July 5, 2009
It’s hot. Really hot. Thousands of years ago you would have been swimming in a lake, but climate changes dried it completely up and left behind a 159 square mile expanse of densely packed salt up to six feet deep. This bizarre landscape exists right outside the small casino town of Wendover, Nevada, 115 miles from Salt Lake City. The land is completely inhospitable to plants and is so flat that it’s almost perfectly aligned with the curvature of the Earth. Once a year men and women come from all over the planet to test their mechanical creations against this barren expanse of densely packed salt. This place is known as The Bonneville Salt Flats, also dubbed “The Fastest Place on Earth.”
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July 1, 2009
You see that? That’s “a man’s world” there. Guys out on the town drinking suds and smoking butts in a wood paneled room. Never mind the fact that a few years later our pal Bob (on the left there), probably had a run-in with the old heart disease. At least he has all of those memories of after-work drinking with his good buddy Jack, who seems to be busy chugging that frosty mug. Eventually I bet the fellas loaded into Bob’s 1986 Chrysler station wagon and headed home before their wives got angry.
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June 29, 2009
The first ever A Continuous Goldberg Pop Up Flea (known in some circles for better or worse as the Man Flea) was by all measures (including High life consumption) a rousing success. Thanks to all of the vendors who participated and everyone that stopped by. On top of all the tasty merch, we had a lot of my favorite bloggers in the house, guys like (and I’m probably missing a few) Sean from The Impossible Cool, Tom from The Scout Mag, Sasha from The Pint Imperial, Russell from Kempt, Andrew from Covenger + Kester, Jeff from Cold Splinters, Morty from Mister Mort, The Trad, Brandon from Drinkin’ and Dronin’, plus the good folks from Racked and Men.Style.com.
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June 25, 2009
If you don’t know, now you know. If you are in or around New York City this weekend, stop by The Pop Up Flea for all sorts of cool menswear goodness from Billykirk, Mark McNairy, Hattan, Alexander West, One Trip Pass, Alexander Olch, Aether, Aprix, 3Sixteen, Gitman Brothers Vintage, C’H'C’M and a few surprises. Food will be on offer from the fine folks at Cafe Select.
Kick off is Friday June 26th (tomorrow!) from 4-8pm. Stop by for some Irish Whiskey and a certain Milwaukee brew.
June 25, 2009
Having been accused of altering the eBay landscape for the worse, I have taken a strict “after the close” stance on posting these sorts of things. The below gem of a jacket was sent in by an ACL reader (thanks to Jeremy for the tip) with a keen eye for U.S. Navy vintage. The fun started off at $600 and came to a close at a solid $1,109.89. Early in the auction I fired off an email with the link to the master of such material matters, Mister Freedom, who quickly responded with “I love how the late owner tried to mask up the ‘Tom Cat’ in the back! I’m thinking end price around $1200.00?…mmm?…We’ll see.” It looks like school is out.
WWII Era U.S. Navy Deck Jacket
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June 23, 2009
I love it when good things come together; a great designer, an esteemed 100 year old American tannery and the most handsome of leathers, Shell Cordovan. That is exactly what arrived in my mailbox last week, a Makr flap wallet made from 100% Horween Cordovan. If you aren’t familiar with Horween, the Chicago-based family-run operation one of the last surviving tanneries in the United States and producer of some of the finest leather goods the world over. I feel privileged to carry such a beautiful piece of American design from a talented young company and a respected institution. Makr leather goods are available in genuine Horween Shell Cordovan by special order.
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June 22, 2009
The name GANT is synonymous with East Coast prep. Founded in New Haven, Connecticut in 1949, the company basically perfected the American shirt by making private label for J. Press, Brooks Brothers, the Yale Co-Op and many more. By the 1960’s (one could say the Take Ivy era), GANT was the shirt for students, popularizing the button-down on college campuses all over America. Since then the company has changed hands several times and has had its share of ups and downs, but recently it has been all ups, no downs.
A more recently focused GANT has established a great presence for its casual Rugger line (which the company launched in the 1970’s) everywhere from Scoop to Barneys Co-Op and in the process become one of the great revivals of the American heritage look. For spring / summer 2010 GANT looked to one of its own designers, Mr. Christopher Bastin, to further develop the Rugger range. Bastin (who possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of classic American sportswear) literally combed through the company’s archives (not to mention vintage dealers and eBay) to infuse the collection with historically accurate detailing and fabrication. I stopped by GANT’s offices last week to get a sneak peek at the new offerings, and ultimately found out exactly what I’m going to be wearing next summer.
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June 21, 2009
As far as American muscle cars go the reincarnated Challengers and Chargers are pretty slick, but I’m not a Mopar guy I’m a Ford man. The redesigned Mustangs have largely disappointed me, with the Shelby GT500 (which sells for about 46K) being a whole entire story altogether. The Shelby GT500 is one tasty automobile and I’d be happy to play the part of McQueen and take on the Charger any day.
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