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Showing posts with label Trousers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trousers. Show all posts

Saturday, June 11, 2011

G-Star RAW Covent Garden store

I had a days work at an advertising agency in Covent Garden in London this week. Not particularly exciting stuff, but they like my work so regularly ask me back.


While in the area I took advantage of the opportunity to drop by the G-Star RAW store on Shorts Garden, only a couple of streets from the Paul Smith store that stocked the Reissued Shirts last year.

The G-Star RAW store is the largest retail outlet for their clothing, so the perfect place to look and make some face-to-face enquiries.

Looking around there are a dazzling array of jeans on offer, but I couldn’t see what I wanted.

I spoke with the manager, who was very helpful and up for the challenge of working out what I was trying to find.
He did explain though, the day I walked in was official the start of their summer season, and of 25 variations of jeans in stock, 23 were discontinued!

Now, it is pretty clear that their Blade style of jeans are definitely the right cut, what is less clear is exactly which fabric is used to make them.

After explaining the style - Blade - and the fabric type - black waxed - he seemed to understand what I was referring to. Another term I had heard - 3-D aged - nailed it for him and he dug out their bible of clothes and styles. He pointed at the type and the fabric option.

‘That’s it’, I said, ‘Do you have them?’ ‘No’, he said, ‘but they could be ordered, if stock was available’.

He checked and they had my size so I placed an order.

He explained the same thing happened when Shia LaBeouf wore one of their t-shirts in the Transformers movie. They had lots of enquiries, but it was from a previous season, then discontinued. The bosses considered bringing it back specially - like the Paul Smith reissue - but it never happened. Guess we were lucky that Paul Smith did.

Anyway, a few days later he called me to let me know the jeans were in and I returned to pick them up.

I now have three pairs of these Blade jeans, each in a different fabric finish - each a bit closer to the screen-used ones.
Crushed Black from very.co.uk
When I started looking the only black version I could find were these standard black denim, known as Crushed Black.

The stitching is black to match, and the decaling on the back pockets are grey. The fabric is quite glossy enough though.
Spark Denim: 3-D Aged via eBay
This time round I found a pair in a waxed, shinny finish. The stitching is in a contrasting white, as is the rear decal.

When the Utah publicity stills emerged, it was possible to see that the stitching is visible, and could well be the white as on these jeans. But the colour had a bit more depth that a pure black lacks.
Slate Denim from G-Star RAW store
This time around I think I got a bit closer still. I chatted at length to Alan at the G-Star store, quizzing him in particular about the range as it stood a year ago. He knew his stuff and said the Spark Denim would have been the only one available at that time that would fit the bill. Hence ordered a pair from him.

The stitching and decal are again white, but that has been held up already by the Utah stills. The branding and decals could well have been white, but like the Converse logos on Tennant’s trainers, have been obscured or painted over.

If you have found a pair of Blade Jeans in the right colour with decals other than white, let me know and I can add it to the list.

READ MORE - G-Star RAW Covent Garden store

Thursday, April 14, 2011

EXCLUSIVE News - all can be revealed!

A couple of days ago I posted that I had some EXCLUSIVE News coming up.

Well done everyone who guess it is a lead on . . . .
The trousers!

This week I had an email from someone who follows my blog, saying that on a bored day they had been trawling the net looking around for the new jeans Matt Smith had been seen wearing, and had been using the photo I posted from the cover of SFX magazine as reference.

What they had found – abet in a conventional blue denim – was a pair of jeans with this distinctive low curved pocket shape; positioning of belt loops; location of rivets; and visible waist button.


The jeans are by G-Star, sometimes known as G-Star RAW.

The style of jeans are called as G-Star RAW Blade Jeans.

Some further digging around turned them up in black as well as blue.

Getting closer!




Here are a few pictures to compare the screen-worn trousers to a standard pair of the G-Star Raw Blade Jeans


It’s also possible to see where the G-Star RAW logo has been obscured (see left), in a similar way to Tennant’s Converse All Star sneakers had the ankle roundels painted out.


