to run it yet!
Have you ever noticed the way savvy shopkeepers take advantage of consumers’ desire for a bargain?
One sly tactic that shoppers are wising up to is the ‘special offer’ price slash. Many supermarkets have been known to bump up the prices of very average wines, only to drop the price back to normal a week or so later, accompanied by an attention-grabbing label declaring ‘was £10.99, now £4.99′. The bargain hunter’s eyes then light up at the thought of getting a relatively pricey wine at a very affordable price, only to be disappointed when the bottle is opened and is not of the standard one might expect.
What about sofa shops who put outrageous prices on furniture so that they can include it in the half price sale after having it ‘on display’ (somewhere out of sight at the back of the shop) for the statutory 30 days before they can call it a ‘sale’?
I have seen basic jeans offered at £40ish in a competing mail order catalogue, then just a few weeks later ‘reduced’ by 30%. Not necessarily a bargain if the price was inflated beforehand.
So, how are we different?
Well, we like to offer great prices to start with.
- Jeans from £19.99
- Shorts for £14.99
- Polo Shirts at £12.99
When we have a mid-season sale it’s because we have overstocked on something – and in that case, the offers are genuine because stock turn is essential in retail…watch this space!