a guide to heritage clothing, canvas bags, steel bicycles, and Japanese web shops
I’m thrilled to see Rivendell offering a new batch of UK-made knitwear. I still adore and wear my original WoolyWarm tweed vest (first offered in the Rivendell catalog in 2002). In case you missed out on the Rivendell Cheviot (now sold out), you can always shop from these catalog scans from the earliest days of …
Patchwork (and multi panel) garb is hard to find these days. A few cool examples kick out of eBay, Etsy and Japanese web shops. For me, these items live as visual reminders of the endless ways to create variations on a classic design. Lesson learned: don’t bring out a million products, just find ways to …
This Fall, the Filson catalog rolled out a steady stream of gents (and a few women) jumping snowmobiles, fighting fires and toying with chainsaws (a far remove from the old glass plate snaps of early 20th century Filson-garbed lumberjacks posing beside an almost apologetic axe gash). Tech fabrics are now actively mixing it up with …
Here are a few fetching shooting sweaters from Centralia Knitting Mills (our old Archival knitting mill). I’m a huge fan of this style and these examples nicely illustrate how well the style holds up over time; the leather shooting pad and trim develop a nice wear pattern while the wool knit still looks new. Of …
I’m swooning over the French aviators (and their uniforms) found in a new Flickr album uploaded by archival image maven, Pillpat. Check it out, noting all the new-to-my-eyes, sartorial details: unique pullovers, cool tunics, curious collars, striped socks and military-duty clogs. Sign me up for any branch of service that issues such lovely off-duty garb (off-duty, …
Heddels asked me to identify my “item number one,” that is, the thing I’ve owned the longest (and still use semi-regularly). Read about my rare Filson Mackinaw Cruiser for women and follow the complete series here. And reference snaps below. What is your item number one?
Click over to Heddels to read my latest Ward Order Blank column: Duckbill Dynasty – the Cap We Want Back. Here are some of the photos of caps I collected during the research phase of writing this piece.
The Library of Congress flickr stream yields some of the best historic examples of shawl collar cardigans. During a periodic review, I surfaced these 1918 scans of baseball player Mike Donlin sporting a very heavy gauge cardigan with an unusual throat latch detail. I’m not a baseball fan, but I can’t get enough of these Bain …
I tried watching the 2016 Tour de France but lost interest after the first week. I miss the panache and personal style of cyclists from the past. Now, I can barely distinguish one game piece from the next (logos, lego shaped helmets and mirrored shades drown out the personalities of the individual riders. I much …
Browsing through photos of female war workers from WW2, I can’t help but lament the loss of the classic, wide legged, high waisted dungaree. While there are limitless repro and throwback heritage offerings for men (Mister Freedom and Sugar Cane always deliver) it is nearly impossible to find contemporary trousers for women in this style. Dickies 1922, Carhartt, …