Style Archives - The Chic Geek

Menswear OOTD The Festive Corduroy Suit

Written on November 23, 2023.

Moss Bros has had a refresh and now goes by the name of MOSS. Rolling stones gather no moss, but a stylish geek certainly does. The new MOSS is a lot more contemporary and almost Reiss-like but more affordable, offering a rich palette of colours and textured fabrics. This suit also comes in a lovely pastel green and brown. This chic red corduroy that I have chosen has a 1960s feel with the DB jacket and slimmer/tapered trousers. I’ve teamed it here with a red matching coat, patent shoes and PARTY!!! smoking hat for a festive night out, but you could also add a trainers and white T-shirt or Merino knit for daytime. MOSS – Jacket – £149, Trouser – £80

Holbein Men’s AW23 Headwear Inspiration

Written on November 22, 2023.

Holbein is a genius at drawing and painting men. A new exhibition from The Royal Collection, held at The Queen’s Gallery next to Buckingham Palace, showcases a collection of the finest heads of the Tudor elite. Their personalities shine through and they look like people you could have just passed on the street despite being nearly 500 years-old. The statement facial hair and headwear could be 2023 or 1523. The beret-like Tudor bonnets are easily and affordably replicated. Holbein’s portraits show how timless individuality is. £19 – Until 14th April 2024

Menswear Item Of The Week The Peacock Feather

Written on November 16, 2023.

You don’t always need to buy a new coat to refresh your winter look. If budgets are a bit tighter, a well chosen accessory can update many items in your wardrobe. This affordable pin with a classic peacock feather would be perfect on a lapel or even on the side of a hat. Or both. A simple dandy feather adds a tasteful detail and peacock feathers or ‘Mor Pankh’ are believed to attract positive energy at home and bring financial success. Fingers crossed! Joe Browns – Luxury Peacock Feather Pin – £9

Menswear OOTD The Granny Bag

Written on November 1, 2023.

I got these Barbie-pink trousers from H&M’s Studio Collection and I was itching for the right time to debut. I took a walk amongst the sunflowers – I often get mistaken for Van Gogh because of the red hair and beard – and decide to dress them up for an early autumn night out. A berry-coloured sheer shirt and contrasting scarf was paired with a summer trench. A mock-croc vintage granny picked up on Ebay for a tenner completes the look. Is it your bag?! The Chic Geek Credits – Trenchcoat – Vintage Aquascutum, Sheer Shirt – ASOS, Thin Scarf – Ebay, Pink Trousers – H&M Studio Collection, Trainers – OluKai, Granny Bag – Ebay.

Fine Jewellery from talented minds

Written on October 15, 2023.

Taylor & Hart and Hermione de Paula announce a serendipitous union that merges the realms of fine jewellery and couture wedding gowns, set to debut in October 2023. Aligned in their unwavering commitment to quality and meticulous craftsmanship, Taylor & Hart, renowned for crafting love stories into bespoke rings, and Hermione de Paula, a couture virtuoso, have joined forces to create a collection of intricate jewellery designs. These designs draw inspiration from the captivating, organic shapes and motifs found in the natural world. Both brands share a profound dedication to crafting bespoke treasures that narrate the unique stories of their clients. Taylor & Hart x Hermione de Paula: A Fine Jewellery Collaboration Rooted in the extraordinary tales of love and the bespoke...

Menswear Item of The Week The Gold Horse Granny Bag

Written on October 12, 2023.

Swaine – Special Edition Margot Gold Equestrian Embroidery – £7500 Thanks to Harry Styles and the like we are all carrying granny bags. When two of your favourite made-in-UK brands, producing the finest handmade products, come together it’s hard not to stand back and simply admire. This bag from Swaine, with embroidery from one of my favourites, Hand & Lock, is a contemporary masterpiece and a nice reminder you can still find modern luxury goods made to the highest quality. (Albeit at a price!) A one-off, it has been crafted under Swaine’s newish store on New Bond Street from the finest leather with an ostrich skin handle. Swaine’s beautiful equestrian logo has been intricately embroidered using Hand & Lock’s 2% gold bullion wire embroidery. This...

Exhibition: The Chic Geek Visits Museum of London Docklands’ Fashion City: How Jewish Londoners Shaped Global Style

Written on October 10, 2023.

While the City of London location is closed, the Museum of London Docklands has opened a new fashion exhibition looking at the valuable Jewish contribution in making London the world’s most fashionable city. From East End tailors to the couture salons of the West End, Fashion City tells the stories of Jewish makers who became leaders in their industries, created some of the most recognisable looks of the 20th century, founded retail chains still on the high street today, and dressed the rich and famous- from David Bowie and Princess Diana to Mick Jagger and Muhammad Ali. The exhibition is a story of two halves, cleverly connected by the 1900 Central Line. The beginning is more austere and based in the deprived East End. It’s a look at the immigrant beginnings and the transferable...

The Chic Geek Comment What the 1978 Christie’s Chanel auction tells us about the changing attitudes in collecting vintage fashion

Written on October 9, 2023.

The final look in the V&A museum’s new Chanel exhibition features a very austere and catholic looking black buttoned dress with white dog collar. It was the star item – featuring on the cover of the catalogue – at the 1978 sale at Christie’s of Coco Chanel’s possessions. It was bought by the V&A museum at the ‘Sale of the Personal Collection of Chanel’ to add to its extensive fashion collection. While I don’t know how much the museum paid for it, I am certain it wouldn’t be able to buy it today. Fashion wasn’t looked at the same then. It was something that came and went and wearing second clothes had more of a stigma than sartorial statement. It had a value, but it was a niche market to fill a gap in a museum collection. Many brands didn’t have archives...

Exhibition: The Chic Geek Visits the V&A Museum’s Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto

Written on October 9, 2023.

Don’t go for the clothes – they are pretty, but a reminder that Chanel doesn’t have any definitive iconic items like say a YSL Mondrian dress or a Le Smoking – go for the birth and foundation of a megabrand. The exhibition encapsulates the power and commercial importance of perfume and something everybody from a queen – there’s a letter from Queen Elizabeth II thanking for a gifted bottle of No.5 – downwards can buy. One of the most interesting takeaways is the revelation that the Chanel No.5 bottle was based on the Place Vendôme in Paris. The Wertheimer family, who still own Chanel, were Coco’s original perfume partners and helped her relaunch couture in the 1950s and the subsequent brand we know today. They understood the importance of clothes and fashion...

Frans Hals Menswear Inspiration

Written on September 29, 2023.

This fine looking gent is Jasper Schade. He features in the new Frans Hals exhibition at The National Gallery. The exhibition is not just a reminder of what a skilled portrait artist Frans Hals was, but also how obsessed we are with our own images and the ways we are portrayed way before the advent of social media. The National Gallery’s blurb states that Schade was extremely concerned with looking fashionable. They know from contemporary sources that he had a reputation for spending excessive amounts on his clothes. Here his taffeta jacket is giving pure Simone Rocha or JW Anderson. Looking remarkably fresh for 1645, Schade shows how men can play with shine in clothes and also the freshness of adding white or translucent pearls for stylish balance.