Bow Ties are getting cooler!

The latest issue of SFX magazine dropped through my letterbox this morning, sporting a Doctor Who cover!
(see left)

Being a subscriber, I get the issues with the fronts devoid of the usual clutter of cover lines – which is a REAL bonus this issue, cos I get to see what the news-stand buyers don’t!

Matt is seen on the cover in his costume, and the news-stand version has a big picture banner across the bottom of the page, covering Matt’s trousers.
The subscriber issue doesn’t have this and you can see them very clearly (see below).

We sort of worked out they are a form of glazed cotton jeans, but they almost look like leather in this photo, they are so sheen!
There’s some good reference for the shape of the front pockets, which are a little unusual.

Why hasn’t anyone identified these yet!!
< Sorry about that – regains composure >

Inside there is a great article about the up-coming series, built around an exclusive interview with Matt Smith and an exclusive photo-shoot to accompany it.

To of the photos are GREAT reference for Matt’s new bow tie and shirt!

On page 49 (see below) you can clearly see the new burgundy bow tie, and how it has a very visible weave, unlike last season’s silk.

Page 51 (see below) give another good view f the bow tie, but an even better reference for the shirt.

The Paul Smith shirts of Season Five seem to be a distant memory, and it’s frustrating that no leads have been found yet as to where the new costume has been sourced from.

No doubt it will come to light at some point – but way too late for everyone to get one for themselves :(

SFX issue 208 is on news-stands this week, and can also be downloaded for iPad through Zinio.

While we are talking bow ties, another photo has been doing the rounds, show Matt’s blue variation for Season Six.

Again it is a textured silk weave, this time with an interlocking I pattern (see below).

Notice too, by the way, that although Matt is wearing his new tweed in both shots above, they are actually fractionally different. Look at the collar and lapel seam and how the pattern meets and lines up.

The camera sometimes lies

This coming week is Red Nose Day, and following on for several previous Doctor Who involvements, there is a special mini-episode to be screen as part of the  Comic Relief fund raising entertainment.

This gives the excuse for a Red Nose Day inspired photoshoot. David Tennant had appeared in 2009 to publicise the cause (see left) and this year it turns to Matt Smith to take up the baton.

He was joined in the photocall by Karen and Arthur, and images of them appeared on the cover of this month’s Doctor Who Magazine (see right).

It gives another nice close-up of the new ‘tweed’ jacket Matt wears, as well as the while gridded shirt.

He can also be seen sporting a new bow tie in a midnight blue silk.

The pictures were also picked up by some of the UK tv guides, notably TV & Satellite Week, which needs only the slightest excuse to use a Doctor Who cover to increase circulation!

You can clearly see it is from the same photoshoot, but hold on a moment – Matt’s shirt is now a very pale BLUE! (see left)

Now, TV & Satellite Week have form when it comes to messing around with the colour of Doctor Who images!

Look at this image from June 2010 (see right).

Matt is wearing the blue variation of the Paul Smith shirt, but his bow tie is BURGUNDY!
But if you look closely you can see a texture to the fabric of the tie. The burgundy tie was a plain fabric, but the blue had a woven texture – exactly the same as seem here.

The bow tie has been Photoshopped to the wrong colour.

BUT WHY? Who know. Someone was bored . . . .

Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day is a very good cause,
and if you want to donate some money, click the link below to find out how you can help.

Red Nose Day 2011

SFX Magazine Special - bow ties are COOL!

Today saw the publication of the SFX Magazine, Doctor Who: A Celebration.

I particularly wanted to grab a copy as I knew it was to contain a number of costume related items and articles, and it hasn’t disappointed.

While I was on my way to Forbidden Planet to pick up my copy, it occurred to me that the free bow tie could turn out to be some cardboard thing with elastic at the back!
Luckily it is a pukka clip-on bow tie, though a cheap one (hey! what do you expect for a giveaway?)

