Blue Peter badges...

Following my recent trip to the Henley Royal Regatta last week, I'm still mulling over the fashions that were on display. The men were somewhat like peacocks: wearing blazers, boaters and showing off their prized badges. It always amazes me how much men love to belong to clubs and wear badges - it's often a football or a golf club, but in the case of Henley it's a rowing affiliation, or perhaps a gentleman's club. Could wearing all this MCC rowing club regalia (left) be the male equivalent of a woman wearing all her jewellery at the same time?





Some of the most prized badges at Henley are those for the Steward's Enclosure (above right and left) and the Leander Club (the small round badge on the right). The card badges are merely to allow access for the day's racing, but the metal badges offer the right to attend meetings for the duration of the regatta.




There's generally a lot of attention to detail in dressing for Henley - it seems that men are proud of their labels - from those on their jackets (left) to their Leander Club signature socks (right) - and for others there is always the badge of office (below left).








Some smart fellows even accessorize their outfits with their own unique trophies. The lovely chaps from the Bedford Rowing Club (right) meet each year on Friday at Henley for what call 'flower day' where they adorn the lapels of their jackets with huge floral corsages. One has even created his own badge of honour in the form of a very stylish and totally individual rosette (below left). How very ShopCurious!




I simply love going to Henley and seeing the variety of fashions on view - for men it's so curiously chic.
Are you?

Mad hatters?

Inspired by the vision of so many men dressing so stylishly for Henley, I've decided to do a bit of a men's fashion week on the blog front. I'm especially pleased to note that men also like to add individual touches to their outfits at Henley - it's not only women who make an effort to stand out from the crowd. Take the man below left with his miniature sized boater, whom I spotted trying to chat up a large group of rather boisterous older ladies. And this photo which captures the inimitable Uncle Roger, who has worn the same boater for many years - at one stage it appeared to be falling to pieces, so it must have been repaired since then. This time he showed us the inside (pictured here), revealing the newspaper lining, which we observed is the Daily Express from 4th July 1947: there's no accounting for Uncle Roger's taste, but the boater's curiously cool. To the right is Uncle Roger in a previous incarnation at Henley a few years ago, wearing another fine hat (actually one of mine), which sets off his stripey blazer and tie perfectly - in fact I think it suits him far better than it did me... More evidence of men getting ahead in the fashion stakes: I notice that lots of men at Henley choose to express their individual style through their clothes - and some even opt for headgear that's less traditional than the customary boater, as illustrated by the characters below, including (from left) Charles Armstrong in a natty straw hat, John Robbins (a very talkative fellow from the Furnival Rowing Club) in his trilby and this rather distinguished looking gentleman wearing a turban. The rowers and some of the fans in their enclosure tended to favour a less formal and more practical look - including this flag wielding groupie - no prizes for guessing the nationality of the team he's supporting. And, finally, there were those for whom the hats of choice were predetermined, like this security attendant in the Steward's Enclosure and the immaculately uniformed guards performing on the bandstand, who must have been sweltering in the hot sunshine. Don't they look smart though? One of the best things about Henley Royal Regatta is that it's such a friendly event. It's not just about posing - most people are there because they are either rowing, they know someone who's rowing, or they belong to a rowing club. It's all very authentic and it allows the opportunity for everyone to express their own unique style - a concept that we at ShopCurious strongly support. Do You?

Jolly stylish fellows

To Henley-on-Thames, for the Henley Royal Regatta, where I was curious to see what the ladies were wearing. But, as I soon discovered, it's the men who really dress up at Henley... so I decided to devote some serious blogging space to the men's fashion week that is Henley.


One of the things that the rowing regatta is noted for is its brightly coloured blazers. The rowing clubs usually offer summer and winter blazers - the summer ones are often stripey or in lighter colours eg cream with a piped ribbon edging, whereas the winter jackets are thicker more woolly/felt-like material, but also with a piped edging. Lots of men retain these from their school or university college days and continue to wear them year after year, which makes for some interesting and sometimes ill-fitting sights by the river - though everyone I met this year looked immaculately turned out...
From above left to right: the guys in red from Kingston Rowing Club, the Army Boat Club blazer (you'd never guess!) and the curiously colourful Nat West Rowing Club jacket.

Then (above left) the bright young things from Radley College, a more seasoned type and member of Tideway Scullers (above right) and the wearer of a very prestigious jacket from the Cambridge 1999 Boat Race team (above centre) - and right, a close up showing the stains acquired over the years - of great sentmental value, since each stain has an associated story of how it got there ... we don't want to hear, thank you very much!


Some opt for the more traditional type of blazer - be it the traditonal navy blue, gold buttoned type, as modelled by the statuesque Leander Club member below left, to light weight cotton and linen (below centre) - but some men just don't know how to do the understated look and have to go the whole hog, especially if they belong to the London New Zealand Cricket Club (below right).





Men of the cloth also get to wear their blazers too. Like the honorary curate (left) from Holy Trinity, Clapham, who once rowed in the 1st eight for Pembroke College, Oxford. Of course, there are others for whom the blazer is simply not an option.


And there's the street cred factor to consider as well. Have you ever heard the phrase 'hoodies hardly ever happen at Henley'? Probably not, because I just made it up - and there were some very happening hoodies at Henley this year, as pictured below left, along with some friendly (I managed to get a smile at least) locals, centre, and possibly the most curiously cool guy around - a very Brideshead young man sporting a Monaco Yacht Club blazer, which was beautifully fitted with hand-stitched panels at the back...I was so impressed by the workmanship I even have a photo if you want to see it?




Finally, there were also the lycra-clad rowers as well ... the reason for all the dressing up I suppose, although they all seemed to be in various states of undress - from the start of the race as shown below left, to the finish (the chap in the middle was unfortunately in a losing team from Hamburg) - and even baring their chests: most un-British!
I'd like to mention that we do have a few bits and bobs for men on the ShopCurious website, including some rather unusual gifts and vintage accessories. We'll be offering a wider selection in the future, so please let us know if you have any preferences - we aim to provide things with personality and style to ensure that you remain jolly stylish fellows.
Are you?

Hats off to the blind eye

I didn't go out looking for fashion faux pas at Royal Ascot the other day, but did you notice any obvious flouting of the new dress code that was to be so strictly enforced?

There were plenty of fashion trends in evidence, like puff ball skirts, as disported by these two fillies (left) - perhaps they were hiding their hats underneath ... I had a good look, but can't spot them anywhere, can you?




Flouncy fabrics were also popular, as seen on the cool young things in the pic above right - love the cute little tiered skirt for the leggy look - obviously the stewards were momentarily distracted...

Elsewhere, curiously quirky accessorizing seemed to be the order of the day (see left).








Joline, a Canadian who has recently taken the British citizenship test, patriotically jazzed up her outfit with a couple of flags - a look which inadvertently attracted the attention of a particularly jolly, though not entirely welcome fellow.





There were some curiously chic ensembles too (from left to right below) a rather natty nature-inspired hat worn by fashion designer, Sangita Khan, love it; a couple of ladies looking cleverly uncoordinated with the help of a gentleman's morning coat and a cigar box bag - and finally, a bit of Italian style boho a go-go from this sultry cell phone and cigar wielding signora with a ffffffffffascinating bandana.


I also saw a few ShopCurious hats on display, dressed up with flowers (below left) and plain and simple (below centre and right).





Now that Royal Ascot's over for another year, I thought it would be nice to offer you these hats at a very special price. They're great for holidays too - you can simply squish them up and stuff them in your suitcase.
Will you?