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Time unveiled their Top 100 fashion icons today, and it’s ugly stuff. Of the full 100, there are about 10 gentlemen whose wardrobe we’d actually like to dig into. Unfortunately, it’s not all James Dean…
It’s not that the list is bad, exactly. It’s just the latest in a long line of stodgy fashion pieces that completely ignore menswear. It’s enough to make you think the last 10 years never happened…
via WBEMr. Browne Speaks: A typically cagey Thom Browne interview, including some minor dirt on Mr. Peanut. [The Talks]
Between the Sheets: Three anonymous actors dish on the messy business of shooting a sex scene, including the ominous “acorn syndrome.” [Vulture]
The Amphibious Bicycle and Other Strokes of Genius: Photos of 27 of the strangest creations ever built, from the radio stroller to the mysterious Loetafoon. [Brain Pickings]
A Good Cut: Ratio Clothing is offering up a custom US-made shirt for under $100, which is more than enough to get our attention. [Well Spent]
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via tuckedWalk into any shirting outfit (the new J.Crew Ludlow Shop, for instance) and you’re likely to see two different classes of button-up. There’s the soft, casual kind—your oxford shirts, your flannels—and then there’s the iron-ready, stiff-collared dress shirts that dominate the modern business uniform.
In the heady workwear days (say, mid-2008), you might have been inclined to skip the latter category altogether, and a lot of people did. The stiff shirts were boring, the kind of thing bankers wore. But with the rise of Italian style, the dress shirt is suddenly essential again—and there’s a specific look that sets it apart from the banker-ready version. If you were wondering what to wear underneath your Isaia DB, look no further.
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via SelectismThe Locks of Victory: Matt Sullivan lays into Tom Brady for cultivating “the worst case of modern-day helmet hair this side of Callista Gingrich.” Real talk. [Esquire]
The Ghost Ads: A look at half-erased ad murals in Highland Park, Michigan. ACL bait at its finest. [NYTimes]
The Other Toupee: On the heels of Thom Browne’s bizarre Paris show, Lawrence Schlossman breaks down the basics of Merkin style. Follow them at your own risk. [How to Talk To Girls at Parties]
The Small Screen: And in case you’re jonesing for some Sundance overflow, you can check out nine of the short films in contention here. [Yahoo! Screen]
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A Dangerous Method: Michelle Williams gets the profile treatment from GQ, coming off every bit as stable as Marilyn Monroe. [GQ]
Suit Up: In praise of the personal uniform, whether it’s Steve Jobs or Thom Browne. [Valet]
Clint Eastwood Is a Badass: The story of a 21-year-old Clint Eastwood, a plane crash at sea and a two-mile swim in very cold water. [The Scuttlefish]
The Faces of Market Week: Ryan Plett offers black-and-white snaps of the Ovadia twins and Matt from Sid Mashburn, among others. [TravelWell]
Via WBEAll’s Fair: A gentleman’s guide to Fair Isle sweaters, including some great gloves, ties, hats and socks in the pattern. [Valet]
Five on Five: The social etiquette of the high five. Don’t risk another one until you’ve watched this riveting film. [MIEN Magazine]
A New Drink: Thom Browne is getting into the scotch business. Nicely done. [Driven]
Give ‘em the Boot: Six plain-toe boot options from Brad of Well Spent. Our money’s still on the Red Wings. [Details]
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Thom Browne made the leap to e-commerce this morning, including everything short of tailoring. (Rightfully, he wants you to get measured in person before you buy a suit.) That means shirts, ties, and, our favorite, the slim cardigans that have become his most distinctive item in recent years. Also, if you had a burning urge for a monolithic leather doctor’s bag, they might be able to hook you up.
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It’s easy to forget just how cool Thom Browne can be when he gives it a go. These grainy snaps of Browne’s Black Fleece collection just popped up featuring the same high-water pants and newly high waistlines. And thanks to the black-and-white film, it comes off a lot more mysterious than we’re used to from Thom. Bogey would be proud.
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The Lion in Winter: In his later years, Churchill favored a twist on our favored continental breakfast. A whiskey soda is involved.
