A Message to You Rudy: Ska style rises again. [Men.Style]

Thinking Ahead: The warm months are almost here, which means you should start shopping for Fall (but of course). Ransom will give you a head start. [Hypebeast]

Primary Colors: Obama is the Burberry candidate. [Radar]

Slip of the Tongue: Whoops. Someone let the beans spill about the new Black Fleece store. [The Life Vicarious via Racked]

Criminal Minded: The slicked-back men of America finally have a voice. [The Onion]

Deal Alert: 70% off at the APC Brooklyn store from Wednesday through Thursday. [Trash Bag Aesthetics]

Stuck on Sinatra: Plunk down your 42 cents for the best dressed stamp ever. [Gothamist]

Who Wears Short Shorts?: In the Summer, hemlines actually become relevant for men. [Independent UK]

A.P.C. has let loose their fall and winter ’08 lineup, and we’re suitably impressed. Choosing a ginger model is a particularly seasonal touch, but the lineup of tweed, denim and generally tough fabrics is the real draw. They’ve been having a pretty good year—they rolled out a new denim style in April—and a recent Japanese expansion seems to have tempered their usual minimalism.

Naturally, the pants remain slim and the jackets keep their epaulettes.

Another set of pics after the jump»

Breaking in your own jeans is a bit too personal for some, but it never occurred to us to let someone else do the work…

A.P.C. has come up with a novel solution: Buy back broken-in jeans at half-price, then resell them to folks who prefer their denim a little softer. We wouldn’t want to be on the broken-in end, but we suppose it’s a matter of taste, and it’s still better than a trip to Diesel. No one has to suffer through mass washes and the indigo-stained masses get a little financial relief.

Then again, New York’s hipsters may have more money in denim than stock at this point. If A.P.C. isn’t careful, there’ll be a run on the bank.

Sleepwear tends to get overlooked by the non-Schnabel parts of the world, but having a set of matching pajamas on-hand is priceless. Chinese cotton has been the go-to for a while, but it looks like France is getting in on the action.

This cotton set comes from A.P.C.’s new Madras winter collection. You can get the same print on a button-up, but we prefer it this way. After, a shirt is just a shirt, but a good pair of pajamas is practically a suit.

As you may have noticed, things are a bit different in Japan. An American storefront means the usual hole in the wall—maybe one with a little history and exposed brick if you’re lucky. But apparently Japan has a little more flexibility on the retail end.

A.P.C. finally finished up their Kita-Aoyama store (with help from architecture firm Wonderwall), and it’s quite a sight. It’s less a store than an all-encompassing bungalow, with a touch of feudal-palace thrown in for good measure. It’s not quite as location-appropriate as their industrial-throwback Brooklyn outpost, but we know where we’d rather spend an afternoon. And if you want to pick up those pajamas in person, we can’t think of a better place to do it.

See more after the jump»

APC’s spring collection just went up online, and this belt was what caught our eye. It’s not exactly preppy, and it’s certainly not the kind of thing you’d see on a pair of suit pants, but it’s one of the cheekier accessories we’ve seen lately, which counts for a lot. Now that we’re done with the skinny tie, maybe it’s time for the skinny belt?

The lightweight jacket usually gets passed over, but a good one can get more wear than a suit. And, as usual with outerwear, the trick is finding the right texture.

This houndstooth jacket from A.P.C. gets it just about perfect, offering a zig-zag of patterns that averages out to a neutral gray from far enough back. This being A.P.C., the collar is just about perfect, and the cut is every bit as narrow as you’d want.

It’s waterproofed too, but we’d still recommend keeping an umbrella handy.

For some reason, A.P.C. seems to be on vacation.

Their latest summer collection is practically a handbook for the young and tweedy Ibiza crowd. It’s quite a thing to nail down a particular age and moment—Ralph Lauren started out in much the same way—but it’s interesting that this is where the francophone label has found themselves.

