As you may have heard a few times before, elegance is refusal. In particular, we’d nominate the refusal to cling to that ratty pair of “housework” jeans you haven’t worn in two years.

Which is why, despite questionable web design and a strong whiff of Freeganism, we’re ready to endorse Curb Day—a festival of free piles coming up on September 25th. The truth is, you probably have too much stuff, more stuff than you want, and you need is an excuse to get rid of some of it. That includes those jeans, your yogurt maker and any number of plastic doo-dads kicking around the corners of your closet. Maybe someone else wants it…or maybe not.

But in the interest of remaining insect-free, leave the scavenging to less discerning individuals.

This gentleman has been causing quite a stir in the men’s style sphere lately—particularly in reference to those washed jeans.

He was snapped by the Sartorialist and Tommy Ton at Pitti Uomo, he’s inspired a crop of bloggers to profess a love for the kind of washed denim that, in simpler times, got tagged as dad jeans.

What does it all mean?»

Men’s style has taken a turn for the utilitarian in recent years, but here’s one useful innovation we didn’t see coming: the reversible jacket.

Nigel Cabourn seems to be a true believer, offering both a double-patterned button-up and this reversible cardigan in his latest Fall line. (The inside’s a plain heather gray.) It helps that both sides are handsome to begin with, and we suppose it goes a little farther in justifying a $450 cotton cardigan…but something still seems a little off here. As nice as the horizontal pattern is, after a while it’s going to be hard not to think of it as a lining.

We spent the last few days surveying a mind-boggling number of Summer ’11 collections at the Capsule and ENK shows, and the biggest trend to emerge out of the muddle may have been corduroy shorts. We ran across pairs from Rogues Gallery (pictured), Lightning Bolt, and even the cotton tie-makers at Camo. If you’re wondering what it they look like in person, you can pick one up from L. L. Bean’s Signature Collection. In other words…they’re everywhere.

We’ll confess to being a bit puzzled by all this, and not just because L. L. Bean managed to be the first out of the gate. In heat like this, the last thing we want is some stifling cords—but we’d probably feel differently if we did more sailing.

We’re always been on the side of clothes with character—which is another way of saying “very old clothes.” That means resoling shoes, repairing worn jeans and, if you’re particularly committed, doing something about those holes in your sweater.

If your tailor isn’t much for darning, here’s an unorthodox alternative. Toss in one of these puffs of wool from Woolfiller (hat tip) and, after a few pokes with an unthreaded needle, you’ll have a brand new patch. Sure, it looks a little bit like your sweater has a growth, but with the right touch and the right contrast colors, you may be on the cusp of the perfect shabby sweater. Assuming the moths cooperate.

We’re not sure what’s more troubling, that the chaps at Hickorees Hard Goods are selling homemade slingshots (as per Pursuit Aesthetic and UD) or that they’ve already sold out.

The next time you’re passing through Williamsburg, you may want to bring a helmet.

We’re not thrilled about graphic ties to begin with, but when you swap out the usual polo horse for a gentleman flasher, as in this Colette x Band of Outsiders collab, you may be in trouble. There’s a fine line between showing cheek and manufacturing novelty ties, and this one’s right on the fence.

In other words, it’s a handsome specimen—but we’re pretty sure he’s not wearing a tie under there.

Trust the internet to take something beautiful and turn it into something slightly uncomfortable.

Take this young woman, for instance. She seems like she’s having a good time. She’s smiling, after all. Sure, her legs are crossed, but she doesn’t seem in distress. Certainly not like she’s looking for a bathroom or anything…

Unfortunately, after Hipsters Have to Pee, everything is suspect.

Norse Projects has done a lot of good work in the past, and Soulland seems cool, so we’re inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt on this…but we just have no idea what is going on here. And for some reason, we can’t stop staring at it.

Scanning the catalog of the newly landed Warby Parker Eyewear, we were pleased to come across this tradwear gem: the monocle.

Currently available under the Lewis Carroll-esque name, “Colonel Whisky Tortoise,” it’s one of the few monocles that we’ve seen actually make it onto a line sheet in quite some time. It’s pretty far along in the trad continuum—i.e. on your wishlist, it should go somewhere below your second plaid three-piece suit—but if you need to break something to register comic disbelief, accept no substitutes.

