If you’re wondering why it’s feeling a bit more spring-like on Kempt today, we’d like to direct your attention to the column on the left—where we’ve refreshed our seasonal crop of must-haves.
We’ve conjured a spring fever dream of baseball, gardening and corduroys that don’t have a hint of fall in them. Allow us to show you the way.»
via Visual OptimismLeather, Man: A handy visual guide to help you learn your leathers—from bridle to patent. [Valet]
Tony, Toni, Toné: The style evolution of the wanderlust food critic, Tony Bourdain. [A Headlong Dive]
What Would Woody Do: Waxing poetic on the match made in autumnal heaven that is a corduroy blazer and chinos. [Put This On]
And… Twins: The Olsen twins explain to The Wall Street Journal how they’ve learned from menswear’s “investment pieces” ideology. [WSJ]
| ALL LinkOut |
TAGS
|
September is a big month in the print world of menswear. It sets the tone for the following season (and, effectively, the remainder of the year).
It also means the page counts are at their bulkiest—so many woolen things, so little time. And in our continued dedication to sussing it all out, we’ve thumbed through the 1,000-plus pages (we’ve thrown in the bonus round of Vanity Fair since they’ve weighed in on the year’s best-dressed men) just for you.
Someone Just Broke the First and Second Rules: Hamilton Nolan details a night at the illegal Underground Combat League, which we’re going to just refer to as “Fight Club.” [Gawker]
The Corduroy Is Rising: A typically excellent runway show from Band of Outsiders. Lotta soft colors here. [Hypebeast]
Words of Wisdom: Forty-three great quotes about menswear. Our favorite goes like this: “Know first who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly.” [Men’s Flair]
The Saga of the Shave: How much of a difference does shaving with a badger-hair brush make? A trad investigates. [A Suitable Wardrobe]
| ALL LinkOut |
TAGS
|
Hickoree’s is currently in the midst of their winter sale, offering a blanket 40% off a wide range of cold-weather gear. Sadly, they didn’t see fit to include any ties in the mix, but this hand-dyed Tender henley caught our eye, along with these Dana Lee cords and this ikat work shirt. Heads up, gentlemen.
| ALL Sale-ing |
TAGS
|
The Old Ways: ACL shares the story of a traditional October hunting trip, complete with video. [A Continuous Lean]
Awesome People Hanging Out Together: We know, it sounds like a blogger fantasy, but apparently Picasso and Gary Cooper were pretty close in the ’50s. [Driven]
All in the Weave: A look at the faces, threads and machines that bring you Harris Tweed. [Brain Pickings]
Cords of the Future: And in honor of Corduroy Day (that’s 11/11/11, get it?), we offer this pair of Ovadia cargo cords. [Ovadia & Sons]
And to all a good weekend!
Whether you’re wearing it or designing it, a velvet DB is a splashy way to make an entrance.
This one comes from Ramdane Touhami, who launched his eponymous label with a New York shop earlier this week. (Even splashier, the DB in question comes in under $400.) The rest of the stock is every bit as whimsical, with bright corduroys and over-buttoned coats filling up the stripped-down shop. Anyone looking for a more accessible twist on Band of Outsiders just hit the jackpot.
Touhami has been kicking around Europe for a while—collaborating with Marc Jacobs, making millions in the candle business; that sort of thing—but this is his first full-scale apparel brand in years. Judging by the early gear, it’s going to be quite a show.
Those Golden Bear letter jackets we teased on Monday just arrived with a nice surprise in tow: even more corduroy. There are also a few eye-catching Pendleton models, but naturally, our heart is for the wales.
| ALL Labeled |
TAGS
|
When most people think “corduroy jacket,” they imagine an endearingly musty sport coat that’s probably logged some time on the racks of a vintage store—but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Take a pointer from this Baron Wells jacket which has more in common with a navy hopsack blazer than the classic 70s item. The first trick is the pin wale, which is thin enough to resemble velvet at first glance. Add in working sleeve buttons (in a shade light enough to pass for brass), and you’ve got one of the more elegant corduroy items known to man.
