The basic white tee shirt. You know how to wear one, do you know how to buy one?

As an Actors’ Studio graduate Marlon Brando learned to use his body to show his character’s inner turmoil, in A Streetcar Named Desire he uses a white tee shirt to thinly veil not only his ripped physique but also his character’s bestial urges.

James Dean picked up the beat to iconic effect and the white tee became a symbol of the first generation of teenagers to dress differently from their parents.

60 years on and the June edition of GQ features Vince Vaughan in a darker and career re-defining role in the new series of True Detective. Among the denim and the linen he is of course styled wearing a white tee – darkness and deep brooding masculinity duly noted.

Originally issued as regulation underwear for the US Navy in 1913 the white tee shirt has become an enduring source of comfort and easy style for men ever since, an unpretentious wardrobe staple which reveals as much or as little as the man wearing it decides.

There’s more to the white tee shirt though than looking solid as a rock against denim – the thing about a white tee is it tells a good story. It tells any story you like, the white tee is both unique and everyman, fresh and rugged and above all intimate – perhaps due to its roots as underwear or being one of the first things you might leave at a lover’s apartment.

But whereas some tee shirts stay with you for years and become a part of your life others look done in after a couple of washes – is it all down to price? Not according to David Moore of

Headen & Quarmby in Manchester where our boxer shorts are made “You can buy a big name brand tee shirt and still end up with spirality which is where side seams twist after a couple of washes, it’s down to knits being cut slightly off-grain by manufacturers cutting out too many garments from too little fabric to save money.”

Here’s How to Buy a Tee Shirt You’ll Wear For Years.

Fit 

Close but not tight, there shouldn’t be extra fabric around the body and it should be long enough to layer without bagging out at the bottom.

Feel

You want organic cotton in a high thread count for a perfect ratio of soft to strong, when it feels right, it is right.

Shape Integrity

Some tee shirts are constructed on a circular knitter which can give you those twisted seams post wash. A good tee shirt keeps its shape, simple as that – it’ll soften over time but that’s what you’ll love about it.

Seams

Watch out for over-locked stitching round the seam at the base of the neck. You don’t see Don Draper scratching his neck during a killer presentation. You want the comfort of a double stitched French seam which will lie flat without an itchy edge.

Ethical Credentials 

Tee shirt manufacture is a heavy water consuming and polluting process particularly for the people doing the graft. Instead, buy a tee shirt which is carbon neutral and made by people earning a fair living wage in comfortable working conditions.

The white tee shirt.

Brando made it unpredictable, Dean made it sexy now

Penny Dreadful makes it simple.

The new PD 100% organic cotton tee shirt is now available in soft grey mélange or honest to goodness white, with a not too high not too low v neck to knock some of that stiff US Navy regulation out of the frame.

Music has been an integral part of cinema since sound & vision first synched up in 1928’s The Jazz Singer. Although Al Jolson in blackface belting out Mammy is somewhat of an uncomfortable watch now, films with tunes, films about tunes and films about the people who make the tunes have endured as a movie going mainstay.

Being lovers of music & movies (but really, who isn’t?) PD thought we’d compile a brief list of films with music at their heart.

There are tons to choose from the 1950’s heyday of Technicolor musical block-busters to the Oscar baiting bio-pics. We thought we’d focus on those films where music is the beating heart of a fictional story.

In no particular order:

1: 24 Hour Party People

Admittedly we’re starting with a bit of a cheat. Although based on a true story, by their own admission the filmmakers play fast and loose with the truth (probably because most of those involved don’t actually remember it). Michael Winterbottom’s film is more interested in the legend of Factory Records and the Manchester scene the label gave life to.

24 Hour Party People makes our list for the predictably cracking soundtrack, capturing the spirit of a musical legacy if not the facts and being hilarious. Apart from the bit where Ian Curtis hangs himself, which isn’t very funny.

2: School Of Rock

A rare 90 minutes where-in Jack Black’s particular brand of loudmouth irritant actually benefits the story and manages to show some sense of character development.

This feel good slice of rock education belongs to the scarily talented kids playing uptight Public School brats who take on a local Battle Of The Bands and learn all sorts of lovely, Hollywood life lessons about acceptance and “sticking it to the man” along the way.

It’s a fun movie that Richard Linklater, showing rare family movie director chops, instills with a lot of heart without tipping over into sentimentality.

