New items are now available on jcrew.com: thick low gauge sweaters, a velvet sportcoat, Belstaff jackets, Levi’s denim, and more.
The November catalog is now available online as well, but it’s not that great (same with the recent ones too). I miss the older catalogs when they were set in places like Paris or Prague, but I would assume they’ve long since cut out the spending for that kind of work.
Check out this really great piece on Denimaniac.
A snippet:
DM:What role do you think denim played in the whole vintage/heritage movement we see in recent years?
Christophe: It’s that phenomenon of the rich man who wants to look poor, and vice versa. Beat up denim and old school work clothes for “them that got” and the status giving monogram bag for the others…No-one is happy where he is, it seems. The old story about the grass being greener…
I also think guys are turning away from the ‘androgynous’ look, to a more masculine one. Wearing denim/workwear doesn’t make anyone a tough guy, but I think women must be happy of that change! I’m sure that, should the option presents itself, they’d rather go out with Brando or McQueen than Boy George…
Some new jackets for fall…
The Bean jacket is the more interesting one with removable sleeves and an attachable nylon shell to cover the head, shoulders, and sleeves. It’s based on older mackinaw jackets.
Ever wonder what’s so special about those pricey Levi’s that J.Crew sells on their site? Nothing much really. They’re 501’s, based off the 1947 model (a slim straight leg), have covered rivets, a leather patch, and are made from selvage denim here in the USA. They’ve also already been rinsed and will not shrink much more than an extra inch in the wash.
If you want something close but do not want to spend that much money, just get the 501’s that are available on Levi.com. The fits are identical to the pair that J.Crew is selling down to the very same measurements (I have both to compare), and you can even buy them in a rinsed selvage version now as well for a little under $100. The major difference will only be the lack of a made in USA tag.
Images for Spurr’s FW2009 collection. It’s unfortunate that this line is difficult to find in stores.
Esquire’s fall 2009 edition of their Big Black Book is out in stores now, and available to purchase online for about $10. Like their last spring edition, I felt they missed the mark again in delivering good content. The essays on menswear are long gone, the photography is boring, and even the watches they chose to show were overpriced and tacky.
A potentially good section that fell short was one titled “The Revisionists”, which from what I could tell was supposed to be on modern tailoring adapting to current needs and featured Dries Van Noten, d’Avenza, Dunhill, and Norton & Sons. Instead, the four page spread just showed a suit from each company with a short paragraph about each. wtf Esquire?
I recommend saving your $10 and investing it into a copy of Rake.
One cannot have enough down vests when living in the Pacific Northwest and their utility cannot be beat in terms of layering and usefulness for outdoor activities. Read on for a selection of purely functional vests for under $300.
Above is a scan of an old Jansport ad from the 70’s, featuring one of their down vests.
LL Bean is set to reintroduce its older Norwegian fisherman’s sweater within a few weeks, and I’m sure that the Americana crowd in NYC will be sporting them not long after. If you purchase one, please only do it because you like the sweater and not because it’s some supposed Ivy League icon (it wasn’t even popular until the Preppy Handbook was published in 1980 – you guys realize that it was written as a joke and not an official guide on how to dress, right?). And yes, wearing one will make you look as goofy as the people you’ve seen wearing them in the old pictures online.
Update: I’ve been told that LL Bean is now selling the sweater by phone (800-441-5713), cost is $129.
If you don’t want to wait for LL Bean’s sweater, Woolrich has its own version in the John Rich and Bros. collection this season which you can buy now at Barneys.
Listen online at The Sound of Young America.
[on a used vintage denim jacket for sale]
“How much?” I asked.
With a straight smiling face he said 3600 dollars.
To which I said, are you out of your mind?
I felt like I had been punched in the brain.
…
I came across a belt that was beautiful, looked like it had been worn for a lifetime.
What’s the story on this belt?
Oh, that’s new he said.
Huh? How much?
350 dollars.
I couldn’t figure out what was more offensive, charging a fortune for an old jacket that a real working person might have worn, or charging 350 bucks for a belt that was probably made by children in a sweatshop somewhere in Central America.
Rivals meet during an evening lecture in 1913. From left to right, the heroic polar explorers: Ernest Shackleton, Robert E. Peary, and Roald Amundsen.
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