Buckets & Spades - Men's Fashion, Design and Lifestyle Blog: 04.2016

29 Apr 2016

Buckets & Spades 8th Anniversary Giveaway!

Our 8th Anniversary snuck up on us just a couple of weeks ago. That's eight whole years we've been sharing things on Buckets & Spades! It's not just a solo effort; Hollie, Nik, Yasumi + Russ, you all indeed rock!

Eight years is nearly a third of my life, and I'm so glad I decided to stick with it - finally turning Buckets & Spades (along with other writing + creative roles) into a full time passion back in Summer 2015. I won't start getting all soppy here, but the blogging community brings me great joy, and I still love reading blogs and interacting with everyone, just as I did back in the day. A lot has changed and priorities have shifted, but we're just going to keep doing what we do, and sharing what we love. Thank you for the support!

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To celebrate our 8th Anniversary we've teamed up with a few of our favourite partners to bring you this special giveaway (open worldwide), with a prize total worth over £500! You could win:

- One Print of you choice by Tom Pigeon

- Huckberry x Ebbets Field Flannels Baseball Cap

- Form&Thread Socks x2

- One year's subscription to Jocks&Nerds Magazine

- Huckberry x Tellason Jeans

- Shore Projects Cowes Watch

- Pendleton Beach Towel from Huckberry

- Sunski Sunglasses from Huckberry

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

26 Apr 2016

New Era MBL '16 Collection ft. Buckets & Spades

I was asked to be apart of New Era's Spring Summer '16 Major League Baseball campaign. Shot by the man Garcon Jon, this series features four of "Britain's most influential menswear mavericks"; myself, Individualism's John Jarrett, Rapper Mikill Pane, Complex's Megan Munro, and Suleman of Sulsworld.

I'm totally chuffed to be involved with this, and the results look great! Jon always makes a fantastic job and I hope to work with him again soon. See more images from the campaign on British GQ.

24 Apr 2016

Best of Airbnb | Concrete Maisonette + We're Going to Japan

concrete maisontette on airbnb located in tokyo japan

We're booked! In what has been a pretty last minute decision I'm heading over to Japan in May with my furniture designer buddy Dan Marc! The opportunity came up for me to tag along on a business trip he's been planning, and I found it stupidly hard to turn down.

So for 10 days we'll be travelling around Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, heading to meetings (should we rent bikes in each city?), visiting homeware + design stores, getting into those insanely tall ice creams, and soaking up the culture. Too excited!

We're currently looking for a place to stay in Toyko, and my search on Airbnb has thrown up some pretty cool results so far. Look at the inventive use of space in this maisonette apartment, just near Tokyo Bay! Have you been to Japan? If anyone has any advice, recommendations or suggestions of places to go / people to meet, please do share!

Best of Airbnb is a series featuring some of the most exciting, desirable and unique places to rest your head, from around the world.

22 Apr 2016

A Visit to the Barbour Factory, South Shields

a-visit-to-barbour-factory-tour-south-shields-newcastle

One chilly morning in March I made the trip up to Newcastle (big thanks to Hannah for the coffee shop recommendation) for the first time in my life. It's one of the few big Northern cities that I've somehow managed to avoid – eight trips to Scotland last year and I never stopped off...The North East of England is known for its rich industrial and trade background, and Barbour's HQ in South Shields is no exepection to the rule.

J. Barbour & Sons Ltd., est 1894, is one of the most celebrated brand names you will find in the UK, if not the world. Their steadfast outerwear was originally intended for manual labour + outdoor work, but has since been adopted by many cultures; from the upper classes and farmers, to musicians and those with an interest in timeless style. With a keen interest for manufactoring and craft, I couldn't wait to see things up close.

Press studs being positioned

Embiggen Pins | Not Your Usual Simpsons Merchandise

It’s a running joke in The Simpsons that their merchandise is fairly shoddy. Their faces (particularly Homer’s and Bart’s), appear on everything; from pizza cutters to plasters, from breakfast cereal to t-shirts - and it’s generally all cheap.

Occassionaly, though, you can find a Simpsons gem. My Surly bottle opener is quality and I’ll be first in line to buy a genuine Duff, once it’s released. These badges from Embiggen Pins are firmly in that category too.

What makes them good, is that they’re so different. Aside from Bart on a skateboard, they don’t feature the usual Simpsons character line-up. Instead, we have Alf (in Pog form), Homer’s half-cat/half-dog hybrid, Frostilicus, and the motivational mascot from the Osaka Seafood Concern.

With these pinned to my jacket, I know that anyone who stops me to chat Simpsons is a proper connoisseur.

You can find Nik at - Twitter | Instagram | Editions Newsletter

18 Apr 2016

Nespresso + Mustafah Abdulaziz | Champions of Breakfast

A photographer’s day is always something we can relate to. We’re not trying to put ourselves quite in the category of Berlin-based Mustafah Abdulaziz - his shots really are something else - but watching his day unfold in this short film, there’s definitely a familiar feel to our own shoots and projects.

As folks always say, a good breakfast is important: setting you up for all you’ll have to tackle in the day. Mustafah’s choice of a vegetarian bagel, paired with Nespresso Linizio Lungo coffee from South America, is a very good one and, while I’d probably be keener on the pork and cheese option he mentions, it looks like a filling eat.

Mind you, cooking up a breakfast every morning isn’t something we can all find time for. When we’re out shooting on location, our breakfast of choice is usually a pastry. A sweet, doughy, custard filled pain aux raisin, accompanied by a strong black coffee - generally a long black, but perhaps an espresso, if we’re really pushed for time.

Nespresso have worked with another two ‘Champions of Breakfast’, each sharing their own recipes, alongside Mustafah’s. Check them out here.

What’s your choice for breakfast and coffee? We’d love to know.

This post is in partnership with Nespresso. Thank you for taking the time to support the brands + businesses that make this blog happen.

You can find Nik at - Twitter | Instagram | Editions Newsletter

15 Apr 2016

My Style Essentials Video

If you're in or around London this week then make sure you pick up a free copy of Coach Mag, you'll see my face in there! A couple of weeks back I headed down to Shoreditch to film this short video with Coach Mag and Clarins Men. You can read the full version of the magazine feature here.

It's all about my daily essentials (and yes, a quick scan of Tintin is clear a must!); favourite clothing, everyday carry, social media habits and grooming tips.

Let me know what you think! Fun, hey? Enjoy your weekend.

13 Apr 2016

Campbell Cole '16 Simple Collection

Nottingham's Campbell Cole once again serves up some minimal leather accessories for their new Spring Summer '16 Simple Collection. Never straying too far from their staple shapes, rather refining and tweaking from season-to-season, the British-made Simple Collection features a key wrap, card holder, coin pouch and bi-fold wallet.

A couple of intriguing new features have been added; a paracord lanyard and zip puller, as well as that sweet honeycomb vegetable tanned leather and polka-dot print. Find out more about Campbell Cole with our Conversation series.

Campbell Cole's Simple Collection is available here.