City Guide | 24 Hours in Nottingham

It’s true that a little local knowledge definitely goes a long way. When we set off to Nottingham a couple of weeks back, we’d done a bit of research, asked a few folks where we should go and what we should do; but, at the end of the first day we were feeling a bit down.

Partly, it was because of the weather (after a sunny start, it rained almost non-stop). Partly, it was because we were struggling with the controls on an old version of FIFA, back at our Airbnb. But, mainly, it was because we hadn’t seen much of the city that really captivated us. Don’t get me wrong, we’d been to a couple of good shops and bars; we just hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary or anything particularly noteworthy.

Realm & Empire – a British brand, with roots in the Midlands, that we’ve known and loved for a long while now – had read through our other city guides and thought we could do something similar in Nottingham. This was a project for our friends and we really didn’t want to let them down!

Thankfully, on that first day, we also spoke to the right people. The guys at Waste Studio, a creative agency with one epic toy collection, and the folks at Ideas on Paper, a really cool magazine shop, stuffed full of every magazine you’ll ever want to read, pointed us in the right direction.

It turns out, Nottingham is a pretty cool place and, not only that, it’s small enough to visit more-or-less everything on foot. Win-win!

Store Visit | Realm & Empire x IWM, Seven Dials

Realm & Empire x IWM Pop-Up Store, Seven Dials, London.

In collaboration with the Impertial War Museum, Realm & Empire has set up their first official retail space. I took the opportunity to stop by while I was doing the rounds in London last week, by all accounts it's been a long time in the works. As soon as you step into the store – which can be found just five minutes from Covent Garden – you instantly realise that a lot has gone into making this store happen.

Seven Dials has become known for its good lashing of men's style (see our Farah Vintage visit), design stores, and independent shops, and the R/E store fits in perfectly; sitting between outdoor retail Finisterre, and the Carhartt WIP flagship, on Earlham Street. 

The store itself has been designed inkeeping with the brand's strong links to the military and war history – Realm & Empire is the only clothing brand with access to the Imperial War Museum's vast archive – with exposed brickwork, wooden floors and utilitarian furniture. The gear matches the interior too; their take on practical outerwear, utility shirts, heavy jersey, British-made knitwear, and gifts can all be found within.

Realm & Empire x IWM Pop-Up (open until 31st December), 5 Earlham Street, Seven Dials, London, WC2H 9LL.  See more of our Store Visits here.

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Outfit | BOSS Orange Watches New York

For the second instalment of our partnership with BOSS Orange Watches we gave a piece from the AW14 collection the old road-test. You may remember our first feature on this season's collection, and having already covered the more techy details of the range we're excited to be trying out one of the watches, and seeing how it fairs within our daily routine.

To be a successful freelancer (still trying) you need to be very driven, committed and show passion towards every job at hand – these too are the core values on which the BOSS Orange collection is built upon. The majority of the time I can be found sitting behind my desk-type-table, but on the rare occasion that me + Hollie time a day off together (super rare) we usually head to our local coffee shop. We get to catch up on the news from the week and discuss upcoming plans. On that day I decided to wear my BOSS Orange watch for the first time.

When I received the watch I was actually surprised how chunky it was, I'm more familiar with slimmer models but the architectural shape of the New York lends itself really well to its oversized shape. I wore it with a typical everyday-casual outfit of denim, sweatshirt and relaxed chinos but I can see it working well for the times I need to dress smarter for a meeting. Poking out of the shirt sleeve, I reckon it's sure to impressive any prospective clients.

The subtle mix of the brushed stainless steal face and rubber strap makes it fall into a nice middle-ground of smart and sporty – a notion which I can definitely support. As I mentioned, size-wise it's larger than I usually go but I never rules styles out until I've tried them, you never know what you might miss!

 Wearing - BOSS Orange Watch* | Vintage Levi's Jacket | Realm & Empire Sweatshirt* | Universal Works Trousers | Albam Socks | Converse 1970s | '47 Brand Cap*

The New York model features a contrasting orange second hand and oversized pin, comes standard with Japanese Quarts movement and is fully equip for a 30 metre dive into water. Just to give you a bit of perspective, the watch measures at 50mm in width and 13mm in depth - so on my wrist it may look large but BOSS Orange Watches have designed this watch to take on a purposeful oversized appearance.

Thanks for reading guys, and if you like what you see look out for Part Three in our partnership where we'll be giving away a watch from their new collection. 

This article was written in partnership with BOSS Orange Watches

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Realm & Empire SS14 + £75 Voucher Giveaway

Over the past few months I've become quite friendly with the guys behind British menswear brand, Realm & Empire, and last month I headed down to their pop-up show room at Holborn, London to preview their AW14 collection. Over a cup of coffee we chatted design processes + their close ties with the Imperial War Museum, our current favourite blogs and even the possibility of working together on a project in the future! You never know what's going to happen, but I'm very passionate about British production, so I'd snap up the chance in a second.

You may also remember Realm & Empire recently inviting me to put together a Blogger's Edit for the SS14 collection, above are a some images from their SS14 looking, which accompanies some of the pieces I chose. To celebrate their new collection we are giving away a £75 voucher to spend on the SS14 collection, to one lucky Buckets & Spades reader! So what would you choose, have a look here and let me know what you're thinking?

How to Enter

To be in with a chance of winning the £75 Voucher to spend at Realm & Empire you must be a subscriber of Buckets & Spades Blog. Remember, if you follow you can come back and enter this giveaway daily. This giveaway is open worldwide. Best of luck!

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Realm & Empire Blogger Edit - SS14

 Our friends at Realm & Empire are kicking the new Spring/Summer season off to a fresh start, with the launch of their new SS14 collection and a brand spanking new website. As with all of their collections, the story begins with a trip to the Imperial War Museum, along with a notepad, trusty camera, a passion for military history and trawling through archived photos. Each year the IWM allow Realm & Empire exclusive access to the extensive archives, which ensures all of their collections are accurately inspired by real life events and rich British Heritage.

The guys at R&E asked me to take part in their Blogger Edit Series, focusing on their SS14 Collection - Above I have picked out a few of my favorite pieces, which have just gone live on the site. 

Trench Print Desert Shirt | Jungle Green Cargo Shorts | Ever Eye Open Sweater |  DUKW Tee | Tobacco Cargo Trousers | Chambray Dot Scarf | Khaki Tank Cap

Their merino wool hat is still keeping my head toasty from AW13 but it makes a nice change to be thinking about warmer weather and not getting hit by horizontal rain all day! Thank you to R&E for asking me to take part, click the links above to see more shots of the individual products.

I'm really keen on the floral shirt, which has been inspired by wartime wallpaper. What's your favourite piece from my SS edit?

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