Chris "Hoff" H.'s Profile

The Phoenix Galleries are one of Brighton's coolest places for an artistic day, with a huge amount of space to see a variety of different things. There are rooms that can be rented, as well as a nice big gallery space on the ground level, AS WELL as a huge number of artists in residence within the building: over 100 at a time, I think. There's not much to see at a glance, but going on one of the Open Days or during a workshop day or something similar shows you how big the space is and how much people in here do!

I understand the gallery is a charity, as well as all of the above, giving working artists (must have sold or had some work displayed within a set time) a working studio as well as the possibility of sharing space, time and advice. This is all great, a really vibrant way to work and open the space up, and ties in nicely with the bigger gallery downstairs, which always has a great exhibition on and is worth seeing. It's maybe half an hour of your time, it's free, and is normally a bit out there and something different from the norm! See what's on and go see something soon!

The Three and Ten has become one of the most important venues in Brighton, as well as a perfectly respectable pub in its own right. It's strange to think that the Three and Ten should be such a respected venue of the comedy circuit: the stage barely holds a single performer, and it can barely seat 50. Still, they get plenty of pretty big and important comedians gracing the stage: it was even nominated (might even have won?) for the Best Venue in the South award from Chortle recently. They also have a pretty impressive marketing team: there's always a flyer pack with whats on in most of the Lanes pubs: grab a flyer and see if a favourite is playing sometime soon!

The pub itself is pretty standard fare: amazingly, the crowd aren't really tied into the venue upstairs: they seem to be local office boys and girls, which seems a little strange for the out-of-the-way pub. It's worth coming early if you want somewhere to sit on the weekend, most times I've had to stand and wait for the venue to open: a shame, but the pub is actually quite titchy. Still, combined with the venue, this makes for a great evening spot. Find a comic, and have a go!

Reiss is an uber-expensive clothes shop in the Lanes, offering some very cool looking and modern hip clothing in minimalist and artistic surroundings. Maybe they aren't very well stocked, but there just seems to be a lot of space for even small items...or maybe that's how cool each item is: it needs its own cool bubble, or something like that. Either way, it's all too expensive, although it is exactly in my style bracket: modern, cool without being trashy, and a bit sailor-ish, at least currently.

The main problem here is the price: it's all so expensive that I'd be scared to wear it out, in case I spill tomato sauce on it and ruin £80 worth of sock... Maybe that's one of my hang-ups, but I hate wearing anything out that I paid more than a tenner for, in case I sit on a greasy spot on a bench or get defecated on by a bird. Still, if I had the money I'd wear Reiss clothes proudly, they are pretty cool and right up my alley. Why is everything I like so expensive?

I'll out myself here: I am, despite being mid-twenties, still an avid t-shirt wearer. The days of brands and logos are past me though, so Boy Parker holds little appeal for me anymore. However, when I was younger, it was one of my staples, and for obvious reason: they offer a huge selection of cool and interesting T-shirts with logos, jokes and other such branding. It is a bit pricey for the average tee, but they are pretty cool: how much will you pay to look cool?

If you're answer to the above question, like mine would be, is 'not much', than you have little to gain from Boy Parker. If I was a bit cooler, I'd probably see the point of wearing more branded gear; as such, I'm happy when I can find tees that fit me! That's probably a bit of an exaggeration, but there you go. The only other reason I might go to Boy Parker is for the huge badge collection, but I stopped wearing them even longer ago... I'm not very cool anymore, am I?

American Apparel is the new cool store for all the cool kids, and it's clear to see why: it's a real back to basics, tiny clothes of all varieties, kept and cut simply, in a variety of prime colours. It's the kind of fashion that some can and should pull off, and others really shouldn't: obviously, the tight, figure-hugging look really looks slamming on certain individuals, while it makes slight chubbers like me look a bit ridiculous. Still, I do have a couple of T-shirts: they may stretch across my stomach a little unfashionably, but then also make my manly chest and shoulders look... just great.

If I look at my group of friends, opinion is really divided: some love the tight, prime colour set-up here, others think they can't pull it off and are just a little bit jealous, while others think the over-sexualised advertising is a bit much. I'll admit, the whole half-naked models thing has obvious good points (in most cases, at least two), but does mean that the clothes do seem a little tacky when worn out. Double-edged sword I suppose. My best advice: if you can see yourself in the pages of Dazed and Confused, you should definitely be wearing American Apparel, if not, think it through carefully.

