Perhaps it is my inclination towards brand loyalty but I often manage to sound like I’m in a commercial - and not those funny Japanese ones or the cool perfume ones. I’m talking fake dialogue adverts everybody hates but hey I actually have those moments.
‘Bro, what cuts through grease?’
‘Fairy liquid does that the best.’
‘You realise we sound like we’re in one of those bad adverts.’
‘Pep, what toothpaste do you use?’
‘I always use Beverly Hills - it’s the best all round toothpaste.’
‘You realise we sound like we’re in one of those bad adverts.’
‘Oh hun, do you have indigestion?’
‘Yes.’
‘You should try these Rennie Tablets.’
‘You realise we sound like we’re in one of those bad adverts.’
So just because I always find myself saying these things I had to resist at first whilst shopping with my best friend Rose last Wednesday.
Rose: ‘I hate jeans shopping - I’m too tall! And all the tall jeans are too big round the waist and they are never tapered right - apparently all tall people are supposed to look ridiculous as some kind of punishment… I HATE JEANS SHOPPING!!!’
She slumps down on the plush sofa for just this occasion in House of Frasier (a really nice department store to those in America) and I picture this imaginary hand over my mouth (like in those hostage situations ((but not that dramatic!)) as I try to squeal where she should go! Nope - my friends will start thinking I am some kind of government agent, only allowed to make friends in the hope she will sell things. Don’t do it. Don’t do it.
Rose: Pep you have a weird look in your eyes, I am getting really stressed out and you look like your having a bizarre inner monologue.
Pep: Ok, you should get your jeans from Roy Parkin, he designs jeans for taller women at a good price. They’re really chic.
Rose: ‘You realise we sound like we’re in one of those bad adverts.’
As cartoon steam comes out of my ears she sighs…
Rose: Ok sounds brilliant I will definitely check them out - so now I guess the only thing left is cocktails at the evil eye pub. On me.
Mmm I guess that’s what they call ‘perks of the job’. Raspberry Mojito.
PEP Talk INTERVIEW WITH ROY PARKIN.
Just a mini interview...
This question has hit (for want of a better term) the nail on the head in both ways. The problem with the word 'niche' is that people, in this case designers and fashion businesses, tend to fill the so called 'niche' with products designed only to cater to and not satisfy the void. So yes, I do hope to be just as revolutionary as the designers you mentioned and I hope to continue to stay close to my work and very much entwined in the process as I don’t like the cold, mass produced comparisons.
That’s definitely a rare thing - your passion for it makes it seem far less like a job, more of a vocation.
I think so, yes.
TGZ is almost quite old school in its approach to retail, it would seem - the closeness to the customer, the tailoring the niche - is this how you see it? Or is it really quite modern?
I felt that innovative designs such as the seamless jean that will be shown in January 2010 and new ideas towards denim construction would move TGZ so far ahead that one factor of it should keep it grounded to maintain a good balance. That area is the customer service, I imagine the service quality to be reminiscent of an 18th to 19th century family run business, but with 21st century designs and innovation.
Interesting, well I suppose people rarely visit a tailors anymore despite the fact that societies emphasis on looks and clothes has hardly shifted over the centuries.
*Roy simply laughs in response.*
The age at which we pin our prospective careers is always of huge interest - Is TGZ a long time coming?
TallGeneZ as the name and what it does has been 5 years in the making. Before that i was looking for an area of fashion that was missing, way before that I would be drawing ideas for garments in Math lesson, or any lesson for that matter! The designer was always in there it just lacked solid direction and focus until I guess, 2005.
Maths not your favourite huh? Me neither! But what other art forms do influence your life and work?
To me I am influenced more by music than actual art, also nature. Sound, aroma and nature can cast a creative spell in me - it triggers a ‘mind film’ inside of me, in which I can visualize the designs not yet created moving around.
I see, perhaps your more of a 'mimesis' man - you like to re create the art you see in the everyday? I suppose that is shown in the massive influence your wife has had on your work - what came first Wifey or the dream?
The everyday and the dream world play major rolls in my work. This creates a mood pallet in which I base my work on. Ah the life long question, what came first? It’s different with wifey - I couldn’t have dreamt someone like her up - it’s like I called and she answered, a dream that definitely came true and she is the cornerstone of any dream I have now - but whether she came before TGZ? No, I don’t know the answer there. She is a huge influence but mainly I see her as my muse.
An Introduction...
On the London Underground one day, I was speaking to a friend of mine who is in advertising (I won’t name drop), and he asked me what is quintessential to everyday life, what is the one product practically everybody owns? Rather taken aback and clearly aware of the lull in the conversation for him to be asking me this, I thought about it.
