We’re over halfway through our 6 month competition with Emmett London where every four weeks a stylish, well groomed chap gets the chance to win a seasonably suited Murdock cologne and limited shirt.

This month, while it’s warm enough to go outside but still a little bracing we’ve picked our British adventurer inspired Vetiver fragrance -  earthy, clean and comforting with citrus top notes and woody base tones. It’s for the air of the classic explorer as you find your own adventures on the streets of the metropolis.  To complement the cologne, our well dressed friends at Emmett have picked this Wine and Navy Checked Pin-Point Shirt.

Competition Terms and Conditions

1. Competition closes at midnight 26th May. 2. Only one entry per person (any subsequent entries will be discounted). 3. The winner will be picked at random and contacted via email after the closing date of the competition. 4. In the event that Emmett are out of stock of the winner’s desired size or if they require a different fit of shirt, a similar substitute will be made. 5. By entering this competition you are agreeing to receive emails from Murdock London and Emmett London. If you would like to enter but not receive emails you will have to follow the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the first email you receive.

Matt and Mark in Worcester wanted to make an accessories range for men that was stylish, hand crafted and durable while still being affordable. So they set up Hone. Their first line are these mighty fine weave belts, all handmade by Matt himself in Worcester. Matt was kind enough to drop these belts by for our barbers to wear. Trousers around the ankles is never a good idea when you’re cutting a client’s hair so we very much appreciate the belts. Of course we do! Look how fantastic they are!

See Hone’s Facebook page here > 

]]> http://themurdockman.com/hone-belts/feed/ 0 http://themurdockman.com/the-great-kial-gatsby/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-great-kial-gatsby http://themurdockman.com/the-great-kial-gatsby/#comments Fri, 17 May 2013 14:21:10 +0000 Will Hutchins http://themurdockman.com/?p=14144

Murdock Covent Garden‘s gent on the ground Mr Kial Pound was displaying some rather Gatsby style attire today. To that we say, spot on old sport.

SHOP GATSBY GROOMING HERE > 

The Great Gatsby is out in cinemas today. 

So good we named him twice, everybody’s favourite Canadian barber Mr Vincent Vincent is sadly departing our shores and heading back home to Vancouver.

Having spent several years as a Murdock barber, Vince has worked his way through the ranks, through the stores and provided endless entertainment for both clients and staff alike. It’s fair to say that he will sorely be missed by everybody at Murdock.

Despite Vince’s departure, we hope to see all of your regular faces continue to come through our Shoreditch doors.

We understand how daunting putting you hair in the hands of somebody new can be, however the close-knit family of barbers that we have at Shoreditch will have more than likely already made you feel just as welcome in the shop as Vince did.

We wish Vince all the best for the future and look forward to introducing you all to our new Shoreditch barber very soon.

For anybody further requiring that quick fix of Vince’s magic, here’s his How To Guide on maintaining your moustache:

David Beckham has always been more than just a footballer. He was the first real A-list celebrity player of the game and it was his ever changing hairstyles that was a major reason for this in the early days. He was the face (and more importantly, the hair) of Brylcreem, so when he shaved his head it was front page tabloid news and widely reported (whether rumour or fact) that it cost £500 to do so. He made the mohawk a socially acceptable haircut and taught middle England that cornrows were not something found in a field in Kent. The finest moment of his playing career came against Greece in a World Cup Qualifer. Digging in, running back and never misplacing a pass before scoring a last minute free kick to send England through to Japan and Korea 2002. His haircut in that game? The no nonsense, ‘I mean business’ crew cut of a determined captain. As his style has turned more classic as he has approached middle age, his haircuts may not receive the press attention they used to but his dapper, slicked back look, occasionally accompanied by a beard and moustache are better than they’ve ever been. Showing that, conversely to his football career, Beckham’s grooming has only got better with age.

Here then are some of the good and bad cuts of the man who’s had the most influence on men’s hair over the last 15 years:

Bad.

Acceptable to good. Especially with a the current 90s revival.

Good. Beckham means business. He’s got a good hairline and head shape to pull off a shaved head. And do we detect a slight Cantona influence here?

Bad.

Bad.

Bad. There are ways of doing long hair. This isn’t one. This is the hair of Beckham wannabees. Like Robbie Savage.

Bad. Doubly bad.

Bad.

Good. But is that a shaving nick we spy?