Well, it's Zara, innit? Everyone's been to a Zara once or twice, they're all over the South East for heaven's sake, and we all know what they offer: slightly more upmarket high street fashion than some of its competitors. I like going to Zara for cheap suits and the like: I even got my linen wedding suit here (yeah, I'm getting married in linen... I am that cool), although I often have to go to London to get the perfect size for my slightly rotund figure.

So, yeah, this a Zara, which is generally very nice, that doesn't stock awkward sizes... so it's the absolute basic high street chain. I personally can't rate this Zara that highly: they don't have trousers in my size! Still, I like the style, I like the generally reasonable prices, and, for a high street shop, Zara are slightly more classy than some of their competitors. If you're a Top Shopper, consider changing allegiances: your chances of wearing a branded t-shirt will be lowered forever!

Brighton's hot spot for cowboy fashion, Dirty Harry's features everything you might need for your modern, asphalt cowboy look: boots, belts, big checkered shirts, jeans jackets, etc. It's all, like so much of the Brighton fashion scene, a bit too cool for school, but there is a lot of choice here for the potential Clint Eastwood impersonator. Shirts of all sizes and colours, plenty of different types of jacket... again, not really my style, but I can recognise that they have more than enough here to outfit a small army of cowboys of various shapes and sizes and ideas of sartorial elegance.

Most customers here seem to be coming to Dirty Harry's for the cowboy boots and shirts, and it's easy to see why: these are the fashion items most likely to fit in with a regular and not cowboy-themed wardrobe. The boots apparently sell out pretty quickly, so I'd recommend getting advice on when in the month is a good time to make sure you can get your size!

Not being a self-styled street boi, I don't see much of the point in wearing trainers. When I was younger, sure: I needed something to run and jump in, didn't I? Now, though, it's all about the canvas boater: stylish, chic and still youthful. However, if you're all about the sneaker and some street style, Size? is probably the best place in Brighton to start, offering plenty of lurid plastic shoes for unmentionable prices. Not for me, but I'm not everyone!

If this is your sort of thing, Size? is a nice big shop with plenty of choice between equally disgusting looking plastic monstrosities. You have the choice between huge and ginormous shoes, with colours ranging in all lurid spectrums of the mind's eye, with plenty of rappers telling you what to wear through the sound system at the same time. This really isn't my cup of tea (you think!), but there seems to be plenty on offer here for the 21-year old skater boi. Just be sure to only wear them on weekends!

Gresham Blake is Brighton's most famous bespoke tailors, and for good reason: it offers a huge amount of different materials and cuts to create your perfect suit, as evidenced by the hundreds of testimonials from local and national celebrities. It's almost too pricey for the common Brightonian, but prices do start quite low, and can be even cheaper if you buy off the rack, and there are some very nice items on there as well! There's even a women's section: everything you might need from a bespoke tailors, really.

The main problem here is price: these aren't prices for mortals, I feel. Still, when you enter the shop, you are treated well, even you don't hand over an American Express Gold card upon entry. However, without the necessary cash, much of what Gresham Blake offers will forever be closed to you. I wish I had the cash to get a tailor made suit here, I'd go for something really original and different (definitely some shades of pink), but that will remain a pipe-dream for some time, I feel. If you have the cash, though, you could do much worse!

Wolf and Gypsy is a kind of second hand aggregator shop: they purposefully buy the coolest pieces of second hand gear and sell them on to you, the customer. A cool idea, and the resulting items are certainly come of the nicer second-hand pieces I've seen in quite some time. That being said, there is a definite style choice going on here: most of the stock is sixties and seventies. Not a bad thing, just not as open an aggregator as I had hoped at first glance.

Still, there is plenty right here. The rails for men and women are mercifully short, only the best items seem to make it onto the shop floor, meaning a browsing session is pleasantly short and eventful. The quality of the items means you'll always see one or two things that you just love, although you'll have to contend with the one size they have on the rack. That being said, the prices are very reasonable indeed, so there is plenty here to like! Just hope they have it in your size.