Welcome back to The Buy Line, where we analyze how the new market forces of menswear—driven by the Internet and the rise of a more savvy consumer—have redefined where the intersection of well-made and well-priced lands.
And when it comes to tuxedos, you can find a host of good options for well under a grand...
Today’s must-reads from around the Internet.
The Shoe Fits: Celebrating a legendary cobbler who’s been making and repairing shoes in his Brooklyn shop since 1945.
Mustache-Have: You can win a mustache comb made by Ron Swanson (of Parks and Rec fame).
Doing It Right: Ivy Style gets a sneak peek at the new American-made Bass Weejuns.
What’s in a Wheel: Gear Patrol dispels the confusion between four-wheel drive and all-wheel drive.
To celebrate their latest collaboration with artist Hugo Guinness, famous for his quirky linocut prints (think: Japanese woodcuts of squiggly paper airplanes and friendly rhinoceroses), Coach has made this equally charming video of the London-born artist in his Brooklyn home/workshop. What’s more, the collection isn’t just all bags and wallets—there are some interesting additions, like a pocket multi-tool (in a leather pouch) or a valet tray (with the rhino on it). It’s all in a rich, glove-tanned leather and so should age like an old baseball mitt.
Très Brooklyn: The Cut talks with the French founders of Brooklyn We Go Hard about the mysticism of their namesake borough and their take on Parisian-Brooklyn style. [The Cut]
I’m on a Boat: A white-knuckle account of a reporter aboard a racing yacht during the America’s Cup. [NY Times]
Say Yas: Catching up with Yasuto Kamoshita, the jetsetting creative director of culty brand United Arrows. [The Window]
Swaggy Swag: Our pals over at Driven get a head start on the giving season with this slick gift guide—you might want to do some self-gifting as well. [Driven]
It’s October (yes, already) and that means one thing: a new crop of magazines has hit the shelves. September was the big rallying point for the fall menswear transition, so now it’s less about how fall looks and more about how fall feels: there’s tweed, the upcoming elections and awards season jockeying (coincidentally, each cover featured an A-list actor). So, let’s get into it.
Digging through the October issues, one perfumed page at a time.»
via The LibertineBe on the Pale: The Midwestyle makes the case for white jeans (and why you shouldn’t fuss over keeping them that way). [The Midwestyle]
Bonsai Tea: Dispelling seven misconceptions about the enigmatic Japanese booze, sake. (It’s more like beer than wine.) [SharpMen]
Friendly Skies: CNN takes us back to a simpler time, when flying on airplanes was glamorous—especially the stewardesses. [CNN]
Surfin’ NYC: The Moment takes us into the newest beach bum outpost in... Brooklyn. [T Magazine]
Our latest smell test comes from Brooklyn Dry Goods, inspired by the musk of an antique rifle found in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. As you might expect, it’s an offbeat scent, full of tobacco, pepper and unplaceable industrial notes.
But enough of the perfume lingo: it’s time to find out what the pitiless men and ladies (mostly ladies) of the office think. Here are their unvarnished appraisals.
We’d like to apologize in advance...
via The Fashion SpotBringing Back the Old Drake: A long interview with Michael Hill of Drake’s. It turns out the grenadine and shantung ties are their best sellers—and, coincidentally, also our favorites. [StyleForum]
Ad Rock: Creative Review’s best ads of the year include both Ice Cube’s Eames mash note and that little Vader kid. A great way to spend five minutes. [Creative Review]
At the Caff: The cafeterias of ’50s London were pretty stylish places. [Archival Clothing]
It Is Joined: A walking tour of Brooklyn’s newest boutique, complete with Hill Side ties and Left Field jeans. [Secret Forts]
This Wednesday, Shipley & Halmos launched their first cologne, a piney concoction brewed up by Brooklyn’s D.S. & Durga.
They only made 99 bottles of the stuff, but somehow we managed to get our hands on one of them. It’s big on lavender, with a few touches of suntan oil—but let’s face it, you don’t care about the parfumerie lingo. You want to know what it really smells like—so we enlisted a few of our most verbose female acquaintances to take a whiff of the stuff and tell us how it smells.
Home bars in the '60s had all sorts of goodies that didn’t make it into the modern age—crème de menthe, anyone?—but here’s one that’s due for a revival: old school seltzer.
Forget those store bought twist-top versions. Next to this, they’re practically Evian. A real bottled seltzer is so carbonated it shoots out of the bottle like a rocket, and stings your throat on the way down. More importantly, it does amazing things to scotch and it’s the only proper way to make an egg cream.
You can usually pick some up for around two bucks a bottle…but finding a bottler is easier said than done. In the age of supermarket twist-offs, they’re a dying breed—which makes a good one that much more of a gem. Brooklyn’s Gomberg Seltzer Works is one of the last in New York, but if you’re out of range you may have some legwork in your future. Trust us: it’s worth it.
This photo comes from the legendary Bruce Davidson’s study of the Jokers, a gang of Coney Island hoods circa 1959. See the rest of the shots here...and take notes on that white tee.
This tabletop from Avoid Pi made its debut last night at the Mighty Tanaka gallery with accents from genuine gold leaf and hardware-store nails. As for that O...think of it as the mother of all water rings.
The gentlemen at Trustocorp decided to take Brooklyn's hipster population down a peg with this sign, bolted up guerilla-style in the heart of Williamsburg. We don't think they’re kidding.
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