Bad. Though he’s growing a beard. Which is good.

Bad.

Good.

Not bad. You feel he’s growing up and getting somewhere with this one. But this haircut isn’t sure of itself. If it was neater, it would be in the Good pile.

Good.

Bad hair which in turn makes beard look bad.

Good.

Good. With a touch of salt and pepper. So, distinguished too.

Even better.

Bad. But we’ll let the kid off.

SHOP HAIR PRODUCTS HERE > 

The Great Gatsby is nearly, NEARLY out!

The latest grand adaption of the iconic novel from Baz Luhrmann has been teased upon us since way back last year, and was originally penned for a Christmas 2012 release. As we’re watering at the mouth in anticipation of finally getting to see it, we saw fit to provide a timely grooming guide.

Gentlemen all over the world are soon to be bringing Gatsby back, and barbers can expect to be re-creating the subtly complex style by guide of magazine clippings and film stills all summer. The man in focus of course is Mr Leonardo DiCaprio. Already an existing hairstyle and masculine icon, the ‘Gatsby look’ takes things to the next level, and it could be argued that he’s never appeared so impeccably well.

SHOP GATSBY GROOMING HERE >

The Gatsby hairstyle is a classic, slicked back look and fortunately it’s easily achievable for the majority of men’s hair types. Our Murdock at Hackett Spitalfields Head Barber Stephen has kindly offered his wisdom into explaining how this hairstyle can be achieved, giving you the right guide to go by when seeking the style yourself:

‘DiCaprio’s Gatsby has undeniably great hair. Most notable for its fantastic wave. If you have a natural wave in your hair, emphasise it by leaving the sides and back a little longer. The hair just above the ears will have to be shorter to make room for the rest to fall back. After washing, blow-dry the hair back (skim the air over the hair, rather than pointing it onto your head) and ruffle loosely with fingers to off-set the hair. If you have straight hair, use a round brush instead of fingers. Loosely wave the brush from the fringe towards the crown for a touch of a curl.

Finally to finish it off, a sea salt spray or lighter hair wax is better. You don’t want to weight the hair down as it will lose volume and shape. Hair Play is a moulding creme that has enough hold to keep the shape of the style, but allows a natural finish and some movement in the hair to give it that easy-going look.’

There we have it. Plenty of detail and professional instruction to follow in order to gain the most in-demand hairstyle of this summer. If you want the full look, Hackett’s S/S 13 collection is very much Gatsby inspired, even down to the hair of the models on last year’s LC:M show.

Hackett London’s Gatsby inspired Spring/Summer 13 collection

We’ll gladly focus on just the hair for now though, and look forward to seeing the style blossom over the upcoming months.

Enjoy, Old Sports.

SHOP GATSBY GROOMING HERE >

Related Items:

            Ocean Mist                             Hair Play                        Mini Hog Hair Brush

 Pre-Shave Oil                           Shave Cream                        Shave Bowl

            Reith Shave Set                          Post-Shave Balm                    Anti-Age Eye Serum

Bright Leaf Cologne       Facial Moisturiser                     Shirt Stays

It goes without saying that a Gentleman will look after his shoes and keep them shined. He may do this at home or in the traditional style by employing a skilled shoe shiner to do it for him. It’s a trade with historic roots that a few are still keeping alive:

•  Throughout the late 19th century, shoeshine boys plied their trade on the streets, particularly those in the cities of the United Kingdom.
• Shoe polish wasn’t a well-known or established commercial product until the early 20th century though.  Before 1900, your basic shoe polish was made from ashes, tallow (a rendered form of beef or mutton fat), and beeswax (as is moustache wax – they’re dapper gents those bees).

• The Industrial Revolution  influenced the mass production of shoes in factories. This was followed by an increase of street corner shoe shiners, as well as the production of shoe shining products. By the 1900s, shoe shining was in full swing.

• During both World Wars, shoe polish was in huge demand due to the amount the soldiers’ boots requiring treatment.

• After the ’60s and ’70s, trainers exploded across the world, causing the previous demand for shoe polish and shoe shining services to fall.

• Even with this decline, shoe shining is still performed today on a global scale. For us Londoners, you could be at home with a personal maintenance kit at hand or in a Murdock Barbershop receiving the service on its own or as part of your Luxury Full Service appointment.

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We received an email recently from a client soon-to-be paying us a visit, asking for some beard advice on how to manage and maintain his facial hair in the meantime.

