At the moment, flannel’s more associated with bearded mountain men than flaxen-haired Californians, but it wasn’t always so. For proof, check out this picture of the Beach Boys—erstwhile masters of summertime Americana—decked out in five matching lumberjack shirts and impeccably geeky white undertees, and somehow still channeling the endless summer.

We’re not alone in being impressed. As it happens, Hurley seized on this particular photo to turn out red and blue versions of the Pendleton flannel, which has since found its way onto racks at Bloomingdales and Fred Segal. It’s a pretty good twist on a classic item and some classic style icons.

But mostly, we’re glad no one showed them this.

See the shirts»

The term “heritage brand” gets thrown around quite a bit these days, but it always helps when someone’s got a photo to prove it. This snap comes from the Red Wing cutting room, circa 1909. It may be time for the apron-and-tie look to make a comeback…

The British Design Council has been responsible for a surprising amount of the Really Cool Stuff in the world so far, so we’re glad to finally get a peek at some of it. As of today, they’re opening up their slide archive to give design-minded net-dwellers everywhere a chance to see what they’ve got in there. It includes a wealth of early 60s gems—somebody should really make a show set back then…—but also a few accomplishments we never would have guessed at. Who would have guessed that the same folks that were polishing up tea kettles in the 50s ended up designing power lathes and furnaces?

See a few gems from the archive»

Today’s UrbanDaddy jogged our memory about one of our fonder memories from the 80s. If you were a bored kid with a television, at some point you probably ran across the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, also known as GLOW.

The episodes are a late eighties time capsule, full of spandex-clad stuntwomen furiously mugging their way through some of the more sloppily choreographed bouts this side of boxing. It only survived four seasons, but there was a certain charm that hasn’t been recaptured since. We can’t help but wonder if there’s a place for it in the age of derby girls and post-post-post-feminism—especially now that lingerie football is a reality.

If you’re curious to see the ladies in action, you can pick up a few DVDs here, or see a few of the finer bouts after the jump»

Now that they’re competing with iPhones for the timepiece market, watch styles have been trending towards the vintage. But since they still need to keep the watch mills running, that can lead to the occasional awkward moment…

For instance, this beautiful Longines Silver Arrow is a tribute to the classic ‘50s version, and it’ll set you back a steep-but-not-unheard-of $1500. The good news? As Hodinkee demonstrates, you can get an original version without cracking $500 provided you’re willing to dig around a bit. It’s bad news for watchmakers, but right now eBay and its brick-and-mortar counterparts are teeming with classic mid-century items that pack more character than anything you can find on an assembly line. The gears might be a bit creaky, but it’s not like you’ll be using them to check the time.

The 70s were a pretty fantastic time for American film, but the style legacy has been a little more mixed.

This shot from the Black Sunday premiere circa 1977 should remind you why. (Cheers to WWD for digging it up.) Between the suede bomber, gloriously billowing pant legs, and omnipresent Italian boots, the disco era is certainly in full swing. That’s Sydney Pollack in the middle, with his shirt unbuttoned to the sternum, according to the custom of the time.

Say what you will, but they definitely knew how to pull off a blazer.

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»

We’ve always been enamored of 40s style, so now that the mug shots of the past are finally hitting Flickr, we can’t help but take a peek.

We aren’t quite sure what this gentleman was picked up for—public hatlessness, maybe—but his suit is a prime example of the post-zoot gangster casual of the day. You can’t see his beltline, but we’re betting it’s riding somewhere around his belly button—which is one part of the style you can skip. The slit pockets, billowy trousers, and shoulder-width lapel, on the other hand, are all ripe for a comeback.

It’s not quite timeless, but it’s awfully close.

Yesterday was a bad day to be a minor 70s celebrity.

First, we got the bad news about Marilyn Chambers, one of the first women to get genuinely famous doing adult films—not counting Bettie Page, at least. Her only crossover moment was David Cronenberg’s early body horror classic Rabid, but she inspired more than her share of speculation on what might have been. Sasha Grey could learn a thing or two…

Even more troubling, Mark “the Bird” Fidrych fell victim to a construction accident. One of the more memorable oddballs in a sport full of them, he was easily our favorite Detroit Tiger, and he’ll be missed.

Has anyone checked on Anita Ward lately?

Retro style can be a powerful force, but you’re still only getting things second hand. The genuine article can be a bit harder to come by.

Luckily, Cleveland’s Ohio Knitting Mills (via Uncrate) has a stash of 22 models dating all the way back to 1947, and they’re just now putting it on sale.