3: We Are The Best

Lukas Moodyssen has always been a master at using pop music to evoke specific emotions tied to specific moments in time. His bookending of “Together” with Abbas “SOS” conjures up a uniquely effecting sense of euphoric melancholy.

In “We Are The Best” he finally puts pop at the centre of the story. Billed as a film for anyone who is was and will be 13 years old, We Are The Best follows 3 just teenage girls who are proud outcasts from their blow-dried, Human League loving peers as they battle adversity (or a distinct lack of talent or instruments) to set themselves up as a punk band.

Funny, appropriately anarchic and moving “We Are The Best” succeeds in evoking that bewildering twilight between childhood & adulthood and boasts a cracking Swedish punk soundtrack.

4: God Help The Girl

The closest thing to a traditional musical on this list, Stuart Murdoch’s (Belle & Sebastian) film started off as a side project tribute album to 60’s girl groups.

God Help The Girl does come on like a Belle & Sebastian album in pictures and in the direction Murdoch wears his obsession with French New Wave as a slightly too conspicuous badge of honour.

Those with a violent allergic reaction to indie-whimsy should steer clear. If you happily acknowledge your own inner dysfunctional geek the tale of young Cassie escaping a psychiatric hospital to go in search of like minded losers to form a band is likely to leave you with a mile wide grin.

The songs are fun, Emily browning is gorgeous, we liked it.

5: Whiplash

JK Simmonds is an actor who has made average films watchable simply by virtue of being in them for 5 minutes. That Whiplash finally allowed us to see him let rip in a lead role is enough to applaud the film alone. Music School band leader Fletcher has to be one of the most terrifying, mentor characters committed to film. Psychotic, charismatic, sadistic but somehow you can’t help but admire him.

Miles Teller manages to be simultaneously hateful & sympathetic as the burgeoning monster to Simmonds’ explosive Frankenstein.

This study of 2 egos colliding messily in search of artistic perfection is so tightly constructed it barely gives the viewer space to breath during its claustrophobic 90 minute runtime.

Drummers in film have historically been portrayed as Neanderthal tub-thumpers (who frequently, spontaneously combust if Spinal Tap is to be believed). Whiplash is economically and elegantly shot, much of it in long takes that focus not just on the physicality but the intricacies of Tellers’ drumming, with macro shots from the POV of the kit getting stuck right into the power & precision.

6: Frank

Co-Written by Jon Ronson, Frank started life as a straight biog of cult punk / music-hall hybrid act Frank Sidebottom alter ego of Chris Sievy who wore a balloon like papier mache head on stage while performing cover versions of popular chart tunes in a broad Manchester accent.

During script development with Director Lenny Abrahamson, Frank transformed into a trag-comic amalgamation of a number of eccentric musicians driven by the need to just create music for music’s sake and who would go to extreme lengths to find their muse.

As well as Sievy’s bizarrely endearing creation, echoes of Captain Beefheart & Daniel Jonson can be seen in Frank as he and his band The Soronprfbs kidnap Domhnall Gleeson’s ambitious but talentless Jon as replacement for a keyboardist who suffers a sudden and slightly damp nervous breakdown.

Jon in return introduces Frank, who just wants his music to be heard, to social media and a battle between fame & artistic integrity is joined.

Michael Fassbender, with his face hidden under Papier Mache was robbed of numerous acting awards for Frank. The film soars & dives between farcical hilarity and heart wrenching tragedy and does for Music what Birdman tried to do for acting. Why that film scooped the gongs while Frank barely scraped together an audience is baffling.

Frank went straight into Penny Dreadful’s Top 10 movies the second the end credits rolled.

7: This Is Spinal Tap.

Apparently This Is Spinal Tap was Liam Gallagher’s favourite movie until someone pointed out that it wasn’t a documentary and the band was fake.

“The review for ‘Shark Sandwich’ was merely a two word review which simply read ‘Shit Sandwich’.”

“It’s such a fine line between stupid, and uh…”

“Clever.”

“Yeah, and clever.”

“ They’re not gonna release the album… because they have decided that the cover is sexist.”

“Well, so what? What’s wrong with bein’ sexy? I mean there’s no…”

“Sex-IST!”

