Open Road Essentials | Road Tripping With Enterprise

Alright folks, this is a easy one for you. The fellas at Sabotage Times have teamed up with Enterprise to bring you this super quick competition. All you have to do is take a photo of your gear all laid out, as neat or as messy as you fancy and share the image on Twitter or Instagram, with the hashtag #OpenRoadEssentials.

It's a breeze to enter seeing that most of us do this stuff daily anyway, may as well try and win something for it? The prize is One of Two road trips worth £1000! You've only got until the end of this Friday to enter so get your swag together quick-sharp. Here's my #OpenRoadEssentials entry, it's an image from a few months back but hey, I could get lucky.

For more info click here.

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Who Made Your Clothes? | #InsideOut Fashion Revolution

Brothers We Stand - #InsideOut

Who Made Your Clothes? These words are not something we really consider on an everyday basis. In fact, most of us won't consider it at all. Unless we have close connections to a factory, manufacturer, or the industry we're unlikely to ever find out either. 

A lot of you will know that I'm very pro-local production and try to support small + independent business, (in particular the UK + US) whenever I can. It's very encouraging to see UK brands such as Mamnick, TRiCKETT, S.E.H Kelly and Hiut Denim, forming such a loyal following, and tapping into specific niches + needs across the clothing industry. Huit's jeans even get signed off with the marker's signature, so you whose hands constructed each pair. Same goes for our brand, Northern Goods Co. - any queries about our products, we can talk to you through the whole hand-production process.

TRiCKETT Lynch Socks - Made in Durham, England

Mamnick Commute Clip - Made in Sheffield, England

Northern Goods Co. Key Clip - Made in Blackpool, England.

24.04.14 marks one-year anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster, in which over 1,000 garment workers lost their lives, when their factory complex collapsed, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Fashion Revolution Day says enough is enough. 

So, Who Made Your Clothes? Fashion Revolution is asking us to be more curious about our clothes, and wear them #InsideOut - drawing attention to their labels, questioning who was it made by and in which country? You can share your images using the hashtag #InsideOut + @Fash_Rev.

Ethical menswear store Brothers We Stand have produced this series of images (see first image) to accompany the campaign, asking us once again how much we really know about the clothing on our backs. They'll be posting new photos on their Instagram throughout the day, so have a gander.

It's time to turn the industry Inside Out, so get involved! To find out how you can help out, visit Fashion Revolution  here.

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Nigel Cabourn for Armor-Lux SS 14

I'm very pleased to share with you all that Buckets & Spades has a new contributor, say hello to Dan of and his first post!

Spring/Summer ‘14 sees Nigel Cabourn and Armor Lux collaborate for the first time, a combination that’s got me as excited as completing the 2002 World Cup Panini sticker album! The collaboration is the first in a series between the two classic brands and for Spring/Summer ‘14, we see a Cabourn twist on the Armor Lux classic Breton stripe.

The fundamentals are the same, constructed from Armor Lux’s interlocked knitted 100% cotton, something they have been famous for since they were founded way back in 1938. Interlocked cotton produces a heavier fabric with a softer hand and a little more stretch. Now for the Cabourn twists. Firstly instead of the traditional ‘boat neck’ the product features a Henley collar. Something that is not the easiest thing to wear, but when it is worn well, it looks a treat. Second, is the (slightly) elongated body. Something that appeals to me personally as I prefer my t-shirts/shirts longer in the body. The third is the vented hem. This is a traditional hem, but features two cuts to each corner (below/above), a ‘la Ralph Lauren custom fit. Finally is the concealed, ‘inside’ pocket. It may sound a bit crazy having an ‘inside’ (stitched to the reverse, see below/above) pocket, but those are the finer details Nigel Cabourn is known for.

Overall, I really like the product. The Henley collar adds good, subtle detailing and the ‘inside’ pocket is a great touch.  It is something that will definitely sit well in my wardrobe and is on the Spring/Summer ’14 ‘hit list’. The Nigel Cabourn x Armor Lux collaboration has started with a bang, next in the series is knitwear for Autumn/Winter ’14. - Dan.

You can find Dan on Twitter + Instagram.

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Waterstones Blogger Murder Mystery

The Evidence - mat_buckets is brown bread!