I have found two good places to order these jeans from: one in the UK, the other in the US. Both stock the jeans in Crushed Black, which as I will come to isn’t quite the right fabric yet.

UK - Very.co.uk

I can highly recommend their delivery service. I placed my order at 6.30pm on Tuesday, and they arrived at 1.40pm on Wednesday - LESS than 24 hours later!

US - Zappos.com

The plain blue denim versions can be ordered in the US through Amazon.com.

Now, the only problem so far is that I cannot find these jeans in the waxed fabric Matt Smith actually wears.

The G-Star website stocks jeans using the fabric – known as Spark Denim – but not in the Blade Jeans style.
This is where I throw it open to you to see if you can find them in the right fabric – and in stock!

I’ll be back real soon with some photos of the jeans I bought and some further comparisons to the screen-worn version.

Now I have a pair, I can also confirm the unusually low back pockets and back waist strap are all present on the pair I bought.

More to follow.
READ MORE - EXCLUSIVE News - all can be revealed!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

EXCLUSIVE news - coming soon!

If you’re a mad Eleventh Doctor fan, and are trying to get yourself a series six costume together, then I’ve got FANTASTIC news for you. . .

. . . coming soon!


What can it be??!!
All WILL be revealed

I had an email this week from a follower of my blog, who had spotted part of Matt Smith’s new costume online, and after taking a look myself, I was pretty convinced it was exactly right!

So I have placed an order, which should be with me tomorrow – after which I will know for sure if it is right or not!

If it is: then FINALLY we will have nailed part of this new costume.

If it isn’t: then believe me, we will have found the best-ever second best option!!

Keep checking back to get this exclusive low down!
READ MORE - EXCLUSIVE news - coming soon!

Monday, September 27, 2010

All change!

I’m not referring to the Number 11 bus – but the Number Eleven Doctor!

The new series of Matt Smith episodes is currently in production, and some on location pictures have emerged, showing The Doctor’s NEW costume!

Some pictures were knocking around when the Christmas special was being lensed, but they were quite distant and not top quality. These new ones, however, have been taken by paparazzi and so are much higher res and show a lot more detail.

What they do show are the complete change of costume assembled for the new series. Now, it doesn’t at first glance look that different, but like the season 19 vs season 21 Fifth Doctor chance, it is a revisiting of the constituent parts.

So, what’s changed?



JACKET
It’s still a tweed, but it doesn’t take much to notice it is a different pattern of fabric with a much bolder checked pattern. What you might not notice at first glance is it is a three-button closure, rather than a two-button like before (see right).
The elbow patches are basically the same!

SHIRT

It’s no longer a Paul Smith shirt, and appears to be a white shirt with a pale coloured grid or gingham check. The cuffs are distinctive for a 45 ˚ chamfered corner (see above).

BOOTS
The All Saints boots are out, and some look-a-likes are in. They can be distinguished by the stitched arch across the brow of the boot (see right).

TROUSERS
These look very similar to the TopMan ones previously worn, but are of a more waxy finish and have distinctive deep back pockets (see left).

ACCESSORIES
Matt appears to be wearing the same braces as before, and a similar bow tie (bow ties are cool, btw) but it does seem to be a shade bigger than before.
READ MORE - All change!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Series Five costume index

A while back over on my Third Doctor Blog I ran a series of features about Jon Pertwee’s costume changes during his run as The Doctor.
I wrote it because I was curious to work out the transition from his first year when he wore the same clothes all season, through to his last where he rarely wore the same thing twice!

Matt  Smith’s costume appeared at the outset to be a fairly fixed affair, but as the series has progressed a number of subtle variants have emerged. What follows is an attempt to document these in one place.
All of the images below have been grabbed from the HD transmissions. Click on them to view in full resolution.
The Eleventh Hour

Jacket Donegal Tweed
NB: There is a minor continuity error in the closing scene, where a close-up shows The Doctor wearing the Harris Tweed jacket (see right) which does not appear for two episodes.

