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A blog dedicated to the interesting, scandalous, useful and cutting edge in the world of men’s style, fashion and grooming.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
We were first drawn to the turn of the century Texas oil flick There Will Be Blood by the tweedy wardrobe of its star Daniel Day-Lewis. Very Freeman’s Sporting Club, we thought.
And how apropos for the Times to subsequently declare the return of tweed—yet another of those things that never really went anywhere to begin with, as far as we’re concerned.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
Waris Ahluwalia is much more than just the cool Indian guy in the Wes Anderson movies; he’s also a jewelry designer and one of the best-dressed men in town, though people tend to focus on the turban and not his threads.
The other night a Purple magazine Fashion Week party at Paul Sevigny’s crypto-swank Beatrice Inn, his favorite haunt, Waris bowled us over in a bespoke brown, green and burgundy flecked herringbone wool tweed suit with a forest green wool waistcoat and a crimson knitted wool tie: a perfectly balanced and seasonal palette that’s as warming to look upon as it must be to wear.
Savile Row is rightly known as the world center of tailoring, but too often the attention falls on the expert cuts—which you can get a good-enough approximation of in Hong Kong or New York—rather than the heirloom fabrics that usually don’t travel farther than one shop.
Luckily, the internet comes to us all. And apparently so does tweed»
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
We were pleased to see our old friend, author, Nightlife Decathlon star and all-round bon vivant Anthony Haden-Guest crop up in the photos from Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld’s book party at the Pace/MacGill Gallery the other night—where we also spotted three-time MOTH whiz Hamish Bowles.
Today sees the Blu-ray rerelease of the Dirty Harry series. As with most series, the law of diminishing returns sets in pretty quickly—and the less said about Slash’s cameo in The Dead Pool, the better—but the first movie hasn’t lost any of its iconic magic. The trick was the timing: Harry took the free-floating animosity of the era, put a right-wing twist on 60s anti-establishment sentiments, and wrapped it all in a tweed blazer. With elbow patches»
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
We had to hand this MOTH to Dennis Hopper for pulling off the not inconsiderable feat of posing next to a drug-addled sex bomb fifty years his junior while wearing clothes made for his grandkids—and managing not to look remotely ridiculous in the process.
With the fashion industry’s constant focus on youth, it’s easy to forget there are some pretty sharp oldsters out there. Silver Sartorial, anyone?
The new blog addressing this imbalance—under a slightly worse name—is Advanced Style, an on-the-street stream of pictures dedicated to “personal style that advances with age.” The folks here pull off tweed sport coats and painter’s whites with more conviction than you’ll get from anyone under 30.
It’s only fitting. Street-style photoblogs are getting a little long in the tooth themselves.
War Pants: Bruce Pask ponders the colonial charm of Gurkha pants. For the sake of our knees, we really hope this doesn’t catch on. [The Moment]
Blog on Blog Crime: Kanye gets arrested for another paparazzi altercation. When will they learn to live in peace? [Vulture]
Together at Last: Paisley and Tweed: Two great tastes that taste great together. [A Suitable Wardrobe]
Who Watches the Trendwatchers?: Fashion mags feel the pinch in ad sales. We still blame crocs. [WWD]
As anyone who’s been perusing our must-haves knows, we’ve got a soft spot for Yuketen Herringbone Boots, but actually finding a pair can be quite a task. Luckily, the rest of the world seems to be catching up.
Acquire put us onto this similar pair from UK brand Maharishi. It’s not quite as good…but you won’t have to hire out a personal shopper just to find one.
Tweed has never been the hottest look, but it may be having its own trendlet. Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to academic-chic.
This “Academia Jacket” from Visim has been making the Japanese retail rounds, and caught the eye of the streetwear tastemakers at High Snobiety and nascent King of all Media Kanye West. It’s a natural step from the accountant fetishism of Thom Browne—who, coincidentally, was just named GQ’s Designer of the Year—but we can’t help but wonder where this leads. Glasses can always get nerdier, but we imagine we’ll see library-themed nightclubs popping up next summer.
Our advice is to start snapping up hardcovers now. After all, you’ll need accessories.
Where Americans have the Polar Bear Plunge, Britons have the Tweed Run, which saw hundreds of fully-tweeded patriots taking to Savile Row last Saturday on fixed gear bicycles. (We assume their Penny-Farthings were in the shop.)
If you’re really trying to nail the Old Hollywood look, a bit of tweed should help.
This Bentley Tweed cap harkens back to a time when London was still a fashion capital, and the occasional non-fur-lined earflap was still acceptable. It may seem like an unlikely style revival, but when Robert Downey Jr.’s take on Sherlock Holmes comes out in November, it may seem a whole lot likelier.