The good news: they somehow brought it in under $250. The bad news: for some reason, they only made eleven of them.
| ALL Object |
TAGS
|
via EsquireScorpions are So On-Trend: A thorough examination of Ryan Gosling’s wardrobe in Drive. Knuckleless gloves come out pretty well. [Clothes on Film]
Fast Cars and Ugly T-Shirts: A look at the real von Dutch, a humble mechanic and motorcycle painter, before Audigier got his hands on the man. [The American Project]
Spun: As Moneyball approaches, here’s a list of reasons why some people already don’t like it. [Deadspin]
It’s Made of A Hundred Gutters That The Rain Can Run Right Through: In honor of corduroy season, here’s an incomplete list of songs involving corduroy. [The Awl]
| ALL LinkOut |
TAGS
|
We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: Levi’s Vintage Clothing is really on top of their game.
The latest batch just arrived at Unionmade. The jeans are fantastic, of course—you can choose between designs from 1878, 1922, 1933, and so on through to Eisenhower—but the cords and sweatshirts are also prime examples of early 20th century American style.
And if you had a sudden, urgent need for a shooting vest with 42 separate bullet pockets, this should probably be your first stop.
| ALL Labeled |
TAGS
|
Here’s another one from the “when it gets cold” file.
London’s YMC (short for “You Must Create”) just unveiled a few pics from their fall/winter line, which should get extremely handy once October rolls around. We’re particularly taken with this gentleman’s well-layered approach, even if his socks are getting a bit aggressive.
Beyond that, there’s some pretty handsome rollneck sweaters and some of the more handsome cords we’ve seen all season.
| ALL Labeled |
TAGS
|
The corduroy jacket doesn’t get much love.
It’s too low-class for the Italians, too precious for the waxed-cotton crowd, marred by years as a thrift store staple and wholly ignored by the boutique set. But even through the dark years, it never really went away.
via Fashion CopiousLonely at the Top: Glenn O’Brien’s guide to social climbing. Caution: you are witnessing a trained professional. You may not be able to pull this off at home. [GQ]
The Literary Type: A designer has made book covers for a dozen or so classic albums. Blood on the Tracks is pretty brilliant. [Mother Jones]
Embrace the Funk: An ode to the sheepish pleasures of the corduroy shirt. [Guide to Bad Taste]
Relief: Hickoree’s has turned their homepage over to a limited edition Japan-themed pocket square, with 100% of proceeds going to the International Rescue Committee. [Hickorees]
via LIkeCoolGet Your Ass to Mars: Giz scores live video of the first private orbital space launch. Welcome to the future. [Gizmodo]
Golden Years: Gilded Age will be hosting one of the better sample sales of the year (fingers crossed), if you happen to be in New York this weekend. [The Choosy Beggar]
The Other Corduroy Club: The best corduroy tie we’ve seen so far, courtesy of Hentsch. [FREE/MAN]
Harry Potter & the Morbid Aussie Troubadour: A strange story details how Nick Cave ended up in a Harry Potter movie. Mixtape fodder at its finest. [Pop & Hiss]
| ALL LinkOut |
TAGS
|
Last night we attended the 5th Annual Grand Meeting of the Corduroy Appreciation Club and found one of the most unusual scenes we’ve ever run across, with Technicolor button-downs, rabble-rousing speeches and corduroy in places that we never dreamed it would be.
So in the name of journalism, we’re setting down a list of lessons from the night, starting with an explanation of that befuddling item pictured at left.
| ALL Scene |
TAGS
|
You can never have too much corduroy.
To that end, we couldn’t resist a chance at wearing some on our upper half, specifically with this baker’s jacket. It’s a clever update to the most structured corduroy blazer, along the lines of the hipper items you’ll find at Freeman’s.
And more importantly, if you’re going to properly outfit yourself for the upcoming corduroy celebration, you’d better start now.
