THE FINAL CURTAIN.

As we approach the end of the year, here's a tribute to the famous folk who left this world in 2012. From the familiar faces, to those who were a surprise, shock and even a tragedy to see shuffle off this mortal coil so early... TC

Neil Armstrong, astronaut.

Ernest Borgnine, actor.

Max Bygraves, musician.

Frank Carson, comedian.

Chuck Brown, musician.

David Kelly, actor.

Donald 'Duck' Dunn, musician.

Clive Dunn, actor.

Charles Durning, actor.

Etta James, musician.

Gerry Anderson, director.

Ben Gazzara, actor.

Gore Vidal, writer.

Larry Hagman, actor.

Brian Hibbard, actor, musician.

Henry Hill, wiseguy.

Bob Holness, broadcaster.

Whitney Houston, musician.

Geoffrey Hughes, actor.

John Lord, musician.

Davy Jones, musician.

Sylvia Kristel, actor.

Herbert Lom, actor.

Michael Clarke Duncan, actor.

Terry Nutkins, naturalist/presenter.

Ralph McQuarrie, designer.

Lupe Ontiveros, actor.

Patrick Moore, astronomer.

Robin Gibb, musician.

Scott Mackenzie, musician.


Victor Spinetti, actor.

Donna Summer, musician.


Eric Sykes, actor.

Bill Tarmey, actor.

Tony Scott, director.

Vidal Sassoon, stylist.

Andy Williams, musician.

Adam Yauch, musician.

Jack Klugman, actor.

Fontella Bass, musician.

Ravi Shankar, musician.

Sir Bernard Lovell, pioneer.

Sid Waddell, broadcaster.

Bert Weedon, musician.
 
Carlo Rambaldi, artist.

Wayne Roberts, graffiti artist.

Henri Strzelecki, clothing pioneer.

Jocky Wilson, Darts player

THIS THING OF OURS

Through five decades now ‘this thing of ours’ has been developing in many guises and with many attachments - football once being its main core - but, with no particular connection to any one music genre. Diverse followers of ‘our thing’ have had musical tastes aplenty, indeed. Yes, wouldn’t life be all so boring if we all wore, watched, drank and listened to the same as the next man? With an abundance of music cultures coming and going, and coming back again, each and every individual has a era, band/groups and a scene that they have instilled deep in their memory-bank and soul or, that has come to their attention of late. T’CC brand from the off has incorporated musical characteristics in their products ever since their humble beginnings, and will be doing so far, far into the future of the brand, so the lads informed me. They have collaborated with both established and up-and-coming artists too.

From right back when the Fab Four took the world by storm and their last recorded, but most tightly constructed, album that had bestowed on it universal acclaim, before they split, the Abbey Road iconic album cover, more so the symbolic crossing, was used on a tee but featured 5 inspirational figures that lads worldwide have paid homage to over periods of time. Then there’s their twist on the conventional formulaic style of the Northern Soul patch image. Northern Soul is music that originates from Detroit and Chicago by lesser known, somewhat underground, black American artists. It also seemed the more obscure and rarer the record or demo, to a greater degree, the better the track – making it a must have. The rhythm is, deep beat fast tempo, and meaningful – Soulful. But the CC refreshed the central fist to a pair of Clarks Oberon to reflect that they’re putting their best foot forward with the brand. There was also the David Bowie Low tee showing a side on snap of Bowie with a wedge haircut, and dapper dress, as seen on the Low album cover; Bowie seemingly setting standards for ‘our thing’ that would rear its ugly head in the not too distant future.