He explains, “I have been growing a beard for 4 months now and I haven’t had any trimming or shaping done to it, so I was wondering if you would you be able to offer some advice on which direction to go with it?” He continues, “My plan was to grow it out for a year and decide what to do with it from there, but as you can see from the pictures (placed below) it’s getting a bit wild and messy. I would like to keep as much length as I can because I want it quite a bit longer. I just want it neatening and shaping so it looks nice and full.”

Our expert barbers are ready, scissors and clippers in hand to turn your beard from this level of unkempt natural state…

To this gloriously tapered, neat and shapened piece of facial hair perfection (courtesy of MurdockMan Ricki Hall)… 

We didn’t want to keep this between ourselves and simply answer the questions being asked, and the bearded gent in need agreed. This is an issue that many of our clients will find themselves dealing with when in-between appointments (okay, not to quite such extreme levels, but you know what we mean). Anyway, like a hand reaching out from the clouds inviting you up to beard maintenance heaven, Our Covent Garden Barber Lachlan has obliged in offering his helpful wisdom. So once again fellas, notepads at the ready:

“It depends entirely on the shape you’re looking for. Using mini trimmers (I recommend Wahl); you can cut around the lip, under your neck line and on your cheeks if you want a straight line.

You can under-cut the lip by 1-2mm from the corner of your mouth, and in terms of the throat area, you can use your Adam’s apple as a guiding point and then follow the jaw line around. Whether you’re looking to keep a natural neck line or shave in to it is something you would ideally want to leave for your barber to deal with.

For a slimmer profile on the sides, begin to taper from the bottom of your side hairline. Leave the chin length as it is and tidy up the edges and sides, tapering down the jawline.

Remember before trimming to comb all the hair out first. With a small amount of product (Beard Lube ideally), the Kent Slim Jim works through the hair well. Targeting just the straying hairs will avoid any mishaps, without you getting too carried away with the clippers and butchering your beard.”

When you arrive at Murdock for your appointment, you have the opportunity to discuss in detail with your barber about where you are looking to go with your beard in terms of shape and style. This advice should certainly see your beard looking maintained and healthy in the meantime.

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The marvellously beardy model and MurdockMan popped by the Covent Garden shop yesterday for a haircut and beard trim with barbers James Redfern and Lachlan Watson.

If you haven’t seen our video with Ricki before and read his interview then watch it here > 

Mr Hare (or Marc to his folks) is the Londoner who’s been designing some of the most desirable men’s shoes of recent years. He dropped in to Murdock Shoreditch on Redchurch St recently for a Beard Trim with Head Barber Vincent Vincent. While he was there he had a chat about travel, food and of course, footwear with Shop Manager and shoe super fan Chris Oliver. 

First off, I should start by saying that Mr. Hare is by far one of the coolest professional people I have met in some time. Without a doubt. Articulate, knowledgeable and, well, just straight cool.

For those who are unfamiliar with the man in question, Marc Hare is a men’s shoe designer based in London (offices in East, flagship store on Stafford Street, Mayfair). He’s been running the company since 2008, or thereabouts, but rather than spoil the fun I’ll let the man do the talking.

MM: I know that you’re a big fan of travelling, as part of your work also; what’s your favourite place to visit, outside of England?

Mr. H: The beach. Somewhere where I can point at a fish and say, “Cook that for me. Make me some aioli.” Always if it’s summer and it’s beachy. Other than that I have no great criteria, I’d like to see them all. I mean I used to have a surf company, so I used to spend a lot of time travelling to surf beaches, which is a very worthy pursuit, but as soon as you’re not surfing there’s a lot of other beaches out there that are equally fantastic. So yeah, beaches! I’ll go anywhere where there’s a beach!

Bernard Cali Black by Mr Hare

MM: Anywhere in specific?

Mr. H: Costa Rica holds a big place in my heart; it’s an absolutely beautiful place. It’s a very chill place, there’s no agro there whatsoever in comparison to the Caribbean. Being half-Jamaican I was quite ashamed that I hadn’t been to Jamaica until 2010. But yeah, I went there and I was blown away, like, “Wow, why haven’t I been here before?!” And the last couple of years I’ve been on a mission to get around as many of the Caribbean islands as possible. So far that’s included Barbados and St. Lucia but I’ve got a few more to knock off. I’m also quite keen to go check out Vietnam and Cambodia.