The fall lines always seemed more reserved than their stateside counterparts. These were clothes for schoolkids, but mostly the ones in the library, which makes this beachbound hedonistic turn more than a little surprising.

Then again, that’s what summer vacation is for.

See the rest of the line»

A man goes through a lot of denim over the years, but it’s hard to pick a favorite.

Men.Style is putting the matter to a vote, with A.P.C.’s New Standard, the Jean Shop Rocker, and Levi’s 501 leading the ballot at the moment. Of course, we’re on record preferring the RRL Slim Fit, which is currently ranked at #5, but we suppose everyone has their own horse in this particular race.

But if you’re rooting for Helmut Lang, you might want to reconsider things.

Count on A.P.C. to make even the band t-shirt seem like the result of a struggle.

They just put out a series of clever t-shirts for the bands Housse de Racket, Koko Von Napoo and The Teenagers, but what’s usually a quirky opportunity for brands to stretch their design legs has become downright cranky.

Instead of basking in the rock star’s reflected glow, A.P.C.’s Jean Touitou has apparently taken this opportunity to explain exactly what’s wrong with kids today. In the release, he writes, “It all started in the nineties, when a Clash clad in Prada was sometimes encountered, and now baby clashes are all posing for Prada. Poseurs have taken the place of heroes. I do hate rock ‘n’ roll.”

Them’s fightin’ words…

Our response, along with the other two tees»

Pharrell’s Billionaire Boys Club label is usually too firmly on the streetwear side of things to catch our eye, but this striped shirt caught our eye as a potential crossover piece.

It looks like something we’d pick up at A.P.C.…so much so that we scoured their back catalog looking for this exact item. But the issue isn’t sartorial plagiarism so much as a healthy exchange of ideas. This item made its way from pasty Parisians to hip-hop futurists in just a few seasons.

Does that mean streetwear is going French?

Provoked: Agent Provocateur has basically never let us down. [FashionIndie]

The Surge: Menswear leads the economic charge. Does that mean we can start declaring short-lived trends again? [FT]

Hitting the Bottle: Evian brings in Jean-Paul Gaultier to revamp their classic bottle design. Hopefully, Coke is paying attention. [Selectism]

Can We Have Our Ball Back?: Jean Touitou of A.P.C. continues to be surprisingly crotchety about music. [Dazed Digital]

A.P.C.’s 2009 accessories just hit the market and these belts were the item that caught our eye.

The usual rule is to match your belt to your shoes—brown to brown, black to black, and so on—but in this case, there’s a stronger affinity between the belt and the tie. We’ve already seen A.P.C.’s waist-bound response to the skinny tie, and this latest belt seems built to match its less trendy cousin, the knit tie. It’s a good idea, and it might even be a new style law in the making.

For chiefly functional items like raincoats, the styles haven’t changed much in 70 years. So absent a bit of new technology (i.e. the Nau crowd), your best bet is a brand that’s been building up cred for a few decades…or one of their more recent collabs.

Someone else got to Mackintosh first, so the folks at A.P.C. turned to a Canadian slicker marque called K-Way, resulting in this puffy anorak. Not a bad idea for summer rains…especially if you run across a storm that makes you lose your faith in waxed cotton.

The occasionally cantankerous A.P.C. honcho Jean Touitou just sat down with Hypebeast’s Eugene Kan to expound on the state of modern clothiers. But when the conversation turns to America, he gets a little carried away and moves towards nationalist body snark. We’ll forgive him for choosing Serge Gainsbourg over the Ramones, but this requires an explanation»

New in Town: Edita Vilkeviciute is the Next Big Thing. You heard it here first (well, second). [Luxist]

The Wisdom of Crowds: Gawker chronicles the rise and fall of the Zivity. For some reason, they just couldn’t make porn work on the internet. [Gawker]

You’re the Flannel Man: A.P.C. continues to impress. [Hypebeast]

Don’t, Bro: You can only work at a taser company for so long before someone decides to “demonstrate” on you. [Gizmodo]

APC’s Fall/Winter gear arrived in their shops last week, and along with it, the latest entry in their ongoing collaboration with K-Way, the Quebecois windbreaker brand.