In celebration of the Agatha Christie Festival this week, Waterstones is holding the first ever Blogger Murder Mystery event.

Waterstones needs your help, dear reader. There's been a crime most horrid committed against Matthew Pike. We need your help to find the culprit and be in with a chance of receiving a £100 reward of Waterstones vouchers. Detective Michael Scott is on the case, so be sure to follow him on twitter @DCIMikeScott where he will be revealing clues throughout the week until Friday 20th September. You can question any of the bloggers using their twitter handle and the hashtag #BloggerMystery to find holes in their alibis. 

The list of suspects are:

Naomi @Bewitchery_ - Bewitchery

Jane @ITYDarling - Is That You Darling

Lucinda @ljbarton - Bakes Books and My Boys

Katrina @carouseldiary - Carousel Diary

Sophie @sophiepatricia6 - I Left My Heart In Miami

Kel @kellovesclothes - Kel Loves

Eleanor @ebsnare - Three Word Outfit 

Here's the story as we know it;

From DCI Michael Scott 

"Waterstones invited six prestigious fashion and beauty bloggers - Elly, Kel, Sophie, Naomi, Katrina Louise and Mat - to its very first Fabulous Fashionista of the Year Award, held amid a lavish cupcake dinner at Cryptic Hall. However, events have taken a dark turn and Mat, the winner of the award, has been found dead in the bathroom. Foul play is most certainly suspected. 

Details of the night are still sketchy, but we know all six fashionistas were known to each other at the time of the killing and enjoyed a friendly rivalry in the world of fashion blogging. Also in Cryptic Hall at the time were Jan, the owner of the manor, and a chef, Lucinda, who was hired to put on a delicious spread of cupcakes for the guests. 

According to my interviews, the guests arrived at Cryptic Hall at around 6pm or just before. They sat down to enjoy Lucinda's cupcakes and discuss their blogging with one another. There was a short break for coffee at around 6.40pm, during which time many of the guests seem to have left the table for various reasons. At 6.55 or thereabouts, we received a phone call from the suspect who found the body, claiming there had been a murder at Cryptic Hall. 

Unfortunately, many of the suspects seem unwilling to cooperate, for reasons that are still being established. If you think you can tease more information out of them, ask them about their activities on that night via Twitter - and when you think you ascertained the culprit, the motive and the method, please relay your suspicions to me, DCI Michael Scott. Together, we can get to the root of this tale of intrigue, jealousy, high fashion and sweet, sweet cupcakes."

Once you think you know who the culprit is send a tweet to the detective giving the name of the killer, the motive and the method by Friday 20th September at Midnight. The winner will be selected on Monday 23rd September. 

Good luck, sleuths. 

Note - This competition is only open to UK residents.

 Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / Bloglovin' / Pinterest

Ways To Catch Up

At Posner Park, Davenport, FL. Wearing - Brooks Brothers t-shirt, American Needle cap, Rayban Wayfarers

You may or may not no but Google Friends Connect/GFC has been binned off and from the 1st July it will be no more (there's a lot of confusion as to which bit they're getting rid of and I'm not 100% sure). So if you follow my blog on there it's time to up ship and follow another way. The best way seems to be Bloglovin', all your favourite blogs ready to read in one place. Easy. You can also keep up to date with my new posts over on my Twitter and Facebook, I tend to upload more images I don't feature on here on Facebook. 

I've been using GFC for as long as I can remember so I'm at panic stations to try and refollow all the blogs I read by the cut off date, is it just going to disappear? Link me to your blogs on Bloglovin' and I'll get following. You can also find me on Pinterest and Instagram as a Brucy Bonus. If all that fails feel free to drop me an email anytime. 

If you're a brand/company that would like to work with me just get in touch at bucketsandspadesblog@googlemail.com

Have you got any plans for the weekend? I'm hoping to get out for a ride at some point and I'm also job hunting, this wedding isn't going to pay for itself! The photo above is actually one I like of myself, pretty chuffed with it and yep I like caps now. Enjoy guys.

