May 22, 2013 world of men's style / fashion / grooming RSS
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05/22/13
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LinkOut

Ovadia & Sons New Looks, 10 Reasons Vintage Clothes Suck and Visiting Lego Baseball Stadiums

Ovadia

Standing O: GQ gets and exclusive first look at the latest crop of handsomeness from the Brothers Ovadia. (It does not dissapoint.)

Certified Pre-Owned: Despite what heritage-obsessed bloggers (and Macklemore) might have you believe, buying vintage clothes can be a total crapshoot—and Four Pins has had enough of the glad-handing.

Batter Up: The Louisville Slugger factory has just opened a new exhibit featuring some impressive lego renditions of MLB’s most iconic stadiums (and, curiously, Derek Jeter’s face.)

Polos On Polos On Polos: Esquire reports on the hotly anticipated polo shirts from Michael Bastian that have just hit Uniqlo’s webshop.

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05/21/13
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Big Picture

Kendra Spears Has Invented a New Yoga Pose

Kendra Spearsvia Fashion Gone Rogue

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05/21/13
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What's What

A Pop-Culture History of Men and Shorts

Shorts

The prospect of celebrating summer’s inaugural weekend might have you toying with the idea of spending the entire three days in a pair of shorts (especially if you plan on being poolside the whole time).

But going pantsless is a deceptively tricky move—wrought with pitfalls and misconceptions.

More often than not, they’re considered a necessary evil. Tom Ford famously said that a man should never wear them. Inevitably, someone will rib you with that moldy chestnut about never taking a man in shorts seriously. But in the right hands—er, on the right gams—they can be serviceable, arguably even stylish. It’s been done before, to varying degrees of success.

So, as menswear anthropologists, in our quest to find out how we got into this pantsless existential crisis, we present to you:

A pop-culture history of men and shorts.»
 

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05/21/13
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Icon

Icon: Jack London

Jack London

In the long, proud bloodline of gritty journalists—the Hemingways, the S. Thompsons of the literary world—there was the original: Jack London.

In 1897, at age 21, he sailed to the Klondike in search of gold, and instead of finding a fortune, he picked up a near-fatal case of scurvy. Returning to his native Northern California a little worse for wear and a few teeth lighter, he picked up the pen and never looked back. (As you’d imagine, a running theme in his writings was man versus wild.) For all the love the Gold Rush era gets from the Americana set, there aren’t too many faces that can be put to the name—just anonymous beards and dusty overalls—but Jack London was there, in the thick of it. Looking quite stylish, for the most part.

Celebrating the man who answered The Call of the Wild in five iconic photos.»
 

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05/21/13
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LinkOut

Touring Melbourne, Mixing Patterns and Japan By Way of Portland

Scarves

Art House: Before the era of CGI and green screens, artists were hired to paint spectacular life-sized scenes to simulate distant galaxies or off-location cities. Here are the 50 best.

Oy, Oy, Oy: Footwear designer Christian Kimber takes Details on a tour of Melbourne.

Socks and Pants: A Suitable Wardrobe explains the time and place for mixing stripes with checks.

Port of Call: Cool Hunting discovers a Portland outfit using ancient Japanese textiles to make a majestic pocket squares, ties and scarves.

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05/20/13
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Big Picture

Lily Aldridge Is Re-Re-Watching Last Night’s Mad Men

Lily Aldridgevia evasee

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05/20/13
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Bad Idea/Good Idea

The State of the Apron

Apron

Memorial Day weekend is only four days away.

Sure, it’s got us looking forward to the prospect of dusting off the white bucks, but we’re mostly excited to roll out the barbecue grill for the season and fill up a cooler with ice and beer.

And anyone who’s manned a grill in this modern era understands that a handsome apron is par for the course. Blame it on a few overeager souls who took the heritage trend a little too seriously—or a captive audience willing to spend countless hours reading up on 1930s butcher shops and perusing handlebar-laden Tumblrs—but the apron scene is perhaps hotter than it’s ever been. So we took a moment to check in on the state of the apron, to see what’s out there these days (luckily, another side effect of the heritage trend is that they’re all going to last you a lot longer than a dozen tanks of propane).