If any street fights break out between brands after Fashion Week—and it’s been known to happen—Supreme will definitely have an edge.

Somehow—and really, the street fight hypothesis is the most likely—these nunchucks found their way into the streetwear brand’s latest Spring/Summer preview. And by all apprearances, they’ve been practicing. We’re not sure whether to read this as a Warriors reference or a result of Lou Reed’s ongoing penchant for Kung Fu, but we’re still glad to see a label stretching themselves.

And we always thought Gilded Age would make one hell of a crossbow.

via NotCot

Etiquette can be a minefield, but a well-designed card can make just about any sentiment palatable. (For instance…) Which is where Brittany Harriman’s pet peeve cards come in. This anti-slow-walkers card bears the helpful inscription “OMFG! Move out of the way!” While we might have hoped for better syntax, we’d bet if you handed it to the sloth-like gentleman ahead of you on the sidewalk, he’d be too impressed by the sharp design to take offense.

Well, maybe.

There are plenty of robots around these days but—if this guy is any judge—they don’t quite have the musical gist.

Which is why we’re partial to this Tengu Black. Sure, you don’t need a tiny USB device mouthing the words to whatever songs you’re playing—or, if you’re tech-savvy enough, your voicemail messages—but it’s a good sort of thing to have around.

As of this week, you can pick one up in sleek black instead of Apple-ready monolith white, which makes us even more intrigued, but it doesn’t quite answer the question…who buys these things?

As you may have noticed from certain streetwear blogs, a troubling amount of the really cool stuff in the world is sold exclusively in Japan. But lately, we’re starting to suspect it’s some kind of international conspiracy.

This pack, for instance, isn’t from some obscure hermit-like artisan, or even a brand like Engineered Garments that’s trying to retain cred by letting their gear trickle out in distant markets. It’s from Fred Perry, everyone’s favorite mass-market chav. And while they’ve made some sweet shirts in their time, we didn’t think they were capable of anything like this—certainly not for under 500 bucks to boot.

If we were their brand manager, we’d put one of these in every store, and shout from the rooftops that they’ve finally found a good waxed cotton source. Instead, they dump it off in a limited run in Tokyo and leave Mother England and Her Former Colonies in the lurch.

It’s like they’re taunting us.

As you may have noticed, we’re pretty impressed by fabric innovations. Which is why we’re both awestruck and perplexed by these made-to-order fedoras, made from an innovative combination of colored thread and recycled cassette tape.

The idea originated with the more understated Mixtape Tie, but it was only a matter of time before it made it to sturdier items. The crucial detail is that all the tape still has sound on it—specifically, tracks pulled from the designer’s homemade sound collages—so your precious noggin will get a dose of magnetic good vibrations for as long as you keep it on. You can even generate some music of chance if you run a tape head over it, which would certainly be a first for our wardrobe.

Now that we’re all carrying clocks in our pockets, the future of the watch is uncertain. Vintage models are still unimpeachably cool, but anything designed closer to the present is playing to a pretty tough crowd.

If you’re Nooka, apparently the answer is to ditch the old “knowing what time it is” paradigm entirely. There’s a number, there’s a gauge, and for some reason, there are even dots, but anyone glancing at their wrist on the way to a breakfast date is going to be in for some confusion. Hopefully they’ve got a cell phone handy…

Fabric scraps are responsible for a lot of things—most notoriously, American Apparel’s recent enthusiasm for the scrunchy—but a wearable jacket is a somewhat taller order.

That hasn’t stopped Looptworks (hat tip to Josh Spear) from trying, though. The jacket on the left is stitched together entirely from discarded fabric, and it might be the height of the discarded fabric-style so far. We’re not ready to jump on board just yet—we’re concerned about durability, for one—but if they can save a few thousand yards of cloth from the scrap heap, it might be worthwhile. Anything would be better than scrunchies…

The goal of collaborations is usually to point up the brands strength’s with a few new ideas, but it looks like Raf Simons was feeling a little restless when he took on the Doc Marten. And it’s fair to say the work boot never knew what hit it.

