May 21, 2013 world of men's style / fashion / grooming RSS
“Steve McQueen”
04/02/13
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Object

The Stat Sheet: Drumohr Two-Tone Shawl-Collar Cardigan

Drumohr

As the warm-weather gear continues to trickle into shops, we couldn’t help but notice this two-tone shawl-collar cardigan from Drumohr sticking out like a sore, overly warm thumb as it recently arrived at Unionmade.

But upon further review, the Scots over at Drumohr had us fooled: it’s a cotton-linen blend that’s knit so loose, you could almost see through it. Which seems uniquely well suited for this time of year. Here’s what else you need to know.

The Story: The legendary knitwear brand was founded in southern Scotland in the 1700s and has been a favorite among Europe’s well-to-do ever since.

Who to Channel: Steve McQueen piloting a pontoon boat; a royal of Monaco on the kind of French Riviera day when socks aren’t necessary but a little extra warmth might be nice.

When to Wear It: Right about now, and anytime a warm day cools off into the sunset as the summer approaches.

Degree of Difficulty: Medium. This is a pretty slouchy garment, so we’d keep this for the breezy-weekend-and-beach-bonfire circuit.

A moment of inspiration, after the jump.»
 

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02/21/13
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Object

The Stat Sheet: Clarks Navy Nubuck Desert Boots

Clarks

Desert boots have been thick on the ground in menswear circles for some time now, but you’re most likely to find them in a dusty suede or waxed brown leather.

Which is why this navy pair with a brick-red crepe sole that’s just landed across the pond at End is especially intriguing–and perhaps a better way to stand apart than going the lug-sole route. Here’s what else you need to know.

The Story: Clarks have been making the poster-boot of desert footwear since WWII—and have since become a staple in most guys’ wardrobes. This pair replaces the usual uppers with a navy nubuck and dyes the crepe a brick-red, like your favorite pair of bucks.

Who to Channel: Britain’s Desert Rats battalion in their finest dress uniforms; Steve McQueen, had he kept the boots on with his tuxedo (shown below).

When to Wear It: Anytime you would wear your suede pair. You can leave those in a dark corner of the closet until everyone starts wearing upcycled versions of the desert boot—and it’s time to go back to the originals.

Consider These: The best update to a classic you’ve seen in a good while.

A moment of inspiration, after the jump.»
 

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01/28/13
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The Past

The 70 Greatest Sweaters of All Time

For centuries, mankind has relied on sweaters for winter layering and autumn-night warmth. But beyond that, they’ve been something of an afterthought. Until today.

Because today we’re celebrating the venerable garment in all of its forms by counting down the 70 greatest moments in sweaterdom—from lumpy cardigans to clingy cashmere hugging the shapely, we’ve found them all. And we’ve assembled them in full splendor.

Without further ado, the 70 greatest sweaters in the world.»
 

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01/25/13
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Steve McQueen’s Chevy Is Up for Grabs

Auction Block: You can own the car Steve McQueen drove in his final film—a Chevy Styleline DeLuxe Convertible. McQueen liked it so much, he bought it when the movie wrapped.

Return of the Mac: Put This On extols the virtues of a good raincoat—especially as spring looms large.

What’s in a Name: Gawker suddenly takes issue with the most recent antics of yesterday’s Kempt Icon, Prince.

Cover Art: PopSci turns the past 67 years of classic sci-fi novel covers into one Technicolor infographic.

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01/22/13
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About

Capsule New York, by the Numbers

Every year around this time, the pantheon of fine menswear purveyors sets up shop in a warehouse deep in the hinterlands of Manhattan. And every year around this time, we trek downtown to check it out. Since most brands show clothes that won’t be available for about six months—and because the show is enormous—we decided the best thing to do was break it down, using our patented scientific formula.

Ergo, Capsule New York 2013, by the numbers:»
 

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10/30/12
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Object

The Stat Sheet: Archival Clothing Down Vest

The down vest has been experiencing a renaissance—in many forms—but we’re most interested in the old-fashioned armless outwear version. And this new waxed-cotton down vest from Archival Clothing is exactly that. Here’s what else you need to know about it.

The Story: The nostalgic outdoorsmen at Archival Clothing got together with Seattle’s coziness experts at Crescent Down Works to insulate this waxed-cotton vest—even the pockets are stuffed with down to keep your hands extra warm—and Centralia Knitting Mills for the worsted-wool rib collar.

Who to Channel: Steve McQueen dirt-biking on a crisp fall morning; Sidney Poitier in Shoot To Kill; Marty McFly; not the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

When to Wear It: Chopping firewood, on morning commutes that might require reaching for a subway straphanger or on trips back to the future.

