Rainy Day Woman

I was instantly drawn to the adorable 60's clothes that I managed to find within the endless rails of beyond retro, Its fantastic that you can find out so much about ordinary, everyday vintage fashion just by rummaging through, there's just so much inspiration. 

The abandoned shoe menders basement provides a stark contrast to the carefully selected, striking fashions inside, the few items that lay inside are highly contemporary by designers like Ann-Sofie back, Maison Martin Margiela and Gareth Pugh- all avant garde and influential brands.

Absolute Vintage is the definition of rummage; you seem to walk in to a hoarders living room but, a living room full of eccentric one-off's and some truly beautiful garments, its interesting the way that men and women's clothes are mixed together, challenging your idea of style and encouraging you to remove all boundaries. 

There are rather a lot of unknown brands in Diverse (e.g Jane Carr) which are slowly being discovered by the customers who go to browse Christopher Kane, Alexander McQueen and Halston to name but a few of the many; Diverse keeps Islington informed of the new, emerging talent in the fashion industry

Theres something very British about Labour of Love, its cute, quirky and full of humour and theatricals, the eclectic range of products it sells make the LoL ideal very solid.

The fashion in Sefton is very progressive, yet the store is relaxed and approachable, reflecting on the fashion and making it more accessible to the general public, the range of brands is vast yet the garments selected are generally modern, relaxed and casual whilst still remaining edgy. 

Present is a rare thing - a modern boutique aimed at young men and the interior is so obviously masculine that I felt quite out of place there, sparse, industrial and super easy for the impatient men to shop quickly without boredom taking over. 

http://www.farfetch.com/xmas/

Even without looking at the fashion i am fully in love with farfetch.com's wonderfully illustrative website, the collaged pages mixed with traditional drawings animate the garments, its refreshing to see fashion presented in this way.

http://www.oki-ni.com/styled/styled-by-glenn-kitson/stry/styled-glenn-kitson/

The STYLED section on oki-ni.com shows fantastic examples of contemporary menswear and the stylists involved show how diverse it can be, I love these images by Glenn Kitson because they show an alternative to clean cut, tailored images, they are candid and shabby.

http://www.net-a-porter.com/ presents classic fashion in a straight forward, purposeful style - easy to shop but bland to browse, the website plays it very safe in both product and style because its customer base is worldwide and covers all ages, it doesn't isolate anyone yet is uninspiring to those who want a thrill. 

http://www.notjustalabel.com/about provides space for new designers to showcase themselves and nudge their way in to the fashion industry, they seek out the most avant  - garde and daring designers to become the new faces of fashion and break any boundaries that could possibly remain, surely there must be one or two. I think the antique diving suit's due for a comeback.