Eleven degrees of separation

Last year Matt was seen wearing the iconic All Saints Layer Boots (see below).

Along with the Paul Smith shirt, they set a trend of being easily obtainable off-the-peg items – which went out of stock the moment they were identified!
I managed to nab pretty much the last pair in the south of England before the scramble was on to find them.

Lots of people missed out on them, so the hunt was on for something that could be worn as a next-best option.

First up was the River Island Double-Eyelet boots, which had the distinctive layered leather ankle. Unlike the All Saints boots, they also had a second set of eyelets (as their name would suggest) which some people found distracting.

The also had a distracting zip on the instep of the boot, which made them easy to slip on and off without fussing with the laces.

Nevertheless, they were the best alternative, and as you can see from the comparison photo (see right), they certainly filled the hole left by the All Saints originals.

These had just come onto the River Island range, so were widely available and easy to find. However, they have now been discontinued.

So what alternatives are there now to the All Saints alternatives?

TARDIS spotting

Last year I ran a piece on the various surviving Police Posts & Boxes that can be found around London.

Well, this weekend I was watching a rather kitsch Hammer film from the 1960s called The Anniversary. It’s not one of Hammer’s finest, but it does have an amazingly over the top performance by Bette Davis, who’s entrance in the film has to be seen to be believed!

It was shot at Elstree Studios, Borehamwood (less than a mile from where I live) in May 1967 with a scene filmed inside a shop on the local high street.

The Anniversary

It was during this scene I suddenly realised that in the background, on the opposite side of the street, was a full sized original Metropolitan Police Box, just the same as Matt Smith’s! (see right, right side of frame)

Annoyingly it is part obscured for its brief appearance, but it’s there nevertheless!

Smaller on the inside

Blimey - talk about getting things out of perspective and getting the wrong end of the stick!!

You’ve probably seen the news about the discovery of the screen-used tweed fabric for Matt Smith’s latest jacket.
It quickly caused a real buzz and was the talk of the forums.

I went to get my own supply from W Bill in London, and saw for myself the Aladdin’s cave of genuine Scottish tweeds and tartans that filled their warehouse to the rafters. I asked how many they offered, and it was estimated to be around 10,000 to 15,000 designs, not necessarily all held in-hand, but available to order.

The fabric used for the season six jacket is a genuine 100% new wool, woven in the Shetland Isles (see left).

So it was to my jaw-dropping amazement that I read the story on the Irish Independent website about how Harris Tweed Scotland were in ‘FURY’ – as the headline would have us believe – that the BBC had used an acrylic mix made in China for the jacket!!!

I’m 100,000 hits old today!

Today was a bit of a landmark day for this blog.
At precisely 19:59 GMT today I had my 100,000th hit!!!!

Since I started my first blog for my Tennant Coat back in March 2009, I didn’t know where things would lead.
I started covering costumes for other Doctors, and soon had to spin them out into other parallel blogs.

Before long I had EIGHT costume streams – all covering my various clothing endeavours!

The blog you are reading has proved by far to be the most popular and read – the 100,000 hits is testament to that. But what it doesn’t really reveal is the daily hit-rate I have been having.

Season Six Tweed jacket –Prototype jacket

I said last week I wasn’t gonna wait around to make myself a Season Six tweed jacket – and I meant it!

Over the past six days I have drafted my pattern; cut my cloth; sourced the perfect elbow patches, buttons (see right) and lining; and hand-tailoered an initial prototype jacket.

Here it is – do let me know what you think!

I am very happy with the elbow patches I have sourced – they really are a good quality and just the right colour.

When I took a look at the buttons used for the jacket I couldn’t believe my eyes! They are the same buttons that had been used a few years ago on the Jackson Lake frock coat in The Next Doctor. I had sourced them a while back, so already had a supply in -hand.

The Doctor’s Wife - costume portrait

The next episode, The Doctor’s Wife, has its publicity still released this week, and there’s a nice full length portrait of Matt in costume.

The boots, although they are the black version worn all season, do look a different colour due to the mud from the location filming.

If you look inside the jacket you can just see there is a label below the pocket. I wonder what it says?

Curse Of The Black Spot - costume portrait

This weeks costume portrait for Curse Of The Black Spot shows the costume little changed from The Impossible Astronaut and Day Of The Moon.

Not the best photo. Would have been nice if it was in focus!

The good news keeps coming

If you follow the latest cosplay updates on the various Doctor Who forums, you’ll know what this past week saw the breaking of some great news for Eleven Doctor fans.

After identifying the Series Six Trousers exclusively on this blog, a fellow dedicated fan in Los Angeles has tracked down the exact tweed used for the Series Six jacket!

And just to confirm it is the right one, he found it from the fabric broker who supplied it to the Doctor Who costume department! No doubt there then!!

I has been tipped off about it a little while back, but kept the embargo on it until news was made public.

The supplier is W Bill in central London, and I recently went to visit their basement warehouse to see it for myself and get some of the precious fabric.

Currently located on New Burlington Street, just off Regent Street, the company was formed by William Bill in 1846 supplying haberdashery for funeral clothing. After moving to Bond Street, they expanded their range and became a specialist tweed stockist selling all round the world.
I met with Ray Hammett, who has been working there since 1946.

He had prepared for my visit by digging out the bolts of Doctor Who tweed: the Donegal used for Series Five and the Shetland Tweed that is seen in Series Six.

It’s always a great buzz to see the fabric you have been seeking right there in front of you.
The price is fixed – nearly GB£60 a metre – since it cannot be sold cheaper than the retail price charged by the stockist it is sold to, so after biting the bullet I bought enough to make myself and a couple of friends a Series Six tweed jacket.

Check back real soon, cos I don’t intend to hang around on this one!