Spotted hanging over the piers this weekend in Seattle – the stars and stripes. Turns out that the big General Construction Company was celebrating their centennial, and even put on a nice fireworks display last night. I like their style.
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For the local folks, the Seattle Art Museum will be hosting a series of some classic British Film Noir movies starting in April. More info.
In 1977 SAM presented Seattle’s first American film noir series. This spring, in our town’s premiere British film noir voyage, we visit the “Empire of Night,” where thrilling tales of love and betrayal, greed and obsession swirl in the midnight fog.
And at the Seattle Asian Art Museum, there will be a showing of some very important pieces of woodblock prints from Japan. More info.
This exhibition brings together prints from the most renowned ukiyo-e artists of the 18th and 19th centuries—including Harunobu, Utamaro, Eishi and Hiroshige—along with Hokusai’s most beloved prints, Great Wave off Kanagawa and Red Fuji. These Japanese woodblock prints demonstrate an evocative play between delicate ink lines and rich blocks of color in portraits of beautiful women and kabuki actors, jewel-like landscapes of famous places, and more. Drawn from the Mary and Allan Kollar Collection, a promised gift to the Seattle Art Museum on the occasion of its 75th Anniversary, this installation introduces the region to a remarkable collection of prints, all taken from early impressions and in excellent condition.
Free & Easy will occasionally add these sections into their issues showing kid versions of the clothes that we like to wear and they’re always fun to skim through. Unfortunately for things like these, the pieces tend to cost almost as much as grown up versions. ;_;
From my moleskine on a recent trip. Not pictured: angry car drivers.
There are some new arrivals on jcrew.com this evening, including some great stuff for warmer weather. The more interesting item that showed up is a serious leather bag from a New York based company called Wexler & Co. who have a very Filson-like motto: “the best is good enough.” If I ever need to retire my Barbour weekender, I might just give this one a shot.
The other new bag is one from the UK company Brady, which has specialized in making gear for the field for a very long time.
J.L. Powell recently put up their new catalog for the Spring 2010 season – they didn’t add much for new items this year, but it’s still fun to look at. The highlight for me is the Canvas Ridge work coat, which looks like a lot of thought went into the details on it.
P.S. The Alden suede bluchers with crepe soles from last year are currently on sale for $259.
Via Sartorially Inclined. See more on life.com.
For context, you should also read the original article that the pictures were shot for: LIFE Issue Jul 12, 1963
In the following issue that was published that year, there were some humorous letters to the editor in regards to the article.
Nick Horween put up a fascinating post today about the production of chromexcel leather, which is used on some of my more favorite pairs of Alden’s (I’m wearing a pair of Indy boots made from it right now in fact).
Chromexcel, or CXL as it’s written in the building, is a combination tanned leather that undergoes at least 89 separate processes taking 28 working days and utilizing all 5 floors of our facility. Needless to say, it’s complicated. For any tannery, the chemistry that transforms salted or cured hides into leather often requires a degree of “cooking.” By cooking I mean there are slight variations that must be managed and corrected from lot to lot.
Continue reading more.
From the cover of Yosemite in the Sixties, by Glen Denny.
Above: Images from Harley-Davidson, Books of Fashions 1910s-1950s by Rin Tanaka.
Above: Images from Men’s File, Issue 2.