a guide to heritage clothing, canvas bags, steel bicycles, and Japanese web shops
Counter programming against Black Friday, I like to rapid scroll through the web shops of the Japanese apparel accounts I follow on Instagram. I know the lag delay of Google translating product descriptions and sizing charts will put the brakes on impulse buying one more chore coat that I don’t need. Instead, I grab screen …
At the end of 2019, I’m still following the Archival Resolutions I set out for myself at the start of the decade. My favorite has always been resolution #4: “Shop from yourself and from thrift shops. Repurpose strategic items from the past.” In the past year, I’ve been trying to shop more from myself and …
For gents, there is no shortage of chore coats in fascinating cuts and fabrics. Here are a few of my faves on offer (and on sale) from Mister Freedom (via Self Edge). Also, I need to know: who is this handsome, bearded, deadpan, denim fit model? What memory traces does he carry, having worn so …
I spotted this patchwork chore coat from Tigre Brocante last Fall. Unfortunately, a half year later, the jacket (nicely styled for men and women), has disappeared from the site. You may not be able to buy this jacket, but you can still mimic the look. Check out Corridor’s Duck Dyed Overshirts (on sale) as a worthy, patch-free alternate. …
I’m tapped out after a trip to Japan. Nevertheless, I’m saving up my shekels for a new Danton chore coat. Danton, a French brand licensed for distribution in France, offers sturdy, unisex work clothing for men and women in staple fabrics including poplin, cotton, and now, sturdy moleskin. Danton, like Engineered Garments, produces a line …
Ever since UO Digital Arts professor, Craig Hickman, published Apparatus, his clever homage to US Patent Gazette drawings, I’ve been obsessed with browsing the patent archives for long lost product ideas. I’ve amassed a large collection of patent illustrations, primarily focusing on bags, garments and bicycling gear. Here’s a recent, favorite find: a special …
I’m always on the hunt for the perfect chore coat. It’s a style that’s warm, but not heavy, and it looks great. Since I wear chore coats in lieu of a blazer, I prefer French “bleu de travails” over heavy, outdoorsy canvas duck work jackets. Here are my basic requirements for the style: it should …
I got the chance to preview the Dickies 1922 Fall 2011 line this week. We reviewed the first edition of Dickies 1922 trousers very favorably, saying that our only hitch was the historically accurate fit – a boon to some, but undesirably wide to others. Well, Dickies has answered our prayers in their Fall 2011 …
Bobby Short portrait at the Cafe Carlyle. Soon after we landed we headed over to the Carlyle for a dinner show featuring OFAM favorite, John Pizzarelli and his wife Jessica Molaskey. Jonathan Schwartz was in the audience. Tom, Sara and I breakfasted in Brooklyn with Matthew from the William Brown Project. Pratt campus. We wanted …