“We’re very lucky in the band in that we have two visionaries, David and Nigel, they’re like poets, like Shelley and Byron. They’re two distinct types of visionaries, it’s like fire and ice, basically. I feel my role in the band is to be somewhere in the middle of that, kind of like lukewarm water.”

This list is by no means exhaustive. What do you think? What did we miss? Any other recommendations? Give us a shout on Facebook or Google+

Pop Culture history has a habit of being re-written thru the lens of rose tinted, John Lennon glasses. If we were to believe the music press, the 90’s would’ve segued directly from the heady days of Nirvana directly to the Britpop wars with Oasis & Blur dominating the charts single handedly supported by Richard Ashcroft.

The truth is rather sobering. There’s no real need to go into great detail about the horrors visited upon the charts by Whigfield and 3 months of Wet Wet Wet at number 1. I’d rather not be blamed for opening up old psychological scars or landed with numerous bills for therapy.

Under the white-wash hide a number of bands responsible for some great music throughout the 90’s who barely get a look in.

These are, in our humble opinion and in no particular order, the un-sung heroes of the 90’s.

1: The World Of Twist.

Although formed in the mid-80’s, Sheffield’s “The World Of Twist” didn’t get around to releasing their album Quality Street until 91 at the arse end of Madchester when novelty goons like Northside and CandyFlip were all that was left of the fight and attention began to turn to the US.

The album complete doesn’t quite do justice to the World Of Twist vision of Tony Ogden and Gordon King. The 3 singles approved by the band are value enough in themselves though, combining loping grooves and a canny pop sensibility with proggy undertones and willful weirdness. Their cover of The Stone’s “She’s A Rainbow” was one of the last pieces of music to have been produced by the legendary Martin Hannett.

2: Jellyfish

Another band out of step with the time Jellyfish went for big and sunny when the world was turning introspective & grimy.

Released in 1990, Bellybutton is 10 big slabs of summery guitar pop gorgeously rendered with such confidence it sounds like a ready made greatest hits compilation you can never quite play loud enough.

I can’t imagine their penchant for dressing like Dr Zeuss characters can have done Jellyfish any favours on the popularity front but it’s a bona fide tragedy they don’t get more props in the history of pop.

3: Lush

Their first EP released in ’89 Lush really came into their own spearheading the indie wall of sound movement sarcastically dubbed Shoegaze in the early 90’s.

It’s a simple equation: Loud, jangly guitars and dubby bass lay down a carpet of noise while the vocals of Emma Anderson & Miki Berenyi veer between Elizabeth Frazer graveyard floatiness and spiky, punky sarcasm.

Partly a victim of the rampant misogyny present in rock music, Lush are pretty much ignored when bands like Ride are revered. Nothing wrong with Ride, I like them but where as that band had a habit of descending into self indulgence, Lush continued to hone their perfect capsules of pop right up until Lovelife which saw them embrace a punkier sound perfect for cleansing the palette of the cloying 60’s aping Dad-rock excesses of the time.

4: The Sabres Of Paradise

Andrew Weatherall (or as I like to call him, God) has appeared in many mysterious ways over the years. His defining guise was The Sabres Of Paradise. 2^nd album proper Haunted Dancehall couldn’t have been more aptly titled, reminiscent of a collection of supernatural EVP recordings from a club owned by Aleistair Crowley and Anton LaVey.

From 92 to 96 no self-respecting artist could release a single without a remix by Sabres Of Paradise. Everyone from New Order to Therapy was flung, mercilessly into Lord Weatherall’s spooky dub pit.

5: One Dove

With Sabres at their peak, Andrew Weatherall began working with Glaswegian trio One Dove on an album that would fuse his dub and techno sounds with expansive, melancholy pop tunes.

Dot Alison’s voice & lyrics held a romantic sadness normally associated with the beleaguered heroines of Country & Western (Final single Why Don’t You Take Me features a glorious cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” as the b-side)

With origins firmly in the layered, dubby sounds favoured by Leftfield, Underworld & William Orbit’s “Guerilla” label One Dove’s “Morning Dove White” and accompanying remixes by the great and the good of the early 90’s is still a forgotten gem whose influences can be heard echoing throughout the decade in bands like Olive, Kosheen and some of all conquering All Saints’ better songs.

6: Moloko

Roisin Murphy & Mark Brydon met in a club in the early 90’s where Murphy’s chat up line was “Do You Like My Tight Sweater”.

