For those of us old enough to remember, who can forget the 80's proliferation of bootleg Lacoste crocodile patches you could buy in bulk and craftily iron onto a market stall polo shirt? Bargain basement luxe! Ah, back in the day… Band patches, peace symbols, marijuana leaves: our little appliquéd friends were the perfect sartorial weapon of choice to assert ones musical, political and, ahem, narcotic ideologies.

Thankfully patch style has come a long way since our teenage years and they are a enterprisingly chic way to sex up a drab garment. So, given the sun is out and summer's finally here this week (hurrah!) we suggest you get creative with iron on labels and do some homespun fashion DIY.

For some patchspiration, look no further than the pretty awesome 'patchwork' knocking about TRR Towers: a super-hot Marc Jacobs denim mini and a - frankly peerless - much loved vintage Wrangler waistcoat. (Whoever this originally belonged to, it's seen more decades of rock gigs than the TRR team put together that's for sure).

We love vintage patches and eBay is our go-to treasure trove for all kinds of crazy shapes and designs. If you're kack-handed with a needle and thread, mercifully there are loads of cool iron-on patches about too.

TRR'S TOP 3 PATCH RULES:

Go for minimalist (i.e: 1 patch) or OTT maximalist (i.e: 25) look and never in-between.

Hell Yes: Varsity lettering, occult, goth metal, military and Masonic vibes.

Hell No: anything twee, kitsch or Disney,

Posted on July 23, 2012 at 1:03:30 by The Real Runway