The resulting high-top ditches construction-worker grit for playfully useless gold sheen, swaps punk for glam, and generally embraces excess for excess’s sake. The general population should feel free to give these as wide a berth as possible, but if you’re part of Kanye’s entourage…your new shoes are in.

One of the perks of being a blogger (aside from the untold riches) is the power to indulge in pet causes from time to time. But choose wisely…

TechCrunch founder and professional networker Michael Arrington has picked a pretty odd one: abolishing the handshake. Motivated by a mild, reasonable germophobia, Arrington has made a fairly consistent case for doing away with the practice, and today the cause made it all the way to the Boston Globe Magazine which, we assume, counts as the big time.

We weigh in on the handshake»

Your latest fabricated facial hair update: a shop in Portland, aptly named I Made You a Beard, is currently selling this felted model to anyone unable—for reasons of genetics, gender or employment—to grow one on their own.

Of course, it doesn’t have the warming properties of Beardhead, but we’d say it makes up for it in verisimilitude.

In the wake of the Iranian Election turmoil, YouTube and Twitter have gotten a lot of press as something more than idle entertainments. And while Twitter hasn’t changed up their game plan too much, YouTube is getting a little full of itself.

In order to assist the new generation of webcam-equipped witnesses, YouTube has launched The Reporters’ Center, a feed devoted to guiding and publishing the work of aspiring citizen journalists. They’ve got brief tutorials from Bob Woodward, Nicholas Kristof and (for some reason) Arianna Huffington on getting to the bottom of the story, but we’re not sure if the world is quite ready for the stories that they’re about to get. It’s one thing to publicize raw feeds from an event everyone already agrees is important, but it’s quite another to sift through a few thousand clips looking for something that approaches newsworthiness.

Either way, we’re guessing the cat-in-fan story is about to get a lot more play.

The 1960s advertising world may be taking a temporary vacation from the zeitgeist, but we couldn’t help noticing a familiar item in the latest catalog from Germany’s aptly named Wormland label.

That’s right. They’re selling Pete Campbell’s suit.

Granted, the lapels are thinner, the blue is deeper, and the whole thing is a good deal shinier—all of which makes it less desirable than the genuine article—but it’s rare to see an item jump from screen to page this quickly. Maybe they were trolling for inspiration and ran across a re-broadcast on BBC2?

August can’t get here soon enough…

Speaking of button-ups, this gray linen version just came down the transom as part of Rogues Gallery’s Spring ’09 collection, as part of a new Gitman-inspired run of short-sleeved button-ups. It’s not as seaworthy as the RG gear you might be used to, but these days we’re more concerned about beach-readiness anyway.

The trinket dangling on the model’s chest is also part of the collection, which goes some of the way to explain why he’s so unbuttoned. We’d recommend a more restrained take ourselves…unless you’re feeling Fabio-esque.

We’re already fans of healthy anachronism in comminuques, but this may be going too far.

Telegram Stop is a virtual telegram operator, taking missives over the internet and mailing them out in historically impeccable typewritten packages. The question of why one would want to sent a telegram in 2009 is left to the imagination, but one imagines retro enthusiasm has something to do with it. Personally, we draw the line at anything that fakes a postmark, but anyone looking to recreate the carefree Gilded Age should take notice.

This weekend saw the World Beard Championship in Anchorage—the unofficial whisker capital of America—and the most spectacular beards in the country are now available for your perusal.

David Traver took home the top spot for his faux-snowshoe chin-hanger, in spite of a somewhat suspicious dye job that, if we were judging, might have gotten him disqualified. The runners-up sported more interesting handlebar-style beards sporting a stately gray and an impressive quantity of wax (along with an eye-popping pink suit), but they were pretty advanced looks across the board.

In other words, don’t try this at home.

See the top three beards in America»

Thrift has been making a serious comeback lately, so the piggy bank seems poised for a revival. But we may still have a few kinks to work out…

This porcelain coin bank puts a refined (if somewhat goth) face on the practice of saving change, but there’s a slight problem. For one, it will run your tab up almost $300. And for another, if you ever plan on getting those coins back, you’ll have to smash poor Yorick to pieces. Since the headpiece only holds about fifty bucks in coins, we’re projecting a $250 shortfall.

