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Here’s another option for anyone brave enough to give socks.
The folks at Richer Poorer have teamed up with Levi’s for a new line made entirely in the US—North Carolina, to be specific. (They’re also a good deal thicker than RP’s usual socks, made with winter drafts in mind.) You can pick them up at any of the four Levi’s Neighborhood shops, or online here for $18 a pop.
That would be the “richer” part.
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As countless spam emails have no doubt informed you, it’s Cyber Monday—the day e-commerce shops offer their deepest discounts of the year. (It’s also Randy Newman’s birthday, so you may want to get him something.) And since you don’t have time to scour every last one, we’ve pulled together the best of the lot, from Fair Isle scarves to Donegal tweed pants. Have a look after the jump.
via Proper MagazineStill Delirious: Eddie Murphy gave Rolling Stone a rare interview, talking Oscars, SNL and stand-up. Sadly, it’s not online, but you can see some highlights here. [Rolling Stone]
Illinois’s Finest: A spotlight on Chicago boutique Sir & Madame. But mostly Sir. [Well Spent]
Carrying Water: As a bid to save water, Levi’s is asking you not to wash your jeans. We’ll see if your girlfriend agrees. [NYTimes]
An Inside Pitch: Responding to a world of generic menswear pitches, Derek Guy has created the menswear Mad Lib. See it in action here. [Put This On]
The Ties That Bind: Explaining the slip stitch of a tie, and why it’s awesome. [Permanent Style]
Maurizio the Great: Three questions with the man behind Levi’s Vintage Clothing and Levi’s Made & Crafted. John Wayne is mentioned. [Valet]
Fingerguns Are Always Appreciated: The art and science of looking good in pictures. [Details]
The Rise of the Machines: The mustachioed Italian man behind Fifth Avenue’s animatronic Christmas displays. Amazing stuff. [Cool Hunting]
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The vertical collegiate stripe has always been a staple, but lately it’s started cultivating a weathered dandyism all its own. So we’ve turned the camera on a few of our favorites, as close as the lens will allow.
via GQVintage in Miniature: Michael Williams ventures into Levi’s Vintage Clothing’s gallery of terrifying doll garments. Be warned: What you see beyond this link may shock you to your very core. [A Continuous Lean]
Through The Years: A generational guide to using your smartphone. The verdict: You may not want to keep it on the table, no matter how young you are. [GOOD]
Boiled Beef and Arbuckle Coffee: A firsthand look at the lifestyle and diet of a cowboy, circa 1890. Your mileage may vary. [Boing Boing]
Seersucker and Skirted Loafers: A street style session with Nickelson Wooster. The man definitely knows how to wear shorts. [tucked]
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Ladies and gentlemen, your workwear royal wedding…
Filson and Levi’s Fall 2011 collaboration arrives online here Monday morning, so we thought we’d give you an early peek to whet your appetite. It’s only five items—three jackets, a denim vest and a pair of pants—but it’s just about everything you could want in a Levi’s crossover with the tin cloth artisans.
Our favorite so far is probably the oil-finish trucker jacket on the left, but there’s a lot more to like. The big surprise is how tempting it all looks now that it’s not quite so hip. Even the more avant garde items like the denim hunting vest seem pitched more at aficionados than trendwatchers—something that wouldn’t have been true a few seasons back.
via AnimalTrue Blue: A trove of Levi’s ads from the 80s and 90s, including a few you might recognize. It was a simpler time. [Creative Review]
Beyond Linen: Some summer suiting tips from the author of the legendary style tome, Gentleman. [Bernhard Roetzel]
The Fabric of Life: An advanced trad faces down tweed conundrums with aplomb. [A Suitable Wardrobe]
There Will Be Denim: Robert Geller talks through his favorite look from Spring/Summer 2011. [Details]
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It looks like the chambray jean is finally hitting the mainstream.
