Ivy Allen

To Take A Seat In A Sanctuary

I've recently learnt the space in which I dress can indeed affect how I dress.

I remember not too long ago, renting a room in a house. It was warm & cosy enough, though being fairly small in size I never felt there was much of an opportunity to really think about the day ahead and more importantly what items I would team together to make the look for that day, seem whole.

Luckily. now living in a flat with a spare room. I have ample space in the christened "Dressing Room" to plan ahead, to take time and think about what I can leave the house wearing.

I rise for work most days when it's still pitch black outside so recently have acquired a few Antique pots which have taken their place in there, most mornings it will only be to serve fresh black caffeine.

While moving into this flat a few  weeks back, I had to dismantle my veneered wardrobe. That meant of course, having to put it back together again. I realised I needed about 8 arms to stop  it toppling every 10 minutes. It was like playing a vertical game of Twister. To which I have found out, I am useless at. So the wardrobe split at a few corners & I thought, well I could do with the space anyway while launching it down the hallway.

The doors were still outside on the landing a few days ago, I took one & popped it on top of a couple of rails I have & now in the dressing room is a "centre piece", for which I have no name,(any suggestions would be welcomed) but which has become more than useful.

Being able to walk either side, jackets, trousers

& ties around the back. Shirts & boxes at the front with a suit stand at both ends.

It's much easier to navigate around while bleary eyed at 6.00am.

Caual Friday? Not really my tree.

It's now a fairly fun room. As getting yourself set up for the day should be. I now go to sleep looking forward to waking up a little bit more than usual, getting out to work & safe in the knowledge I won't really look as though I got dressed in the dark.

Of course it will evolve & the blue carpet shall be covered in time & lots of framed photos & prints to collect to adorn the walls to make it more homely.

Though from a mere spare room

 to Man Cave, to Dresing Room. All in a weekend. And all thanks to my complete inabilty to put a wardrobe back together again. Praise the Lord & In Mod We Trust.

Cycling Chic

Great article with British Cyclist David Miller on how to  remain dapper on two wheels!

http://www.mrporter.com/journal/journal_issue40/6?cm_sp=homepage-_-fivewaystowearmi1-_-221111



Mr Bill Nighy

Having had the privilege of meeting Mr Nighy briefly on a few occasions in & around the West End in the past, it's great to hear his views in Mr Porter on his owns personal style, what suits him and how fashion has dictated what roles he's played in the past. A great stylist.

http://www.mrporter.com/journal/journal_issue39/1?cm_sp=homepage-_-thelookmi1-_-151111

Man Caves & Manctuarys

When I first heard this term, it did sound a little, well, American. And surprise surprise it is. "Man Caves" have taken off over the pond in the last few years what with celebrities such a s Johnny Depp, Nick Cage & Brad Pitt opting for not just one Man Cave at their properties, but 2 or 3.  Housing everything from Pool tables, flat screens, records, cds, & even motorbikes. 

Though these caves are nothing new. Great Men of the 20th Century had their own spaces. Churchill, Brando, Twain & Roosevelt, each styled theirs to their own specifaication stocked with items, acquisitions that inspire them & more importantly make them feel at home aswell as spaces to entertain their friends.

Mark Twain's Billiard Room.

1960's MC.

                                                  Theodore Roosevelts's "Trophy Room"

 

Having recently having to move apartments (again) due to a visit from Fire Inspectors deeming my previous abode unsafe. I've moved three doors down to 2 bedroom First Floor. In which I have more than enough space to swing my two new cats. The Spare Room just couldn't be called "the spare room". 

I wanted my influence to be a little warmer and of course British.

A Jermy St. Shirt Makers would be fine!

Though these MC are certainly nothing new & with thoughts of how to fill mine, flat screens & gadgets weren't too appealing to me. Being a lover of fabric & rag I would appropriately start to put together my own dressing room. There's still  lots of work to be done having only started it a week or o ago.  (The old blue carpet will be covered by rugs for a start) but it's well underway & starting to take shape.

Links, scarves, lighters, glasses,wallets, watches, rings, collar bars & tie pins all thankfully in one place.

Suit stands & seats for the cats.

Enough room  to dress & swing the cats, though not literally obviously.

In the end, designing the ultimate man room is about creating something that will work for you. My own will take many months to get where I want it to, mainly because sourcing items takes time if they're thing I really want & have to wait for them to turn up at auctions, boot sales or local Antique shops.  Figure out what pieces you want, and then be willing to wait to find them.  It definitely doesn’t mean walking into a furniture store and loading up the truck with the number of items that you need just because they were the first thing that you laid eyes on.

I've found myself spending more time in here reading & writing & hardly ever being in the front room watching TV anymore.

Long live the Man Cave (or Dressing Room) we say!

Commission?

This is as though it was commissioned by the Missus & I, but it wasn't.