So, I literally disappeared for a month and given that I haven’t blogged for far too long, I decided I’d begin by filling you all in on what I’ve been up to!

To begin with, I’ve spent a large portion of my time recovering from the surgery on my lower jaw. I’ll put on my ‘doctor voice’ and explain…

This diagram shows the cut the surgeons made through my lower jaw, which was slipped forward and screwed in place. Giving me approximately 6 weeks on a liquid diet and 9 months to wait until I can finally bite into an apple! Unfortunately for me, the most I’ve eaten in the last 2 months has been the pizza, the remains as seen below, that I ordered from Bella Italia on my date last week.

Which brings me to another new addition to the extraordinary world of Sharon Haigh…I have a boyfriend! Yes, some how within the 2 months of sipping on sizzurp (not literally), I managed to woo Josh Rumble. Widely known for his skills in the vocal department, for different projects such as Last Of The Pilots (watch this space), I’ve spent the last few weeks discovering that he’s more than just a pretty voice…or face for that matter!

Aside from the broken face and becoming sickeningly smitten, I’ve begun some new literary adventures too. Starting with the Richard Branson autobiography, Losing My Virginity. That literally is the real title of the book, which raised a few eyebrows when I returned to UCB to finish the last leg of my Management studies. It’s an excellent book and vastly intriguing but it didn’t distract me from saying my farewells to the team at UCB.

After spending just over 9 months with the Hope Generation Team and with the friendly kids at The Potter’s House Church, I’ve had to tear myself away from Stoke-On-Trent to come home to Basingstoke. Well almost, I did take a detour to pop to Ibiza for a week. My best friend Sarah Jenner took me away to Es Cana, where the beaches are beautiful, the people are…different and the night life can only be described as ‘interesting’! Boys and girls, if you get the chance, go to San Antonio’s night club Es Paradise, it’s a hoot! But never ever eat the puddings at the Hotel Ereso, unless you want your face frozen like this:

You can’t say I didn’t warn you!

I came across Camille Rose Garcia’s artwork, whilst browsing Hanna Beth’s stream. Her artwork is both beautiful and extremely unique. I’ve never seen anything like it. Her portrayal of Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, is a brilliant twist on the original Alice character and the strange and magical world of Wonderland.

A truly magnificent artist for sure, some one I’ll be telling my house mate about except I’ll have to visit the Dublin car rental and use it as an excuse to stay with her over there as the course I’m on finishes soon! Oh to lose a house mate, it’s as distressing for me as it was for that poor white rabbit to lose time!

“Jamie Campbell makes jokes only he finds funny, but he convinces you to laugh all the same.”
- Anthony P

I’ve been following Jamie Campbell’s photography adventures for the last 9 months. I can tell you now, there’s not been a single photo that he has shot, that I haven’t been distracted by. Even his candids and his various photos of his cats are beautiful, and I’m not much of a cat lady!

His raw and edgy photography is captivating and never ceases to make me wish I lived within his camera lens! There’s something so realistic and honest about the shots that he produces. I don’t know who birthed this man, but kudos on making such a talented and creative humanoid!

“Jamie Campbell works with the themes of insecurity, burden, vulnerability and desperation, but does it with self-deprecation and humour and profound honesty, leaving you unsure of whether you want to hit him or hug him.”
- Anthony P

It also turns out that not only is he great at photography, but he grows some rather interesting facial hair. Jamie Campbell, your photos and beard growing skills captivate me and I’m sure I’m not the only one. Thank you.

Whilst scanning the High Snobiety blog I was pleasantly surprised to see the new lightweight style Vans SRPLS. Designed from the California-based label’s Surf collection and constructed from eco-friendly materials, the sneaker is done up with camo ripstop uppers over a clean white sole. You can get your hands on them at Wish. I love them, g’head love them too.

Banksy’s been hard at work and has been appearing in San Francisco. Warholian were pretty much first up with the news and sent these pictures through to our friends at artofthestate. Since then several other pieces have appeared so keep your eyes peeled!

EASILY the dopest find this week!

I love it when a brand totally speaks my mind as a physical and fashionable manifestation that i’m gonna wear. This needs to be added to my wardrobe…now.

Limited Edish prints, quality manufacturing, dope designs and just a real brand…I can’t really hype it any more.

