A Minute Gone Unheard

Today is fast approaching tomorrow. Yet today was Remembrance day and shall never be forgotten. That is not to say that the 11th of November 2013 was a particularly special Remembrance day, rather that Remembrance day is an occasion that is close to this country's heart.

Although almost all people know the significance of the day I found myself one of the few falling silent at 11 o'clock.  I know that many students across campus and in their homes will have done the same but certainly not all and from where I was...not even most. In a busy atrium before my seminar I stood and remembered. Not only did I remember those that had fallen, those that had left us free and those that were loved; I - first and foremost - remembered that it was today.

I have seen a few articles regarding the Poppy and how it will be the last time they wear one; frustrated by our politicians who they feel use it as a symbol to justify Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. Yet it is clear that something will still be done. Year on year. Remember.

I was disappointed in those around me. We may not have been the generation who lived it or the direct generation who experienced it but it is still apart of us, our families and our history. There are moments in time that I believe we should move on from but this is not one. A University of educated students forgot that today was Remembrance day. It even seemed like even the University had forgotten what the day was and what it meant; there was nothing. Only the every day.

This is a point brought to my attention though; why today? Why does it have to be on this day that we have to remember them? Shouldn't we remember them at all times?

Well; on the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month in 1918, hostilities ended. This time embodies peace and what those who we remember are being remembered for. There will be people who, everyday, will think of those they lost or were affected by the war that involved the world but Remembrance day and Remembrance Sunday bring together our nation. One minute of peace amongst those that rush by; millions setting aside their differences for a minute.

Yes this is patriotic. I talk of our nation and hark back to days of old. Yet surely to love our country as we do includes those who allow us to say that it is our country? If we cannot remember those that allowed us that future why do we deserve it?

If you disagree with what the poppy stands for that's fine. What I do not think is fine is to be so ignorant to a event which is commemorated across the globe. Which involved the world. And which should not be forgotten for the world.

Remembrance day is the day of the fallen.
At the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month, of every year.
Remember.

Untitled

Rain and wind came,

Höðr hallowed our home.

Fortresses of fire,

Bronze pyres block our way,

Pummelled to Jöðr.

Peter Rylands

The Summer is Dead, Long Live the Fall.

It may still be Summer but to fashion that is already, very much, last year. Spring '14 collections have graced the catwalks and so I thought I would reel it back a bit and take a look at menswear for the coming Fall...or next week if you believe the forecasters. 

In recent years men's fashion has grown immensely and new studies are showing that the XYs are increasingly more aware of their image; this is highlighted by the increased importance of menswear in fashion House collections. For this article I have looked at four: Prada, Louis Vuitton, Alexander McQueen and Calvin Klein Collection. Each has significant pull in the industry and often will have their ideas filtered down to the high street and that is what I am going to explore. 

Now, many men will still just pick 'stuff' off the hanger because it looks nice. I have done that too but realised it led to a very odd mix of clothes that I soon lost interest of. I think we must all begin to realise that what we see on the rails in Topman, River Island, H&M, Primark and online at Asos are derived from the top of the fashion pyramid. Our collections of clothes then - although cheaper and of lesser quality - can still be fashionable rather than just nice and in turn can keep us interested because suddenly our wardrobes make sense and what started as just one outfit can become many.

This can't be better explained than by Meryl Streep; not as herself but as Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada. Here she confronts Anne Hathaway, the seemingly unfashionable assistant:

 'This... stuff'? Oh. Okay. I see. You think this has nothing to do with you. You go to your closet and you select... I don't know... that lumpy blue sweater, for instance because you're trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. But what you don't know is that that sweater is not just blue, it's not turquoise. It's not lapis. It's actually cerulean. And you're also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves Saint Laurent... wasn't it who showed cerulean military jackets? I think we need a jacket here. And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers. And then it, uh, filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic Casual Corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and it's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you're wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room from a pile of stuff.

So what then did the Houses offer?

Sarah Burton (who for those interested designed Kate Middleton's wedding dress and has dressed the all powerful such as Michelle Obama and Lady Gaga) is now Creative Director at McQueen, following on from the late man himself. Her debut on the London Menswear catwalks was well received: beautifully cut suits with beautiful pinstripes headed up the collection but it soon became more extravagant, with stained glass print suits and velvet jackets. What interested me most about her collection however was the use of colour to highlight detail. Red was the colour of choice and put to great use - these two examples being my favourite.

