There are at least two things wrong with the title of this blog post. The first is that only two out of the five items listed were on sale, which I guess means I must have pretty expensive taste. The second is that (brace yourselves) I hate the world haul – when it became the norm for fashion bloggers to commandeer a word that was last used by pirates, I’m not sure. Not to mention the fact that several dictionaries indicate that the word has particularly close ties to describing ‘fish or illegal loot’. So yeah, not a fan. But ‘January Sales Haul’ makes for a much snappier blog title than ‘Stuff I bought, some of which was on sale and some of which was full price, that I’d like to post about because I think you guys will like them’.

Denim Jacket
When I was first starting out in the world of #fbloggers, I wrote something about finding the perfect denim jacket. I’m sad to say that I’ve since outgrown my ‘go to’ denim jacket, so have been on the hunt for a new one for a while. Although I’ve always liked the idea of sherpa linings, they remind me a little too much of Hyde from That ’70s Show, played by Danny Masterson and pictured here on the left. Judging from the picture below, taken last year, Masterson clearly became a little too attached to ’70s fashion during his stint on the show…

The issue I have with sherpa linings is that they tend to make you look like a big, shapeless sheep. While I’m sometimes willing to sacrifice fashion for warmth/comfort (just ask anyone who caught a glimpse of me over the Christmas holidays), it didn’t feel like the right choice with Spring supposedly just around the corner. I was thrilled to find my new jacket in Urban Outfitters’ Urban Renewal section – the sheepskin collar offers some differentiation from the thousands of washed out Levi’s jacket lemmings and doesn’t mean sacrificing the jacket’s lines. Less thrilled about the £65 price tag, but you gotta do what ya gotta do.

Gant Rugger Shirt
Despite some uncharacteristically questionable service from Gant the other day, since remedied by an apology from the company and the receipt of TWO replacement pairs of socks, I couldn’t resist splashing some of the gift card I received for Christmas on this handloom Oxford shirt. I already have a ton of check shirts with colourways made of red, white and blue. Managed to mix it up with some green this time. As with every Gant Rugger shirt I’ve bought, it’s incredibly soft and has that ‘oh my God, I want to live in this shirt’ quality to it.

New Look Denim Shirt
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you may remember that last year I posted a preview of New Look’s S/S ’13 menswear line. In that post, I mentioned a denim shirt with some subtle Aztec touches. I stand by my assertion that tribal prints are over, but I think that this shirt gets around that – the detailing is more reminiscent of Native Americana than the gaudy prints that dominated last season. Pictured below? A/W ’13, ‘duh.

Air Jordan IVs
This marks the only time I’ve ever really treated myself on a pair of shoes. I think I’m probably going to do a separate unboxing post about them to keep the sneakerheads happy.

Eastpak Backpack
When I found this at a third off the usual price buying it was an easy decision, as I’ve wanted an Eastpak backpack for a while. Lord knows I’ve had enough exposure to them at skramz and hardcore gigs. Although Eastpak produce some pretty crazy designs…

…I was mindful of Oscar Wilde’s advice - ’Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.’ I figured that although camo is a bit of a trend, it will also last me a long time without looking dated. And since the bag came with a 30 year guarantee, that can only be a good thing. It will appear again soon in a ‘What’s in my bag?’ post…

Can you reach any conclusion about my ‘~ trend predictions ~’ for 2013 based on this wardrobe refresh? Lots of denim. I suppose it’s also pretty notable that I’m stepping away from really prominent, flashy branding on clothing and making more of a statement through accessories and shoes instead. As practically fluorescent snapbacks and epilepsy inducing prints become more popular on the high street, I envision my own style becoming more stripped back and ‘classic’. It may be worth pointing out that street style shots from LCM have shown a lot of other guys doing just that. But apparently not the girls…