‘Toilet Paper?’ I blurted out. Clearly unimpressed he replied:
‘Yes, I suppose – although I was thinking about jeans. Everyone owns jeans right?’
A little embarrassed, I bashfully agreed and have continued to think about that little and seemingly innocuous conversation a lot. My friend makes a large amount of money in advertising, so clearly he knew what he was talking about, but jeans? Of course everyone owns jeans but we all just take it for granted. Think about it, jeans are the most ubiquitous clothing item in the modern world.
So why, then do we get so used to the mantra, ‘Perfect jeans are impossible to find,’ (?) We end up making lots of little excuses for our beloved jeans even though we rely so heavily upon them.
We have the comfy jeans for lounging, the baggy pair for supermarket chic and the sexy but incredibly tight pair for going out when we can’t brave the skirt. That’s only three variations – girls are capable of a lot more than that –‘the ridiculously holey pair,’ ‘the flattering on the bum so we’ll ignore the love handles pair,’ ‘they look good if I don’t bend down pair.’
Maybe it is a lot easier for men, they don’t seem to care their underwear is always on show but for women, although they know jeans are supposed to do the trick we have to change our underwear accordingly, change the top accordingly, heck even change the hair accordingly. (Ok so my jeans are tatty, hair has to be ‘quiffed’ to off set the scruffiness of my bottom half, and therefore it’s a chic look not a tramp look.)
So jeans get pushed to the back of our mind. No perfect pair stays perfect for long, right? Well, and this term is awful, ‘Denim enthusiast’ Roy Parkin, starts talking to me about denim, about the ‘science and art’ of jeans. Finally a company who focus on no compromises, - which when it comes to jeans im afraid, we are all too used to.
Cue, TallGenez. No compromises, no excuses, fine craftsmanship and heck perfect jeans.
What more do you want?
Fast music I like, fast food I can handle, fast information and fast delivery I prefer - but do not fast forward my fashion! Fashion is a pleasure, a joy, a luxury and nothing makes me happier than bidding farewell to cheap, tacky clothes that fall apart after one wear. Since when did tops/jeans/shoes become like newspapers?! We buy one new cheap item for a weekend and by the following week it’s tatty and we’ve fully realised it lacks durability. Coco Chanel would be ashamed of where ‘fast fashion’ is taking us. Tisk Tisk.
Slow the paces down…enjoy the jeans you wear…choose the best you can for your size/height/personal style. Take a closer look at who is creating and making your jeans – the ethical repercussions, what you compromise, who has your best interests in mind. If you are lucky enough to be a gorgeous Amazonian woman, with legs the rest of us can only dream of – do them the service of choosing the best jeans you can – sorry Genez you can!
So who is the man behind the well dressed legs? I’m sorry for being daft you’re already on the website and therefore know for damn sure his name is Roy Parkin.
Now how would I describe Roy Parkin? A pout and vision that gives Karl Lagerfeld a run for his money. Taller and better looking than Alexander McQueen, bigger arms than Stella McCartney and a man that could talk you out of True Religion.
Without making him sound like a sappy guidance counsellor – he is a man that cares. Aww. Cares about his customers, cares about his fashion, cares about his looks and cares about longer legs. (Perhaps cares is the wrong word - perhaps fantasises is better!)
All the world’s a catwalk and we are merely models.
After a day looking after my brother’s children – who I take on a full 3 days a week, I have started to look at my life as different roles. Devoted childminder, loving girlfriend, dependable friend, occasional party girl, respectable daughter, the list goes on. And I’m damn sure I’m not the only one who feels pulled this way and that by different roles. Perhaps it is the thespian is me that is beginning to look at the world as a stage. And when we watch a play we go away thinking about the plot, the drama, the acting, the set design, the theatre but we also think about the costume. Was it apt? Did it enhance the overall tone? So, and you can see where I’m going with this, we need to always be dressed accordingly. What better way than with something as versatile as jeans? For when time between acts is short and we have only seconds to kick off our pumps and slip into heels before grabbing the keys and heading back out the door.
That’s why I love the grace and wear ability of TGZ, and I’ve been looking a little closer at Roy’s Bara Denim Bar, Bluez collection. Which look stunning, dressed up or down, for macchiato with the pushchair in the morning to cocktails in the evening.
Me? I love the red stitching. So I’m thinking vintage red tee in the day time, striking, and silky, red vest in the evening, with some killer red lips over some French red wine. Or maybe off-set the red stitching with turquoise, but I can’t think of a turquoise drink right now. Or of course there is safe and dependable black which is both versatile and sexy, you can still jazz it up with jewelled tone shoes. I’m also enjoying Svetlana Mogutova’s hair and make up advice to make you feel extra confident. (Just click on the Hair and Make up Guide link on the side tab.)
