American Apparel

She Was a Young American: Come for the impassioned defense of American Apparel mastermind Dov Charney. Stay for the sexpolitative photography. [Radar]

Fancy a Game of Footy?: Solid unisex, yes unisex, kicks from Jonathan Saunders and Goa. [JC Report]

Francophila: French women - now more sexual than ever. C’est Magnifique! [Time]

Changing Seasons: In Spring, a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of seersucker. [A Suitable Wardrobe]

Our Girl Friday: It’s been a long workweek. Don’t you think you deserve two minutes of Rachel Bilson being impossibly cute? [Nylon]

Sex Change: The TMagazine site has switched over from women’s fashions and a shot of Natalie Portman to a George Clooney pic and menswear stores, which is pretty much an even trade. [The Moment]

Unintelligent Design: A sartorial history of the cinematic caveman. [The Globe and Mail]

Caught Red Handed: Pikey Colin Farrell tried to steal someone else’s model girlfriend because, hey, why not? [NYPost]

Courtly Love: Our favorite low-tops ever go back to their roots. [Hypebeast]

In Vogue: The lovely Ms. Mendes in Italian Vogue. We’re sorry we said you weren’t the farming kind. [FashionIndie]

History Written in Sharpee: A Live Journal gives sharpee illustrations of the facebook status of all 44 presidents. We’re pretty sure this is how the Iliad was written. [Maria Sputnik]

Head Games: Whether you’re in America, India, or the rugged lands of Shaolin, you best protect your neck. [Jezebel]

Biters: Bastion of Blogosphere integrity Kanye West faces accusations of plagiarism. Say it ain’t so, ‘Ye. [Vulture]

Students of American style should take note: the upper class isn’t quite as old as you’d think. Only a few centuries ago, even New York was a rugged frontier town, with an upper-crust populated by shysters and remittance men. Brooklyn was still farmland and Wall Street still had a wall around it. The clothes may have been dirtier, but we’re sure you could pick up a few things.

One of our favorite publishers just came out with a book that immerses you in just that era. It’s called High Society, from British historian and noted dandy Nick Foulkes. It may be the beginning of a new historical obsession for us.

They really knew how to wear a hat back then.

It’s been kicking around since the 60s, but despite being a legitimate cultural icon, nobody’s given it the respect it deserves. But it looks like the afro pick’s time has finally come.

These gold- and silver-plated models from Social Creatures are made from cutlery grade aluminum and buffed to a high polish to help them negotiate the tighter curls. The handles are ornately embossed in the style of European trinkets, but don’t be fooled: this is entirely new. The silver model will set you back 275 UKP—they’re too bashful to give a price for the gold—but we never said cultural progress would be cheap.

Count on the Brits to bring us up to date.

Chuck Taylors are so iconic at this point that they’ve overshadowed the original style they came from: the old-school basketball shoe.

When the sport was invented around the turn of the century, there was a rush of shoes with lots of ankle support, almost no arch, and a stripped-down canvas aesthetic. It’s hard to get ahold of them these days, but the fine folks at Winn Perry have gotten their hands on a recreation of one of the original models: the 1892 Colchester Rubber Co. Sneaker.

True to the time, it’s still just vulcanized rubber and canvas, but it should catch a lot more eyes than those Chucks.

See the pre-Chucks closer up»

A little history will get you a long way…although you usually have to pay for it.

John F. Kennedy wore this watch for swimming for just under a year, and since then it’s passed from Jackie O to Aristotle Onassis, and eventually to a New York auction house. It’s going on the block in March, and costs a truly staggering amount, but as presidential memorabilia goes, this looks better than anything else we’ve seen.

It’s also worth more than five times as much as a watch on the same block that once belonged to Ghandi—just one more sign of what a little style will get you.

Much as we enjoy Oscar predictions and year end lists, the real judge of all art is history, and it’s often hard to predict which films will emerge as enduring works of art. But it looks like Step Brothers is one of those films.

David Edelstein, best known New York Magazine’s film critic, just placed the universally reviled Will Ferrell vehicle on his top 10 list for 2008. In other words, its place in the annals of history is secure.

As for why Edelstein saw the light, apparently this scene had something to do with it»

The Lincoln style revival has taken its time getting started, but it looks like it’s finally coming around.

This “Abe” stove pipe hat from Quintin is part of the larger 21st century Abe project, which brings artists together to celebrate Lincoln’s mark on contemporary times. There’s a handful of artists and musicians involved—including The National’s Bryce Dressler—but so far this is the only style item.

The brim gets an update, and it comes equipped with a historic note from the man stuffed in the ample top in true Lincoln style…but the appeal is still a bit more historical than sartorial. Is it too much to ask for a commemorative suit?

A man’s beard is his destiny, and while we’ve already had our say on exactly how it works out, we’re always open to new ideas…

Neatorama just dug up a Victorian treatise on the significance of facial hair, and it has us reconsidering our whole outlook on things. The book is The Language of the Beard, and according to its author, one Upton Uxbridge Underwood, a man’s whole character can be gleaned from his follicles.

Take it away Upton»

ACL just posted a fascinating talk with Levi’s archivist Lynn Downey that drops the following gems:

1) If this pair (dated between 1901 and 1922) is typical, styles have changed very little in the past 80 years. There’s the same coin pocket and, surprisingly enough, the same recently resurgent button-fly rivets. We hadn’t been thinking of that as a historical nod…but apparently we were wrong.

2) If you’ve got a pair of jeans with more than a century of wear in them, you may be able to sell them to Big Denim for some serious money. $46,532 is the most they’ve ever paid, but that’s nothing a little aggressive negotiation can’t solve. It’s time to start digging through great-grandpa’s wardrobe.

Alluring: Allure sits down with Isla Fisher, who has apparently never seen a Foghat album before. [SwipeLife]

Say It Out Loud: A look at the great ‘fros of the past. Sadly, Seth Rogen did not make the list. [All the Rage]

One Leg at a Time: A brief treatise on the origin of the trouser, which was apparently roundly condemned by Pope Pius VII. We’re curious what he’d make of the utilikilt. [This Recording]

Moving Out:h(y)r collective’s Ryan Willms has set up a new, flash-equipped homebase. Check it out, won’t you? [Inventory]