This week - Read about my recent trip to Orlando and Savannah

YMC Floral Lace Up Headache

I went a bit loopy the other week and bought these YMC Floral numbers from Urban Outfitters in the sale. I knew I liked them, hence parting with the readies but I was pretty stumped with what to wear them with. I've got tones of weird rules when I comes to dressing, I don't like wearing similar colours together and seeing that I own about 10 blue shirts.....basically over-thinking it.

I've posted a couple of photos on these on Instagram/Twitter (both mat_buckets) and the hibiscus pattern has got a ridiculously good reception, you guys seem to love them. So the jury is out, I'll just roll with them. For their first wear I just went with some green shorts and a dark blue oxford shirt. Nothing groundbreaking but it worked, I think.

I wouldn't mind a bit of input on this one though, have you guys got any ideas what sort of things I could wear them with? Remember I don't want to look like a fruit loop.

COMPETITION: Ray Ban Sunglasses For All You Cool Dude

It's time for the second competition on Buckets & Spades. I did one last year at some point but it was before I met loads of new people in blogger's world. I've had this blog for nearly 3 years now and I've enjoyed ever minute of it, now it's my time to give something back to my readers.

So here we go, as a special treat for all my readers, courtesy of the super lovely people over at Equip, who have been kind enough to give me a pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarers in white & black the giveaway. The sunglasses are unisex so even if you don't fancy them I'm sure your best friends or boyfriends/girlfriends will!

To enter the competition it couldn't be easier, you all probably now how it works already. Leave a comment on this post and:

1. Follow me on Google Connect - click the follow button on the right hand sidebar

2. Follow me on Twitter

3. Mention the giveaway on your Twitter/Facebook(by tweet or RT) or on your own blog

Please leave a comment on this post stating which of these you have done (you can enter more than once but PLEASE leave separate comments for each one). Include links to mentioned and tweets in the comments too, so I know where we are up to.

The competition will be open for 2 weeks, until Friday 9th July at midnight GMT. It is open to everyone in the world so you are all in with a chance, the winner will drawn at random and announced over that weekend.

Thanks again to Equip and GOOD LUCK to you all!

Winter Made Warmer

I woke up today with the postman knocking at the door(this will probably be a rare event from now on, with all the postal strike action going on of late). The first thing I thought was, oh damn it's another ebay parcel thats been redirected back to my house, but no. To my surprise the lovely and very generous people at Ark clothing online have sent me two jumpers, and just in time for the chilly weather too!

The first one is a Fred Perry v-neck merino wool jumper in a lovely warm burgundy colour. This colour instantly reminded me of Steve from Style Salvage latest post "In Amongst the Fallen Leaves", where he shows us all his creative side and what can be achieved with a simple splash of colour this Autumn.

Great shade for the colder months, Fred Perry v-neck in burgundy with contrasting purple logo. Can't wait to wear this bad boy, already planning on wearing it with my Carolyn Massey x Topman coat.

The second one is a Penguin by Musingwear navy v-neck in the softest mix of cotton and cashmere. This is now officially the softest jumper in my wardrobe. Being a cotton/cashmere mix this is slightly roomier than the Fred Perry one, so it's going to be perfect come January time.

Cashmere mix Penguin v-neck jumper, in dark navy with subtle turquoise logo.

The one thing that my winter wardrobe lacks in jumpers, can you believe I only had one before these arrived? I bought the Matthew Williamson x H&M pink and purple cashmere jumper earlier this year. What can I say, I wasn't a jumper person, until now. These will go nicely with the abundance of Uniqlo socks I have, in nearly ever shade, pretty much the best socks around in terms of colours, durability and price. I think if me and Steve ever bumped into each other we would look like a rainbow had been sick on us, or that we had been attacked by a peacock.

Next on the Winter wish list is a pair of black oxford lace-ups, black Dr Marten shoes, dark green cashmere scarf and a new jacket of some sorts.

Thanks again to the nice people at Ark Clothing, you just made my cold days a whole lot warmer. Visit their online store for more by Fred Perry, Penguin and other brands like Dr Denim, Farah and Nixon watches.

You can now follow Buckets and Spades on Twitter, just click the link.

