AW23 Look - No.7
The time has come for the darker, rougher, fluffier rags to replace the summer ones on our shop floor. Personally, it's my favourite time of the year for clobber. If you're like me, you will have a pure hatred for the Winter weather. However, I love the clothes it brings with it.
As you will see in the transition from our SS23 curated looks, everything is less saturated and more subtle. Starting with the first outfit, playing with deep browns and dark greys with a peep of blue, a colour theme that runs through all the collections this season.
Starting with the shirt, in my opinion, the best shirt we have had in the store to date. From Italian shirt-makers Alessandro Gherardi comes this indigo-dyed denim number. Featuring a larger button-down rolled collar. Big, but not Harry Hill big. Of all the shirt fabrics, denim is the most versatile. It Transitions well from season to season and can look great undone with a tee under it, matched with shorts or chinos. Then you have the opposite side of the spectrum, tailoring, which, to our disgrace, has become less common over the last decade. Popping a denim shirt underneath a sports jacket with a tie and wool trousers really casualises (yes, I just made up another meaning for a word no one ever uses) formal clothing that people may not normally be as comfortable wearing. We have almost sold out our first batch, however, a restock will be coming in soon! Give us a shout to jump on the waiting list at hello@thelocalmerchants.co.uk.
The knit is from our amigos at Gran Sasso—one of our most popular brands in the store to date. The style is new to Sasso this Autumn, but the collar shape isn't. We have been selling it for the past two seasons as a quarter zip for AW22 and a short sleeve polo for SS23. This cutaway rolled collar now comes in a merino wool, full double zip in Navy and, as seen here, in the Truffle brown. The weave has a slight melange running through it, giving it a lovely, deep texture. If you're not a fan of it over a shirt with some strides, a tee and jeans will work too!
Trousers, of course, are from Berwich. We promise to introduce another trouser brand to give you folks more choice in the future, but for now, Berwich never misses it for us. We adore the 'Retro' shape. I personally prefer a higher waist, but most people out there don't. These trousers still tick every other box of requirements for me. The tapered shape is bang on, and the side adjusters aren't super shiny or tinny, so they work well casual, too. They have turn-ups (please note, I had a wider 2-inch turn up modified from the original 1.5-inch they come with) and also, for what they are, they are very reasonably priced. We have plenty of fabrics and colours this season, whereas this here is the covert (pronounced cuv-urt, not covert like it's going on a spying mission) wool in Dark Grey. The fabric is heavier than the Reda flannel we buy and drapes beautifully. Initially, this outfit was with a lighter brown piece of knitwear, though putting the Truffle up against them when testing it brought out the brown hues running through the twill. I also love the thought of these trousers with a slimmer-shaped boot and a tweed jacket and scarf. Ruddy delicious.
Let's talk footwear. CQP still make our favourite sneaker on the market, which, of course, is 'The Racquet' unlined and super supple and light. However, in the colder months, we buy the Racquet Snr. These are the same shoes but with an inner leather lining. Making them warmer and sturdier for the winter weather. As Ed and I said when viewing the collection, "This Ebony Brown is the perfect winter trainer". It's so dark that most stains or dirt won't be seen (although all of C-QP's suede are already protected). The sole unit is made from Margom rubber in a dark grey/brown. Which harmoniously brings the colours of the knit and trousers together. We feel this colour way, except for the white, has been the most versatile yet. I am yet to see a colour it doesn't work with. Even the black flannel Retros from Berwich that we have this AW23, look incredible with them, and I've never liked black strides with brown shoes!
So there you have it; Look No.7 of AW23 is now live. So look out for our 'ways to wear it', where we focus on different ways to pair the shirt featured in today's look.
If we don't have your size or you need advice on sizing or styling, don't hesitate to contact us. You can find each item below, online and in-store.
