Lunettes

Maybe the final bit of Berlin stuff to mention: my new specs. I was planning on going along to Lunettes, a shop specialising in vintage, deadstock and heritage-inspired spectacle frames and sunglasses, but I was super lucky in that they were advertising a mega end of season sale around town, which included free fizz and delicious biscuits. I managed to pick up these beauties of uncertain progeny for a measly 40€ and am now eagerly awaiting my eye test and lens fitting.

Manufactum

A top tip from my girlfriend's sister in Cologne took me to Manufactum. This place is PERFECTLY edited; a treasure trove of heritage brands, quality apparel, hardware, homeware, food & drink. The Cologne store is beautifully laid out, and I barely knew where to look first. We're talking Filson, Redwing, Opinel, Schiesser, as well as incredible own brand stuff and a ton of premium niche products like sandals made by monks and genuine-horn shoe horns. Basically this is stuff that you will still have when you're 80, having acquired a perfect patina, to be coveted by your grandchildren. Every single product is and heirloom or antique of the future. I want to buy a log cabin and get everything I need for my new life from this shop. I want to work here and be initiated into the zealous, cult-like shop floor team (in Berlin they banged a gong when the shop was closing to get me to leave - weird).

You can imagine, then, how excited I am that there's a UK online store too, oh, and a great catalogue that you can pick up in store. I seriously can't recommend this place enough. Should have taken my own photos though, these are from Life Time Gear of the Frankfurt store.

Penfield AW12

I'm a big fan of preppy/outdoorsy brand Penfield. For their AW12 lookbook shoot they went to Moonrise Kingdom-esque Camp Wandawega, who do a pretty good line in rustic nostalgia themselves:

Radler

Like I said, I've been away. I spent a couple of weeks in Germany for my summer hols, which included the best flea market I've ever been to and a super Mint Julep in Cologne, plus some Berlin fun too. Compared to London, mainland Europe is a cyclist's dream with cycle paths everywhere, bike spaces on the U-Bahn and even a special drink: Radler. In the UK it's called shandy, a 50/50 mix of lager or continental beer and lemonade, but in Germany its so called because you can drink it and still ride your bike home.

Nigel Cabourn

So I've been away for a couple of weeks - more on this later - but before letting any more time slip away, I wanted to flag Nigel Cabourn's AW12 collection. This year it's based on archival expedition gear from Captain Scott's trek to the South Pole, a century ago. Theres no look book just yet, so images below are courtesy of High Snobiety, via Cabourn's own blog: