There is no way you could describe this section as a ‘gallery’, it’s just not what I wanted or saw when I began to plan the blog, and lord I’ve built enough of them online over the years, no this was always going to be different. Here yes you will see the finished artwork, but I wanted all the support work to be shown as well, the sketches, the paths that didn’t work as well as I’d hoped, the techniques I used and learned along the way. And most of all the ‘why’ – the rational for the work, what it means to me, and what I hope you see when you cast your eyes over it for the first time – click here to visit ‘The Art’

I've always had a love of Photography, right from my earliest days working on The Times, and as the art has become so much more important to me, so I've found myself drawn more and more into it's clutches - click here to read more

DON'T LET AGE, NOR FREINDS DICTATE YOUR STYLE

Just because you’re passed the first flush of youth doesn’t mean you need to dress like everyone else your age, nor does it mean you need to try and dress like someone half your age, rather it means you need to find your own unique style, after all you look good, you feel good.  

Last week I popped into Exeter to meet up with Toby, best mate and actor turned copper, odd I know, but true, oh and like myself he’s also in the TA, anyway back to the story. As he walked into the coffee shop I was immediately struck by the fact that he had on almost the same as me, and this isn’t the first time it’s happened, “Tobe’s this has got to stop, people are going to talk!” Sniggering we sat down and tried to work out why it kept happening. I think part of it is down to the fact that we of course have similar tastes, and as friends are sometimes influenced by what each other wears. We share a lot in common I suppose, both in our 40’s, from artistic backgrounds and keen on our appearance and keeping fit, but it’s more than that, we’re also both adamant not to be pigeon holed.

After he’d left I sat down to write up a few notes on some of the pictures I’d taken that day, sat staring down at my journal I began to give this whole style thing some thought. The following day on the train into college I again found myself mulling over the very same thoughts as I looked around the coach, my eyes resting upon one suit after another. In college after a long day I was near the end of my last lecture on a ‘Fat Face’ project the students are undertaking, talking about the client base, 40 plus year old people buying in to the whole surfer thing when in fact the nearest they’ve ever got to surfing is walking along Bournemouth beach, kids in tow, ice cream in hand, when one of the girls asks, “so Brent where do you fit in to this, where do you shop?” And you know it then struck me, I don’t really fit in anywhere.

Being a lecture on fashion courses of course rubs off, yes I do put some thought into what I wear each day, but not that much, do you know I realized that I wear pretty much the same on my days off, and I’m no real sucker for labels any more. As a young yuppie puppy years ago I was, I’d look around me and find my self buying into whatever I was told we should be wearing, but not any more. These days I have some really firm ideas on what I like to wear and what I don’t, as each season approaches I’ll look through the latest trends, surf ‘street fashion’ sites on coffee breaks and then still try to form a unique look. A look based very much on mixing a few really classical items with a few modern touches.

Take today, check shirt and dark jeans from H&M, brown paisley scarf from a street trader over a vintage Burberry mac from a vintage clothes shop in Exeter. Shoes, hand made brogues I’ve had for years, briefcase, an old leather bargain from a charity shop; and then there are the accents, the daily accessories I hold dear, old 1950’s Omega seamaster watch, classic Mont Blanc pen, I could go on and on, but you get the picture. The thing is that although I may well buy the odd new clothes here and there, I much prefer to buy old classic bargains that I know will last a lifetime, and will make you stand out from the crowd. Take the brogues, bought over 20 years ago and still going strong, for the last 5 or so years they’ve been firmly out of fashion, but as with all classic styles back in every so often. And with these ‘classics’ I then like to mix a few cheap fashion bits and pieces, such as the jeans from H&M, at only £14.95.

Don’t get any idea about me being somehow into say the whole ‘Tweed Run’ look, or say a little on the ‘Steampunk’ side. I’m really not trying to look like any one trend, or fad, rather the complete opposite; which is where I suppose the ‘street fashion’ movement has come from. And then there is the whole age thing, now this is an area that really pisses me off. Just because I’m nearly 47 doesn’t mean I should start to shop at M&S and look like my grandfather, fashion sense and real style don’t just belong to the young. Dressing in my own style makes me feel good, I’m not trying to recapture some lost youth, trust me I like me now a 1000 times more than I did at 21, no it’s all just a case of ‘you look good, you feel good’, and we could all do with a little of that everyday, couldn’t we?  

Posted by Brent Meheux - 4/2/12 - Tags - style, brogues, omeaga

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