Finds include this red mohair sweater, a pitch-perfect acrylic polo from the 50s, and cardigans from the same factory that outfitted Mr. Rogers. It’s mostly what you’d expect from digging through a local vintage shop…only you’d be pretty lucky to find all this in one pile.

See what they’ve got in store»

Although it’s mostly disappeared from genteel Eastern culture, racing was once one of the main force pushing the limits of technology, mechanical know-how and human endurance. Not bad, considering a lot of them were working without windshields.

ACL points us to these Le Mans shots taken over the course of the annual 24-hour competition. These particular snaps are from ’53, and it shows in the remarkable confluence of ties, hats, and short jackets. Just because they’re on the track doesn’t mean they can risk an open collar. Once upon a time, these were working clothes.

See more of Le Mans»

In beer, as in all things, we have a fondness for the past.

So we were glad to run across this set of old school blue-collar beer cans, dug up from flickr by a few diligent design-heads. Most of them are discolored, misshapen, and generally corroded to the point of collapse, but we don’t mind too much. It’s amazing to see what a beer looked like 70 years ago.

Anyone who happens to be in the design business should take notes: this is what beer cans should look like.

See some of our favorite cans»

The digital revolution has brought a lot of changes to the world of gentleman’s publishing, but Playboy has been remarkably slow catching on. Thankfully, with a little help from Bill Gates, they’re finally making up ground.

The first step is putting all of their archives online, thanks to Bondi Digital Publishing and MSN’s Silverlight viewer. To put that in perspective, we’re talking about 53 years worth of magazines…and more than 600 centerfolds. Not bad for a days work.

Of course, we’re guessing you already know about the publication’s storied history, the Marilyn spreads crowding Nabokov interviews, and the general legacy of Hef. But on the off-chance you don’t, this would be a pretty good place to start.

For all the attention to mod style, it’s easy to forget about the equally important revolution that went on a little later and a little farther north. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Northern Soul.

Centered mostly on the 70s, the Northern Soul movement saw the thornier northern mods taking to dancehalls with the same Ben Sherman gear and center-vent suits as their London brethren, but an energy all their own. PSFK just put up a long post on Northern Soul, and by our lights, it’s about time the whole movement got another look.

More on Northern Soul»

As you may have noticed, we’re hoping to find a few bright spots in the downturn. And by our lights, getting your suit mended is only the beginning.

Remember Barbasol? You probably saw a can or two on your grandfather’s dresser at some point, but we bet you can’t remember the last time you saw it in a store, much less picked up a can. These days the can is more common as a hollowed-out hideaway than an actual source for shaving cream.

But barbershops never stopped using it—it’s classic for a reason, after all—and you probably didn’t realize it was going for $1.30 a can these days…

More on the Barbasol revival»

If you felt like doubting, we’ve uncovered documentary proof: James Agee was one slick bastard.

The pomade and peak lapels probably went over better in the 40s, but otherwise there’s a lot to learn from this particular man of letters. Knit ties over checked shirts still carry a good deal of literary heft, especially under a light suit with a good fabric.

And a scar or two doesn’t hurt.

We noticed the fine folks at PSFK are going wild for retro packaging, and it got us thinking. An old school box of Wheaties is fine now and then, but what we’d really like to see is a return to form for advertising.

These days, it’s all retouched models and space age backgrounds, but back in the day all you needed was a catchy slogan, a blocky font and a good place to put the sign. Hi-tech meant screenprinting Mary Pickford’s face above a bottle of mouthwash. Nowadays, we’re too overstimulated for blocks of text to make much of an impression, but a simple logo and a simple phrase still carry an impact.

And if your sign looks like 1927, it may make more of an impression than all the models in L.A.

See more retro advertising»

As Pepsi recently discovered, the world of soda bottle design can get pretty contentious, so it’s worth remembering what it looks like when it’s done right.

Afri Cola was a German, Jolt-style caffeine bomb popular in the ‘60s and ‘70s—and briefly, Seattle in the ‘90s—and while the taste didn’t catch on quite the way you’d expect, the design may be the best we’ve ever seen. As far as vintage colas go, this one seems ripe for a revival—and the more caffeine the better.

Ladies and gentlemen, the soda of the past»

For all our gushing about the Kindle, it’s still sad to see something like this happen, and we thought we’d take the opportunity to go down the list of paper’s many virtues.

There are a lot of them, including an attention to typeface and graphic design that’s unlikely to filter down to the Kindle for a good five years. But most importantly, there’s nothing like holding an object in your hands that’s been passed through dozens of hands before yours. You can’t inscribe an eBook, and as far as sentimental attachments go, objects will always win out.