Prada, too, used colour in their collection as a main feature. Miucci Prada said that this was 'one of the most sophisticated' collections she had done. Not what you would take from looking at the catwalk but her explanation is that to do simplicity right is truly hard and that it took almost three months to find the perfect shades of blue, red and yellow (This just proving the insight from Miranda Priestly!). Prada's collection, like McQueen's, used colour for contrast but Prada was intent on using more than one in each look. A beautiful blue jumper, with a red shirt underneath, worked wonderfully for the first piece and is easily transferred to the high street. This theme continued: bright colour/dark colour. Simplicity had seriously been reached.

Calvin Klein, led by Italo Zucchelli, seemed to be more interested in details with their collection. Black and grey with a backdrop of white eliminated colour. What we got was a formal sportswear collection with leather bombers and chunky knit jumpers. Herringbone, houndstooth and texture detail were key to the pieces on offer and once again this can be transferred to your wardrobe. You may not get the deconstructed patterns but you can achieve the idea that I think Zucchelli is trying to put across; that coupling textures with fabric patterns can create a great look. 

Although hard to see here, this leather jacket has fantastic detailing. Smooth from a distance but with conflicting contours throughout, it creates a brilliant shape and unfortunately may be hard to find in Topman. This doesn't mean you shouldn't try and find one like it nor that it is essential you have those contours; on the contrary a standard leather bomber jacket would look great - but that detailing is what separates good from great.

Kim Jones, of Vuitton, for me produced some of the best coats and jackets for his Fall '13 collection: big collars on his puffer jackets, in a dark blue with red detailing on the zip (again red appearing as a key component), fur hooded linings on pea coats and leather jackets and large lapels on overcoats. A coat is essential for the Fall and a heavy one not only keeps you warm and dry but more often than not looks much more elegant and dare I say it...fashionable. Jones stuck to darker tones for his collection, with hints of colour as mentioned, and this creates a broody look to the pieces but clearly will compliment or match the colours you see as the leaves start to fall. Coats and jackets from online stores often disappoint me. It is quite hard to find, on a budget, a coat that will keep you warm and dry. More often than not the coats you can buy on the high st. are thin, what would you expect I guess? but spending just a little bit more on a coat - nearing the regions of £70+ you can find some really good buys. When you're on the look out for one this season I implore you to be willing to spend that bit more on your coat. Better to buy one that you can wear each day, stay warm, dry and still look good which costs a bit more than one which you realise doesn't do it's job properly and is then brought out only once in a while.

 

The High Street

Puffer jackets, I must admit, I found hard to source something which would look half as good as Vuittons. The best I found was a black Superdry coat on ASOS; priced at £75 and from a good label it is surely capable of doing its job and it has colour detailing on the zip and inside of the hood. Not quite Vuitton but certainly workable.

River Island produce a quilted gilet which is surely inspired by Klein's collection. Coupled with a chunky knit jumper this would be perfect for a dry but cold, windy day.

Leather bombers and jackets are in their hundreds; finding ones akin to Klein's are hard but there are still plenty of options, I would opt for a very simple faux leather bomber. No frills but sleek and wearable.

Asos' hooded jacket is comparable to some from Prada's collection but I think it's clear that these won't keep you as warm or dry. Wear it with a nice blue or contrast colour jumper and again this would create a nice cold but dry day ensemble.

River Island, H&M, Primark and Topman always have a collection of jumpers and shirts which if prowled through will turn up a good find. Printed patterns don't seem to be at the fore of this seasons collections and aztec I swear has been flogged to death by the high st. giants. I find H&M always seem to have the best staple of basics; Primark too have the basics and their quality has improved in light of their sweatshop scandal so it's worth a look.

Trousers have been left out of this article to this point. The collections have kept it simple and opt for well cut trousers. Mostly black, grey or a dark navy these kinds of trousers are available everywhere. Zara, I think, produce the best trousers for fit but this comes at a price and so going to H&M will allow you to purchase almost any colour you could desire, with a relatively nice fit and a very good price.

Here are two looks I put together from a quick online search that I think would look great.

All shoes from River Island. Coat from Topman (Stone Crombie). All other pieces from Asos.
If the United Colors of Benetton, floral print trousers are too much then you can tone the look down with a grey wool or similar look pair.

Icarus in Africa

There are probably only so many times you can write about an experience. I'll try and make this my last.

For the past 8 months I had been fundraising for a charity called Hope for Children, a small charity in comparison to the ones you can name off the top of your head but all the same a brilliant cause. My challenge was to raise £2650 so that I could go on an adventure.

That adventure was to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. The Roof of Africa. 5895m.