Shirt Burgundy Paul Smith

Trousers Dogtooth design skinny jeans from TopMan
NB. These jeans can be quickly identified by the visible metal waistband button at the top of the fly (see below).

Boots All Saints Layer boots

The Beast Below

Jacket Donegal Tweed

Shirt Burgundy Paul Smith

Trousers Dogtooth design skinny jeans from TopMan

Boots All Saints Layer boots 
Victory Of The Daleks

Jacket Harris Tweed in Mackenzie two-by-two dogtooth weave

Shirt Blue Paul Smith

Trousers Plain charcoal skinny jeans
NB. These jeans can be distinguished from the dogtooth jeans by their clean closure at the waistband with no visible button (see right).


Boots Unidentified brown boots

The Time Of Angels
Flesh & Stone

Jacket Harris Tweed in Mackenzie two-by-two dogtooth weave

Shirt Burgundy Paul Smith
NB. The cuffs have two buttons (so it is not the French Cuff Shirt I featured last month - sorry Ryan), but Matt wears the shirt with only one of these buttons done up (see below, bottom left)

Trousers Dogtooth design skinny jeans from TopMan
NB. These jeans can be quickly identified by the visible metal waistband button at the top of the fly (see above, top left).

Boots All Saints Layer boots

Vampires Of Venice

Jacket Donagal Tweed

Shirt Blue Paul Smith
NB. The matching blue bow tie has an interesting woven knot (see above, top right)

Trousers Dogtooth design skinny jeans from TopMan
NB. Note the visible metal waistband button at the top of the fly (see above, top & bottom left).

Boots All Saints Layer boots
Amy’s Choice
Upper Ledworth scenes

Jacket Donagal Tweed

Shirt Blue Paul Smith
NB. The blue bow tie Matt wears, as well as being narrower than the burgundy one, appears to have a faint woven pattern in it (see above, bottom right). Bow ties are cool!

Trousers Dogtooth design skinny jeans from TopMan
NB. These jeans can be quickly identified by the visible metal waistband button at the top of the fly (see above, top left).

Boots All Saints Layer boots

TARDIS scenes


Jacket Donagal Tweed

Shirt Burgundy Paul Smith

Trousers Dogtooth design skinny jeans from TopMan

Boots All Saints Layer boots

The Hungry Earth & Cold Blood

Jacket Donagal Tweed

Shirt Burgundy Paul Smith

Trousers Dogtooth design skinny jeans from TopMan
NB. These jeans can be quickly identified by the visible metal waistband button at the top of the fly (see above, top left and bottom right).

Boots All Saints Layer boots

Vincent And The Doctor

Jacket Donagal Tweed

Shirt Navy Paul Smith

Trousers Dogtooth design skinny jeans from TopMan

Boots All Saints Layer boots

The Lodger

Jacket Donagal Tweed

Shirt Navy Paul Smith

Trousers Dark grey skinny jeans from Top Man

Boots All Saints Layer boots

NB. This episode has probably the best close-up of The Doctor’s watch (see right).
The Pandorica Opens

Jacket Donagal Tweed

Shirt Burgundy Paul Smith

Trousers Dogtooth design skinny jeans from TopMan

Boots All Saints Layer boots

The Big Bang


Jacket Donagal Tweed

Shirt Burgundy Paul Smith

Trousers Dogtooth design skinny jeans from TopMan

Boots All Saints Layer boots
If you spot a variant I have missed, please drop me a line at tennantcoat@me.com so I can amend my information.
READ MORE - Series Five costume index

Friday, April 9, 2010

Trousers - TopMan

Now the trousers, at the time of their discovery back in late July 2009, were the easiest garment to find and obtain – and cheap into the bargain.

Someone spotted that they were a simple Houndstooth Skinny Jean from TopMan, and they were widely available for £35 at most branches across the UK. The only minor problem was finding a pair to fit.