Reaching the latter stages of the Seventies, and the intense explosions of Punk Rock and Ska & 2-Tone: the lads have taken on imaginativeness from both classifications of cultures and affixed some of their trademark weaves. Punk Rock exploded on to the music scene in Britain, at same time the brimming pores and pus filled zits erupted on my chubby-chopped, pimpled infested, spotty face. Though, Punk Rock’s rootles stretch and strain back to the United States and Canada, in the earlier Sixties, Punk hit the UK full in the face at the back end of 1976 with an A-Z list of bands to long to name thrashing three cords for three minutes over the coming years, one of these being The Clash. The Clash took a stance on certain political elements too, with the CC Connoisseur Posse tee being along the lines of the infamous Red Brigades and Red Army Faction imagery formed of a new Left Marxist ideology. The Brigade Rosse, aka the Red Brigades, were a communist organisation, some might say terrorists, based in Italy. The Clash front man Joe Strummer often wore the famous t-shirt in support of the groups. When the Clash split in the early Eighties, Mick Jones formed Big Audio Dynamite, who went on to release a single named "E=MC2". The song is also the first to be composed completely from samples and features of prominent dialog samples from the 1970 film Performance that Mick Jagger featured in. With the CC lads being film buffs/geeks, they used the artwork from the William Hughes novel of Mick Jagger with added lyrics, showing their deep knowledge of past films, great acting and a distant interest in gangs and attached violence. Then there were the Misfits' skull logo, ‘Fiend Club’ tee. The skull first appeared on the ‘Horror Business’ single by the American band The Misfits, which was based on a poster for The Crimson Ghost. The Misfits are often recognized as the progenitors of the horror punk subgenre, blending punk and other musical influences with horror film themes and imagery. Last, but not least from the Punk era, the lead singer of the legendary band Joy Division, Ian Curtis tee. I, myself, were fortunate to see Joy Division back in the day at Preston’s Warehouse in February 1980 – sadly months before Curtis tragically took his own life. There was also the ‘Sound & Vision’ pulse tee, but this had no connections to Joy Division or Peter Hook, for the record I must stress.

2-Tone: the movement, and record label, originated in the West Midlands, to be precise, Coventry. The brainchild behind the checkered 2-Tone music label and Rude Boy movement were Jerry Dammers, with the succour of his chum and fellow band member of the Specials, Horace Panter. Dammers smelted Ska, Rocksteady, Reggae and up-beat Punk/New Wave collectively and forged the music and term best known as 2-Tone. Bands that strummed harmonized 2-Tone were The Specials, The Selecter, The Beat and, the odd ones out due to their location that were London was, Madness. Contrasts of black and white toned togs were sine qua non to the camp. The lads have used the Madness One Step Beyond album cover in two tone print and replaced the groups footwear with adidas London’s. Also, they cleverly slipped on a CC Weir hat, a pair of Clarks Desert Treks and an extra colour on the Ska & 2-Tone mascot Walt Jabsco, renaming it 3-Tone.

All things Northern and Madchester: Manc and Greater Manchester scallies and Perries had been tinkering in bands since the early Eighties. Lads mashed guitar music, psychedelic rock, indie, dance, goth and Rock ‘n’ Roll together with the likes of James, The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets, Northside, 808 State, The Charlatans, Paris Angels and other bands forming. And, I think of of CC's best selling tee has got to be the one that celebrates the cream of the crop of Northern Musical talent both past and present is, the ‘Northern Music Factory’ tee. This tee is made up of an array of Northern bands from late Eighties early Nineties in the form of a... Northern mill/factory. The tee has been released in an array of colours over the years, even in black with glow in the dark lime ink – get them. Next up, and released last summer before any re-union tour news had even been rumoured, the specially commissioned artwork by illustrator and collaborator Peter O'Toole, which presented a nod and a wink to Manchester's musical pioneers, the Stone Rose. This tee wasn’t only adored just by Northerners, ‘it’ went forth to fly out to all corners of the globe such was/is its popularity. And at the rear end of the musical tee shirts that the CC produced is, ‘Bummed’! Bummed was an album released by the cheeky chappies the Happy Mondays. Inspired by the original Central Station cover art, the tee was designed by Peter O'Toole featuring Shaun Ryder, Bez and of course the topless centrefold in all her filthy glory.

