>> Last week, my bit of Topman browsing yielded some PJs worthy of stepping outside in. This week, whilst doing a bit of research/snooping around in Harvey Nichols in Hong Kong as a comparison to the London store, I found myself in the menswear department wondering outlout why I was finding more stuff to get excited about there than in the womenswear bit. Turns out the selection in Hong Kong is a touch edgier than the Harvey Nichols store in London. Christopher Kane and Ashish menswear was on offer as well as a bigger presence from Korean menswear labels such as Wooyoungmi and General Idea. It was on the General Idea rail that I jokingly grabbed a pair of knitted shorts and then upon holding them up against my body, it occurred to me that I needed to increase my knitted shorts collection from three to four pairs. I kid you not, these precious moments where I ponder the significance of a pair of knitted bottoms save me from the doldrums of daily life.
They were all out of small but I was determined to have them despite the grave and perplexed look at the sales assistant's face. I know he wanted to laugh at me but was stiffling it with a strained mum smile instead. I'm the one who is as happy as larry now as I've got these knitted babies back to the UK and have dug out a John Lewis boys' cricket jumper out just so they can both get better acquainted with each other's cable knitted ways. Incidentally, I'm still a huge fan of shopping in John Lewis' school uniform department - thick tights, hockey kilts and plain cotton sweatshirts - all at decent prices. I highly recommend an occasional gander around there, whilst pretending that you're shopping for your younger siblings/kids/cousins/friends' kids.
(Wearing ASOS chair print pyjama jacket, John Lewis boys cricket sweater, General Idea knitted shorts, Suno x Loeffler Randall wedges, Prada sunglasses which together is giving off vibes of vintage 1920s knitted bathing suits that men wore, fisherman's knits, cricket of course and Junya Watanabe S/S 11)
On another General Idea note, this isn't the first time I've been piqued by this Korean menswear label's offerings. Nam of Street FSN was taunting me with a brilliant pink camoflage panelled jacket (top right-hand side of pic below) from the General Idea A/W 11-12 collection when we were hanging out in Florence during Pitti Uomo back in February. Steve even caught this bit of camo action on camera. I did question Nam's masculinity in jest, by commenting on the slightly feminine hue of fuschia in the camo print. He didn't bite at the bait though.
A quick browse through General Idea's e-commerce site (all in Korean alas) already has a few viable menswear-as-womenswear-unisex options. It helps that the Korean male model is slightly dainty looking (who isn't impossibly pretty/preened in Korea?!) and so my gender-confused brain is lapping all of this up with gusto.