The Good Old Days: The charms of adolescence in the bygone days of scrambled porn on cable. You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s universally available. [Gizmodo]
It was all a Dream!: Joaquin Phoenix was faking, and not crazy at all. Well, maybe a little. [NYTimes]
A Gentleman’s Guide to Corduroy: The gents at Valet provide a wale-based education, and tip us off to a good supplier for suede elbow patches. [Valet]
Sometimes People Suck: Sketchy happenings in the modeling industry, as related by Sara Ziff. We’d like to take this opportunity to scapegoat the French. [Gawker]
| ALL LinkOut |
TAGS
|
The Kingmaker: Sean Parker got in on the ground floor of Facebook and Napster. At 30, he spends his time wearing beautiful suits and hunting people for sport. (We’re pretty sure that’s in there.) [Vanity Fair]
Pant of the Year: If the phrase “corduroy tweed trousers” isn’t enough to sell you on this, we don’t know what will. [Sartorially Inclined]
The Greatest: An obsessive breakdown of the greatest diva of our time. Pay particular attention to the “Aging into a Drag Queen” category. [The Awl]
A Better Lightbulb: The lightbulb just got a little bit cooler and a lot more tentacle-shaped. [Creative Review]
Now that you can find pinwale slacks just about anywhere, it’s hard to get too excited about corduroy pants—unless you go with something a bit heavier than what you can find in the other shops.
This wide-wale cord from Margaret Howell is a prime example. It’s the kind of warm and cozy pant that the fall calls for…but thicker and heavier than most of the stuff you know as corduroy.
Here’s our only caveat: unlike the rest of the heavy pants in your closet, this isn’t workwear, so you’ll want to coddle it a little more than normal. In fact, maybe don’t get out of the armchair.
| ALL Object |
TAGS
|
We spent the last few days surveying a mind-boggling number of Summer ’11 collections at the Capsule and ENK shows, and the biggest trend to emerge out of the muddle may have been corduroy shorts. We ran across pairs from Rogues Gallery (pictured), Lightning Bolt, and even the cotton tie-makers at Camo. If you’re wondering what it they look like in person, you can pick one up from L. L. Bean’s Signature Collection. In other words…they’re everywhere.
We’ll confess to being a bit puzzled by all this, and not just because L. L. Bean managed to be the first out of the gate. In heat like this, the last thing we want is some stifling cords—but we’d probably feel differently if we did more sailing.
As part of our ongoing love affair with 70s style, we couldn’t help but notice a certain Ford-era staple working its way back into the public consciousness. America, prepare yourself for the return of the corduroy suit. It’s been too long…
This one comes from L. L. Bean Signature’s Fall/Winter line, arriving online exactly three weeks from today, and the burnt khaki color is right out of a Woody Allen movie. All things considered, it couldn’t have come at a better time. To be honest, the thrift store versions were getting a bit musty…
If we had to guess the year this gentleman was striding boldly into, we’d probably place it somewhere in the hazy era of the late 70s. Something about the feathery hair, the billowing pocket square and the cableknit-corduroy combo makes it seem like he’s probably humming an Abba song.
But as it turns out, it’s all coming back to the present tense. (That includes Abba.) In fact, this gentleman is part of Tommy HIlfiger’s Fall/Winter offering for 2010, red pants and all. It’s a pretty striking wardrobe, and we’re excited to see if this takes off—if only because our years spent stockpiling blazers might finally pay some dividends. We’re not sure about the turtleneck sweaters…but you can’t have everything.
| ALL Labeled |
TAGS
|
Corduroy is usually a little too delicate for the workwear crowd, but it looks like it’s finally getting its day in the sun.
This pair comes from Engineered Garments’ Workaday collection—the cheaper, staple-oriented diffusion line—and while there aren’t any cargo pockets or extraneous seams, it’s a lot more solid than what you’ll find at the outlet shops. And more importantly, it gets the color just right.
This shade of red might be a bit heavy for a pair of pants, but it’ll surprise you how well it goes with just about anything in your closet. It’s well on its way to becoming a staple—and we’d choose this pair over just about any of the others.
| ALL Object |
TAGS
|
Kroesin’: Fashion Gone Rogue has good choice in muses. [Fashion Gone Rogue]
A Cordial Occasion: In the shadowy den of the Corduroy Appreciation Club. [The Moment]
Is There Anything it Can’t Do?: No Mas graces us with an animated retread of Dock Ellis’s acid-assisted no-hitter. [Gawker]
Fantastic: Glenn O’Brien really liked Fantastic Mr. Fox, which is usually a good sign. [GQ Eye]
| ALL LinkOut |
TAGS
|
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...
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...
Oh, and up next: we take a peak at another handsome-as-hell neighborhood, the Mission District in San Francisco. Stay tuned...
via 
via 
via 