This went on to be the title of their first album & says a lot about the band’s relationship and output. Somewhat off kilter and weirdly sexy, there’s quite a bit of Giorgio Moroder in Do You Like My Tight Sweater and the art pop influence of Laurie Anderson. Roisin is also a big fan of Grace Jones.

Moloko had a troubled relationship with critics, being mystifyingly dumped into the “Trip Hop” box which makes absolutely no sense. Their one big hit “Sing It Back” became a poisoned chalice as audience and critics alike seemed to expect Moloko to churn out variations on a theme. The fact that the album version, with it’s glitchy tango rhythm and vibrating Rhodes is far superior to the admittedly fun but empty remix that hit the charts is a prime example of how Moloko were a band who tread their own path whilst others constantly tried to turn them into something less interesting.

7: Super Furry Animals

Super Furry Animals, relentlessly experimental yet like many of the bands featured here, still retaining a glorious pop sensibility. Allow me to disappear up my own firmament briefly because my love for this band knows simply no bounds. Super Furries could be seen as the Wes Anderson of British Music. They have over 22 years created, expanded and evolved a sonic world all their own showing love for every feasible musical genre from Americana to Drum N Bass, but somehow still manage to sound like SFA. At the heart of every song, be it a Welsh language folk song or a techno wig-out, there is a harmonic sensibility that equals that of their collective hero, Brian Wilson.

Yet despite this and a fanbase as rabidly loyal as myself, Super Furry Animals have never been afforded the credit due for pushing the boundaries of experimentation in accessible pop.

8: Orbital

Orbital have come to be seen as music for Middle Aged ex-ravers and nerds. Well if the shoe fits etc. It’s too often forgotten that during the 90’s, in the midst of an invasion of novelty Beatles and Kinks pastiches, Orbital brought Acid House to Glastonbury and for the next decade gave dance music an unprecedented sense of musicality and genuine performance that stands up today.

From the relentless, apocalyptic party of The Brown Album to the hugely under-rated dance symphonics of Insides Orbital deserve to be remembered for introducing sophistication to dance, rather than being two bald blokes with torches on their heads.

 9. Elastica

So this one I kind of understand. Justine Frischman never came across as the most likeable person in the world and Elastica magpied their sound so brazenly they were sued by both The Stranglers & Wire.

Where Dickishness and plagiarism appeared to be a boon for the Gallagher Brothers, it was a stick with which Elastica were mercilessly beaten in the press.

There was a knowing air to Elastica’s theft and mutilation of punk and new wave that took them closer to the YBA’s than Brit Pop which was probably ammunition enough to raise the ire of fans of Oasis who saw the mulit-millionaires as Working Class Heroes and Elastica as the enemy.

But if you can disconnect yourself from the ludicrous, school yard V-flicking for a minute it’s not just Elastica’s debut album that’s worth a revisit, give 2000’s “The Menace” a spin and you’ll hear where Yeah Yeah Yeah’s took their own schtick from.

10. Lamb

When you’ve created and defined an entire sound with the style and accomplishment achieved by dual Bristol Sound Juggernauts Massive Attack & Portishead, any artist working within the same soundscape is likely to come on as a bit of an also ran.

Where-as some bit the bullet and went full winsome, aiming directly at the Cold Feet / Ikea market (Zero7 we’re looking at you) Lamb stuck to their melancholy, off-kilter, guns turning out a succession of uncompromising albums.

Even at their most discordant, Lou Rhodes naïve vocals lend Lamb a beauty and emotion that out strips even Beth Gibbons at times.

20 years on Lamb continue to be sonic world builders. Re-forming to release Backspace Rewind last year, they’re still a band worth your time.

This is by no means an exhaustive list and it’s not to say that Britpop produced nothing of note, plenty of good came (much of it via Jarvis Cocker) before it descended into Dad Rock drudgery.  If you feel we’ve been unjust or wholeheartedly agree let’s pick up the subject on Facebook. Hit the big F up-top.

Before wrap up the 90’s, honorable mentions go to:

Mecury Rev

Cornelius

Belly

Sugar

Spiritualized

Recently I was asked by close friend Paula Benson to write a piece on the art direction of my favourite movie for her frankly brilliant website FilmAndFurniture.co.uk. Being a total obsessive with Ridley Scott’s masterpiece from 1982 I chose Blade Runner.

