Soar for Autumn

Tim Soar for AW10.

Now, I rarely wear an outfit of pieces from one designer but I had to make an exception after falling head over heels for Tim Soar's AW10 collection back in February. After a successful number of seasons of no-holds-barred modernism Soar opted to look back in order to look forward with his 'Greatest Hits' collection. Throughout, Soar manages to eloquently condense the last one hundred and fifty years of menswear, picking out key pieces and exploring the shifts in the social constructs of masculinity as he goes. Soar developed a mood board that ran chronologically from mid-victorian times through to the late 70s. It then became easy to pick out themes to explore. Some of the themes were detail focused, some were all about fabric others were about cut and construction. The real focus is all about making each piece desirable in its own right.

A closer look at the cashmere mix waffle knit and the silk shirt.

For his 'Greatest Hits', Soar wanted to produce a collection that was warm and familiar, one that would have many overlapping memories and echoes from the past. The result is a collection fit for any modern day gentleman. Timeless elegance. When we unpicked the seams of his the collection back in March, I had to physically restrain myself from purchasing the entire line but succumbed to ordering a trio of key piece; the cashmere mix scooped neck waffle knit, long silk shirt and a pair of black trousers. Having enjoyed and experimented with these items for just over a month, I thought that it was about time that I shared them with you...

The Tim Soar outfit. Silk shirt, waffle knit and trousers all by Tim Soar. 

Socks from Uniqlo and shoes by Mr. Hare.

The length and fluidity of the silk dress shirt has to take centre stage whenever it is worn. Of course, it can be a little too much on its own but the fluidity of the piece works so well when worn the super soft waffle knit. I love the playfulness of this combination and decided to accentuate it by cuffing my trousers a little higher.

Silk shirt, waffle knit and trousers all by Tim Soar.

For me, the key piece of the entire collection was the long silk shirt and I was fortunate enough to hear how this piece embodies the aesthetic of the collection from the designer himself. About a month into the design process Soar looked through his own clothing archive and pulled out two exquisite hand made 70s silk dress shirts that had been kicking around for some time. They where very long and fluid, but quite precise at the same time. Upon this discovery the designer was able to see this connection between the Victorian/Edwardian aesthetic and classy Parisian feeling mid-70s menswear. As soon as he made that connection, it all fell into place. Until now, I had nothing like this in my wardrobe and  will no doubt have great fun experimenting with the fluidity of the item.

Here's to celebrating Soar's Greatest Hits.