Levi’s is getting together with Opening Ceremony (and, incidentally, Ziggy from The Wire) for a mini-line called Levi’s Chambray, arriving in stores next week. There’s a classic jacket and smock, but the main event is the chambray jeans on display here. (They’re also available in peach, if you’re feeling delicate.) As soon as warmer weather rolls in, they should be a pretty useful item.
But as this shot demonstrates, it’s probably best if you keep them as far from denim as possible.
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The string of semi-annual sales continues, with Unionmade offering 40% to 50% off a good deal of their fall crop. Our favorite finds so far are the $15 Farm Tactics tees, $75 Seavees and, most notably, this Levi’s Vintage hunting jacket.
It’s a canvas embodiment of all the beat-up-on-purpose gear that’s passed across our pages in the past few seasons—and the top half of the rarely-seen khaki trucker tux. Once we get a taste of spring, this kind of rugged, lightweight jacket is going to be the first thing to come out of storage.
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The British Invasion: Our new favorite anorak, courtesy of Mr. Williams. [A Continuous Lean]
The First Step is Hiding Your Valuables: Explaining the internet to a Dickensian street urchin is more difficult than you might think. [Fast Company]
Late Period: Michael Stipe has a question mark tattooed on his hand, is endlessly fascinating. Also, doing art stuff with Levi’s. [Cool Hunting]
The Big Drop: Just because it’s Tuesday, here’s a 1200-pound pumpkin dropping onto an old Pontiac. [Gizmodo]
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via EsquireKeef Lives: Keith Richards reflects on a lifetime of hazy memories. Master class stuff. [NYTimes]
Reflections on an Airport: Alain de Botton reflects on his week working in Heathrow’s Terminal 5. He seems to have enjoyed it. [Herman Miller]
Together at Last: Pendleton x Levi’s is looking pretty handsome. [Hypebeast]
Stone-Throwing is Prohibited: Tom Fruin has built a stained-glass house on the steps of the Royal Danish Library. [DesignBoom]
The denim jacket can be a tough sell—assuming you’re not in the cattle business—but it’s just about perfect for warding off early Fall briskness.
The main thing you’ll need is some rural cred, which is why this gentleman model grew out a few days of stubble before he attempted it. The big belt buckle helps too, although if you go much further you’ll be in costume territory. It also takes wear as well as anything else in your closet, provided you get one that doesn’t scream 2006 too loudly.
This Levi’s Vintage Jacket walks the line just about perfectly, combining 20s-era button detailing with some well-placed wear on the shoulders. And if you feel the urge to button it up…it might be time to switch to a thicker coat.
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In honor of Levi’s newly announced Filson collab (hat tip), we thought we’d take a moment to recognize just how hard Levi’s Vintage line has been killing it this summer. We were skeptical at first—after all, boutique spinoffs of mass-market brands are pretty near a dime a dozen these days—but we have to say it: we’ve been won over.
The reason is vintage-styled tees like this one. On the face of it, it’s just a t-shirt, but the extra archival details—the outsized neckhole, the cropped sleeves—effortlessly mark it as something from another time. It’s not a museum piece, and it’s not exactly workwear either (that cotton won’t last long compared to Daiki’s denim and wool concoctions), but it’s the best stuff to come from Levi’s in quite some time.
This handsome two-color screenprint comes from Alamo Drafthouse’s Rolling Roadshow screening series, which had the brilliant idea of screening On the Waterfront on August 20th at the same Hoboken docks where it was filmed.
They also picked up some ad love and industrial cred from co-sponsor Levi’s…which might explain all the attention being paid to Brando’s note-perfect buffalo plaid jacket on the poster. (The revolver’s an optional accessory.)
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After the flood of graphic tees, celebrating summer with an unmarked cotton t-shirt feels pretty good. You can throw in a pocket if you’re feeling extravagant…but let’s not go crazy. Just find something simple, throw on a pair of jeans, and let the sun do the rest.
Now that we’re caught in the puzzling medium between deep winter and t-shirt weather, we’re breaking out one of our favorite spring items: the heather gray sweatshirt.