Maybe regular banks aren’t so bad after all.

No sooner had we gushed about the impeccable mystique of the Japanese bagmakers at Porter than we caught wind of their latest creation: a mesh gym bag.

It’s not a bad item—in fact, it’s probably one of the better gym bags we’ve seen—but nothing punctures mystique like cotton mesh. We were hoping for a catalog full of sleek black briefcases and seamless nylon bags. Adding a string-strapped semi-tote to their repertoire makes the whole enterprise seem a whole lot less monolithic.

On the other hand, you’ll still have to pay for it in yen, so we’d say their cult brand cred is still firmly intact.

It’s official. Workwear has entered its baroque period…or at least Japanese workwear.

This linen blend fishing vest from the Japanese brand Mean might be the perfect example. There’s a reason we haven’t seen one before: If you tried to take it fishing, it would soak through from the tiniest splash. Linen is probably the least rugged material available, which is one of the many reasons it hasn’t found its way into workwear just yet.

In other words, someone is having some fun with us…

All is explained»

The Selectism folks turned us onto this foulard Tom Ford just dropped on the market (along with a woven belt, naturally).

It’s part of his well-documented Italian campaign, but this particular item might be a bridge too far. Whether the resonance is Italian anarchists or American sailors, it seems a bit too loaded for casual wear. Of course, we’re always ready a Ford fan to prove us wrong…

The old workhorse denim companies have taken their time catching up to the boutique acts, but it looks like they’re finally coming around.

This set of colored Levi’s 501s is a step in the right direction, and it’s in line with work they’ve been doing with 511s for years…but the colors seem a bit too primary for our tastes. It’s still impressive gear, especially the gray and yellow versions, but it would have been better if it were a bit more Pantone and a bit less…crayola.

We’re not saying they need to jump on the Mimosa, but a few shades lighter on the green and a few shades darker on the red would have made them a whole lot more wearable.

We’re well-acquainted with the internet’s insatiable love of bacon, but we’re still glad to see it getting a bit of play in the mainstream press.

Over the past few months, there’s been a web-based rush to invent the most bizarre bacon creation possible (if you were wondering, it’s here) but as strange as the creations seem, the impulse is simpler than you might think. Bacon has always been a bizarre food. It just took the web to show us exactly how bizarre it was. And as usual, the web got a little carried away.

Then again, we’re pretty happy about this…so it’s not all bad.

We like our socks black, cotton, and plentiful. And unlike most items, we’re open to getting them through nontraditional means.

Blacksocks.com (hat tip to Crains) just launched what can only be described as a sock club for men, pledging a package of three pairs, three times a year.

It’s not a bad plan, and the frequency can be tailored to your own needs…but we wonder if this is a bit too much of a commitment. After nine pairs of dour Peruvian cotton, who’s to say you won’t be yearning for a bit of color?

eCommerce and Flash media have developed together to the point that it’s possible to customize just about anything—with the right site, naturally. But we’re a little unsure of whether taking on tailoring was a good idea.

Shirtsmyway.com is a customizable shirting site that lets you enter your measurements, select a style, and generally oversee your oxford from conception to completion. Then it’s stitched together in China and shipped to your doorstep, just the way you imagined. Of course, we would never speak ill of tailoring, but something about this setup just doesn’t seem right…

We elaborate on our misgivings»

Much as we love the sneaker/oxford crossover, it’s important to do it in the right way. Otherwise you end up with…well, this.

We explain where it all went wrong»

via Material Review

The wardrobe is a toolbox. You’ve got suits for work (sometimes), a set of lazy Sunday gear, and a whole range in between for wherever you end up. Style isn’t a matter of owning nice things so much as properly diagnosing each situation and gearing up appropriately.

All of which goes a long way towards explaining how hiking boots got to where they are today. You wouldn’t want to wear them to a cocktail party, but if you’ve got a cabin somewhere, it would be hard to do better than these.

Valentine’s Day is a very special time, when couples can grow together, share feelings of love and respect and, most importantly, exchange gifts.

These matching coffee cups come from the L.A. erotic shop Coco de Mer. In case you can’t read it, the one on the left says “bitch,” and the one on the right says, “wanker.”