Here’s the article but do please visit Paula’s site at the link above. It’s an ever growing treasure chest of interesting stuff.

By Matt Cole founder of Penny Dreadful Menswear.

Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982) paints Los Angeles 2019 as a potent, multifaceted hybrid of cultures. The principal influence reflects the 1980’s assumption that Japan’s driving force in technology would see it become the ruling superpower of the future. Omnipresent billboards depict giant geisha girls popping pills to the baleful soundtrack of Japanese folk song Ogi No Mato. This hint of a society controlled by mood-enhancers is one of the few direct links back to Philip K Dick’s “Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep.”

At ground level “The Egyptian” Abdul Ben Hassan manufactures Snakes, selling them among replicant ostriches and other exotics in the bustling, bazaar like “Animoid Row” while the Mayan styled Pyramidal buildings of the Tyrell Corporation dominate the skyline, monstrous monuments to the gods of Industry.

The South American influence continues in the blocky Aztec architecture and interior styling of Rick Deckard’s (Harrison Ford) apartment block. The exterior, shot at Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Ennis House” in the Hollywood Hills, is augmented by one of the many extraordinary matte paintings designed by Syd Mead and completed by Matt Yurichich, Rocco Gioffre, and Michele Moen.

Art director David Snyder took Syd Mead’s original “form meets function” hi-tech interior designs and encased them in custom molded replicas of Frank Lloyd Wrights Aztec building blocks creating a multi-textural man-cave perfectly suited to Deckard’s loner personality.

As much as I’m a huge fan of Syd Mead’s industrial sci-fi concept artwork, from Blade Runner to Elysium, it’s the interesting mix of ephemera that Snyder’s team populates Mead’s spaces with that not only authentically depicts the sum contents of a 30 plus divorced male’s life but also injects a sense of personal mystery into an already enigmatic story.

Much has been made of the Art-deco & Art Nouveau influences on the retro-futuristic design of Blade Runner, but it’s true to Ridley Scott’s reputation for perfection in art direction that the vast majority of the early 20th Century pieces in Deckard’s department are genuine. The cost of acquiring Argyle chairs by Charles Rennie MacKintosh and a barely glimpsed Frank Lloyd Wright Coonley Desk probably gave the production manager a small heart attack. Combined with a Panasonic TR-535 pop up TV they build an authentic image of a future heavily influenced by more elegant times long gone.

To achieve maximum Future Noir moodiness Deckard’s apartment features little to no overhead lighting. Instead the surfaces are filled with a myriad of lamps including 3 choice American art-deco examples – a 1940’s Lightolier desk lamp by Gerald Thurston (want!), a strangely kitsch World’s Trade Fair lamp and hovering over the piano where Deckard has his Unicorn reverie is a Dazor Saucer Lamp.

In an age before 3D printing even the future was cobbled together from the present, including the image scanning ESPER Machine, in reality a portable TV with a couple of alarm clocks and what seems to be a Polaroid camera stuck to the side. As a young viewer it was still the coolest piece of tech, lent realism because it seemed second-hand and slightly knackered, screen etched with pen marks.

Elsewhere the past continues to collide with the contemporary in building a convincing future. The story goes that Scott himself found 2019’s answer to the Lazyboy, a huge leather suite with built-in lighting, in a junk sale having recently been removed from an LA Nightclub that had fallen on hard times.

Amongst this wealth of amazing stuff expertly and painstakingly thrown together to create the perfect mess of a dysfunctional bachelor pad there are 2 items I’ve come to covet most over my 50 or so viewings of Blade Runner. Both of which are the vessels that transport the fuel of Deckard’s burgeoning alcoholism. The shot glass tainted with blood after Deckard’s violent run in with Leon originally formed part of an elaborate set by the wonderfully named United Metal Goods from the 50’s. In my favourite shot from the film, standing on the apartment balcony, hundreds of stories above the city Rick reflects on cruelly bursting Rachel’s faux-human bubble. For one fleeting moment Deckard leans over as if he might jump. The glass in his hand is a 1974 Arnolfo di Cambio CIBI tumbler. Look at it glowering in that promo image. That’s a serious Whiskey glass surely built with Future-Noir, Replicant Hunting, Killer Cops in mind.

