i love you so

i can't get this song out of my head at the moment

i like the lyrics. no padding, just the phrase... 

"i love you so... but why i love you i'll never know"

it sounds fantastic with headphones on, and also the video is kind of funny eh ?

you can even download an app for your iphone to enable you to recreate the video yourself.

( oh... i just realised why i like the lyrics so much. didn't eric cantona once say something

along the same lines about leeds united ? )

millennium cafe

i was in the millennium cafe this morning.

while i was waiting for my breakfast, i took the opportunity to line up the 

key players for a bit of a team photo.

good lads

i also noticed for the first time that one of the paintings on the wall

opposite my usual table...

features an adidas training shoe.

click on it to see it bigger... it is an adidas trainer isn't it ?

mira mama sin manos !

it was daaarrrk when i got to 'look mum no hands' this morning

i was so early that i didn't even have to pay for parking my car around the corner.

i sat down in the corner with a flat white

perfect.

i looked up at the new display on the wall

wow ! bike handlebar things mounted to look like antlers. outstanding !

i got up to have a better look

very nice indeed.

it was a display by a company called gropes

i guess they make the leather grippy things.

in the tube bits of the handlebars are little corks with a 'g' on them

fair play to these gropes characters. the handlebars look really sweet.

this set or pair or whatever was my favourite

buttersoft brown leather with bright yellow stitching

hmmm...

amazing quality and attention to detail.

as you may have noticed, i know nothing about bikes... but i really wanted to buy these handlebars. i fancy displaying them in the hallway at whitfield towers and using them to hang jackets and hats from.

what ?

http://nonusual.com/gropes

stuff

here are a few spare shots from a shoot i did a couple of days ago.

the bar i was photographing had a load of these tin mugs

advertising pussers navy rum... "nelson's blood"

i photographed these little prawny things

and these three lamb efforts

i reckon this was salmon

i almost refused to photograph this green stuff

i told the chef it wasn't natural and that mushy peas are the only decent green food.

he smiled...

 i think he knew that i was right.

wedding

i shot a wedding the other week.

the newlyweds just got back from honeymoon and told me they don't mind me 

sharing some of their photos with you so...

here's the bride's room in the morning

peaceful and calm. everything laid out.

here's the bride being made up

these first two pics were taken with my leica m9 and a 21mm lens

after make-up it was time for the bride to get dressed...

i offered to tie it up with a knot, but she said she was happy with a simple bow.

here she is checking herself out in the mirror

giving a smile for the camera

and then a more serious expression when i told her i'd seen the groom and he was

having second thoughts about the whole thing...

it was only a momentary pause, then she was back to smiles again

outside the house her mum and sisters were ready

and waiting for their car to turn up

when the cars arrived it was time for action...

let's go to work !

half an hour later the happy couple were husband and wife

yay !

back at the hall i set up a light to knock out a few portraits of the newlyweds

here's the groom doing some repairs to the bride's 'something blue'

after the guests arrived and i did the group shots, there was just 

enough light to shoot the bouquet throwing thing

as the single ladies jostled for position, the bride gave another smile.

( looking at this photo now, i would put money on the blonde girl )

a few minutes later and it was getting daaaaarrrk as my mate darren would say.

time for one last shot outside though.

it was a great day.

i'd just like to end by saying congratulations and best wishes 

for the future to magnus and juliana.

the bride and groom.

the curse of the whitfields

the scarf...

it's the curse of the whitfields.

we just can't do scarves. as much as we try, scarves just don't work for us.

quite often i see people who look cool, effortlessly wearing a scarf which just 

ties the whole look together. unfortunately for us whitfields, we just can't do it.

not that that stops me from trying.

my appreciation of the japanese brand 'a bathing ape' has been well documented.

5 or so years ago they brought out some nice scarves in their signature apehead camo.

i was there the day they dropped.

quality stuff as ever from bape

i put the blame for this not working for me, on it being a little bit too short.

i think if it was a foot longer this would have a chance of not looking stupid on me.

two years ago i bought this scarf from selfridges

it's a quality piece of kit

made my missoni, you'd think the italians would know what time it is ?

but no... this also fails to work for me. the blame this time is on the width of the

thing. it's too wide... it makes it bulky.

last year in tokyo i went to loopwheeler to buy one of their famous fleeces.

look what else they'd started making...

hmmm... a scarf made out of two tubes of sweatshirt material sewn together.

it's a funny one. the material is outstanding, but it's a tube... a bit like a sleeve.

the details are all there, it feels good and it looks good...

until i wrap it around my neck !

i just remembered that i did a shoot last year with bad twin. when she turned up 

i was wearing this loopwheeler scarf. i opened the door to her and she looked

straight at it, no 'hello' or anything, she just looked offended and said "what is that ?"

so... winter approaches and i'm braced for another season of scarf related failures.

cold times.

mittens

the curse of the whitfields is a heavy burden to carry but i am pleased to 

report that when it comes to hand warmth, i have no problems at all.

i recently bought these turtles

which i am looking forward to teaming up with my black maharishi winter jacket.

another option for my germans and one which i kind of prefer, is the mitten.

these stussy mittens came free with a magazine in japan

they are just the job. nice and fleecy and they team up nicely with a grey sweatshirt

in the winter months.

when it gets really nippy i wear these bad boys

black bape mittens which i bought in tokyo a couple of years ago.

they are very toasty.

hats

after introducing you to my scarves, gloves and mitts,

i figured it was time to delve further into my winter accessories.

so today... my hats

my numero uno choice of headgear this winter is this...

it's by commes des garcons. black, warm and with a quilted fold down bit.

i've also pulled this one out of the archives recently

a black stussy beanie that i bought years ago when stussy had a little stall in the bluebird garage market on the kings road. it's been a restaurant for maybe 15 years now so

this is quite an old piece. i wear it this way but it is actually reversible.

here's the other side

my preferred side has a red stussy tag, this side has stussy embroidered onto the material.

seven or so years ago i started buying bape clothing and accessories.

this is one of my favourite pieces. it was a christmas present from mrs w.

 an olive green cashmere beanie.

the same time that the bapehead camo scarf dropped, they also released this...

it's an odd one. a nice warm beanie, but with a peak.

nice deets

as ever

looking through my hats yesterday i found this

plain black wool beanie with apehead tag. i honestly can't remember buying this.

in new york a couple of years ago i bought this tidy little effort

from one of my favourite little stores.

i thought anewyorkthing was really going to take off as a brand. 

i remember hideout stocking their stuff for a while. oh well, it's a sweet hat.

from way back in the day. showing my roots... check this one out...

proper old school bob hat.

from back in the day when warrington were just called warrington, not 

warrington wolves. from when they used to play at wilderspool stadium.

the good old days with john bevan on the wing... ahhh...

another bob hat here...

stussy perhaps ?

this is a really good quality thick bob hat. if it was a stussy piece it would cost a fortune.

i bought it in prague a few years ago from the club shop of one of the local football teams,

sparta prague. i think it cost about £2 or £3.

this is another footy hat. a beanie i bought in santiago chile in 1998

i was working in santiago for almost a month. it's a great city.

amazing coffee shops ( but that's another story altogether )

anyway, this is from the club shop of universidad de chile

and has for years been my choice of snowboarding headgear.

ok so that's hats, scarves and gloves done. what's up next ?

do you want to see my sock collection ?

what ?