Only downside is that it’s a child-sized one! (see right, top).

The magazine comes in a large card envelope (see left) which also holds the bow tie and two badges (see above).

From the costume point of view, there are a couple of highlights.

First up as a feature interview with Series Five costume designer Ray Holman.
The best part of this is a discussion on the matt Smith costume, and a reproduction of the design itself! (see below - click to enlarge and read)

Later in the magazine is a four-page feature on the Doctor Who crafting, a lot of which appears on the Crafty TARDIS forum.

There’s a lot of knitting involved! I love the knitted Daleks, as well as the more obvious scarf-work (see left).

There is also coverage of the controversial knitted Adipose dolls, which resulted in a Cease and Desist from the BBC.

Just under that feature is one on Kevin Coppa, who has done a lot of conventions in his various Tennant costumes. He is shown in his Tennant Suit, with a wasp on his back! (see left - click to enlarge and read)

Elsewhere, there are lots of great reference photographs and articles worth a read.

SFX Special Edition:
Doctor Who – A Celebration
is available at £7.99 for a limited time at good good newsagents in the UK.

It is also available for download to read on the iPad from the iTunes App Store for £4.99

All in all well worth the £7.99 investment!

Accessorise!

I’ve been asked by a number of people recent, “Where is the best place to get my bow ties and braces?”

Well, after hunting around a bit, I have found that it is possible to get everything from a single source, at a good price – and pretty screen accurately too!

Swagger & Swoon, from where I recommended an Alternative Tennant Tie, also stock bow ties and braces.

Their bow ties are £12.99 for the burgundy, and £16.99 for a navy one (see below).

Burgundy Narrow Bow Tie

Navy Blue Narrow Bow Tie

They also do a great set of burgundy narrow braces.

Everything about these is, as far as I can see, screen accurate, right down to the silver cross-over on the back (see right).

The braces are £17.49 for either burgundy or navy (see below).

Plain Burgundy Narrow 25mm Silver Clip Braces

Plain Navy Narrow 25mm Silver Clip Braces

The website can often go out-of-stock on stuff, but they do regularly get new supplies, so if things aren’t available, check back again cos you never know!

Paul Smith shirt - Floral Street trip

With the Paul Smith shirts at long last in stock, I obviously now want to get myself one.

When I got mine first time round, I wanted an XL, but annoyingly they were sold out, so I had to buy an XXL. As it happened, the shirt was a very slim, tailored fit, and the XXL fitted me fine.

This time round I thought I should get the same, but despite going online on the first day they were available, the XXLs were sold out.

I had heard that the Floral Street branch in London’s Covent Garden (see above) was due to be the only retail outlet for the shirts, so I went down then to take a look.

The shop is designed as a bit of a retro throw-back to a traditional gentleman’s outfitters (see left) with lots of dark wood and old fashioned rugs on the floor.

It took a bit of hunting around past the suits, jackets, formal shirts and jumpers, but hidden at the back of the shop, on a bottom rack, I could see a familiar striped cuff . . .
can you spot it? !

All that was left were two sized Large (see right), which would probably be a bit too snug on me.
Speaking to one of the assistants, I was told that an XXL could be ordered in for me, which as a relief.

The shop assistant also insisted on showing me a lightweight jacket in a tweed fabric, telling me this was the jacket Matt Smith also wore in the series.

I could blatantly see it wasn’t. Apart from being the wrong fabric, way too thin, the cut was wrong and it had patch pockets on the outside, not the welted with flaps as seen.

This is the same jacket that is listed alongside the shirt online, along with the £65 bow tie. It did feel like an opportunist piece of cross marketing – especially at £325.00!

It was a few days before I heard back, and it wasn’t entirely good news. Apparently, although listing the size, no shirts had been made to the XXL pattern, so I was chasing shadows.

Returning to the online shop, I found that only the Small and the XL were left in stock! So I hastily ordered an XL.

We shall see when it comes in the post . . .