It is snowing here on the Estate. Snowing in March. So much for the lightweight tweeds! It will be sometime before the Spring 2011 clothes emerge chez Cyclo. Until then...here's how to do it RL Polo 2011 style.

she looks up for it but he looks shellshocked

These Paisley breeks are for sale on Ebay in the UK this week. Obviously inspired by the true blue WASP outfitters Lilly Pulitzer but filtered through the bright eyes of Ralph Lauren’s design teams, these are sadly to short for Ol’ Cyclo, whose towering 6 foot 4 inches requires a 34” inseam. No matter – some shorter gadabout can desport these beauties around the streets of grim old Blighty, bringing cheer and jeers in equal measure, much as Ol’ Cyclo does on a regular basis.

As mooted on my last post, this Saturday past we drifted into RL Glasgow for a look at the Holiday 2009 stuff and a rootle around the pre sale stock.

After an hour or so I emerged with a pair of the bright orange cords which I have long coveted (as sported by the man himself in the previous post), two pairs of socks and a new tie. Why such a small haul? Well...I’d been hoping for some new tartan shirts but the only one they had was on a rig and had a suede shooting patch on it...and it was £200. I liked a shawl collared cardy but it was £250 and not in the sale. TBH the tie I got was non sale stock and came in at £75...if I’d known it was that price I doubt I’d have bought it.

None of the Holiday 09 stuff was discounted but even if it had been I couldn’t have justified the cost. The jumper I liked best is an astonishing £850.00. (Malheureusement there’s no picture on the site) it’s lovely of course – and I tried one on to prove it – but how do they get to £850.00? Even this one below is £620.00. (The smallest size of this Glasgow was sent is an XL. I’m 6’4” and two of me could have got in it. WTF?)

The shop does seem to have been dressed with a preponderance of top priced stock. There’s even a smattering of RRL, including a beautiful shooting waistcoat at a breathtaking £895.00...thank god it didn’t fit me and a pair of the old fashioned looking hiking boots they’re using on the site for £1200.

I’ve said this before but will re-iterate here, I am a long time RL customer and one of the most loyal and regular customers of this particular shop, but I can’t see who’s going to buy this stock at these prices. I note with interest that the small amount of Purple Label has gone, and the experiment with Black Label appears to have fallen flat...it hasn’t sold and I can tell you why. It’s far too dear and the look is average. You could achieve the full Black Label look in Topman for the price of a Black Label tie. Who wants to dress all in black anyway? You’d look like a footballer! RL customers like me, who are prepared to spend what normal people would think to be a ridiculous amount of money on their clothes, want the iconic Polo look. That might not mean the preppy styles I prefer, just a classic, relaxed and uber stylish range of colours and fabrics which IMHO RL excel at. I hope they get back on track soon. In the meantime....roll on the new year sale! Sorry for the comparitive lack of pics BTW, the stuff I bought doesn't appear on line yet.

As a wee treat I took Mrs Cyclo into Mulberry for a look. I ended up buying her a pre Xmas pressie, this fabulous oversize clutch.

Afterwards we tried Vroni’s wine bar for lunch. The food’s a bit ordinary but they are one of the few places in Glasgow who still go big time on Beaujolias Nouveau. Two bottles later we staggered out and headed for the fabric shop.

Recently, our ancient Tetrad sofas finally wore through on the seat cushions. We’d had the seat cushions recovered in heavy Arizona blanket style cotton, but this made our scatter cushions look a bit dowdy so...we’re having them covered in tartan for Christmas.

I'll post pics once the project is complete. It's high time I posted some picks of the dogs anyway and what better time than at Christmas as they recline on the new cushions?

I can’t make up my mind whether this is mildly offensive, entirely offensive or simply unsettling due to it’s rubbishness as an advert. However odd it is to read of breeks of any stripe being described as “post grad”, I like the idea of trousers being sold as “anti establishment”. Yeah! Fight the man! Crush the system! Wear polyester plaid drainpipes! Err…