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Just as declining bee populations have recently signified a larger, potentially apocalyptic environmental crisis, there have been a handful of style trends throughout history that, when examined up against the broader cultural landscape of the day, have served as distress signals of something very, very wrong with our society.
Well gentlemen, one of those signals is blinking right now: Dress Pant Sweatpants.»
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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]
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The ribbed cardigan is having a bit of a moment this winter, but thanks to a timely sale at Coggles, we may have found our favorite one.
It comes from East London’s D.S. Dundee, which means it’s a bit tweedier than your average sweater. See, for example, those elbow patches and downright professorial leather buttons. But mostly, it’s got the same flexible, lightweight rib knitting that’s seeing so many bloggers through the winter.
And thanks to a little sale magic, they bring the whole thing in under $250. Not too shabby.
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As you may have noticed from the shuttered post offices, it’s Veterans Day. And while there’s plenty of somber contemplation to do, we’d like to highlight an English custom we’re hoping catches on in the States: the lapel poppy. It’s a bona fide tradition over there, and if you walked through London today, you probably wouldn’t see a lapel without one. All it takes is a good florist or a patch of felt—and a little transatlantic charm.
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Graham Smith was the unofficial house photographer of London’s club scene in the late ’70s and early ’80s, chronicling one of the most flamboyant, lurid and just-plain-awesome periods in grooming history.
For proof, check out the newly released We Can Be Heroes. It’s got hundreds of never-before-seen stills, capturing punk legends like Gary Kemp, the Sex Pistols, Boy George, Iggy Pop, Robert Elms and hundreds more in remarkably—and, at times, eerily—intimate preshow moments.
As Brit style writer Robert Elms explains, the London club scene in the 1970s “wasn’t a place for those who dressed up for the occasion but for those who dressed up as a way of life.”
The book goes on sale December 8. Click here for a Karma Chameleonic sneak peak…»
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Underwear doesn’t get a lot of play in the menswear blogodome, but from a comfort perspective, it’s one of the most important things you’ll put on all day. And as winter steps up, a stash of soft undershirts can be every bit as important as a winter coat.
As of today, you’ll have a new place to get them.
It’s a London marque called Under (get it?), an up-and-coming underwear brand arriving on e-commerce today. They caught our attention with feather-soft cotton and a preference for faded, heathered primary colors. The result is the kind of undergarment that looks like it’s spent the last hundred years in a deadstock warehouse.
Hopefully one of these days, they’ll get around to making a union suit.
Now that we’ve defended the ’70s with Mr. Garfunkel, it’s time to acknowledge the dark side of all that disco. Specifically, the bad suits, wide lapels and exaggerated swagger that give them such a bad name even 30 years after the fact.
Consider, for instance, Mr. Justin de Villeneuve.
He was a staple on the London scene as Twiggy’s Svengali-esque manager, notable for feathered hair and lapels that reached out to his shoulders. In short, everything that was wrong with the style of the day. And now that he’s made a recent comeback among the McMullan set, we couldn’t resist a quick tour of his notorious past. Thankfully, he’s improved a bit in the intervening decades, but he’s got plenty to live down.
| ALL The Past |
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via MostExerentThe G.I. Workout: AoM walks you through the training regimen of a World War II-era soldier. Fair warning: it involves strangling a Nazi. [Art of Manliness]
The Real Housewives of Revolutionary Road: Richard Florida explains the link between reality TV and the suburban wasteland. [NYMag]
Down the Tubes: The street style of 80s London, courtesy of Johnny Stiletto. Some great overcoats here. [Creative Review]
Through the Window: A late but still-great one: Eunice Lee walks us through the behind-the-scenes hustling that makes Unis what it is. [Well Spent]
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Folk is a bit of a curiosity on this side of the Atlantic, but if you’re passing through London any time soon, you’ll find them just about everywhere. This snap is from their newly opened Shepherd Market shop, their fourth in London. It’s a good example of why they’re worth caring about to begin with: clever, colorful twists on some of the most basic items in your wardrobe. And if you don’t have an Atlantic crossing in your near future, you can get a local taste of the goods here.
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Boing Boing stumbled on this classic urchin photo, of the local genus known as the Spitalfield Nippers.
They were name for the Edwardian street youths that haunted the East End of London in ragged suits and, apparently, fantastically wide-brimmed hats. You can see the whole thing here, but we thought we’d focus on this fire-eyed youth, who seems to have mastered both the intricate scarf knot and the rakish hat-tilt at an early age.
Does he remind anyone else of Mister Mort?
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On the off-chance you’re headed to a barbecue or a horse race this weekend, London’s Present is offering a pretty good lookbook/clinic on dressing for the occasion.
It’s mostly white bucks and sack sport coats, but notice the thin check on this gentleman’s jacket, and the way it plays of the wide plaid of his tie. We might try it without the button-down collar, but otherwise it’s just about perfect.
As for those bucks, the shoes are from Tricker’s, and there are no socks to be found. Well done, chaps.
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Hentsch Man, one of our favorite British labels, just unveiled their High Summer catalog—and given what the weather’s been doing to our heavier blazers, it’s not a moment too soon.
Our favorite pieces so far are this gentleman’s linen shirt, their double-breasted seersucker jacket and an eye-popping madras, but it’s worth flipping through even if you’re not likely to buy anything listed in pounds.