I can imagine that within no time TGZ will be the label on everyone’s lips, TGZ like the new YSL, high end couture (which YSL no longer is, oooh claws out) that is a must have for every long legged lovely. And I have to say I can’t wait for the counterfeit Roy Parkin’s to come out, because as much as that will annoy him - that’s when you’ve really made it big, baby! No imitations online, now.
'Wine and wenches empty men's purses.'
‘You knew it was South Australian before you tried it so that doesn’t count.’
‘OK, yes but taste it, the Australian wines have a distinctive aftertaste.’
(An extract from my first informal wine tasting lesson.)
Mmm. I love wine, especially something peppy like a sweet, dark rosé or something sharper and sparkly. I enjoy wine but I still want to know more, I would love to refine my palette, to learn to appreciate all the subtleties and with the help of my brother I am. There is the obvious stuff like white with fish, chicken or vegetarian meals red with red meat or game, mulled at Christmas, desert wine with desert, holy wine at Church and so on. But I’m learning that French wine is piquant, Italian wine is often as laid back as Italians themselves, or if that’s too cryptic, it’s often soft and fruity. I have learnt that you should try and assure the wine with your meal compliments the food you eat, something along the lines of a light Italian wine with Italian food, a heavier French wine with steak and perhaps a nice Chilean wine with a Mexican dinner. I have also learnt that if you spill red wine down your silk two-tone dress (see picture) then put white wine on it and the red wine comes out without leaving a stain, (God Bless that waitress.)
So although the differences can be subtle (other times it does not take sophistication to tell the difference between vinegar posing as wine and a vintage Rioja) but a good wine won’t stain your lips or leave you with that awful ‘did I drink white-spirit last night hangover?’ High quality wine like high quality anything is not based on a name and not necessarily a price, it takes time, it matters where it comes from, and it’s good to appeal to a niche taste. (Oaked, not oaked, dry, sweet….)
It’s a given that if we put a little extra effort in ourselves we reap a better grain - or grape in this case. So why shouldn’t it be the same in fashion? Wherever we can we shouldn’t have to compromise on quality – we bloody well do it enough in life! It’s the same with jeans, when a product is good enough - the elixir that is wine or the staple that is jeans – there will be numerous replications, some claiming to be better than its predecessor, some admitting they are the cheap buzz, so we have to refine our tastes accordingly. Chose the right intoxicant is what I’m trying to say, I suppose!
Another fashionista (can I use that word for a man?!) who refuses to compromise, Roy Parkin being the first, is Kathryn Kerrigan. It seems that Kathryn Kerrigan, designer of shoes for women who stand tall is a lady after my own heart, as like I recommended in my last article, her new ‘fall’ line, (saying fall seems weird to me!) showcases jewel tone shoe-boots . I love the rich Autumnal colours. I perused her website and the shoes are gorgeous – I especially appreciate her term ‘Urban Sophistication’ to describe her style, it’s so fitting.
But how does a girl like me sum up a company like TGZ? I think ‘FIXE’ can help me, the Portuguese wine I’m drinking… ‘The rich and eclectic indigenous varieties of Roy Parkin’s personality are being transformed by enlightened workers into expressive jeans.’ (All italics previously said something about wine!)
Refinement and attention to quality make for better living.
'I'm not afraid to turn you into a pillow, be warned!'
Vintage, floral, from a chic boutique in Convent Garden – it is perfect, on the hanger that is. For some reason it doesn’t work with my incredibly plus size bust – it makes me look like a stocky German Matron. But I had gone against everything I knew because…because…because I’m an idiot. Every mirror I passed in the shops, every shop window, every remotely reflective surface I had to double check my appearance because I knew the top wasn’t the least bit flattering. It made me grumpy and insecure. Cue a safe v-neck, fuchsia, cashmere knit and I’m back to my best. Yes we want to experiment sometimes but confidence comes from being comfortable in what you wear, for the same reason the most stylish people always skip a fashion following if it’s just not for them. I love vintage clothing but the cut was all wrong and if the cut is wrong – then it doesn’t matter if the top cost $500 and Anna Wintour herself gave it to you with a personal recommendation (because that happens on a daily basis), you’re going to look awful if it’s not right for your shape. But it’s O.K sometimes we get it wrong and sometimes it really is as simple as A.B.C. (TGZ fit guide.)
What happened to the rogue tee? It has been sold to my local vintage boutique and I, well I like to think I’ve moved on. Yes, of course I wish we could have made it work but the top will move on. Me? I’ve worn at least 3 tops since the break up. Perhaps I’m moving on so fast because my TGZ jeans look so good.