ben's interweb

Cherry told me a story last week about a hoodyie that Ben had which he really liked, saying Stop Smoking Smoking Skills, but with a packet of Marlboro on it.

Apparently, Ben had mislaid the hoodyie at a festival or something, then some time later he came across this really drunk bloke wearing his lost hoodyie.  Ben challenged the bloke, but he said that it was from his girl-friend's wardrobe - and he seemed to decide that it must mean that Ben had had a fling with his girl-friend...
...anyway, they were kept apart and didn't come to blows, and Cherry was eventually able to get the hoodyie  back through the girl-friend.

Well...I wonder if this is the hoodyie..?  I have collected (I thought) all of Ben's clothes from around my house, and from the lock-up in London, and they are stored all together in my garage, but today, as I cleared a wardrobe upstairs for possible Ukrainian guests, what should I come across but this hoodyie...I wonder if it is the same one as that in the story..?









...which brings me to another of Ben's tops: a rather jazzy shirt that I wore to a Cornish tea dance a week ago.  I do rather like wearing something that was Ben's, that was chosen by Ben, and also (in the case of this shirt) that I would not normally wear!

So...

...we have a reasonable amount of Ben's clothes...and I might get round to doing a catalogue of all of them...in case anyone else would like to wear one of Ben's items of clothing - on the basis that, when you come to the re-Wake (that we are planning for 17th June 2023) that you wear that item of Ben's clothing...

¡Que haya luz! Kerenza ha yeghes da! Andrew x



[Ed: Here is something from Jess...]

...that’s the SMOKING SKILLS hoodie I mentioned in August! He bought two of the same jacket (one as a back up because he liked it so much) He’d wear the back up around the flat like a housecoat…!

He’d added ribbons and beads from Montol to the ‘main hoodie’ and I remember he was anxious about washing it too often lest it deteriorated too quickly… so it often had an interesting fusty-ness to it! Thanks for posting your wardrobe find - so lovely to see something I associate so closely with being in Ben’s company 😊...


...I also just remembered that once (when it had become especially pungent) he caught me adding the hoodie to the laundry basket and cried “No, Love! The washing machine is the enemy!” Here he is drinking a beer and “doing computer” in it

Jess x



[Ed: and something from Sophie:]

Ahhh! How wonderful. I'm so glad you did a post on this! Jess and I often talk about the "Smoking Skills" hoody- Ben loved it and for some reason we both find comfort in that piece of clothing and it really represents Ben. I can't quite remember the story, but I think there are two...an Elder and a Younger Smoking Skills hoody..... Jess will know. I can conjure up the smell of Ben wearing this hoody- definitely faggy- he did of course have brilliant Smoking Skills 😂. I seem to have a vivid memory of hugging Ben in this and also feeling the scratch of his unshaved beard. Oh what I'd do to give him a hug right now!

As for the shirt! Andrew you look splendid! That is of course the shirt Ben wore in Faroes for the wedding. What strange comfort to see Bens things continuing on.

I'll look out some pics of him in both these items (now found: the Smoking Skills hoody can be seen here in Faroes and a pub in London, and the shirt obviously on the wedding day!)

As for me, I think aside from the Smoking Skills hoody, the pink courdroy shirt always makes me feel very Ben, and his yellow and blue backpack and blue and red (Berghaus maybe?) jacket. I can already see him stomping up a hill when I think of those items! Ben and I also had matching brown Berghaus hiking boots- we both bought them for our trip to Shetland back in 2017 and turned up wearing the same (they must have been in the sale at Millets or something 😂) I remember thinking they must be good if Ben also had them! And throughout the trip I would make him do a foot high five for being shoe twins.

Clothes are very special aren't they? They hold so many memories and stories. On my hunt for the attached pics I also found some other classics....there's a short story about a very smelly penguin hat that needs telling at some point. And I also have some great pics of the repaired Betty coat in process, and a video of Ben thanking me for it and modelling it whilst cracking a beer which I listen to often to hear his voice say my name 💔. I'll put them together in a folder at some point, as I know that coat also held special significance for you.

Anyway, lots of love. We arrived back from our travels a couple of days ago and are slowly acclimatising.... We should book in a date to come and see you before it gets too cold if you'll have us! S xxx