There was a competition run in 2012 by CC for folk to send in designs and drawings that paid tribute to the passing of Adam Yauch – Beastie Boy fame, which also raised a sum for a cancer charity, Bobby Robson's was chosen in the end. The designs sent in were of the highest standard but, despite some great entries, their regular CC illustrator Peter O'Toole won the vote pretty unanimously on his superb take of a MCA portrait.
So, what does the New Year bring from the Connoisseurs? Well, to whet your appetite they’ve the ‘Curva Nord’ collabo coming to you in the January window. Curva Nord was an alternative cult terrace/pop culture label from the early-to-mid Noughties, from a creative the trio Phil Thornton, Ste Connor and Andy Bird. The tee will be a take on Dexys Midnight Runners first album, 'Still Searching for the Young Soul Rebels' image. The album combines the aggressiveness of Punk Rock with Soul music, particularly influenced by the Northern Soul movement. Talk about coming full circle. There is a rumour that there is an offing of a tee dedicated to the legendry Connoisseur, Bob Marley too... Keep returning to the CC in the coming weeks/months for more information on the aforementioned and, much, much more.

May the CC brand keep setting standards in the year 2013, and in many years to come too.
Your Northern Monkey correspondent, Bill

UPDATE...

Now then, here's a quick update to hopefully answer any final questions pre-Christmas.

Firstly all sales were despatched yesterday in time for the cut off point today. All today's sales up until 1pm have now also been despatched.
Any sales from this point onwards will not be posted now until after Christmas.
The shop will remain open all over the festive break, we will post out as and when we can and when the post offices are open of course. We will, like everyone else also be having a time-out for a few days too.

Secondly quite a few emails and mostly from across the pond asking and enquiring about orders in particular the Overlooks, we ensured they went out prior to the cut-off date for Europe and RoW customers. As we mentioned here it's Christmas and you should expect delays as standard, we've done our bit, with a super fast turnaround now it's up to the postal services to deliver. No one likes waiting for stuff but it does take time at this time of year. Please refer to our guidelines and sit tight (rather than mail us asking where something is). Every sale has been despatched.

Thirdly, we had hoped to have our new Osti, Dance at My Party and Curva tees out in time for a pre-xmas release. Sadly it wasn't possible so along with the Connoisseurs sweatshirts and the Overlook restock, they'll be released post Christmas now.

We've got fresh new Weirs too which will be previewed over the festive period and released in two batches over the coming weeks. Announcements will be made on here, facebook and twitter about those.

Finally just like to say a big shout out to each and everyone of you who has supported us this year, it's been a good one and we love you all. x

Have a good one, eat lot's of crap, drink lots of ale and chill out, it's Christmas afterall.
Merry yuletide greetings.

ZIPPO #2.

A new collectible has just arrived, no man should be without (even if you don't smoke) presenting, the classic Zippo lighter.
Inspired by the lasting cool of the USMC and their customised lighters during the Vietnam war. This is the second installment of the Connoisseur Zippo - officially made on brushed chrome with lustre etched design, for us in the USA, at their Pennsylvania base. May as well have the best!
This time around we turn our attention to the 'sweetheart' theme, with a twist of course, with artwork inspired by an aptly named pornstar, who I'm sure doesn't need any introduction from us. As always these are a limited edition, with just under 50 going on sale, comes in presentation box. In store from next week. DC

WEIR 'BLACK LODGE' HAT.

Finally, the Special Edition Weir 'Black Lodge' is available, as with the recent 'Overlook' hat - also based on an interior/floor from the silver screen, went a little crazy, it may well have taken the shine off this one (geddit?)
But, this Twin Peaks inspired titfer is sure to cause a stir. Out from 7pm [GMT] Only 100 produced with less than that now going on sale. DC

CHRISTMAS POST STUFF....

Now then it's that time of year again and it's come along quickly! This update should make things a little easier for both you and us.

Firstly, it's Christmas time, the post offices and postal services are already considerably busier than normal and it's only early!
SO just a reminder that if you make a purchase over the festive period you should allow longer for your item(s) to arrive, expect delays ...pretty much as standard!
This time of year we're extremely busy and receiving several emails a day asking why something purchased on say a Friday evening isn't there by Monday, it doesn't help matters.