Consider yourself warned.

The latest from the CES front: This printer (the GT-451 from the ominously named Brother) can print a full color t-shirt in a few minutes, which should come in handy for getting those “Superbowl Champion” t-shirts out of the gate come January.

More people are printing up t-shirts in their basements these days, so if they get the price point low enough, this could be genuinely revolutionary…but we’re a bit skeptical. The art tee crowd is a pretty finicky bunch, and we doubt they’ll give up screenprinting without a fight.

After all, half of them are still using vinyl.

See the printer in action»

Kanye’s seen the future, and it is Velcro.

These Kris Van Assche ankle leather sneakers prompted his Yeeziness to title a post, “2009 is all about the straps! I know we’ve seen straps but this year it’s going to be crazy,” which moved us to battle stations.

As fashion predictions go, it’s pretty ominous, but hopefully we can dodge the horrible future Kanye foresees. This isn’t 1988, and he isn’t Michael Jackson, so let’s hope he forgets this one before the next tour.

If he’d really meant it, he probably would have typed it in all caps.

For a while there, we were genuinely excited about internet culture. Smart phones like the iPhone and the gPhone were going to spawn small-scale apps that would be smart, entertaining, and elevate humanity forever.

But today we learned that the top-selling app on the iPhone is iFart. When you click the buttons, it makes farting sounds. And according to VentureBeat, it’s selling more than 10,000 copies a day.

Sigh.

The Sartorialist tipped us off to the latest troubling fad among monk-shoed Italians: they’re leaving the straps dangling loose. Of course, we have nothing but love for monk shoes, but to our eyes, that loose strap is just waiting to end up in the mouth of a teething basset hound with a taste for fine leatherwork.

But of course, that doesn’t mean it’s going anywhere. Trends like this rarely follow the usual rules, and assuming the shoe fits well enough to stay on without the strap, there’s nothing to stop the Mediterranean youth from leaving their straps dangling for the better part of the decade.

Think of it as a backwards ballcap for the bespoke set.

The fine folks at Remington just alerted us to the fact that November is National Beard Month, which got us thinking about the mountain man look, in addition to making us wonder exactly how high the bar is for national month-long holidays.

Of course, the grooming end of workwear has always been amenable to a little well-trimmed stubble, but a full Morrison-style chin-hanger requires the kind of dedication you don’t see much outside of hipster enclaves anymore. It may not make your HR director happy, but that’s just the price you pay.

If you think you’ve got the follicles for it, feel free to live the dream.

We’ve often been in the position of trying to convince a friend of the riskiness of heavily knit belts. Yet, as logical as we can be, it’s often hard to convey what a niche item they truly are, and how sparingly they should be applied in any wardrobe.

This picture, we feel, sums it up pretty nicely.

Much as we try to keep things classy, the bulk of the internet has always been composed of two things: pornography and pictures of cats. So when someone has a good idea—like, The Sartorialist, for instance—it’s a sure bet that it’ll filter down into one of those two arenas.

And now, the less interesting of the two possibilities has finally become a reality. Ladies and gentleman: The Catorialist.

The above image, by the way, is captioned “the power of men’s accessories,” and the sound you hear is the internet swallowing itself whole. As for The Nudetorialist, nobody’s snatched up the domain name yet, but it can only be a matter of time.

40 years in, James Bond is less of a character than a rotating stable of brands. Sony Ericsson, Smirnoff, and Aston Martin are all part of the current package, but what about the villains? While Bond is off winding his Omega, the Goldfingers of the world have to make do with Swatches.

Nicolas Hayek, founder and head of the Swatch group, has decided to cash in on the semi-cachet of the Bond villain with the 007 Villain Collection. The line follows villains from Goldfinger to Casino Royale, outfitting the most stylish with a watch just slightly less expensive than Bond’s own.

We’re usually partial to product endorsements from imaginary characters, but we’re still on the fence with this one. Is there anyone out there trying to dress like Jaws?

August is usually a deathly slow news month, but thus far it’s already being filled with senatorial infidelity, a steady stream of Olympians, and an all-out war. All of which means that we’ve missed out on the important filler stories that usually fill up this wonderful month.