[A Suitable Wardrobe]
Knife Shopping in Milan: Touring Italy, Michael Williams finds the most unpretentious, utilitarian shop in Milan—a knife store. Of course. [A Continuous Lean]
A Trad’s Guide: Jesse Thorn sits down with Thom Browne and the head of made-to-measure at J.Press. There will be shaggy does. [Put This On]
Bull Market: The last supper of the legendary El Bulli. [The Moment]
Getty Images, see it full sizeDaniel Radcliffe is not George Clooney. He’s also not James Bond. He is, for the moment at least, Harry Potter—and he doesn’t seem to have a problem with it.
This snap comes from the premiere of his latest Broadway Venture, How to Succeed at Business Without Really Trying. The answer, apparently, is to have Thom Browne in your corner. His tux comes from Browne’s Black Fleece collaboration with Brooks Brothers, and boasts one of shortest jackets you’ll ever see on a tuxedo. And without taking sides in the jacket wars, it’s pretty handsome stuff.
It’s not an elegant look—more boyish than masterful—but for a young man engaging in the most boyish kind of theater there is, it’s a perfect fit. (The tousled pocket square doesn’t hurt either.) It’s also won’t convince anyone to cast him as Macbeth, but we doubt he’ll lose much sleep over it.
Buying a jacket’s one of the more complex wardrobe decisions a man can make. There’s the snug shoulder, the placement of the buttons, the lapel width and—to pick a recent menswear hobby horse—padded vs. reconstructed shoulders.
And while that’s all important stuff, there’s something even more crucial that’s gone almost completely unmentioned. And unlike the others, which usually work themselves out among the higher-end brands, it varies wildly depending on where you go. It’s a huge, bold statement that most men don’t even know they’re making.
But naturally, you’re going to have to click through to find out what it is»
First, the good news: it’s almost warm again.
And to aid the monumental wardrobe shift you’ll be undertaking over the next few weeks, we’d like to reintroduce you to an old acquaintance: the short-sleeved button down.
It’s the nerdy younger brother of the polo shirt, and a surprisingly difficult piece to pull off right. In theory, it’s your office-appropriate answer to summer’s unforgiving heat, but since too many gentlemen end up resembling Dwight Schrute, we thought we’d put together a modern guide to the S/S/B/D.
We aren’t entirely up on the new crop of acts emerging out of SXSW, but we know what we like. One thing we like: when rappers wear tie pins.
This is L.A.’s own Shawn Chrystopher, an unsigned, Fiasco-esque rapper who made an impression with an unusually well-dressed performance in Austin. If he keeps up this look, he’s well on his way to being the Thom Browne of hip-hop.
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Our main criterion for a summer polo is feel. You want it soft, breathable and light enough to pass for a t-shirt—all of which makes an undershirt company a pretty good candidate.
Sunspel has been making English underwear for 150 years now (they claim to have introduced the boxer short to England), along with a few plain-color polos. But they’re finally branching out into more adventurous styles for their new Spring/Summer crop.
This one in particular is sharp enough to pass for Thom Browne—tricolor stripes and all. And given that Mr. Browne has borrowed fabrics from Sunspel before, it’s only right.
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Renaissance Man: Scott Caan muses on the dubious quality of Hawaii 5-0 and his sideline photographing hotel nudes. [Esquire]
Dispatches from the Edge of Sanity: Thom Browne’s Paris show suggests androgyny, classicism and drug use. [The Moment]
The Watchmen: Jason Chow guides us to the perfect watch if you’re only going to own one. If possible, it should have a portrait of your face in jewels. [WSJ]
Stankonia: A Canadian student goes 15 months without washing his jeans or causing a bacterial outbreak. We are of mixed opinion. [ABC]
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via GuyismMr. Browne Speaks: Thom Browne weighs in on New York’s most common style mistake and being asked to design the tuxedo for Mr. Peanut. [GQ UK]
The 1-Step Productivity Plan…: ….is getting up early. Seriously, that’s the whole thing. You may find that you prefer an unproductive life. [The 99 Percent]
Girls Will Talk: Why the new Girl Talk album is awesome, in so many words. [The Awl]
A Gentleman’s Guide to National Unfriend Day: Or, how to politely back out of an online friendship, as if it were a women’s bathroom. Start with ex-girlfriends. [Gizmodo]
Now that the dust has settled on Fashion Week, we thought we’d take a quick inventory of a few of the more practical lessons we picked up amid the blur of shows and after-parties. First on the docket: the return of the poncho.