Style has moved fast enough for long enough that no designer would have trouble making an outfit to perfectly signify 1983, 1974, or 1962. In fact, more than a few designers have contented themselves to do just that. The technology of photography has been moving just as fast, but while fashion has been dealing in nostalgia for upwards of 30 years, the photographers are just starting to catch on.

Here’s a hint: iPhones are involved»

We’ve already stopped remembering phone numbers and writing down directions, but the flood of technology is about to wash away a genuinely useful skill. In just a scant few years, writing in cursive may join the ranks of useless abilities, alongside long division and parkour.

We’ve seen the future, and it is Helvetica»

Polaroid may not be making old-school film anymore, but at least they know how great it was while it lasted.

Their CES booth included a genuinely wistful look back at the company’s past, including these pitch-perfect plastic models. (Our favorite was the 60s relic the “Polaroid Swinger.”) Nothing against their current line—which included a portable photo printer—but there wasn’t anything you could shake…

Oh well…there’s always eBay.

See the “Swinger” up close»

Via Benhasten

If so motivated, you could probably pin this picture down the particular month in the mid-70s. Between the rugged blazer, an extra-wide collar and what may or may not be cowboy boots, it’s hardly a current look. But we’re ready for at least part of it to come back.

Now that t-shirts are as common as jeans, this particular brand of cowboy gentility is ripe for a comeback. It’s rustic, old-fashioned and uniquely American all at once. We’d want to shift around the lapels and throw in a few modern twists, naturally, but this is one corner of the 70s that’s due for a revival.

For the past 70 years, one of the crown jewels of Rockefeller Plaza has been the Rainbow Room, a dance hall and society space on the 65th floor of the GE Building, but 2009 is giving it its first black eye. As of next Monday, the in-house restaurant is shutting down, citing hard times.

The bar and revolving dance floor will keep going, but it’s a reminder that Manhattan’s art deco past is not immune to modern troubles. The Rainbow Room is a relic of a time when wealth was confined to families not corporations, but it has to play by the same rules as everybody else. The restaurant was owned by the Cipriani family, who have troubles of their own, but the credit crunch couldn’t have helped. It’s a reminder of how tenuous the upper crust is lately.

Speaking of workwear, we ran across this snap of a West Virginia family circa 1908 that should give you an idea of what it looked like the first time around. For a long time, this was the uniform for hard times.

Stickball—and street games in general—are relics of an earlier time and an earlier city. It’s hard to imagine street games taking hold in a place like Los Angeles the way they did in New York in the 50s and 60s. The street was the front yard for most kids, and it saw more action from tennis shoes than tires.

Since then, the virtual world has tempted kids back inside, but the old guard is putting up a fight. A documentary called New York Street Games is bringing together Old New Yorkers like Regis Philbin and Hector Elizando reminisce about playing Johnny-on-the-Pony and mourn the loss of the good old days. It’s a little too backward-looking for our taste, but it’s good to know what a common space looks like.

But if they’re really serious about keeping the commons alive, maybe they should give the skateboarders a break.

See the trailer»

Lushes throughout the country have something extra to celebrate today: it’s the 75th anniversary of the end of prohibition. That’s right, Happy Repeal Day!

Naturally, we’re more than a little grateful. Let us count the ways…

In honor of the new president-elect, we thought we’d take a look at one of the fresh faces from the past, from a time when politicians trafficked in hope instead of fear and horizontally patterned ties had not yet perished from the earth. Ladies and gentlemen: a trip to the past, courtesy of the JFK library.

The next four years may not look exactly like this…but you never know.

A closer look at Mr. Kennedy»

Futurism is a funny thing. When it was released, people thought this watch looked like the future, but now it just looks like 1975. Not that that’s a bad thing.

Welcome to the peculiar subculture of Spaceman watches, a boutique brand manufactured between 1972 and 1977 that genuinely looks like nothing else. They’re more 2001 than Tron, and they pack extra design touches like spidery wristbands than separate them from the usual cultural detritus. Anything this rare has a built-in cachet…provided you can find one.

As much as we make fun of steampunk, there’s still a lot of glamour to be found in those days. But we prefer magicians to engineers.

A bunch of magic related mementos, including a sizable chunk from Harry Houdini himself, are going up for auction next Tuesday at Swann Galleries. You can get a few of the great man’s handcuffs, trick hinges, his magic wand, or just a few posters and photos like the one above. If apparatuses are more your speed, there’s also a few trick clocks from his namesake Robert Houdin and a host of other goodies from the period. If you’re looking for something to put on your wall, you could do a lot worse than a playfully historic document challenging Houdini to escape from a beer barrel, or a photo of the same man hung upside down above an adoring crowd. It might even inspire a novel or two.