A good one will be every bit as warm as your fall sweater, but it comes off a whole lot more summery thanks to memories of outdoor gym classes and Sunday leaf raking. Throw a collared shirt under it—you’re a long way from gym class, after all—and you should be all set.
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It’s been a pretty good couple years for archival labels—yes, we’re looking at you, Gitman—so it was only natural a few bigger names would get in on the action.
This shirt, for instance, came from the “50s cowboy” section of Levi’s impressively rigorous archive. It’s a whole lot more adventurous than we would have expected (especially the asymmetrical buttoning), but unsurprisingly, it goes pretty well with a pair of jeans.
Which, for a company that’s still in the denim business, may have been the whole point.
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Public art can mean more than just posters on walls…but when it starts to move to denim jacket liners, we get a little queasy.
Shepard Fairey’s Obey label just announced a large-scale collaboration with Levi’s and this jacket is only the beginning. Next Thursday, Fairey will take over the façade of Levi’s Times Square shop, and unveil four new posters to be given away with a Levi’s purchase.
Fairey’s pleading “public art”—it’s populist denim, after all, not Louis Vuitton—but we’d prefer calling it what it is: marketing. It’s not such a dirty word, really, and Fairey has to pay those legal bills somehow. But next time, he should probably start by looking into spray paint endorsements.
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ACL just posted a fascinating talk with Levi’s archivist Lynn Downey that drops the following gems:
1) If this pair (dated between 1901 and 1922) is typical, styles have changed very little in the past 80 years. There’s the same coin pocket and, surprisingly enough, the same recently resurgent button-fly rivets. We hadn’t been thinking of that as a historical nod…but apparently we were wrong.
2) If you’ve got a pair of jeans with more than a century of wear in them, you may be able to sell them to Big Denim for some serious money. $46,532 is the most they’ve ever paid, but that’s nothing a little aggressive negotiation can’t solve. It’s time to start digging through great-grandpa’s wardrobe.
The old workhorse denim companies have taken their time catching up to the boutique acts, but it looks like they’re finally coming around.
This set of colored Levi’s 501s is a step in the right direction, and it’s in line with work they’ve been doing with 511s for years…but the colors seem a bit too primary for our tastes. It’s still impressive gear, especially the gray and yellow versions, but it would have been better if it were a bit more Pantone and a bit less…crayola.
We’re not saying they need to jump on the Mimosa, but a few shades lighter on the green and a few shades darker on the red would have made them a whole lot more wearable.
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.
via Street PeeperThis gentleman brings us a very simple lesson: it’s all in the details. His shirt and shoes are both Levi’s (at least according to Street Peeper), but the vintage jacket and more importantly the leather boots give him enough cred to pull it off.
In fact, the drab background just makes the look seem that much more effortless. And, naturally, the shades don’t hurt.
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We’re on record as cautious observers of Damien Hirst, but after this he might want to stick to embalmed predators.
Labeled as the Damien Hirst x Levi’s x Warhol Factory Collection, these paint-spun jeans are part of a line that should be hitting Barneys in not too many weeks, but to get these pants in particular you’ll have to find your way to one of the silent auctions Hirst is setting up. It’s a clever bit of art/fashion mashing, but as usual, the joke is on you.
They may look good on a wall, but don’t wear them outside.
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With Labor Day weekend on the horizon, it’s almost time to trade those madras shorts for sweaters, toggle coats and the infamous flannel. You’ve still got a week to bare your calves, but a little preemptive shopping never hurt anyone.
Landing this week at East Village mainstay DEN, Engineered Garments is a throwback to early 20th Century workwear of the type you may be used to seeing elsewhere. Think coalminers and railroad workers…but well-dressed ones, wearing selvage denim, collarless oxford shirts and thermal-lined hoodies. (A little anachronism never hurt anyone either.)
And, if you’re the patient type, you can catch their capsule collection with Levi’s, the result of their GQ / CFDA award earlier this year. Highlights include 501s circa 1947 and a historically authentic army shirt of the type worn by prisoners in Alcatraz at the turn of the century.
Which should be enough to keep you warm when you’re swimming for freedom.
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