What Are You Wearing Today

Folk Rain Mac, Casualco Members tee, Uniqlo Selvedge, Adidas Beckenbauer All Round. NO head.

Wigan Pier

Now when we shunt the back’s in front and the front part’s in the rear
If we survive then we’ll arrive alongside Wigan Pier.- On The Wigan Boat Express, George Formby




Wigan Pier, Is one of the main things that have made my town famous, When people hear the words Wigan Pier, They think of George Orwell or George Formby, The pier however was nothing more than a coal loading staithe where wagons from colliers around the town would unload onto canal boats.


The book - Road to Wigan Pier by Orwell, Shows us what life was like in post-war Britan and did not picture my town in a particular good light, The Other reference, A musical hall joke.


To finish off I will leave the quote what George Orwell found when he eventually got to end of Wallgate and found Wigan Pier.


"At one time on one of the little muddy canals that run round the town, there used to be a tumble-down wooden jetty; and by way of a joke someone nicknamed this Wigan Pier. ...to judge from the photographs it must have been about twenty feet long. ...I made a journey specially to see it in 1936, and I couldn't find it. ...I am afraid I must tell you that Wigan Pier doesn't exist. ...the place itself had been demolished."

Pica Post

Pica Post is a publication from Manchester clothing store Oipolloi which is published twice-yearly and follows there popular part of the website, The Deck Out.

Including all brands that are available in the shop and put together in various outfits, Its intresting reading and the graphic design behind it is fantastic.

Check it out at the link bellow which is like a " E-Zine" format 


http://issuu.com/oipolloi/docs/pica-post-no1

Interview: We Are TukTuk

Thanks to TukTuk for doing a interview with us, As this is a brand which I am looking out for in the future and have also had one of the best fitting and quality in fabric shirts I have ever had ( Soft grey Chambray shirting fans) They take there inspiration from the tropical and sunny country that they are based in, With there bright colours and fabrics.


Here is what Mark has to say after we fired him over some questions...

1, How was the brand We Are TukTuk set up and what was your aim?

I had been working out in Sri Lanka for about a year, and was getting continually frustrated with not being able to buy any good clothing. I started getting some shirts and shorts made-up for myself at my local tailors and it all kind of took off from there really. I took some samples back to the UK around Xmas 2008 time, and showed them to a few shops around Manchester. The response was good, so when I got back after Xmas I decided to get stuck into setting up a label. We were officially founded at the beginning of 2009.

2, How did the brand name come about?

A tuktuk is the rickety three wheeler form of transport which is synonymous with most of Asia. In the early days of setting up the brand the majority of my time was spent in the back of one, mooching around from fabric market to fabric market - it seemed right to name the brand after one.
 
3. How do you find fabrics/patterns?
 

As well as fabric markets both in Sri Lanka and abroad, we also deal with some of the leading fabric mills across China & India. We source from all over.

4. I noticed from your blog that you take influences from the country you are in, Sri Lanka does this come out within your clothing/products?

Yes, definitely so. A lot of our clothing is bright and colourful, and Sri Lanka is certainly that. When the sun is shining 24/7 it’s hard to not be inspired by that and that certainly comes through in our clothing and accessories.  As someone said to me the other day, we are a “sunshine brand”.

However, we try to not be too over bearing with the colour and patterns. Our Holdall bags are a good example of that,  they have plain chambray and leather exteriors but then when you open them up you get a burst of colour and patterns; it’s a more subtle approach.

As well as the colours, the sunshine, the people, there are lots of other things to take inspiration from; day-to-day life is generally quite interesting out here.

 
5. What are your plans for the future and what can we expect?

We are launching a new website soon, which will have a fully functional ‘bespoke shirt’ section. To coincide with the launch, we are also starting shipping all on-line orders from our UK office to speed up order delivery times. Bespoke shirts and limited shirt runs will still be shipped from Sri Lanka as they are tailor made on order.

Product wise, we are currently working on a small A/W11 collection, which should be finished very soon.  And S/S12 initial ideas and fabric selections have just started which is always an exciting time.

What are we listening to today?...

Here are the sounds that are rocking Redbricks HQ at the moment...


"Headmasters Ritual" by the Smiths, A more refined sound that is a continuous from there first album.





Another one by The Smiths,Rusholme Ruffians this video is actually from The Peel Sessions, Fantastic.




Symarip - Skinhead Moonstomp, Classic SKA which makes me want to shave my hair, put on a pair of Docs and moon stomp away into the night.



Twisted Wheel - Who Stole The Sun, This is the video ( which a mate emailed me) which got me into this band and having seen them various times in there original and newly-formed state they are great live and I had a absolute buzz watching them.



A song which I cant help but shout at the top of my lungs, First of The Gang to Die. Amazing.

Chorley Town 2 Bamber Bridge 0

Went along to Chorley FC vs Bamber Bridge FC which is a local derby tonight, Drove up in car with a few mates..

After driving up down near ground we walked there through a little back alley and to the turn styles - Very old school. Paid the 7 quid to get in and took place at the end where Chorley where attacking,

First half was alright and the one thing I did notice was the tackles going in, If that was the premier league half the fucking team would have been sent off. Chorley had the upper hand and had a few shots.

Half time came and we went up to the social club, Had a shandy ( 1.50) and settle down to just have a chat etc.

Second half comes and we do something which has been lost in the game and at our place since our all seater - Switching ends. Chorley score to make it 1-0. Same again decent tackles and turns out Chorley have decent pace down the wings...Bamber Bridge have a few chances yet in my opinion where out-played.
Was refeshing to go and watch them, May go next week against Lancaster City for the price it seems alreet however will never get the same feeling as watching my team.

On with the pictures, Decent ground....

bit of hipstamatic application..

Grassroots Football.

Bentham FC vs Stories FC

This is the level where your lucky if a dog doesn't  do a mix in the center circle.

Bentham FC vs Stories FC the game finished 5-1.

They play at Wenning Avenue which is not to bad for where they play, Sports club where you can get a pint at half time,Floodlights and a decent pitch, There was about 50 in attendance.

Looking at there website, They had a 500,000 refurbishment where there was changing rooms added and local people chipped in etc....A premier league player gets more than that a week.

Album Cover of The Day

The Undertones - My Perfect Cousin (1980)

Track-listing:

01. My perfect cousin.
02. Hard luck again.
03. Don´t want to see (you again).

The Hacienda

The Hacienda was a night club/music venue in Manchester which came to prominence in the 80's & 90's Joy Division & New Order got there early breaks in the venue, While "Madchester" band Happy Mondays also played there, It was also well known for house music and acid house, During a time when a little pill could last for hours and make you loads of new friends, Over the years it dwindled to what its former self was and was the site of shootings and the like..Here is some ace pictures via The CasualcoPictures are of fanzines/tickets/maps from the time.

There is a club in Manchester named after the Hacienda ( FAC251 "The Factory, Manchester")
 Which hosts Manchester's various indie bands throughout the city.

Photography....

My hobby outside of working is photography, And I personally think I have a good eye for it and can take a decent picture, I use a Fujifilm Finepix S ( 12 Megapixels) and has loads of diffrent settings.