The Bite Magazine - Autumn/Winter 2022 - Issue 32

Manchester-based menswear brand Blake Mill shows Jada Brookes that men can wear bold and loud shirts with attractive intricate designs. bitemen washed a couple of times. "A great shirt is an investment that still looks excellent years after it's purchased.” During their research, the founders looked at over two thousand fabrics from eight countries before finding one good enough. “We obsess over stitch counts, agonise over buttons, and rede- signed our collar shape fifty-three times before we were truly happy.” They sub- mitted their shirts to the ultimate test by wearing them. “Ross holds the record; he once spent four days in one shirt at Glastonbury. And, once washed (vigor- ously), it came back as good as new.” Blake Mill goes through several steps to provide the perfect shirt. The ideal collar should be crisp, hold its shape for wash after wash, and fold cleanly around the top. They ensure their shirt collars meet these standards, including the internal reinforcing structures of the collar in multiple parts to ensure it folds perfectly. Out of the 2000 fabrics they looked at, over 100 made it into their shirts. “We wanted a highly crease-resistant cotton that holds its shape and has a slight sheen.” Cheap buttons crack or fall off when they’re quickly sewn on. The brand uses the highest quality buttons that are deeper than usual and more robust. “We sew them on using the Rolls Royce of button sewing machines, then dou- ble-check every button.” Bad stitching on cheap shirts sees them large and spaced far apart, with wandering stitch lines. “We use a very high stitch count. It's slower to sew this way and demands far more skill from the seamstress, but it produces a notably better locking and stronger seam.” When an arm insert is sown incorrectly or done too quickly, the fabric will ‘cog- gle’ in the seam. Blake Mill hires the most experienced sewists and gives them plenty of time. “We’re not wor- ried about making shirts efficiently and cheaply; we’re worried about making them perfectly.” Sewing a simple seam takes time and experience. When two fabric pieces are sown together, they must be fed through the sewing machine with identical tension. If you stretch one side of the seam more than the other, you’ll get characteristic bunching at the right angles of the seam. Blake Mill welcomes you to the mag- ical jungle with its colourful and loud Jungle Shirt embedded with prints of lions, parrots and other animals. It has a semi-fitted body and a structured but comfortable cutaway collar for maximum versatility. Inspired by the aerial picture of the Nile Delta in Lower Egypt, where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea, the Nile Delta Shirt captures the fine details of the tributaries. This style is available in the button-down version with the buttons hidden. Garden of Eden, also available in a but- ton-down and open collar, based on the biblical garden, will have you intrigued by the intricate details it bears. “Rich, lustrous vegetation? Check. Apple? Check. An evil, manipulative serpent? Totally! Why wear a shirt when you can wear a theology lesson?” Summer Breeze Shirt takes its cue from the lyrics of the Isley Brothers’ song of the same name. The style is also designed in a button-down and open collar. Blake Mill’s collaboration with former Love Island contestant and model Jor- dan Adefay created the Wild Thing Shirt inspired by “the rip-roaring chaos of wildlife [with] creatures of the forest and jungle.” Think of Japan with the Cherry Blossom Shirt, also in the button-down, one of Blake Mill's boldest takes thanks to their love of the culture and art. "Not a shirt for wallflowers [but] most definite- ly a homage to that most Japanese of events, the flowering cherry tree.” Another artful influence comes from one of the greatest renaissance painters. The Renaissance Genius Open Collar Short Sleeve Shirt depicts Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, emerging from the sea after her birth, naked and fully grown. “The painting hangs in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy, but the shirt is more widely available,” says the brand. Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Ve- nus, executed in the mid-1480s, was known by the Romans as Venus, but the Greeks saw her as Aphrodite. Blake Mill shirts are available online on their website. www.blakemill.co.uk Wear It Bold and Loud