Dear Gawker: Unionmade Is Just the Beginning

May 24, 2013 world of men's style / fashion / grooming RSS

“grievances”

11/19/12

Dear Gawker: Unionmade Is Just the Beginning

On Friday, Gawker caused an uproar when they realized one of the pillars of rustic #menswear, Unionmade, was actually the name of a men’s shop in San Francisco and not a place to buy goods solely made by unionized laborers. We’ll overlook the fact that they’re three years late to the party (the shop opened in 2009) and say this: we’re outraged, too. And this isn’t the first time we’ve been bamboozled by shrewd corporate name-jockeying. (An Apple Store that doesn’t sell apples? Come on!) And we can’t keep quiet any longer…

Herewith, an airing of grievances with stores who promised us one thing, only to disappoint us with another (while dangling free shipping if we upgraded to Prime).»

ALL Open Letter

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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 and 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

Drew Ledbetter Actor

Lives: Providence, RI

Hometown: Chattanooga, TN / Bay Area, CA

What We Like Drew’s shoes are made by Cole Haan.
Drew Ledbetter Actor

Lives: Providence, RI

Hometown: Chattanooga, TN / Bay Area, CA

What We Like Drew’s shoes are made by Cole Haan.
Justice Hampton Works for Club Monaco

Lives: Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Hometown: Dallas, TX

What We Like Leave it to a Texan to know that a linen jacket is the perfect bit of outerwear to transition you from spring to summer.
Justice Hampton Works for Club Monaco

Lives: Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Hometown: Dallas, TX

What We Like Leave it to a Texan to know that a linen jacket is the perfect bit of outerwear to transition you from spring to summer.
Jamie Clawson Runs a leather accessories business (valentinegoods.com)

Lives: East Village, New York

Hometown: Cleveland, OH

What We Like Jamie’s shirt is called the “Expensive” shirt by Wil Fry. Ironically, it goes for about 30 bucks.
Jamie Clawson Runs a leather accessories business (valentinegoods.com)

Lives: East Village, New York

Hometown: Cleveland, OH

What We Like Jamie’s shirt is called the “Expensive” shirt by Wil Fry. Ironically, it goes for about 30 bucks.
Koppel Verma Researcher at Google

Lives: Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Hometown: Cambridge, MA

What We Like Turns out, the Swiss Army makes more than knives—they also made this jacket (it’s vintage).
Koppel Verma Researcher at Google

Lives: Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Hometown: Cambridge, MA

What We Like Turns out, the Swiss Army makes more than knives—they also made this jacket (it’s vintage).
Chris Afzal Audio engineer

Lives: Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Hometown: Baltimore, MD

What We Like If you needed any more proof that Brooks Brothers has shed its stodgy image, these shoes should do the trick.
Chris Afzal Audio engineer

Lives: Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Hometown: Baltimore, MD

What We Like If you needed any more proof that Brooks Brothers has shed its stodgy image, these shoes should do the trick.
Malik Alokpovi Host for a hotel

Lives: Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Hometown: Born in Togo, West Africa, but lived in the South of France

What We Like Malik’s red suede shoes came from A.P.C. Try not to step on them.
Malik Alokpovi Host for a hotel

Lives: Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Hometown: Born in Togo, West Africa, but lived in the South of France

What We Like Malik’s red suede shoes came from A.P.C. Try not to step on them.
Billy Cadden Musician

Lives: Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Hometown: Woodstock, NY

What We Like Billy’s worn this shirt, which he got at H&M while on tour, at every show since.
Billy Cadden Musician

Lives: Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Hometown: Woodstock, NY

What We Like Billy’s worn this shirt, which he got at H&M while on tour, at every show since.
Sam Bowstucky Bartender

Lives: Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Hometown: Chicago, IL

What We Like He’s actually on his way to a working audition for a bartending job at the Blind Barber. Good luck, Sam.
Sam Bowstucky Bartender

Lives: Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Hometown: Chicago, IL

What We Like He’s actually on his way to a working audition for a bartending job at the Blind Barber. Good luck, Sam.

California

San Francisco

Mission District

Style. The Mission’s got it. Union Square’s got it. But each of them goes about having it in a different way—the Mission rocking a more bohemian coffee shop vibe, Union Square hosting some of the best higher-fashion shops (and shoppers) on the West Coast. We rounded up a few of the most stylish folks from both. Have yourself a gander below…

On The Streets: San Francisco

Brian Cunningham Shop clerk

Lives: San Francisco, CA

Hometown: Boston, MA

What We Like The first rule any SF transplant learns: always bring a light coat. Brian sticks with a denim jacket from AllSaints. (Button to taste.)
Brian Cunningham Shop clerk

Lives: San Francisco, CA

Hometown: Boston, MA

What We Like The first rule any SF transplant learns: always bring a light coat. Brian sticks with a denim jacket from AllSaints. (Button to taste.)
Erik Newton Attorney

Lives: San Francisco, CA

Hometown: San Diego, CA

What We Like Erik likes to throw on an interesting sport coat with a pocket square and skip the tie—on days he’s not in the courthouse, naturally.
Erik Newton Attorney

Lives: San Francisco, CA

Hometown: San Diego, CA

What We Like Erik likes to throw on an interesting sport coat with a pocket square and skip the tie—on days he’s not in the courthouse, naturally.
Jason Moo Banker

Lives: San Francisco, CA

Hometown: New York, NY

What We Like Jason picked up his prized pocket square at his favorite tailor, tucked away in NYC’s NoHo—Michael Andrews Bespoke.
Jason Moo Banker

Lives: San Francisco, CA

Hometown: New York, NY

What We Like Jason picked up his prized pocket square at his favorite tailor, tucked away in NYC’s NoHo—Michael Andrews Bespoke.
Presyler Galvin Bon vivant

Lives: San Francisco, CA

Hometown: San Francisco, CA

What We Like A good carry-all bag is a necessity in the city—and you won’t do much better than a Goyard. Extra points for the monogram.
Presyler Galvin Bon vivant

Lives: San Francisco, CA

Hometown: San Francisco, CA

What We Like A good carry-all bag is a necessity in the city—and you won’t do much better than a Goyard. Extra points for the monogram.
Randal Ruiz Design student

Lives: San Francisco, CA

Hometown: San Jose, CA

What We Like Randal fashioned those elbow pads himself—ensuring he’ll never bump into the same blazer anywhere else.
Randal Ruiz Design student

Lives: San Francisco, CA

Hometown: San Jose, CA

What We Like Randal fashioned those elbow pads himself—ensuring he’ll never bump into the same blazer anywhere else.

Florida

Miami

South Beach

June 6

Forget everything you know about Miami style. Today’s Miamian is more LeBron James than Crockett and Tubbs—as you’ll soon see in our next edition of Style Shifters…

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On The Streets: Brooklyn

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Mission District

On The Streets: San Francisco

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Miami

South Beach