It’s more than likely that Snyder and his team had a very tight brief from Ridley Scott according to his overall vision for the style and texture of LA 2019 and all these disparate items came together like a jigsaw puzzle, piece by piece to create a cohesive whole that looked great on camera. But I have a theory. Bear with me.

Deckard’s apartment is crammed full of not just a selection of choice furniture, elegant lamps and shonky old portable TV’s. Rick’s also got a fair few knick-knacks like this carved wooden rhino.

Now does “One man slaughterhouse” Blade Runner Rick Deckard strike you as the kind of guy who’d spend his weekends browsing through antique fairs and car boot sales looking for wooden Rhinos and art deco dining chairs? Well maybe. Replicants are collectors, empty vessels constantly trying to build an identity. Leon compiles memories in a literal way with his “precious photos”. Rachel also carries a photo of “her mother” as proof that she had one and Deckard’s piano is loaded with seemingly random snaps, some incongruously black and white next to holographic prints. Perhaps despite being oblivious to his Replicant origin Deckard is filling his home with items harboring their own pasts and stories in a subconscious attempt to fabricate a soul?

Or maybe he just rents the pad fully-furnished. Who knows.

Matt Cole
(with much thanks to the true Blade Runner obsessives at PropSummit.com)
Matt is founder of Penny Dreadful Menswear and a card carrying geek.

Recently we had a little chat with the lovely Emma Parlons of lifestyle blog Life Of Yablon. Here’s how it went.

Girls, without divulging too much, I need to know which type of underwear your boyfriend or husband or partner wears. Why? Because I’m wondering why we put SO much thought into which bra to pair up with those knickers only to discover that they are buying packs-of-ten without so much as a thought to how they might look…

Of course I’m massively generalising here and there are some men who place a great deal of focus on those killer undergarments. This morning, I scooted off (Olympus Pen in hand) to meet one such man (obviously once he was fully dressed) to find out more about Matt Cole’s recently launched, 50s-inspired Penny Dreadful Menswear boxers.

Matt, creative director at Drum and self-confessed pop-culture geek, and his TV producing wife Fiona have created a tailored boxer short with a mission to ‘put some dignity and style back into men’s underwear’. Convinced that there is too much elastic employed in men’s underwear (unless you’re built like Beckham and have like a 2% body fat percentage) and that the squeezing in is not only uncomfortable but also does not look great, this husband/wife team have developed a stunning range in 6 patterns.

why underwear?  Men’s underwear always seems to be the punchline of a not very funny joke. I’ve grown to loathe the word ‘pants’ and our relationship with it as shorthand for something just a bit rubbish and embarrassing. That is exactly how men’s underwear typically presents itself. Go into any store and try to find the men’s underwear section. Inevitably they’re crammed into a corner somewhere rather than being upfront and celebrated as women’s lingerie rightfully is. For me this has never stacked up.

Our Packaging

what did you wear before?  You know what? I don’t even remember. Probably M&S.

What does Penny Dreadful underwear say about it wearer?  I’d say we appeal to people who are quite discerning, who look for something a bit different, all that stuff. To be honest we’re looking for kindred spirits who like to look good but don’t think fashion is the be all and end all. They care about the quality of what they wear and will get involved in a brand if they have an interesting story and ethos. I’m hoping we’ll grab the attention of men who have an interest in Pop Culture in all its glory.

How important is underwear comfort?  Comfort is vital in underwear but each person’s definition of comfort is different. Personally I’m not a fan of Jockeys or Trunks as I feel I’m being strangled the whole time. We’re pretty realistic that we’re probably not going to convert those guys. The structure & fit of a man’s underwear is a very specific choice we make very early on and tend not to change. Having said that I was never completely satisfied with the fit and quality of boxers either. The elasticated waistline always felt like it was a cost cutting exercise rather than the best solution.

should the boxers be visible when dressed?  It’s entirely up to the wearer but there is a reason we put our badge on the outside. We hope people will be proud of their Penny Dreadful boxers. It’s not like we want men to be dropping their trousers all over the show but we think our badge peaking over the top of your jeans does look pretty cool.

which fictional character might be a fan?   The geek in me says Tony Stark. We’ve got to say Roger Sterling from Mad Men. Any one of The Peaky Blinders would probably sport a pair. I’m assuming time travel is an option here.

when you’re not designing underwear, where might we find you?  At the cinema or a gig probably. Somewhere in a darkened room watching someone demonstrating a talent I wish I had.