Degree of Difficulty: Medium. If you’re feeling adventurous, layer it over a jean jacket—or, if you’re at Pitti Uomo, over your suit jacket—otherwise, throw it over a thick flannel shirt or sweater.

A few ideas on how to wear your down vest, after the jump.»
 

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09/24/12
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Milla Jovovich Is Waiting for Her Furniture Delivery

via TSB Mag

Moving Dirt: The Selvedge Yard digs up a 1971 Sports Illustrated story on Steve McQueen and his dirt-biking alter ego Harvey Mushman. [TSY]

RIP, Steve Sabol: Remembering the late NFL Films president. NFL Crunch Course was a game changer. [Deadspin]

Uneasy Money: The question at the core of Facebook’s future success: Can it possibly build a business model that isn’t inherently creepy? [The Atlantic]

Getting Beard: In case you weren’t aware, the European Beard and Mustache Championship happened this past weekend. Luckily The Telegraph was on hand to photograph it in all of its bristly glory. [Telegraph]

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07/11/12
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Big Picture

Style Icons Spoiling a Perfectly Good Walk

Dean Martin, Bing Crosby and Groucho Marx, Palm Springs, CA, 1954

It may prove a bit tricky to duck out of the office this week for a twilight round of golf, given that we’re coming off a 10-day Fourth of July sabbatical. To tide you over, we now present, in no particular order, 18 photos of style icons spoiling a perfectly good walk.

Gunga galunga…»
 

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05/24/12
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Big Picture

Fifty Shades of Chambray

Take a look out your window. Chambray season is here. So we’d like to take this opportunity to give you a little visual inspiration on the subject—from Paul Newman, to what you’ll find in shops right now, to paratroopers in the South Pacific. But mostly for the excuse to make a Fifty Shades of Grey pun (even if we only made it about halfway to 50 pictures).

Without further ado…»
 

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05/18/12
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Classic

A Salute to the Stunt Doubles of Style Icons…

Sean Connery with stunt double Big John McLaughlin, Never Say Never Again, 1983

When the city of Fort Lauderdale recognized Big John McLaughlin, Shogun of the Sea, with a star on the Walk of Fame earlier this year, he responded, “Does one have to be alive to collect it?” It likely was not the first time Mr. McLaughlin asked some form of this question, having pioneered diving, stunt rigging and motion picture safety techniques in the late 1950s that are still in use to this day. Jaws simply wouldn’t have been a scary movie if it weren’t for Big John.

“I guess the craziest thing they ever asked me to do was bite a live tiger shark,” he reminisces. But his favorite was doubling 007 in eight Bond films, including Thunderball, in which he doubled 34 different people.

Allow us to join the city of Fort Lauderdale in raising a glass to Big John, the Shogun, and all the brave men who have kept our precious style icons safe over the years. To that end, we close the week with…

A salute to the stunt doubles of style icons.»
 

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05/14/12
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Classic

The Man Who Built American Muscle

The sun has set upon another legendary Texan. You’ve likely seen his name emblazoned on the back of a Mustang GT or obsessed over his automotive masterpiece, the Shelby Cobra, or maybe even picked up a packet of his expertly spiced chili powder blend. (It’s one hell of a legacy.) The man ran on pure guts and octane—when he was a race car driver, and later in life when he changed the face of the American sports car industry. So we’d like to salute Carroll Shelby with a few iconic photos of the legend standing next to his legendary works of art. (And Steve McQueen, in the above.)

A look back at Mr. Shelby and his cars.»
 

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03/27/12
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Well Pressed

The April Issues

Gentlemen, a new month is upon us.

The good news is, this one features a lot more Sofia Vergara from Esquire and a 100 points of spring style from GQ, among other things. Naturally, we don’t agree with every last piece of it, so we’ve provided a running commentary for this month’s print crop, separating the sublime from the ridiculous. Consider this the Cliffs Notes version.

Here’s everything you need to know from March’s crop of magazines»

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01/20/12
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Elizabeth Olsen Has No Depth Perception

Elizabeth Olsenvia Interview

A Gentleman’s Guide to Florence: Lawrence Schlossman breaks down Florentine retail for all budgets. If you can afford the flight, there are plenty of good deals to be had. [Sartorially Inclined]

Adrenaline Rush of the Day: A brave man on a motocross bike motors along the top of a mountain—and survives. Breathtaking in the best way. [Autoblog]

Steve McQueen Was a Slick Bastard: Further evidence for the coolest man who ever lived. [Driven]

Singing Blues: A fitting send-off for Etta James, who passed away this morning. [Open Culture]

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01/16/12
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Conversation

The Style of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Easily one of the most stylish movies of 2011, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy has been in our sights for a while. It’s got nearly all of our favorite things—British tweeds, outlandish glasses, a few well-placed Steve McQueen references, just for starters. So we sat down with costume designer Jacqueline Durran to find out where she dug it all up. If you’ve ever wanted to dress like a 1970s intelligence man, start here.