The design corps spiced things up with a tricolor stripe this time around, but more importantly, they opted for the pullover parka rather than the usual zip-up. That means a bit less convenience on your way out the door, but a more impermeable feeling once you get outdoors.

And the way New York weather’s been lately, you may not have to take it off all day.

We’ve been seeing a lot of railroad stripe, both on the racks at the (capsule) show and among Penfield’s recent gear, but our favorite so far is this APC jacket from a season past that just landed at their sale annex in Brooklyn. The nautical peacoat shape might be a bit unwieldy, but it makes the most of the thickness of the cloth and the result is the kind of offbeat stateliness APC does best. And if it’s a season or two ahead of the curve, all the better.

ROFL: Blush Lingerie scores a few well-earned points. The heels are sold separately. [SwipeLife]

Simon Says: Simon Spurr throws us some exceedingly kind words. [Forbes]

La Vie en Rose: APC’s Jean Touitou continues to be crotchety, declinist. [Selectism]

We’ll Always Have Thursday Afternoon: Past the 72-hour mark, Balloon Boy has veered off into kitsch. Luckily, NYMag is there to source the five best ironic anthems to bring this episode to a close. Play him off, metaphorical keyboard cat. [Daily Intel]

The latest crop of APC gear is landing in stores this week, which means the usual assortment of close-cropped flannel, some intensely speckled sweaters…and this hat.

We’re not quite ready to call it a trend just yet, but we’ve been waiting quite a while for a faux-fur earflap hat that didn’t make us look like a Cossack or a duck hunter—and we suspect we’re not alone. This one doesn’t ditch the woodsy vibe entirely, but adds enough rough plaid grunginess to give urban dwellers a little cover. And since it’s a good deal warmer than all the equally handsome alternatives, the cold should do the rest.

It’s been a while, but we’re ready to call trend on a new item: the flecked sweater.

The look’s been building steam for a while, most notably in the marled sweater resurgence that popped up last fall, but between this autumn-hued jumper in APC’s latest shipment, and this Utility Coop crew neck, along with earlier entries from Our Legacy and Paul Smith, pushes it over the threshold into trendhood. Four’s a trend, right?

Naturally, we’re in favor. Sweaters can always use a bit of texture, and giving a contrast color just means more to look at. The APC jumper is the most extreme of the lot but we’d more conservative versions to keep their sheen long after they’ve stopped being hip. And in the meantime, a static-dappled crew neck should be the right kind of eye-catching.

You Know, Metaphorically: That jacket probably crinkles a lot. [Fashion Gone Rogue]

The Style Guy of Style Guys: Glenn O’Brien is scouring eBay for a Citroen. Sometimes the only appropriate response is awe. [A Continuous Lean]

Bags, Hats and Belts: The latest crop of APC accessories just landed, and no matter what you think, they refuse to make their belts any thicker or their ties any wider. Shine on… [Selectism]

Little Gold Men: Ranking “For Your Consideration” ads on a scale from Spielberg to Seagal. [Vulture]

Lost among the recent shuffle of APC gear, we dug up this gray suede derby that might be our favorite item of the lot. Our favorite part? The soft gum-crepe sole last seen on our beloved Clarks desert boots. Well played, Jean.

A Good Pour: We’re guessing this counts as a low-budget shoot [AnOther Magazine]

The Man Himself: Michael Williams sits down with Jean Touitou of A.P.C. [A Continuous Lean]

Left Breathless: An examination into the style of Jean-Paul Belmondo, quite possibly the coolest Frenchman ever. [The Selvedge Yard]

Happiness is Easy: The secret to lifelong happiness is contained beyond this humble link. (Bourbon is involved.) [The Awl]