I hacked the sleeves off

It had to happen. The jacket was looking a little too smug for my liking, but now it has nowhere to hide its trickery (if it has any, that is). The result is as yet inconclusive. When worn it feels a bit as though a fledgling Skinpunk has tried to turn his old man’s suede jacket into a rebellious garment worthy of the gang he wants to join, only to fail on a number of levels. I’m thinking of using the sleeves to turn it into a quasi-Withnail & I tailcoat.

 On a slightly related note, full marks go to the Grade A dickhead who just managed to speed through the one giant water-filled pothole on Archway Road, thoroughly soaking me and the jacket in the process. Next time I see you and your jumped-up silver Ford Fiesta festooned with spoiler, misogynist bumper stickers and fluffy seat covers, your nuts are mine. 

Days 7, 8 & 9

On Monday, I attached a badge made out of a fortune cookie wrapper and a heinous green flower brooch I found under my bed.

On Tuesday, I woke up in a state of anxiety about said badge, so thought better of it and re-evaluated it, sewing an old ear-ring and the back of a pin on instead. Plus adding a Clash badge to the upper lapel. The worries were allayed and the week could continue.

Wednesday culminated in the attaching of a section of old fishnet tights to the right shoulder. This came from a pair that, even by my 'standards', had become unwearable.

Day 6: Gold paint on silk patch

Day 5: Skittles wrapper lapel

In honour of the Skittles challenge gamely undertaken by Joseph Shrubb during which he attempted to devour 30 bags of Skittles in an hour, I have sewn one of the discarded wrappers to the lapel of the jacket. Whether he succeeded or not isn’t important (he didn’t). What is important is that we all enjoyed watch him try. And fail.

Day 4: Bronze ribbon patch detail and The MooN pin badges

Just as it decided to snow, and on the coat-tails of yet another hangover, I decided to embellish the denim patch with chocolate box ribbon as well as add some vintage pin badges declaring my allegiance to garage rock monsters, The MooN (http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-MooN/52038881047)

Man in the MooN, Joe MooN is probably one of the most exceptional people I know and always has a handful of exciting projects on the go, and I’ve been lucky enough to be involved in a few in recent years.

The MooN is an incendiary outfit, with clear influences drawn from Detroit garage rock glitterati The Stooges and MC5 as well as bands like The Dictators and the Dead Kennedys.

Joe MooN in Trash bleach-dyed suede Trash jacket

Day Three: Thief of Fire patch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLDHr5r0iIY

A small homage to the Pop Group and Mark Stewart.

The Pop Group is easily one of the most interesting bands to have come out of Bristol, incorporating raw jazz-funk bass-lines with tribal beats and the occasional casual reference to Nietzsche. A lot of what they produced for debut album Y feels pretty fractured and experimental, and there’s more than a hint of Beefheart & Zappa on tracks like Snowgirl and Thief of Fire.

The patch now on the jacket was originally produced for a music video for Trash favourite STASH, who are also huge fans of the Pop Group, Mark Stewart’s Maffia, as well his numerous other music and art projects. I once had the great pleasure of meeting Mark Stewart at the opening night of one of his exhibitions in east London, at which STASH was performing. He bought us all pints of lager and then I tried to teach him some kickboxing moves in a pub in Whitechapel. I can't remember why exactly. He was absolutely charming though.

Check out STASH’s music video for single ‘I Need A Sign’, all mostly filmed in a fantastic old pub in Balham, or as my friend Joe Moon calls it, ‘the arsehole of nowhere’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLo-E-LHy0c

 

 Day One: 15/01/2013 (jacket unembellished)

 

“I like this new jacket,” said my work colleague, Liina. “It’s a lot more demure then the things you usually wear.”

“Don’t get too used to it.” I responded. “With any luck in a couple of weeks it will be totally unrecognisable.”

Day Two

Bass guitar head and 'Fidelio' embroidery.

‘Fidelio’ is the final track on The Palace of Justice's 2011 album Once and For All, available here: http://thepalaceofjustice.bandcamp.com/album/once-and-for-all