London Fashion Week

Now, like most people in the fashion world, I have been totally obsessed with all what's been going on, on the catwalk's over the past few week. Especially London Fashion Week, at the MAN shows. Twitter has been going mad and the morning of the MAN show I was over ridden by all the tweeting going on by fellow bloggers, Cillian Male Mode, Steve Style Salvage, Ian ASOS Tweets, Elliot and Steve Buckstyle and even Topman had Steve from Style Salvage tweeting on their behave. I'm going to leave the review of the shows down to the expect this time, because I don't think I can do them justice, may favourite coverage came from Fashion165, they were reviewing each show as it happened on their blog, even the much smaller shows. They were pulling off some great coverage of the street style that was going on too.

I do feel like I'm missing out being so far up north but it was weird, I felt so close to it at the same time because of twitter. The world really is getting smaller. Still well gutted I didn't get to see the MAN show, Carolyn Massey's show look superb.

One thing that caught me eye was some of the more avant garde shows like Ziad Ghanem’s collection, in collaboration with Firetrap, entitled "Maiden Britain’.

Not for the faint of heart, this collection at first glance is mostly unwearable, but when you break it down it really isn't that insane. Ok some of it is a bit wacky but some of the details are really inspiring, like the also jodhpur/ plus 4 esque jeans, sleeveless sheer shirts, union jack totes, 80s style patterned work-out pants and spike denim accessories (see more close up images at Vogue UK ). All looks weren't complete without Creepers, the crepe soled, stacked shoes, which were all courtesy of T.U.K. All the ones you would expect features, including leopard print, black and white and the tres style hi-shine all black ones.

A pair of creepers is still a high priory on my wish list, Susie Bubble sure is getting a lot of wear out of her. Crepe soles seem to be big business the a/w with offerings from Emma Cook at Topshop and Alexander Wang all doing the rounds at the moment. Are you going crepe the a/w?

Images T.U.K's blog

Lou Dalton Winter Warmers

Twitter has been up to its usual tricks lately, making all the people jealous that there not a New York Fashion week. People Tweeting from the front row from all the biggest shows ect, it's quite exciting when you think about it as now news is available as quick as ever, LIVE in fact.

The daily action keeps me up to date on new products and what's going on and it's became more and more addictive over the past few months. This morning's treat was from our old friends at Style Salvage in the form of news that Lou Dalton's a/w collection has been released at oki-ni just a few hours ago.

The collection includes lots of typical English design elements, like quilted jackets (this one being on Style Salvage Steve's wish list) with all the trimming you would expect. Including a really cool rounded off colour and tartan lining.

This deep red cotton waxed jacket is my favourite, I just love the dark red cotton again the even deeper red cord collar. Really like the Lou Dalton label too, what a nice and simple design.

The collection also comes with perfect accessories to match your newly purchased jacket, including these 100% lamb wool long fingerless gloves.

Want want want those gloves. All pieces are very reasonable prices, jackets being around £250 and gloves just £29. Follow me on Twitter here

Images from - oki-ni

Think tank for summer

Whilst a busy morning of paint the wall in the back garden, in the uncharacteristically hot English weather I got to thinking about what I will be wearing for work this coming week and for our short trip to London (which will hopefully be in July but we haven't booked yet.

Another thing which spurred this into my head was a link to an article about the rise in chinos, on men and women which Style Salvage posted on their Twitter this morning. Click here for the article, it documents 10 people who walked through the doors at London's bStore and posing the question, "are they the new jean?". I pretty much think they are, especially for the warmer months. I currently own a dark navy/charcoal pair and a beige pair.

This was my favourite look for the 10magazine selection, mostly because this is similar to how I would wear my beige pair. Wicked boots too.

Purple chinos from ASOS

I've been wanting to try something a bit more adventurous in the trouser department for the summer, I stumbled across this purple pair from ASOS. I just can't help think they would look much better if the shade of purple was a touch darker.

Mint green chinos by Acne, from ASOS

This shade of green is very much to my liking but sadly out of my budget, though to do kind of look for like light fabric jeans rather than a trouser.

My two current pairs, ASOS(left), H&M(right)

So chinos will undoubtedly be the choice of the summer for me but what is my shoe of choice to go with them?

If it's raining (theres a good chance in that happening!):

l-r ASOS brown boots, Clarks Desert boots, Dr Martens

And if it's sunny, fingers crossed:

l-r Spencer Jones boat shoes, Hudson patent tassel loafers, Vans

What are your summer essentials?