21 Mar 2012

Happy Birthday, Son Of Anarchy!

After so much talking about biker boots, it was time to put the biker look into practice. I chose this outfit to go out and celebrate my birthday, a few weeks ago. It wasn’t a crazy biker style party, but hey – you just can’t have everything… ;)

I began with a black second-hand sweater from Humana. I put it on and the first thing that came to my mind was a biker look. I tried to think of something else because I had the feeling I was getting too obsessed with the biker thing already… but I just couldn’t help it. The idea was still there and I had to deal with it…

Of course, you won’t be able to fully understand the dimension of my current biker obsession until I tell you a couple of things about Sons Of Anarchy. I discovered this TV-series a few weeks ago, and… hell, man! THAT’S it. This is probably the best thing that’s been aired on TV since the days of Queer As Folk, and it certainly has done a lot to increase my – already huge – interest in the biker world. Watch it, if you have a chance – it’s really worth it!

So, now you know this, I think it will be easier for you to understand why I just couldn’t get the biker idea out of my head. The first thing that came to my mind was, naturally, to pick up my (fake) worn-out jeans, my brand new black biker boots and, of course, this second-hand leather biker jacket I still hadn’t had a chance to use.

I completed the look with my second-hand leather cap, one of my dog chains and a pair of fingerless gloves.

When I saw myself in the mirror, I had the feeling that this was the kind of thing a 40-year-old rocker would wear in his “now I’m mature and sober” phase. It wasn’t a bad concept, for sure, but I still felt something was missing. I’m never this minimalistic!

[Metallica (and Lou Reed *ahem*) displaying the wardrobe choices of mature rockers – have you noeticed how KILLER James’ outfit is? :D]

I spent some time thinking about what else I could add to turn that cool look into a Deadly Bite look. Browsing through a magazine, I saw a pic of some Hollywood actress (it could have been Jessica Alba or maybe Cameron Diaz, or someone like that…) in a magazine, in what they called a “biker look”. She was wearing a pair of heavy boots, a leather jacket, some random T-shirt… and she had a scarf wrapped tightly around her neck that looked like a cervical collar. The elements weren’t particularly well combined, and the overall idea… well, there really wasn’t any overall idea. When I saw that, I said to myself: “OK, that’s what I DON’T want to look like”. A scarf definitively wasn’t a valid option. Or that’s what I thought…

[Two examples of the cervical collar effect I was trying to avoid]

Later that day, I came across this picture of Tom Kaulitz, and the first thing I saw was… yeah: his scarf. He was wearing a scarf as well, and it didn’t look bad at all. So I asked myself: “should I really give the scarf a chance, after all?”

Tom Kaulitz at the Radio Regenbogen Awards in 2010

Like so many times, the answer came from Tokyo Fashion. When I saw this look, I understood I just had no choice. If the world wanted me to wear a scarf so badly, I had to give it a try.

Prince Peter Motorcycle Jacket & Shibuya Frontier Boots vs. Forever 21 Coat & ANAP Chile Booties

I picked up this particular scarf because it reminded me of another one of Tom’s scarves (it really has a very similar texture). I didn’t like the idea of just wrapping it around my neck in the Hollywood celebrity style, so I tried a few things… and I ended up tying it in a single knot and just letting it hang loose.

Tom Kaulitz in late 2009

The scarf turned out to be way longer than I remembered, but that wasn’t a problem at all. I love the fact that it almost covers the sweater underneath. This was exactly the exaggerated detail I needed to break the overall sobriety of this outfit.

So, this is it. Of course, it wouldn’t be safe to ride a bike with such a long scarf hanging wild… but that will be our little secret ;)

Sweater: second hand (purchased at Humana)
Jeans: MNG
Boots: New Rock
Cap: second hand (purchased at Humana)
Leather jacket: second hand (purchased at Humana)
Scarf: Natura
Chain: dog accessory (purchased at Auchan)
Fingerless gloves: El Corte Inglés

9 Mar 2012

Shopping #5: These Boots Are Made For Biking!

Wow! It looks like we’re almost going from one shopping post to another – from delayed Christmas straight to my birthday! Winter is the gift season for me, and I can’t really complain about it… :P

This time, it was all about shoes, and not just ordinary shoes….

I’ve already shared my love for biker/cowboy boots before, so this won’t really come as a surprise to you. However, I’m still proud to announce that my collection now has two new wonderful pieces ^^

They are all from Spanish brand New Rock. For what I’ve seen in their website, this brand specializes in making gothic/biker shoes and clothing. They all come in beautiful black boxes with silver lids, and their slogan says: “Above all be original” – which is certainly a sentence I could use as a subtitle for this blog! (LOL)

The first pair is almost plain black and really sober: no fancy details, no studs, no clasps… they’re just boots! Serious biker boots for serious bikers (:P). They have something that makes me think of a Harley Davidson just by looking at them. I think it must be the colour combination on that label…

Harley Davidson

The other pair is beige and it’s my most cowboy-looking pair of boots to date! The tips are even bent upwards! (LOL) They have a couple of really badass buckles on both sides that I just adore. Plus, their unusual colour opens the door to a brand new world of outfit possibilities…

These are not biker boots, obviously, but a glamorous pair of trainers. I used to have a beautiful pair of deep red Nike trainers with golden details (I still have it, but they are completely worn out now) that I’ve been trying to replace for ages. They had a very special quality: they looked casual, but not too sporty, so you could wear them outside PE class and actually make them part of an outfit. I still don’t know if this pair will be the definitive substitute, but it’s as close as I’ve got yet, and they have a bit of a skater/gangsta (but still elegant) look I just love :D

With this and a little bit of light reading, I guess I’m ready for long nights on the road… ;)