Most branches stocked the slimmer waist sizes, to target the younger, waif-like shoppers. After trying a couple of stores – and feeling suitably old and out of touch – I retreated back to the safety of a cup of tea and internet shopping to find the trousers fully in stock on the TopMan website, right up to waist 36.
The purchase was painless and within a week I had my pair of trousers – and they fitted!

Result.

Since then, the style has been discontinued (as is becoming the routine with all the elements of Matt Smith’s costume it seems) and stocks rapidly ran out. I did just manage to grab a second pair online before supplies were totally depleted, and at half-price in their autumn sale, so a double result!
Since then they have been totally sold out and are unobtainable.

So my trousers are sorted.
That was easy.

Then amazingly there was a second dip at getting a pair of matching screen-worn trousers.

Some photos emerged of the filming for the last few episodes to go before the cameras.
This time Matt could clearly be seen wearing trousers that were not a houndstooth pattern.

Had he changed his trousers? Well, yes, apparently he had!

The forums kicked in again and within a few hours it was spotted that they were again a pair of TopMan skinny jeans, but this time a grey plain colour.


Again these were reasonably priced and available in all sizes. No point going to high street branches (after last time) so I opted for the online purchase as before.
Dispatch was equally quick and another costume element is acquired and bites the dust!

At the time or writing they are still on the TopMan website, but a slowly depleting range of sizes are on offer.

Grab them while you can guys!!!
READ MORE - Trousers - TopMan

Friday, January 1, 2010

The Beginning Of Time

Today seemed like the best day to start this new blog – the first day we all saw Matt Smith in Doctor Who for the very first time.



I should quickly point out that this is actually a blog I had no intention of starting or writing! I didn’t feel there was much to contribute to the Eleventh Doctor Costume front, but a series of happenstance came together like a celestial alignment and for me the number of pieces that fell into place made what I am about to do become inevitable!

Blimey, that sounds ominous!

Anyway, as soon as the first image of Matt Smith in costume was revealed in BBC Breakfast on 20th July 2009 (see right), I quickly realized it was a costume that took very little to replicate. With it principally being made up of off-the-peg clothing, there were few bespoke, custom-made items to create.

However, no sooner had it appeared, then the chase was afoot to find exactly what those items actually were.
The online costuming forums, when they work, work well! So it wasn’t long before the key items of the costume were identified.
The boots – All Saints
The Shirt – Paul Smith PS
The Trousers – TopMan
All of these items had been gleaned from the then current collections for those retailers, and it quickly became apparent that their time was rapidly passing and they were quickly becoming end-of-line items and hard to track down.

I’ll cover my obtaining of the boots and trousers in a future entry, but for now its the shirt that interests me.

The shirt was part of the Summer 09 Paul Smith PS collection (see left), and I managed to grab mine through a online site called John Anthony.
I usually take a L in shirts, so ordered that, only to get a phone call telling me they had sold out. They did, however, have the XL, so I switched to that instead.
Just as well, cos when it arrived it was a snug fit!

Once various people started getting their hands on the shirts, they soon spotted three minor subtle differences.
Breast pocket – The Paul Smith shirt has a breast pocket, which is not present on the Matt Smith shirt.
Cuffs – The Matt Smith shirt has a couple of bold burgundy stripes around the cuffs, which are not on the Paul Smith shirt.
Button stand – The Paul Smith shirt has a flap, concealing the buttons from view when it is worn, but on the Matt Smith shirt they are clearly visible.


My opinion is that these modifications were made to differentiate the Matt Smith shirt from the Paul Smith original.

Well, now the Sonic Screwdriver has been handed over to Matt Smith, the Paul Smith shirts are impossible to find and are becoming as rare as hen’s teeth.

What I need to do now is perform the same modifications to my shirt, in the same way the costume department did to theirs.

Check back soon to see how I get on . . .
READ MORE - The Beginning Of Time