19 Nottingham students rocked up to Heathrow on the 30th June - one only just rocking up in time - for a flight that would see us head to Dubai and then onto Nairobi. This all went swimmingly (although I'm not sure that's quite the description to use for a plane) and we touched down in Nairobi on the 1st of July and began to fill out the forms. These entry/departure visa forms followed us around everywhere we went but wouldn't you believe it we never had enough pens, so the time it took to get through any form of immigration desk doubled. Anyway! On exiting the airport we found our guide, Gibson, who was to take us to the hotel in Arusha. We later found out that Gibson (or Gilbert, to the one who only just rocked up in time) was to be taking us up the mountain too.

On arrival to our hotel we crashed in our rooms for a bit before trudging down for tea. Little was I know to just how inappropriate the word 'trudge' is here...I certainly do now. The newly formed group of 19 headed to bed for an early start which was to be the beginning of our climb up the highest point in Africa.

Our first day was spent in the rain forest. The Machame route is one of the most difficult paths to the top of Kilimanjaro but also one of the most popular; this is due to its breath taking views and diversity in environment as the climb ensues. It was certainly a beautiful route, the rain forest was clouded in mist and looked like something you would find in National Geographic.

It was a long day but our lead guide, Isaac, told us to 'respect the day' and that 'tomorrow is a new day'. These words, although excruciatingly simple, were hard to live by as our group eagerly asked about the days to come.

The Group of 19 was soon to be our world. By the end of the first day we had already forged friendships with people we had only just met but I don't think we quite realised just how close these friendships would become and just how much we would owe to each other.

I knew a few faces from before the trip: the guys from my halls, a couple of girls we'd met at a social and a lad who I knew as a banana. The majority of the group were to be new friends however and with these new companionships came a name; Ed's Eagles. Ed was our team leader and he hated, with fine vigor, the sound of..."When I say Ed's, you say Eagles...Ed's!"..."Eagles!" but I think he learnt to cope with it quite well and may have even joined in with our last one. Maybe.

The second day led us away from the rain forest and across rocky paths and coarse growth. Our destination was Shira Cave which would be the highest point of our trek so far. At 3,900m the air was beginning to noticeably thin but we were not flying too close to the sun just yet. Once again, we were treated to amazing views as we walked but the highlight was once we had reached camp. After some warm water (a pleasant surprise) to wash our faces Isaac called us over. He had assembled the whole group of porters which would take us to the top of the mountain - which was ominously overlooking proceedings - and introduced us to them in a very African manner...song. Which you can see here.



That wasn't all from Shira Cave, as sunset then proved to be the most incredible sunset I'd ever seen and in the morning it gave us a perfect view of the heights we were to scale.


Our next day, oddly, was the penultimate one up. We would be climbing to 4,600m and then back down again to 3,950. This was called 'Judgement Day'. We were to climb to a spot named Lava Tower at a slow (pole pole in Swahili) steady pace and then walk/skid/fall back down to the height we started the day at. If we made it to camp there would be a 95% chance we could make it to the top. In hindsight I am sure that this figure is pulled out of thin air, just like the timescales of our walks are but at the time we did not care; we were going to make Barranco camp and we would make it to the top.
The third day however was possibly too close to the sun for some, who were beginning to struggle. The climb down was one of the hardest parts of the trek that day; endless descent and the torture of being able to see your destination for hours made it tough going but (with a bit of vomit along the way) our group of 19 were all safely sleeping under what was my favourite view so far.

Breakfast. Not what you'd expect, rather 800 foot of rock called Barranco wall. A steep ascent, with some parts maybe being a bit close to the edge for some, which was done by early morning. The effort put in was just a precursor to the oncoming ups and downs of the valleys and streams which would bring us ever close to base camp. As we were doing a 6 day climb we walked straight through Katanga camp and soldiered on towards Barafu. The group were continually perked up by the porters and guides; 'poa kichizi com ndizi' ('crazy cool like a banana') 'no hurry no worry' both standard phrases to help us on our way and then came the uplifting voice of one of our guides... 'Shakira shakira shakira'. Okay, not quite what you'd expect up the mountain but accompanied by a fantastic smile and a booty shake this guide was instrumental in us reaching the top.

It is hard to believe just how beyond words these guides are. Running past you with your 15kg pack as well as a table, water, tents etc and all this quite often in the standard climb-a-really-high-mountain-gear of sandals and jeans...maybe even a suit. Well, why wouldn't you wear a suit when 'Kilimanjaro is [your] office'?  These guides are your life on the mountain, you may feel like you are on top of the world or that it is on top of you - depending on how altitude is treating you - but they are there propping you up. We would not have made it to the top without them but nor would we want too: they kept us smiling, laughing and became friends. Even if there was a language barrier and all they could offer was simple phrases, you never felt like you needed anything else because they were already giving you everything you needed and more.