MM: I’d recommend it. Vietnam is very much what Thailand used to be. Thailand is a little overridden with European travellers and because Vietnam’s greatest export is rice they don’t need the tourism as badly as the surrounding SEA countries might.

Mr. H: And this was a little of my problem with surf beaches because you’d find somewhere really remote and great and 5 years later it’d be a huge tourist trap with Quicksilver shops everywhere! The same happened with me in Morocco – I’d gone a few years before and it was almost like farmland and when I went back two years ago it was unrecognisable. I’m just more interested to go to places where that isn’t happening. I want to find out what’s around the corner.

 Mr Vincent Vincent beard trimming away at Murdock Shoreditch. 

MM: What would you say is your favourite restaurant in London?

Mr H: River Café, hands down. Summer, outside in the garden, hands down. It’s in West London; past Hammersmith on Fulham House Road and it’s on the river. If it’s summer and you’re in their garden, its heaven.

MM: Have you had chance to eat at Eliot’s in Borough Market?

Mr H: No I haven’t but I’m a big fan of Borough Market on a Saturday, eat as many freebies as possible. Always tie it up with something cultural like the Tate Modern and then head to the market and pig out. I’m a big fan of Brindisa, I can never get past there. I’m a big fan of tapas, a massive fan.

Mr Hare Sandal Black

MM: That is a big thing in London now, serving Tapas style as opposed to tapas food. Modern cuisine with small plates.

Mr. H: I actually had the idea for Mr. Hare sat eating at a tapas bar, on a tapas eating road trip. I’d recently dislocated my knee so it was the first holiday I was going on where I wasn’t thinking about surfing. So we went to Andalucia, rented a car and looked for the top ten tapas restaurants there, it was awesome. The other reason I wanted to go there was to see some proper Islamic Moorish Architecture that they have there. You go through the border of Portugal, through Seville and as you come through it becomes very Islamic in Cadiz and you feel like you are actually in Morocco.

MM: That sounds like an amazing trip!

Mr. H: It was; I didn’t eat a bad meal the entire time I was there. I had this one dish in the dodgiest looking restaurant: Espinacas, it has split peas and spinach cooked in paprika that I loved so much I had to get the recipe for and since I’ve cooked it here at home. The best meal I had the whole trip.

MM: If you ever do go to Vietnam, go to Hoi Ann and find a murky looking restaurant called “Cordon Bleu” and have the aubergine hotpot or fish in banana leaf! Some of the best food I’ve eaten travelling from there. What’s your favourite book or film you might recommend that no self-respecting Murdock Man should be without?

Mr. H: One, Breakfast at Tiffany’s – an incredible read, so much happens in such a short amount of pages. And another one, The Rum Diaries a really early book by Hunter S. Thompson. I hate it when someone says, “You must read this!” and pulls out a huge 700 page opus. When am I gonna have time to read that?! So I’m recommending two real short, really good reads. I read Breakfast at Tiffany’s on the flight to India in one go. Outside of that my favourite book of all time is called The Money Game by a guy who called himself Adam Smith, which was probably a pseudonym.

MM: I’ll definitely have to look that one up; I’ve read a lot of Hunter S. Thompson though. In terms of opuses, I ended up buying Bonfire of the Vanities and it’s just sat on my shelf at the moment.

 Even Mr Hare himself straps up in  everyday purpose boots. 

Mr. H:  I think in terms of films, my favourite of all time would have to be Oldboy by Park Chan Wook.

MM: He directed Stoker recently didn’t he?

Mr. H: Yeah he did, but I haven’t had chance to see any films in a little while. My only chance is on flights at the moment. I’ve been meaning to see the new Harmony Korine film.

MM: Springbreakers is amazing, you should definitely go see it! Do you have any style tips, or one in particular that you could recommend?

Mr. H: I’m a big believer in dressing for comfort, I hate all this “You must wear this with this,” and these faux-pas. I think you should just wear whatever the hell you want, cos’ it comes down to who’s inside of you. You could be wearing something worth a million bucks, but if someone comes up to you to talk to you and you’re a total dweeb… you’ve got nothing haven’t you? It’s just all packaging. So yeah, ‘Wear whatever the f**k you like.’ Rule it, own it.

MM: Haha, that’s a good rule to have! Besides the obvious ones.