We’re particularly taken with the elegant rumple in the arms of the jackets, or the generous break in the pants—touches you don’t see much in the cropped and pressed stateside styles. It’s a more restrained, raffish kind of style, and there aren’t too many places you can find it in the U.S. just yet. But there’s always London…or the internet.
via WBEHappy Birthday To You: A short essay celebrating Twitter’s birthday as ambivalently as possible. [Gizmodo]
The Tortoise and the Flair: An ode to the tortoise-shell Wayfarer shade. [Men’s Flair]
A Whole New Ballgame: A week and a half before Opening Day, Valet rounds up the best in baseball jackets. [Valet]
In the latest Chanel spot, Keira Knightley tears through London on a Ducati bike, before moving on to more exciting pursuits. Not a bad way to spend three minutes. [All the Rage]
Here’s your daily dose of Anglophilia: a coffee table-ready history of the sartorial wormhole known as Carnaby Street. The book is Boutique London by Richard Lester, and it profiles 30 different shops navigating one of the strangest cycles men’s style has ever seen.
Sadly, the author’s not that Richard Lester, but instead of hanging out with Beatles, he got his chops serving time with classic British marques like Liberty of London—so it’s safe to say he knows his stuff. If you were looking to check on the historical accuracy of your cravat (or possibly your Halloween costume), this would be the place.
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Museums can teach you a lot about a city…but usually, it just makes you want to head back outside. To that end, the Museum of London just launched an augmented reality app called StreetMuseum, which drops vintage photos into the London streets where they were taken—along with a few paintings for a glimpse into an even more distant past. Count us as very impressed.
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This weekend saw the 2010 incarnation of London’s tweed run, the trad version of critical mass. Naturally there were plenty of curled mustaches and boneshakers on hand, but we were most impressed by the staggering volume of fantastic fabrics on hand. But strangely enough, the gentleman in the red cravat was the only one with the wit to sport an actual biker’s brim.
We’re strong supporters of the dusty, decades-old hardcover, but there’s nothing wrong with going the other way. This pile of staple-bound books comes from London’s Poundshop, a three-day store committed to selling everything within its walls for only a pound. Inside, you’ll find a set of sketches and charcoal drawings by one Mireille Fauchon just large enough to occupy you through a couple commutes. And when you’re done, hopefully you won’t feel too bad leaving it behind in a coffee shop. If you really like it, you can always pick up the hardcover.
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We’ve never been sure how many mods there still are roaming the streets of London, but Dean Chalkley seems to have found a few.
These well-dressed young lads are part of an exhibition currently running at London’s Book Club dubbed “The New Faces”—the title came from his pal Paul Weller, of course—and seems to have been done with minimal styling. Which is to say, they walk around the street like this.
To be honest, we didn’t think there was anyone this sharp outside of Paul Smith’s showroom, but we’re happy to be wrong.
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We hesitate to call Liberty of London too British—it’s in their name after all—but they could probably benefit from a few international influences. This cotton tie (hat tip) might be their best collab so far, partly because it lets them get some continental distance on Swinging London.
The Italian flavor comes courtesy of 10 Corso Como—think of a Milanese Colette—who managed to coax the Brits at Liberty into some of their finest work. It’s the same dense patterning they built their brand on, but the curves make it a little more lush, and the colors are muted enough to turn it into Liberty’s first summer tradwear piece. Here’s hoping there’s more where that came from.
On the Beach: Natalia Vodianova grapples with an unbelievably small beach towel. [Refinery29]
Fare Thee Well: The L.A. Times turns in one of the better Alexander McQueen appreciations of the day. Raise a glass. [All the Rage]
Don’t You Love a Singer: A critical appraisal of John Mayer as a human. The lesson: maybe try to be less of a jerk. [This Recording]
Jean Shop: Michael Williams tours the heritage denim of London. [A Continuous Lean]
London may be seeing more snow than rain these days, but it’s still nice to have a brolly on hand.
This one from London Undercover (hat tip) caught our eye for its bright black-and-white houndstooth—a trad move, despite what Alexander McQueen would have you believe. It doesn’t pack quite the aristocratic punch of the more expensive models, but for 50 pounds ($80), we doubt you’ll do much better.
Hard times in London may have brought back the criminal world’s most dapper pastime: the jewel heist. Last week, a pair of well-tailored gentlemen relieved a Bond St shop of more than $65 million in jewelry before escaping in a blue BMW, which was subsequently traded for a silver Mercedes. And that’s only the most recent in a string of thefts that’s plagued London’s jewelry district for months, which suggests the days of the gentleman jewel thief may be returning.
Of course, we at Kempt do not endorse criminal pursuits. But as criminal pursuits go, we definitely prefer the ones that involve luxury cars, daring getaways and expensive suits. If we ever have to resort to extralegal activity, we hope we’ll do it with this much panache.
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Such is Mango: Scarlett Johansson overwhelms our style judgment. [Refinery29]
Looks Like Victory: The MB tracks down Col. Kilgore’s sunglasses. [Magnificent Bastard]
Well Pressed: A trip to trad central, a.k.a. J. Press. [Ivy Style]
Probably Werewolves: London falls prey to squatters. [Luxist]
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Another of London’s perks: DIY street art for the masses. This home Banksy kit retails for ten quid at a shop called iartistlondon (via [PSFK) where you can get a similar guide to making your own Hirst-style diamond-encrysted skull. Well, crystal-bead encrusted anyway.
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Internet radios like this one have been a favorite with the CES crowd for some time, but they haven’t quite had the content to break through to the mainstream. A box lets you stream audio feeds through something a bit more lush than computer speakers, but so far, most of the feeds come from FM stations, which isn’t quite tempting enough to make us toss out our antennas.
But it’s coming along. Amazing Radio (via PSFK) just launched in the UK with a roster of all unsigned artists. The artists get the lion’s share of the mp3 sales, but mostly they get some much-needed exposure and a chance to get their songs on the airwaves…or audio streams, as the case may be.
Of course, the jury’s still out on their choice in bands…but at least they won’t have to worry about keeping their signal clear.
