The Early Bird...

There's a saying where I come from, which is now fairly universal; The early bird cathes the worm. Where this mornings journey to work was concerned, the opposite applied. Running a tad later than normal, I exited the tube station with speed in my stride only to stop dead when this little tyke caught my eye. I proceeded to 'catch the worm', there and then. Swift and fast. And what a catch. Just take a look at the attention to detail; The rebelliouos neck tie technique where the shorter and stubbier it is, the better. Then theres the zipper on the Umbro training jacket, lowered in order to expose the neck tie with out obscuring, as if the all-boy school emblem is a flag of which to be proud. Look at the hat, a pseudo-New Era type cap pulled right down for ultimate identity concealment topped with the shower proof hood, so carefully placed. At this point I would like to say that today is one of the very few real summers mornings we are likely to see in London and such attire is way beyond necessary. This look was meticulously constructed and will be stringently stuck to regardless of the climate. This a social shield. Hailing from Stratford, London, home of the increasingly present Olympic stadium, this young man was out scouting the West End for a new pair of kicks. Although wearing black trainers to his school is an excludable offence, today he will replace his current "mash-up" pair with something in the same vein, happily running the risk of punishment, gesturing toward his baggy fit school trousers that largely conceal the make up of his chosen foot coverings. "They don't see me" he says, with a smug sense of victory in his early morning rasp.
Here's to stealth and going to school; a challenging task, increasingly comparable to an SAS mission in these knife-crime riddled times.

lace your cap up

Believe me, if I had been quicker on the draw there would be photo evidence here to qualify what I am about to reveal. Unfortunately my hands were tied and putting bags down to grab at my camera just didnt happen quick enough. I am ashamed. But I have to put what I saw out there all the same, it needs to be heard. Ok, so the New Era cap is flogging itself to exhaustion, like a race horse in the latter stages of a promising career before heading to the abattoir. It's got to slow down soon. Surely the classic 90's Stater cap is ready for full revival?? Maybe. Well, for those with no other option than the flat peaked fitted number there is little room for differentiation, very little opportunity to stand out from the crowd when every colour combo under the sun has been done to death. But here's a twist for the daring few.... take a shoe lace, type you get in Footlocker, one that coordinates with your New Era cap, naturally, and weave it through the air vent holes in the top of your cap so that both loose ends meet at the point of choice (front back side whatever) and use those artfully crafted shoelace tying skills that you have been rinsing of late and make yourself a nice bow. Bobs your uncle, you got the fresh look, keeping that new era in the game for a little while longer. I saw this with my own eyes in High Barnet, London where a student from Barnet College had this cleverly concocted lace featuring frimly in place. A guaranteed way to grab attention above the uniformed crowd of new era heads. Shoelace your new era cap. It's fresh. Apologies for the absence of a pic but if I ever see this again I will fulfill your visual needs with some evidence. swear down.

UPDATE:
Above is an artist impression that I knocked up on photoshop, especially for you!