Mr. H: Of course you have to take into context your body shape and colour tones of your skin and all that and as long as you understand those things you just work with what you’ve got.

MM: I know you’re a big fan of music and earlier on in your blog, and sometimes still, you mention Streets of Beige…

Mr. H: Streets of Beige has taught me so much about music and musical people I’ve never heard of before. If SOB hadn’t shown me those people, I still wouldn’t have heard of them. Big up Jimmy! I have an eclectic taste in music. Last night I went to see MF DOOM and Ghostface Killah at the 100Club and screamed along to every number, it made me feel like a kid again. And I’ve been in kind of a blockage for what to do for Spring/Summer 14 and I’ve actually been quite late on it and going to that concert has resolved it all in my head; taken me back to where I should have been.

‘I didn’t want the razor anyway. I like my beard.’

MM: I can understand where that might come from. I’ve just done the music for a Kenzo video, and inspiration from museums or art shows or what have you can definitely break that block, so to speak. I know your history, but some of our readers might not. I think some of them may even own your shoes without knowing more about the brand or what’s behind them, so can you explain what came before Mr. Hare?

Mr. H: It started off at school, I should’ve been more creative than I was and I ended up getting pushed into more academic stuff and going the really long way round to getting to do something creative. I worked for marketing, specifically fashion marketing but when they asked you for something creative they’d like one little bit of something you’d done, take it back to the office, and then RUIN IT. And so for all that time I didn’t really have anything that I could point at and say, “Look what I did, I’m proud of that.” It just didn’t happen. I was also involved with the only real surf shop London’s ever had, for 13 years. But I wanted to leave something at the end of every year that I’d made, and then it just happened to be shoes. I realised I was massively obsessed with shoes; it was the first thing in youth culture I was into. I remember hearing The Specials for the first time because I was sick to death of the reggae my parents were playing me, I was like, “Get that s**t outta my ears!” and then when I heard them it was incredible. And then of course you get into what they’re wearing, Loake loafers and DM’s and so I could be part of that thing! But then every youth culture you got into after that it was always footwear that it came down to, it was the first thing you had and you were instantly recognised as part of some cult. So that’s when my obsession with shoes came along. And it turned into designer shoes when I was at college at the age of 18. There was this girl that I was besotted with and we were quite good friends. We would chat and I just thought she’s way out of my league and we got onto talk about shoes. She introduced me to Bass Weejuns and when we got onto that she said there’s also Gucci Loafers, and I just thought they were mad fly. So I saved up all my money and bought some Gucci Loafers and then I went off the girl after I bought the Gucci loafers! Haha! At the point I understood what designer and quality shoes were all about. And then there was hand-me-down Churches from relatives so I knew about the English and the Italian thing.

Mr Hare Thelonius Special Navy

That lay dormant, I never thought about making my own, and then later on it just got to the point where I was thinking about doing my own brand, and I knew there was no way I wanted to get into that fight, there was just too much going on. And then when I was on that Tapas eating road trip, I was sitting at a bar (there’s a picture of it on his website here: http://www.mrhare.com/about/) and I knew at that point that I was gonna go home and make shoes. That very moment.

MM: It’s very cool that you are able to pinpoint a specific moment in your own history where you could see the genesis of an idea you had.

Mr. H: And the excitement that came with it, I was just like, “Oh my God!”

MM: So what are the future plans for Mr. Hare that you can divulge?

Mr. H: Erm, I just want to get really good at what I do. The whole point was to make contemporary shoes that didn’t exist at the moment. My whole love of shoes came from the youth cultures that I loved and that wore them. A lot of them shoes had become re-appropriated for that culture; they weren’t made for skinheads to be running around in. And er, all the first sneakers that made hip-hop happen weren’t made for the kids that were doing that. My whole thing was to make a brand that wasn’t all about reappropriation  it was just about the people that wore it, and what I also wanted to bring to that was a level of quality and that they weren’t just throwaway things that didn’t matter. I wanted to give street culture and youth culture the gravitas of high-end shops. It’s only when someone has worn your shoes for two years, when they’re battered, that you can really see how you might improve upon them. And that’s the point at which I am now. Rather than take over the world, or do extensions and products, I don’t want to even make women’s shoes; I just want to make shoes to the best of my design abilities and my manufacturers abilities. So that’s the plan now, to just do what I do, but it do it even better.

Mr. Hare.com