Now that loose knits are taking off, it may be time to take another look at Scotland. They’ve been working on the loose sweater for a few centuries now, and mixed in with a Highland tweeds, it may the best equipment you can find for next winter.
Coventry is our favorite Scot so far. Coming from menswear vet Matthew Terry, the label combines traditional Shetland wools with a paint-it-black design aesthetic not that far from downtown staples like Comme Des Garcons.
They’re unveiling their F/W 09 line in a scant few weeks, but this sketch comes straight from Mr. Terry’s pad, which suggests there are a few plaid overcoats in our future.
Antonio Azzuolo’s been a solid designer and label for a while now, but judging by his latest work, the 70s are about to get a more cred.
We stopped by last night to see a.a.’s F/W ’09 series, and we were pleasantly surprised to see him indulging in some of our favorite sartorial quirks, like rope-shouldered blazers, double-breasted jackets, and our favorite of all, tweed. Add in a bit of swagger and the occasional polished shoe, and you’ve got yourself a design aesthetic. The fall can’t come soon enough…
After years of tireless effort, it looks like the blazer might finally be coming back.
A Continuous Lean just posted a few snaps of Band of Outsiders’ latest fall line, and we couldn’t help but notice the 70s vibe running through the whole thing. Tweed and corduroy both make strong showings, along aviator glasses and uncannily helmet-like hair.
At the risk of sounding gushy, this is pretty much the fashion line we were looking for when we started praising the 70s. They even got the button tabs right! Well played, gentlemen.
We’re of the opinion that tweed can never be in too many places. So it’s nice to see it expanding into the summer shorts.
These slim shorts from London’s Blaak Homme might be a bit warmer than the usual seersucker, but it’s worth it to introduce a bit more texture into your weekend suitcase. We wouldn’t take them on the beach, but it’s hard to do better for the rest of your summer outings.
As for the cargo pockets…tweed heals all wounds.
Steven Alan tends to be a pretty understated designer, so we were to happy to see him take on a few of our favorite grace notes in his latest collection. For one, there’s a pleasing prevalence of tweed. For another, it looks like Mr. Alan is bringing back the flat cap, the preferred headgear of newsies everywhere. September can’t get here soon enough.
Really?: To be fair, the blindfold does make things difficult. [Fashion Copious]
Threadless: The future of Harris Tweed is surprisingly bleak. Get it while you can… [Style Salvage]
Designers Gone Wild: Where the Wild Things Are finally leaches into the fashion world. [High Snobiety]
To the Dogs: Dubai’s Ed Hardy shop just got busted for selling pets. We’d say we’re surprised, but after this, nothing that happens at the Dubai Ed Hardy shop could surprise us. [Transracial]
We love Engineered Garments, so it pains us to say this, but this is a bad idea. It’s almost impossible to make a belly-side pouch attractive, even when you’re working with the most respectable fabrics in the world. You can cover it in tweed and call it a “waist bag,” but it’s still a fanny pack. Sorry gents, but we’re not buying it.
This tweed-on-tweed tie comes from Motto and Crest’s New Forest line, available online as of this morning. The double tweed is a nice twist on the usual wool tie, but more importantly—like most of the rest of Motto and Crest’s stock—it allows for a uniquely stealthy sartorial move.
If you’re wearing it under a jacket (or waistcoat, or cardigan), you’ll only show the lighter top half of the tie, turning a piece of deconstructed neckwear into a surprisingly staid item. And later, possibly after the boss has left the room, you can unbutton and put your bifurcated sartorialism on full display. It makes for a pretty versatile item…provided you don’t blow your cover.
Back to the Garden: Either that, or she’s planning an organic farm. [Fashion Gone Rogue]
Knit Picking: Selectism takes a peek inside the SNS Herning factory. [Selectism]
Ride, Sally, Ride: The Tweed Ride comes to Washington, D.C.. [Washington Post]
Still the Greatest: If you need a palate cleanser from the NME business, here’s a list of the ten worst albums of all time. At the bottom… Muhammad Ali? [Neatorama]
Second Hand: She better hope Bloomberg doesn’t find out about this. [Fashion Gone Rogue]
Goody Two Shoes: A charitable gift guide, for any leftover bag money you have lying around. [TBD]
Thugs and Backpackers: Harris Tweed goes in for a streetwear collab. We’re just not sure how to feel about this one. [Hypebeast]
The Who Sell Out: David Lynch tries his hand at directing ads for Christian Dior. We guess this means they’ve forgotten about this. [Telegraph]