Herewith, your guide to the new world of the menswear apron.»
 

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05/20/13
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Sale-ing

Preparing for Summer the Alabaman Way

Lyonstate

Alabama has become an unlikely bastion of bloggerly menswear in the past few years, thanks to Billy Reid’s triumphant return home and a surprisingly hip men’s shop that’s recently sprung up in Mobile by the name of Lyonstate.

The owner made her menswear bones in NYC running A.P.C.’s American wholesale operation, so the stock has that citified Southern dandy feel that Alabama is becoming known for. You’ll find everything from Maine-made loafers to Lyonstate’s new in-house line of summer-ready shirting in lightweight oxford cottons and a particularly slick white chambray. (Needless to say, you can trust an Alabaman to outfit you for the warmer months.)

Oh, and did we mention our pals over at UrbanDaddy Perks are readying you for the upcoming summer with 50 or 100 extra bucks in spending power (essentially 33% off your final tally) at Lyonstate’s webshop this week?

Well, we have now. You’re welcome.

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05/20/13
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LinkOut

Rubbing Elbows at Cannes, Thrifting a Ferrari and The Story of the Beer Can

Cannes hotels

Cannes Do: For anyone planning on doing some impromptu hobnobbing in Cannes, make sure to book one of these five celeb-magnet hotels.

Showing ID: Details makes the case for the return of a forgotten piece of men’s jewelry: the ID bracelet.

Started From the Bottom: The story of the greatest thrifter of all time, who began by trading a paperclip for a doorknob, and just bought himself a Ferrari.

Can It: Bon Appetit celebrates the technological advancements of man’s greatest ally: the beer can.

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05/17/13
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Big Picture

The Friday Kemptress: Zoe Saldana

Zoe Saldana

We won’t claim to know much about the latest Star Trek, but we do have a strong feeling it’s going to be easy on the eyes, thanks to the following…»
 

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05/17/13
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Sale-ing

The Weekend Sales Report Card

Weekend Sales

We’ve filtered through all of the online sale noise and graded your best options out there, should you feel inclined to do any menswear browsing this weekend…

For Looking Fashion-Forward to Summer: Opening Ceremony is knocking 20% off most of their spring wares with the code SpringFling20.
Discount: B
Sizes Available: A-
Selection: B+

For Princely Pants: Dockers is throwing a Friends and Family sale with 30% off everything, including their Alpha Khakis—which were recently spotted on British royal Prince Harry—with the code FF2013.
Discount: B+
Sizes Available: B+
Selection: A-

For the Swimmers: Get up to 60% off swimwear at Nordstrom, featuring one of our favorite trunk-makers: Orlebar Brown.
Discount: A
Sizes Available: B
Selection: B+

More of the good stuff on sale, after the jump.»
 

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05/17/13
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LinkOut

Kerouac Style, Club Monaco’s Fall Lookbook and the Handwritten Beginnings of Great Literature

Kerouac

Never Force a Smile: Mining the style of sartorial stoic Jean-Lois “Jack” Kerouac, by way of A Headlong Dive.

On a Scroll: Pitchfork’s mixed-media treatment for their cover story on Daft Punk is even more spectacular than the duo’s sequined suits.

In da Club: Club Monaco makes a majorly #menswear move by releasing its fall 2013 lookbook on Tumblr.

Write It Down: Some of the greatest works of literature started as scribbled outlines—Flavorwire takes a look at some famous authors’ “planning papers.”

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05/16/13
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Big Picture

Irina Shayk Is Not Planning on Swimming

Irina Shaykvia Vidigy

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05/16/13
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Scene

Kempt Man of the Hour: Joel Edgerton

Joel Edgerton

It doesn’t get much better than this when it comes to dressing for the equally Mediterranean and glamorous climate of Cannes.