Luckily, it’s just in time for Halloween.

See the swag after the jump»

Pennsylvania’s Bollman Hat Company is celebrating their 140th anniversary with a stroll through the preferred headgear of the last 14 decades. From the fads (the fez of the 1870s and the porkpie of the 1940s) to the classics (the fedora), it’s a pretty good primer on what hats have to offer.

As you might guess, our choice is the bowler, conveniently situated in the 1890s. It may not keep your ears warm or your eyes shaded, but a little sun never hurt anyone.

Retro-appeal has been around for as long as there have been old clothes, but the version you find in Mad Men is definitely more obsessive than the Happy Days model. From the size of the xerox machine to the number of stripes in Draper’s tie, each frame is the product of obsessive research.

Of course, that means it attracts fans who are just as obsessive. The result is this post from graphic designer Mark Simonson, cataloging the anachronisms the show has racked up over its first 23 hours. Of course, he mostly focuses on the font-based transgressions—Arial in the credits? How dare they!—but we’re sure there are an equal number of fashion transgressions waiting to be dug up by an enterprising menswear designer. Better get cracking, kids.

For our part, we noticed Joan delivering Peggy’s promotion with the quip, “Medium is the Message,” a full three years before Mr. McLuhan coined the phrase. Let’s just say she’s ahead of her time.

There’s a lot of past out there, and if you’re digging through it looking for quirky accessories, there’s a lot to choose from. So choose wisely.

In that vein, FashionIndie is taking the lead predicting sock garters as the next big trend. We’ll admit they go well with a bowtie, but we just don’t see this happening. Elastic technology has come a long way in the last 80 years, so it’s a lot of straps with no real purpose.

And, unfortunately for this gentleman, they’re usually worn under the pant leg.

Some time ago—and we’re going way back here—a man’s wardrobe was like a house. He bought pieces of clothing and he maintained them so they would last. He did laundry and if something split he had it mended. If he outgrew a suit, he took it to a tailor.

These minor alterations didn’t make the suit shabby; it gave it a sense of character and personality. You might be able to tell from looking at a man whether he had bought his suit as an old or a young man, whether he had bought it in San Francisco or New York, Chicago or London. Season to season, his clothes would tell you something about the path of his life that could not be changed or put on.

Today’s luxury works very differently, as today’s International Herald Tribune can attest. The IHT’s gripe is an environmental one—think of all the off-season merchandise in landfills somewhere—but mending clothes doesn’t have to be a green enterprise. Mending used to be as common a service as alterations. It was part of the artisan’s pledge to the customer, a way of saying that they were getting something valuable and worthy of respect. Prada and Gucci still repair old merchandise (as IHT points out), but most luxury houses turn over employees almost as fast as merchandise, and their commitment to a five-year-old suit is about the same as their commitment to yesterday’s newspaper.

For all the nostalgic style, it’s still an industry focused more on the future than the past.

Today, our friends at UrbanDaddy take a look at Stock, one of New York’s best vintage stores. It’s equally beloved as a source for designers, a reference point for devotees of Early American Menswear, and a secret weapon for aspiring MOTHs throughout the city. And naturally, there were more than a few items that caught our eye.

See our favorite finds»

A Continuous Lean clued us in to this early instance of Sartorialist-style fashion photography. Photographer T. Hayashida took a tour of the Ivy League circa 1968, snapping pictures for posterity. Given that preppy style of that era is a touchstone for everyone from J. Crew to Shipley & Halmos, there’s more than a few pointers to pick up if you’re watching closely.

More pics from the bygone era»

Now that the industry is digging up history at an alarming rate—1962? Check. 1977? Check. 1991? We’re working on it—it was only a matter of time before we lapsed into full-blown Renaissance Fair mode.

In fact, that moment may already be here.

The New York Times style section has just devoted a full 1500 words to steampunk, beginning what trend-watchers call the “lame” period of the trend. The article name-checks Alexander McQueen and Nicolas Ghesquière of Balenciaga as potential fashionista surrogates of the style, but until we see them bust out the top hats, we’ll be skeptical»

Ah, 1962. Drink it in.

A Continuous Lean has posted a handful of J. Press catalogs from back in the day, offering a firsthand peek into a style more than a few designers are currently chasing. Apparently the early 60s preppy look didn’t play out quite the way you imagined. For instance, cable-knit sweaters were much, much bigger than you think»