Here’s what they have to say…

WWW.PAPERPLATESCLOTHING.COM

“IN A NUT SHELL, PAPER PLATES CLOTHING IS A MESH OF HIGH-END QUALITY MIXED WITH PLAIN AND CLEVER DESIGNS. WE LIKE TO THINK OF OUR PRODUCTS AS MORE THAN PHYSICAL THING; IT REPRESENTS A “HUNGRY” LIFESTYLE. THIS SITE WAS CREATED TO TAKE YOU THROUGH THE JOURNEY OF A BRAND, THAT PLANS TO LEAVE ITS MARK IN CULTURE. HERE AT PAPER PLATES, WE PROMISE TO DROP CONSISTENT HOT SHIT AND KEEP EVERYTHING LIMITED. WE EMBRACE THE RED CUP AFFAIRS, LOCAL CELEBRITIES, FLY GUYS, AND GALS, FIJI WATER DRINKERS, MERCEDES BENZ DREAMERS, AND VIP SOFA SITTERS. CHECK ON US DAILY, WE’LL KEEP YOU POSTED ABOUT FUTURE RELEASES THAT WILL BE AVAILABLE ONLY HERE.”

BELIEVE.

On the hunt for the UK’s top independent retail stores we stumbled across Wood, in the great city of Manchester. To find out just how they cracked in to the thriving retail vibe on Manchester’s city streets, I asked them a few questions. Tersam’s the man with the plan, take a look here to find out what his story is:

Whats your name and what do you do?

My name is Tersam Sangha from A Shop Called Wood in Manchester. We are a retail store, design team and recently launched our house clothing brand Cyrus Wood. The belief is that we can and ought to try and embrace diversity from all angles of life, fashion, music, art and general style can all be bought from all corners of the world but 99% is all the same, we are that 1% that actually want to build a community of like minded people from around the world.

Tell us the story of Wood, where did it all begin?

The store came about as a reaction to the mass of cheap, throw away fashion that was being poured down our throat on a 24/7 basis. I used to collect big E Levis and Adidas sneakers in the 80’s; the emphasis was always on quality and design. This was all lost in 2003 when the beginnings of the store came about. It was impossible to find any of the clothing that we wanted.

The brands that we first carried in the store when we opened on June 21st 2004 were all dear to our heart and we felt close to their ideals. Silas, Perks and Mini, Surface to Air, Birdie, YMC, Horace, Fred Perry, Call of the Wild, Maharishi, Henrik Vibskov and loads more. These brands have gone through allot of changes as has the store.

We were blessed to have worked with some of the best talent around, that included Kai and Sunny, one of the best design teams in the world. They designed our logo, artwork and the whole graphic feel of the store. The logo font for Wood came into one of the best font designs book shortly after. They then redesigned our website for us in 2008; we are obviously big fans of their work and will always work with them whilst on this journey.

Very early before the beginnings of the shop we met Russell Waterman from the Silas and Maria family Silas and Amos, these guys held that natural quality that a good brand should have that shines through, they worked as a family and treated us with the most genuine attitude that is very hard to find these days. This influence d us to work with genuine people (Gimme 5, Denim is everything, PAM etc.) that have the rare talent to see something special way before anyone else.

How did Manchester like the store? Did you find it hard to build up that faithful customer base?

The store was a tremendous success from the minute we opened our door, customers quickly became friends and that grew exponentially. The methods were to work with only the best people around at that time, be genuine and only do what you truly believe in.

What is it that you love about your area, are you proud of the area you’ve built Wood’s home in?

The Northern Quarter of Manchester has a family feel to the area, we love, there were 28 record shops in the area alone when we started. As teenagers we used to sit downstairs in the basement of Eastern Bloc, where only friends were allowed and pioneers of the music scene were allowed, we also used to frequent Dry Bar which was at one point the best bar in the world and possibly one of the first in the UK at the time of the Hacienda.

So yes, the area holds a special place in our heart.

What have you got going on at the moment, any interesting projects for 2010?

2010 has kind of reinvigorated my passion for the clothing industry, it became impossible to find a brand that was special, that wasn’t sold in every city around the country, and we decided to unleash Cyrus Wood.

Cyrus Wood is the name of the company that owns the 2 stores and website and now the brand, It was always part of the plan in 2003 when we began this journey, the reason it’s called Cyrus Wood is two part, firstly one of the best pieces of cinema very made The Warriors and the leader of all and secondly as part of a one of my favourite artists in the world Andy Goldsworthy and his book called Wood.

This is a combination of ideas that could not be further apart, but managed to capture my imagination and best exemplify how I felt about the arts as a discipline.

Born out of a dissatisfaction with an over saturated menswear market, Cyrus Wood aims to restore a sense of uniqueness to menswear, creating a brand that is limited in run and availability.