By early afternoon we made Barafu camp. We still had everyone, with our whole troop made up just after dinner and all of us amazed at the terrain we had covered that day. Camp offered a great view back across the valley we'd just walked...which hid the one before that. All we had wanted to do was get to camp and I think for the first time Isaac's words from the first day had sunk in.  This was more useful than on any other day because by midnight we would be on our ascent, to those literal dizzy heights.



So it was. 11:30. 'Jambo...wake up time', our alarm each morning. Pitch black outside, we saw a few head-torches in the distance beginning their ascent. That was soon to be us. We left as a group and began to wind our way up the 1,200m to the summit. Not for the first time, when you looked up you were greeted with the most beautiful sight of all. We may have seen the curvature of the Earth, beautiful sunsets and been above the clouds since day one but nothing was comparable to the sky.

Stars. So many it felt like there was more of them than there was the darkness of space which surrounded them. The Milky Way too, a pale inky line stretching across the wide expanse.

'If you ever start to lose inspiration...just look up'.

After a while a few of us forged on from the group. Six and two guides, we challenged our bodies to make the summit for sunrise. Our pace was not much quicker but we stopped less and ever so gradually ate up ground. One of us dropped out and waited for the others to catch up and although we didn't want to leave him we didn't want to stop; I was almost possessed with a sense of getting to the top. I had been questioned as to whether it was wise we split from the group; how would our bodies hold up? I knew, even if my body didn't, that I would be okay. This belief stemmed from my Gran.

Less than 2 months before we left for Africa my Gran passed away. When I was in Surrey, after going to Wimbledon and staying around so it was quicker to get to Heathrow, I got a text from my mum. After going through some possessions at the house she had come across a letter. Attached was a mascot, asking whether he (Olly Owl) could be taken to the top as my Gran's legs were too short. I then had something to climb for, aside from the charity and the experience. I would have loved to have stayed with the group and to have reached the summit with them but I had a drive to get to the top and I felt, for some reason, that time was running short. I must thank our leader who was with me in that small group, he managed to calm me down as I was urging everyone to get up and carry on. The renewed level headedess probably helped me to the top as much as anything, thanks to Ed just saying; 'Look mate, there's no rush, relax'.

Four of our six reached Stella point, the marker for the summit, for sunrise. It was beautiful but short lived. We rested for 5 minutes before Gift, our guide, urged us onto Uhuru point. Legs like iron and minds slipping, one friend seeing suns wherever he looked, we trudged (this time, it is the most perfect description) towards the purpose of our climb. Uhuru.

Uhuru means freedom. On the 9th of December 1961 Tanzania gained independence from Britain and in honour of this renamed the points of Kilimanjaro. Freedom point does not just represent their independence; when you reach the Roof of Africa you forget all pain. You may be tired, you will be tired but it doesn't matter. You are free from everything as you look out onto the second largest continent in the world. Then you are overcome with incredible joy and any ills are washed away by the smile on your face. I had reached the top of Africa with eighteen others, we may have made the top at different times - with two not quite making it - but I still made the top with them all. They had been there all the way, with Gran, Olly Owl and all the sponsors who I wore on my back and it was just the most amazing experience of my life. I hope this is how everyone else felt and I think they probably did.

We did, eventually, get down. The laughter in the group rose to new levels as we had a beer at the bottom and the laughter didn't stop for the rest of our time in Africa. As was how our group worked.

I was continually amazed by our group,
at the support we so effortlessly gave each other. I knew that our group was good fun after the first day. I knew that our group was awesome after the second. By the third we were all shattered, some of us effected immensely by the altitude yet we still gave our support without thinking to spare our breath. At this point, alongside the effort of one of our crew which I think I have now lost the ability to understand, I knew that our group was incredible. But by the end of our climb we were superhuman. This can't be shown any better than by just this one photo. What it shows is Kilimanjaro, gathered by mist and clouds, taken from a seat on a plane. Uhuru point stands at 19,341' our plane was travelling at just over 18,000'. It is not often that you can claim to have stood higher than a plane flies yet we can. And still with our wings intact...just.

The climb was in aid of Hope for Children. A fantastic charity working across Africa, Asia and Europe who support: homeless, orphaned, poor and exploited children. Ed's Eagles were lucky enough to see the work they do when we visited a local project. Seeing those small, smiling faces is probably nothing new to those who read this, as they are shown constantly on charity adverts and other kind hearted people's photos. But you don't quite realise just how inspiring they are until you meet them; for all the words that I can write they come no where near the kind of words that would be fitting to those who are fighting life, yet full of it at the same time.

If you want to read about our visit you can do here: Mkombozi Visit
You can find out more about the charity here: Hope for Children