What else should we expect from your line of menswear?  Right now our ambition is to build a great line of essentials all referencing early to mid 20th century patterns but with modern upgrades for fit, material and prints. We’re thinking around Henleys at the moment.

how important is your love of music, literature and film to your Penny Dreadful inspiration?  Immeasurably important. I am a pop culture magpie and I think news of its death has been greatly exaggerated. I’m inspired daily by the new music, film & art that I’m exposed to. My only slight regret is that much of this new work I come across online. Not that I dislike the internet nor am I a nay-sayer in regards to the many and varied channels in which artists can now exposure their work. It’s undeniable though that with the loss of the physical format, books, vinyl etc, our emotional connection to pop culture has also become distracted. We’re constantly being presented with the next thing and the next thing before having the chance to really get our teeth stuck into the nugget of joy right in front of us.

Penny Dreadful is going to be a pop culture brand, influenced by and re-mixing things we love and putting the results back out there in a physical form. We have plans to create the menswear equivalent of a Singles Club where rather than receiving a surprise 7″ in the post the package will contain a pair of Penny Dreadful boxers with a brand new print and access to content inspired by the featured illustration. We’re building plans for these things right now at the ground floor of the business rather than trying to crowbar in some vague affiliation with art, film or music later.

where does the 50s style fit into the context of mens’ fashion today?  Really it’s not about being specifically retro. I guess what we were interested in was digging back into a time where fit and style wasn’t dictated by technology but was more about craft. From the fabric we use down to the digital printing and the cut – these are very much modern boxer shorts.

tell us more about the risqué patterns.  Again we didn’t make a conscious decision to choose risque patterns. We’d investigated a whole bunch of options including Victorian Pugilists but they seemed a little obvious. I came across Sarah Dvojack’s illustrations online and quite simply fell in love with them. She really is a heartbreakingly talented artist who manages to instil these beautiful, delicate characters with a real sexiness that appeals to men & women. Each image teases a bigger story that sets the imagination racing and they’re laced with a wit that stops them from being crass.

does your work at Drum only fuel your desire to create your own brand?  Absolutely. Like any working creative I have a bottom draw of ideas I want to experiment with and build into the fabric of Penny Dreadful from the beginning.

which 3 brands would you pick to illustrate yourself?  OTHER on Kingly Street. I love the way they curate their line from a selection of independent designers that they love and still offer a cohesive brand experience. There’s a bunch of fellas online called Last Exit To Nowhere. They create t-shirts inspired by movies and are a geek’s dream. What’s really interesting is how they behave in social media. LETN barely mention the product but simply engage their followers in conversation about film, actively inviting you to disagree with them and express your own opinion. I feel like I know them personally.   Finally, I’ve just heard about this service called “Vinyl Me Please“. I can think of very little more exciting than a panel of music experts hand picking and sending me a record every month along with a piece of art and a cocktail recipe “wrapped up like a birthday present” as an antidote to the tsunami of indiscriminate choice presented by services like Spotify. I do believe that curation is the future if we’re to make pop culture feel special again.

a book which has changed your life?  Quiet: The Power Of Introverts In A World That Won’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain. Head On by Julian Cope. Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins.

best album ever released?  That’s an impossible question. Depends on what day of the week it is. Parade by Prince & The Revolution (his “Revolver” to “Sign O’ The Times’” “Sergeant Pepper”) Doolittle by The Pixies, Screamdeilca by Primal Scream, The Archandroid by Janelle Monae, The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths. Songs For The Deaf by Queens Of The Stoneage, Debut by Bjork, Substance by Joy Division (yes yes I know I’m supposed to say Closer) Ill Communication by The Beastie Boys, Orbital 2 by Orbital, The soundtrack to Wes Anderson’s Rushmore ( I had to cut Matt off at this point!)

tell us a secret about mens underwear.  I was told by a factory owner at Premier Vision that most boxer shorts are made from left-over shirting essentially swept up off the factory floor. We have to end this indignity for men’s boxer shorts! Oh and the only person who looks like David Beckham in Calvin Kleins is David Beckham.

Penny Dreadful Menswear (£28-£35) is available online and at Spitafields Market, E1 on 7th/13th/14th Feb.

Thanks for the words Emma. It was a pleasure.

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