My friend Finnish artist Riita Ikonen has a show of her special ‘postcards’in the grand tradition of mail art at the Christopher Henry Gallery in NYC until the 7th October.

I have been collecting postcards myself since I was 12 – everything from ‘Paris in the Flood’ circa 1908, to British seaside ‘dirty’ postcards to American 1950’s diners to 40’s  pin ups. My grad show at the London College of Printing was a collection of my work printed postcard size displayed on a revolving postcard rack on a small sandy beach with a deck chair.

Riita makes her own postcards out of anything that takes her fancy – from a rock, to a bunch of pencils, telephone chord, a broken record, some wood shavings – she sticks some stamps on it and mails it to Margaret Huber a lady in Brighton.  She has sent hundreds over a period of 9 years, she tells me: “whenever there is something exciting postcard sized around (usually when in strange new surroundings= traveling) and whenever there is a good moment to make one (= on holiday/ trip)….. Some got returned… because the stamps were under laminate, or the address was (intentionally) wrong, but mainly if the cards don’t make it to Margaret it is probably because they have broken into smithereens on the way. . The mailings need to be and go through the post as they are- no envelopes, sleeves etc.”

. I am sending all the time

As I photographed the very stylish Nick Wooster for the cover of Dutch magazine ‘Code,’ guys were coming up to him on the street saying ‘I love what you do’. Nick is a real gentleman with impeccable taste and countless blogs dedicated to his perfectly fitted suits, love of all things camouflage and style.

Having worked for a string of high end retailers like Neiman Marcus, Gilt and Barneys, he is taking on menswear for the masses at J.C. Penney.

“I’m a kid from Kansas, so J.C. Penney was where I got all my clothes from kindergarten to around 7th grade. In those days–the ’60s and ’70s–J.C. Penney served the same function as all the specialty stores we know today. In the same way there were three television stations everybody watched–ABC, CBS, or NBC–everybody shopped at Sears, Montgomery Ward, or Penney’s. And Penney’s was always the fashion store”

About his new JCP venture he says: “It’s going to be all those things you want. Here’s the thing: there’s no great gingham shirt, there’s no great Shetland blazer, there’s no perfect chino, at least for me, but there will be starting in September. ”

One of my own prize possessions is a vintage jean jacket from Sears Roebuck – perfectly styled with red tartan lining – I think Nick will bring back affordable style to the malls of America.