We dropped our second part of the first collection in January 2004 and it sold out within a few weeks, this was a collection of shirts in corduroy, gingham, and a beautiful cotton drill, Also shirt jackets in Wool. It uses only British fabrics and is Made in England; it is a paramount ideal of Cyrus Wood and we feel passionate about this fact. From the first moment that I used to visit the woollen mills that my family worked in and the shoe factory that my mum worked at, that I used to visit as a 12 year old, I fell in love with this industry. It pains me deeply that the government allowed the Capitalist executives to sell the soul of the clothing industry in this country to the Far East. Factories all in Manchester and Leicester, fabric mills in Yorkshire and Lancashire closed over night when the likes of Marks and Spencer’s moved production over to the Far east, and these companies even used the management teams from the UK to train the staff in China on the pretence that they will never produce outside of the UK and they then called them and cancelled their contracts and factories had to close overnight.
The Italians and French managed to protect their clothing industry unlike the crooks over here.

Without getting too political , we would like to stress that Cyrus Wood is about design and not just concepts like most others out there, it’s about special fabrics, a great fitting garment that our customers will grow to love and that will become a staple part of their wardrobe.

Made exclusively in England, the label is quality driven with quality fabrics manufactured in only the highest quality factories in the UK.
Cyrus Wood is not street style. Cyrus Wood is not disposable and it is especially not Fashion. Cyrus Wood is a faith, an idea, a belief, a Tribe.

Cyrus Wood is a utilitarian menswear label for the conscious man’s wardrobe.

For people interested in starting up an independent retail venue, what would you tell them that you wish you’d known back when you opened?

Fashion is inevitably one of the most immediate expressions of culture and the most pervasive one. You need to think about the clothes we wear, how they are made, where they are made and who made them, put the craft back into clothing. It is important to keep the workmanship high, our lives are so divorced from the source of things, we need to reinforce quality craftsmanship and engineered garments. This is what makes fashion exciting and gives its depth that we can use to mark our own achievements.

It will encompass your whole life, enjoy the ride.

What have been the absolute high points of the store?

When we started selling out own label in 2008, customers could not keep their hands off the garments, when they walk into the shop and tell you that one of your designed garments have become their favourite garment and they have to stop themselves from wearing it every day (…so buy another one)!

What are the future goals for Wood, what do you want to have accomplished by the end of this year?

We will be visiting our friends from around the world, building our tribe and having a good time.

Making music, art, love and clothes. Watch this space, Cyrus Wood will be entering phase 6 and be going into some of the best stores worldwide and be working with some Heritage British Brands, cannot say too much now, I will holla back when we are ready to let you guys know.

Bubbling on the underground for the last 6 years, 2010 see its foray into the public conscience.

So in other words, watch this space cats! This brand will be not only spreading the (retail) love all over Britain but conquering the world in on the menu too!

La Bella Donna Della Mia Mente.

My limbs are wasted with a flame,
My feet are sore with travelling,
For, calling on my Lady’s name,
My lips have now forgot to sing.

O Linnet in the wild-rose brake
Strain for my Love thy melody,
O Lark sing louder for love’s sake,
My gentle Lady passeth by.

O twining hands! O delicate
White body made for love and pain!
O House of love! O desolate
Pale flower beaten by the rain!

Say what you want about Oscar Wilde, but you have to admit the man could string words together in the most poetic of fashions. I actually attempted to find an Oscar Wilde tour in Ireland. I’d obviously ship myself over, rent a Dublin car hire with whomever should join me and have a little poetic adventure. Any takers?

Dan Mumford dropped us through some info on his new clothing range recently, and it’s looking like a really impressive introduction to MUMFORD. The first line which was released on the 15th May features 8 new tee designs and two A2 Giclee prints limited to 50 each. The tees all link together to tell a story of the occult. Always an artist and designer with depth, and impressive use of colour and detail. Mumford will by default be a favourite amongst those that have loved Dan’s work for a long time, and hopefully Mumford will also open his work up to a whole new crowd too.

www.mumfordclothing.com

Who loves Superdenim?

I do! That online store is one of the dopest niche stores around and they’ve just settled down into a sweet little bricks and mortar location situated in the heart of York, just around the corner from the Minster. Now there’s tons of hype around what the boys are doing there on forums already, but we’re real buying fans here at RISE and we wanna’ say our piece too!

Hide and Seek brands like Studio D’Artisan, The Real McCoy’s and Mister Freedom are just some of the brands we’ve been dying to see stocked on UK shelves more frequently and we’re excited to see what else The RS is looking to bring in.

Go see for yourself!

The Rugged Standard

First Floor
19 High Petergate
York
YO1 7EN