Orange desert boots and Steve McQueen jackets, explained»
 

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12/23/11
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About

The 2011 Kempt Awards – Part One: The Gentlemen

Christopher Hitchens with Ian McEwan (left) and Martin Amis in Uruguay via The Guardian

We spend a good deal of time here at Kempt headquarters discussing the gentleman’s style: his clothes, his facial hair, his accoutrements, etc. In addition, though, over the past year, we’ve attempted to broaden the definition of style to include his behavior as well: his adherence to a certain chivalric code, his etiquette, the words he uses, his manner of pursuing artistic and athletic endeavors, his morality, his aspirations and, inevitably, the periodic missteps that can and squander those aspirations.

While we hesitate to dip our toe into the murky, stale bathwater of year-end reviews (and while we have even greater hesitation to hurl ourselves, willy-nilly, into the business of doling out meaningless, award-less “awards”), we’re doing so anyway.

Maybe we’re slightly more nostalgic for 2011 than we’ve been in the past.

Or, more likely, maybe we’re finding the exercise of attaching superlatives to people and things and moments to be kind of fun.

Whatever the reason, we present for your perusal—in three parts over as many days—the 2011 Kempt Awards.

Part One: The Gentlemen

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12/09/11
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Well Pressed

The End of Fashion

via LGM

Culture is now officially over.

At least, that’s the premise of a new think piece by Kurt Andersen in next month’s Vanity Fair, which claims our culture stopped producing new ideas sometime around 1991.

He’s got a point, especially on the men’s style front. Swap photos of low-key men on the street circa 2011 and 1991, and it might be hard to tell which was which. You could hardly say the same for 1971, or 1951. Even the cutting-edge style pics, like the above one from Wale Oyejide, are hardly distinctive. Give or take the banker’s collar and he could be walking out of a law firm on any day in the last 30 years.

It all points to a pretty sobering conclusion: fashion is over. We hope you like those longwings, because they’re going to be with you for a very long time…

Our thoughts on the post-fashion world»
 

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11/23/11
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Object

The Greatest Movie Poster Ever Made

Bullitt

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the greatest movie poster ever made. (Admittedly, we may be biased towards Mr. McQueen.) We mention it because one of the originals is going up for auction at the end of the month, and if you need an artifact of late 60s cool, you won’t find a better one.

Well, maybe a Mustang…

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06/29/11
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Good Idea

The Single Most Important Detail On Your Summer Jacket

Acne Jacket

This gentleman from the latest Acne show reminded us of a certain oft-overlooked detail.

It’s a simple thing, holding true for denim jackets and Harringtons alike. And it’s the source of the ineffable sharpness radiating from the pic…but naturally, you’re going to have to click through to find out what it is.

The one thing to look for the next time you pick up a jacket»

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05/05/11
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Good Idea

The Icon’s Guide to Sunglasses

Steve McQueen

Here’s one thing we like about sunglasses: not a lot’s changed. If it looked good in ’56, it looks good now. So to help you settle on your own personal style for the summer, we’ve brought together some of the most stylish gentlemen ever to block out UV rays, together with the modern equivalent of their signature shades.

Our first candidate, naturally, is Mr. Steve McQueen…

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04/29/11
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Isabeli Fontana is Deeply Invested in Hat Culture

Isabeli Fontanavia Fashion Gone Rogue

Edward Had Style: The best thing we’ve seen on the royal wedding so far: a photoset of the royal weddings of yore…including one of our royal icons. [Mister Crew]

The Cash In: The man behind Fossil buys up a chunk of Steven Alan. Drinks are on Steve, wherever he is. [WWD]

Steve’s Back: Our friends at Driven fill us in on the latest Steve McQueen-related news. [Driven]

This Explains All the Mustaches: The eccentricity of creative people, explained. Read it while doing naked yoga on your roof deck. [The 99 Percent]

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02/04/11
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Valentina Vallone Has Misunderstood Yoga

valentinavallone_crop.jpgvia LikeCool

Elvis Presto is Involved: Video from an era when Super Bowl halftime shows involved 3D magic tricks and Solid Gold dancers. Still sounds better than the Black Eyed Peas. [Popdust]