This item comes from Thom Browne’s latest crop of Black Fleece gear for Brooks Brothers, and along with the classic trench, it’s his only protection against inclement weather. The fabric is a weather-proofed synthetic, but it still looks pretty dapper when dropped over a black-tie getup. Not bad for an item we were most accustomed to seeing on the shoulders of state troopers.
And if your poncho-lust is so strong that it can’t be held in check until this item hits stores in February, you might want to look into vintage British army capes—just to get you through the rainy season.
It won’t be scarf weather for at least a couple months, but we doubt if you’ll find a better example than this one. Courtesy of Thom Browne (by way of Moncler Gamme Bleu), it manages to combine Mr. Browne’s trademark tweediness with a touch of alpine glamour—making it the rare scarf that plays equally well in Mayberry and Lucerne. The designer price tag is every bit as eye-popping as you’d expect…but we can still dream.
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The Italian School: Vogue Italia shows off their contemplative side. [Fashion Copious]
Don’t Try This at Home: Tom Bissell has spent the past few years hooked on cocaine and Grand Theft Auto. We can’t decide which one’s worse… [The Guardian]
Art Rock: Rothko gets an internet-age update, thanks to a few choice gifs. [Blackbook]
Buttoned Down: Thom Browne’s Supreme collab raises eyebrows…and not in a good way. [Sartorially Inclined]
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Thom Browne has been venturing away from the shrunken suit look lately, but this (hat tip) might be the first piece he’s made that counts as Kanye-esque.
The shell is a classic Americana piece, a rainwear parka that wouldn’t look too out of place on Clark Griswold, but once you add polka dots it starts to look an awful lot like streetwear. It is a hoodie, after all.
We’re certainly not complaining; it’s always good to see a designer testing the limits of their talent. We just didn’t expect there to be so much in it for Pharrell.
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Suiting scraps are getting more and more play these days. The Dieline just gave us a first peek at the packaging for Black Fleece’s new fragrance, and the precious bottle’s cushioned with—you guessed it—fabric swatches. We’re guessing they had a few handy.
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via HypebeastThis pic comes from Moncler’s S/S 2010 show at Milan’s Piscina Cozzi. Thom Browne organized the line and the event, continuing his string of somewhat megalomaniacal unveilings.
I, for one, welcome our new overlords.
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This morning’s Style section boasted a remarkably detailed summary of something that’s been going on behind the scenes for years now: the ongoing Japanese love affair with American preppy style. ACL gets a little much-deserved love, Daiki Suzuki gushes about Thom Browne’s Japanese style, and all is right with the world.
In the Shadows: Katy Perry goes all expressionist for Complex. [Complex]
I, For One, Welcome Our New Overlords: On the heels of Google Wave, the Mountain View gang unveil something that looks suspiciously like virtual reality. Sadly, the swimsuit module will take a bit more time to perfect. [PSFK]
Only Getting Madder: Mad Men’s third season will have an extra commercial break and two fewer minutes per episode. And yes, we’re so Hamm-starved that this qualifies as news. [Vulture]
Pencil it In: The style world gets sketched. We hope Thom Browne’s nose is ok… [Men.Style]
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Girl from the Low Countries: For posterity’s sake: the definitive guide to Dutch women. [YesButNoButYes]
Some Kind of Comedian: The top ten comedians according to other comedians. We don’t know how Dane Cook missed this one. [Vulture]
Like Red but Not Quite: Nick Sullivan ponders the joys and dangers of the pinkish hue. We prefer “salmon” ourselves. [Esquire]
Gone Beggin’: Our new favorite Thom may be having some financial difficulties. He can always fall back on his acting career… [The Cut]
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