Yesterday, to kick off the cinematic festivities, Joel Edgerton showed up to the inaugural photo call as Cannes personified: an airy off-white suit with peak lapels, a crisp white shirt with collar open, an interesting pocket square and a pair of Wayfarers (he ditched them once the flashbulbs started popping).

Last time we checked in on the Gatsby crew, we were less than thrilled with the turnout, but we’re taking it all back with regards to Edgerton (the charcoal grays from Leo and Tobey still felt a bit out of place) and giving him top MOTH honors.

It’s worth the whole damn bunch of Palme d’Ors put together.

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05/16/13
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Bad Idea/Good Idea

The Appraisal: Mandals

Mandals

Many questions can be definitively answered by simply polling the #menswear world. Like, how much camo is too much camo? (See here.) But for other queries, well, it seems that the jury’s still out.

Case in point: men’s sandals.

We’re not talking about your basic 10-buck flip-flops here, though. It was decided long before our time that those are to be relegated to beaches, pools, lakes—basically any venue with some combination of heat, water and increased exposure. No controversy there. Actually, it’s the leathery, designer-y variety that’s at the heart of this mess, pitting dapper blogger against dapper blogger.

A mess that we’re going to try to sort out, once and for all…»
 

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Style: some people have it, and some neighborhoods really have it. To show you what we mean, we’ve partnered with Cadillac to present Style Shifters—a five-part, in-depth look at what the hippest gents in some of the country’s coolest neighborhoods are wearing now. Our intrepid photographers have roamed the streets in search of the most stylish guys around. Herewith, a few photos of what they found...

New York

Brooklyn

Williamsburg

Williamsburg, Brooklyn is home to some of the country’s best bars, coolest restaurants and, of course, some of the best menswear shops in the world. Naturally, you’ll find more than a few stylish individuals perched outside those locations (and no, not all of them are Billyburg hipsters). See what we mean below...

On The Streets: Brooklyn

  • Carl Mateo, 32 Brand Ambassador for Silly Hats Company Lives: Greenpoint, Brooklyn
    What We Like Sed tempor tincidunt augue, nec faucibus mi mattis vitae. Donec urna massa, molestie eget facilisis nec, pellentesque a enim.

    Vivamus ipsum est, feugiat vitae commodo et, dignissim at orci. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Aliquam iaculis faucibus urna, sit amet pellentesque.
  • Michael Benin, 28 Frontend Developer of UrbanDaddy Lives: Greenpoint, Brooklyn
    What We Like Vivamus ipsum est, feugiat vitae commodo et, dignissim at orci. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Aliquam iaculis faucibus urna, sit amet pellentesque.

    Sed tempor tincidunt augue, nec faucibus mi mattis vitae. Donec urna massa, molestie eget facilisis nec, pellentesque a enim.
  • Michael Benin, 28 Frontend Developer of UrbanDaddy Lives: Greenpoint, Brooklyn
    What We Like Vivamus ipsum est, feugiat vitae commodo et, dignissim at orci. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Aliquam iaculis faucibus urna, sit amet pellentesque.

    Sed tempor tincidunt augue, nec faucibus mi mattis vitae. Donec urna massa, molestie eget facilisis nec, pellentesque a enim.
  • Michael Benin, 28 Frontend Developer of UrbanDaddy Lives: Greenpoint, Brooklyn
    What We Like Vivamus ipsum est, feugiat vitae commodo et, dignissim at orci. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Aliquam iaculis faucibus urna, sit amet pellentesque.

    Sed tempor tincidunt augue, nec faucibus mi mattis vitae. Donec urna massa, molestie eget facilisis nec, pellentesque a enim.
California

San Francisco

Mission District
May 1

Oh, and up next: we take a peak at another handsome-as-hell neighborhood, the Mission District in San Francisco. Stay tuned...

Kempt
Style Shifters
Cadillac