The Legacy Pick: JPS shares a few snaps of Steve McQueen going clothes shopping. The man knew his way around a tuxedo. [A Continuous Lean]

Best Foot Forward: It’s time for you to make Viking shoes. Don’t ask why, just do it. [Boing Boing]

Stirred: Bond #23 has signed on both Javier Bardem and Ralph Fiennes for obscure, quasi-villainous roles. Add in Sam Mendes behind the camera and things are looking pretty interesting. [/Film]

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01/31/11
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Chantal le Fevre is Letting Her Hair Down

chantallefevre_crop.jpgvia Fashion Gone Rogue

The Lion in Winter: Jack Nicholson gets melancholy, but keeps his cool. [Daily Mail]

Carrying the Flag: Barbour launches a limited edition Steve McQueen collection. Extremely handsome stuff here. [Luxist]

Make It New: Revamping pea coats with brass buttons. One of the many benefits of learning to sew. [Valet]

The Monkey Represents Wikileaks: The struggles in Egypt, as explained through Raiders of the Lost Ark. [Boing Boing]

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05/19/10
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LinkOut

Ruby is Being Hypnotized

ruby4_crop.jpg

Very Sleepy: The lads at Vice test the gullibility of their models. [Vice]

It’s Happening: LCD’s James Murphy shares his wisdom and karaoke picks—specifically Lou Rawls’ “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine.” Well done. [Opening Ceremony]

The Top is Down: Steve McQueen’s ’58 Siata 208S (that translates to “beautiful red convertible”) has found its way to eBay. Commence yearning. [Autoblog]

Padding: What to expect from your iPad. Apparently it makes a lousy tennis racquet. [CrunchGear]

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03/23/10
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Big Picture

I’m Only Dancing

stevemcqueen_crop.jpg

Sartorially Inclined just dug up a new set of Steve McQueen photos on the LIFE archive, and we couldn’t resist passing one along. We’re going to go ahead and assume they’re listening to Nashville Skyline.

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09/03/09
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Dept. of Corrections

Still the One

smcqueen_crop.jpg

The Wall Street Journal has been taking on the Times pretty directly lately, and it looks like the style beat is no exception. We’re sure they were both racing for the “Steve McQueen is still cool” story, but credit the WSJ for pulling it in first.

The problem, as you might have guessed, is that he never really went away. Baracuta might be having a revival, but McQueen himself has never really fallen out of style. To the extent that he had a surge, we’re already on the tail end of it. That is, around the time when the big houses stomp in and large scale trend pieces start to water things down. None of it’s wrong exactly, but it’s also hard to pinpoint anything that wouldn’t have been true five years ago…or fifteen for that matter.

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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, 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

  • Carl Mateo, 32 Brand Ambassador for Silly Hats Company Lives: Greenpoint, Brooklyn
    What We Like Sed tempor tincidunt augue, nec faucibus mi mattis vitae. Donec urna massa, molestie eget facilisis nec, pellentesque a enim.

    Vivamus ipsum est, feugiat vitae commodo et, dignissim at orci. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Aliquam iaculis faucibus urna, sit amet pellentesque.
  • Michael Benin, 28 Frontend Developer of UrbanDaddy Lives: Greenpoint, Brooklyn
    What We Like Vivamus ipsum est, feugiat vitae commodo et, dignissim at orci. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Aliquam iaculis faucibus urna, sit amet pellentesque.

    Sed tempor tincidunt augue, nec faucibus mi mattis vitae. Donec urna massa, molestie eget facilisis nec, pellentesque a enim.
  • Michael Benin, 28 Frontend Developer of UrbanDaddy Lives: Greenpoint, Brooklyn
    What We Like Vivamus ipsum est, feugiat vitae commodo et, dignissim at orci. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Aliquam iaculis faucibus urna, sit amet pellentesque.

    Sed tempor tincidunt augue, nec faucibus mi mattis vitae. Donec urna massa, molestie eget facilisis nec, pellentesque a enim.
  • Michael Benin, 28 Frontend Developer of UrbanDaddy Lives: Greenpoint, Brooklyn
    What We Like Vivamus ipsum est, feugiat vitae commodo et, dignissim at orci. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Aliquam iaculis faucibus urna, sit amet pellentesque.

    Sed tempor tincidunt augue, nec faucibus mi mattis vitae. Donec urna massa, molestie eget facilisis nec, pellentesque a enim.
California

San Francisco

Mission District
May 1

Oh, and up next: we take a peak at another handsome-as-hell neighborhood, the Mission District in San Francisco. Stay tuned...

Kempt
Style Shifters
Cadillac