For instance, the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, named for the author of the infamous first sentence, “it was a dark and stormy night.”

Each year, the judges choose the worst opening sentence to a novel and present it to the world, relieving the crushing burden of finding something to report in the middle of August. Of course, this year, as the judges note, “it appears that many newspapers have allowed themselves to be distracted by a large athletic contest being staged somewhere in Asia.”

Indeed.

See the winning sentence»

As the Web 2.0 era progresses, the overshare is getting more and more refined. It’s not enough to tell your friends where you are at all times. You tell them what you’re doing, how you’re feeling, and most importantly of all, what you’re eating.

Into this unsavory mix comes FoodFeed, a twitter mod devoted entirely to what you, and others like you, are eating right now.

In addition to providing dieticians with some fascinating research fodder, we can’t help but think it’ll be useful to the restaurant industry. Also, as research will confirm, there are currently two people eating jello and one person eating soap.

O brave new world…

The appeal of Bond has always had more to do with the man’s accoutrements than his geopolitical nuance, but it’s taken surprisingly long for all that swag to be gathered into one place.

Apparently that day is here. Allow us to introduce Bond Lifestyle, a one-stop compendium gathering together everything from the man’s favored cologne (according to Fleming, anyway) to the Swiss villa that provided the setting for Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The catalogue is somewhat skewed towards the more recent (and more thoroughly branded) movies, but you can still find a replica of the Trilby Hat from Doctor No or the two-button gray suit in From Russia With Love.

More on the Bond Lifestyle»

Bill Cosby is a pretty unlikely style icon, but we’re willing to bite. He’s put three of his iconic sweaters up for auction on eBay, and so far no one’s taken the bait.

We have to admit, we’re a little surprised. These jazzy numbers pack more 80s baggage than all the Members Only jackets and guyliner in SoHo. And it’s to benefit the Cos’s education charity, so high-rollers shouldn’t balk at the four-figure price tag. Maybe M.I.A. wants one?

More on the Cos»

This week’s Loose Thread comes courtesy of the nonist, who just introduced us to the Japanese concept of chindogu, or unuselessness.

The utili-tie to the left is a prime example. At first, it seems like the ideal combination of the sartorial charms of the necktie with the practical need to carry safety scissors, a set of paper clips, a ruler, a passport, and various other office essentials. But after you consider it for more than thirty seconds, it becomes clear that the tie is wildly inefficient at both its intended uses. It’s not entirely useless, but even if it existed, it would never be used. It is, in other words, Chindogu.

More on this intriguing categorization»

Seems when it comes to sunglasses, Kanye West is the man to follow. Since the release of his new album, the hip-hop product ho has been hosting pics on his blog featuring fans from all over the world wearing his 80s-tastic “Stronger” specs.

Sensing a market opportunity—the man is a player after all—West has teamed up with Aussie hipster outfitters (and Assembly-goers Ksubi for a line of sunglasses under the rapper’s Pastelle fashion line.

More on Mr. West’s latest endeavor»

Apparently the Norwegian Salvation Army stores are a good deal less depressing than the stateside ones, or at least they have a bigger ad budget.

This eye-catching spot follows a winsome Scandinavian Alice down the thrift-store rabbit hole, as she explores a series of single-color rooms that connect to each other in confusing and inconsistent ways. Click on the green circle and you’ll see her model a series of 60s-inflected one-pieces, surrounded by green bookshelves, cabinets, and planters. Click on another circle and you’ll see her walk to the right…into whatever color room you picked and whatever style goes with it. The overall effect is somewhere between Project Runway and stumbling onto a foreign satellite channel at 4 in the morning.

The aesthetic is bizarrely matchy, but that’s more or less the point. If you’re looking for a duvet for your mauve guest room, they’ve probably sold you. Otherwise, we’re skeptical. Maybe we’d like it more if she sang…

Ah, the Scandinavians. Always pushing those margins and always, somehow, still looking sober and strangely sensible (is it the months of darkness? The vodka?) Somehow between the madness one might see on your average Harijuku street-fashion site, the louche, Parisian reportage of The Facehunter and the imminently restrained sensibilities…