We sometimes do a release on a Friday evening if so - then the next WORKING day to post out will be the following Monday. So to avoid extra hassle given it's this time of year please follow the guidelines below. We'd normally say to please allow 3-5 working days for your goods to arrive in the UK, 7 Europe and longer for the RoW. However this time of year please allow even longer due to the sheer workload the postal service will be under. Please do not contact us asking when/where an order is within a day of buying it, either inland or overseas. We cannot reply to each individual email asking the whereabouts of an item simply because we just haven't the time to. Though we try our best. Any other info is covered in our T&C's

We will post out as regularly as we can up to the cut off dates and beyond, please note we cannot guarantee anything, we're not Father Christmas. However what we can do is send post within the guidelines Royal Mail have given! Everything in the UK is sent First Class Recorded, Standard Airmail overseas unless you request the additional signed for option by email.

This is the Royal Mail official guidelines for sending mail over Christmas:

MAINLAND UK - For First Class Recorded Mail - THURSDAY 20th December

For International Airmail sent out to Europe WEDNESDAY 12th, RoW MONDAY 10thThose are the deadlines, so if you want to beat the rush, order before then.

We will have releases coming in at different times which will go live as they arrive.
Though like most of you out there we will be having a recharge over the Christmas and New Year period, but will still action and post sales as and when trading hours are open of course, so even though it's early given the subject of this post it's fitting to wish you all a good one and thanks once again to each and every one of our customers for another good year, we love you all...  God Bless us everyone..or something.

THE POUCH.

The Connoisseur 'Pouch' is available to buy from tomorrow
(Weds 5 Dec, 7pm) this custom manufactured shoulder bag was designed by ourselves with a DSLR camera being it's main function. The multifunctional bag has no less than five pockets, one large compartment with inner zipped stash pocket featuring key chain lanyard clip. Two side pockets and one large slash 'fanzine' pocket to rear. Coming in hardy Canadian digital [CADPAT] camouflague with polished fixings and magnetic button closure. Just 100 made, with less than that going on sale!
As it's the festive season each bag with come with an emergency starter pack. DC

WEIR 5 FIRST RELEASE.

So tonight sees the release of the first two colourways of the Weir 5's. Available from 7pm this evening. Limited numbers produced, subject to availability, whilst stocks last. One hat per customer.
Multiple purchases will be refunded! We hope the site doesn't crash but please be aware if demand is high to keep trying.
This is also the first time the new checkouts will be used on these hats, let it been known that whilst you can 'add to cart' until you complete checkout your purchase won't count. Adding to cart isn't enough to secure one. You must fully complete the checkout otherwise others will still be able to purchase! YHN

NEWEST LATEST 'WEIR 5' UPDATE.

So it's that time of year when it goes a bit hat crazy here at Connoisseur, in particular with the Weirs.
This year is no exception with lots of emails and questions coming in thick and fast.
As with the last few years the hats will be arriving in separate batches and the first two new colourways are due for release this FRIDAY at 7pm!
First up is the black, yellow, white colour and the blue, yellow, grey colours.

There's also the below special Stockist Exclusive edition which is en route to the following stores : Ran, Distant Echo, Proudheart, Closer, New Fangle and CasualClothing - Russia
In addition to the above there's also two special edition hats that are already causing a bit of a stir worldwide. The Black Lodge and The Overlook hats (below) will also be hitting the store shortly with a release planned for early December, exact date and time to be confirmed so watch the site, twitter, facebook and here for updates! with a small number of these also going to selected stockists too.




As always the hats are produced in 50 per colour, never the same colourway twice, highly limited edition and Made in England to boot.

AND finally... you may have noticed our new webstore is now fully active and online, after a few problems with the last checkouts we hope this one will be able to cope with the onslaught of the big releases, so far it's done okay on the last few, but if demand and hits are extreme then it's a safe bet to be prepared for the meltdown!
We've listened to feedback and one was the inability to make multi purchases one area we wanted to change, (ie you had to buy now and checkout more than once) the new store has the facility of being able to add to cart and checkout with several items at once.
BUT be warned especially with product like the hats where there is big demand, merely adding to cart will not secure you an item, only once you've gone through and checked-out will it mean your order is processed. Whilst you can add something to cart it will still be available to be purchased if you're not quick! 
As we always say fastest fingers first! YHN