Harper's Index

I look at these lists all the time, yet I still doubt a lot of the facts. I always assume that some of them are false. Below is a list of recent facts from Harper's Index.

-Minimum numbers of properties the U.S. government was forced to buy as part of the S&L bailout

- Number of churches and athletic clubs, respectively, that this purchase included: 3,27

-Estimated portion of all freshwater drawn from U.S. sources each year that is used to cool power plants

- Number of credit-card solicitations sent to Americans last year: 5,200,000,000

- Year in which Cuba's ban on toasters will be lifted: 2010

- Year by which New Orleans is expected to be rebuilt, at the current pace: 2028

Thom Browne: The Septemberists

This is a great video. It has great fashion and is extremely ridiculous.

Scans

From Men's Non-No November 2008

From Men's Non-No November 2008

Chuck Close

Chuck Close is a master at the art of stylized mosaic portraits. Close is a photorealist who views his world in tiny mosaics, using oil, silk screening, and water color, to capture the human face and body in portraits. By using hundreds of small squares abstract shapes and geometric figures, Chuck Close places them in such a way to create a spectacular finished piece. Each piece of the mosaic, when viewed individually seems to be unrelated. But through the artistic eye of Chuck Close, what may be four black diamonds turns into nostrils on a face. What seems like faded colors of mosaics turns into a light shining on a forehead. However, through the beauty of his unique style and creativity in making portraits the true story about Close is not told. During the late 1980s, Close suffered through a collapsed spinal artery which almost totally paralyzed him. Fortunately, with the aid of modern medical technologies Chuck Close fought through his condition and was able to continue with his passion for art. Unfortunately, for Close, his new physical condition meant that he would need more assistants to help him while creating his masterpieces and he could no longer help to set up his own exhibits. However, with the aid of a sophisticated electric wheelchair and a brace on his left arm he could once again work hard on what he loved to do which was working with art. The overcoming and triumph over such a tragedy is very inspiring especially because now close has stated that because of the accident his art has significantly improved. A man who has suffered through so much but still continues to find his passion through art by turning vivid tiny patterns into lifelike shapes amazes me. Close is a great inspiration because he has accomplished so many things even though he has suffered through such a horrible ordeal. Many of his works are extremely detailed and Close’s work has been seen in various places from the New York Times to the Addison Art Museum at Phillips Academy in Andover.

Japan Scans

I absolutely love this picture and will post a lot more great scans from Japan as soon as I get my other computer working again. It reminds me of middle school.

Modern Menswear: The Book

I recently discovered this book while browsing on amazon. The book profiles modern menswear by interviewing a collection of menswear designers. It is an recession unfriendly price of $40. Here is a snap-shot of the book's contents.

Sales

-The menswear brand Hickey is having a winter sale.

-Stel's is having a sale this week (up to 30% off)

These are two pictures on Hedi Slimane's photo diary. Slimane is the former genius behind Dior Homme.

Blackbird

Blackbird, rated one of the best stores by GQ, has added a website. It is http://www.blackbirdballard.com/new_arrivals_mens.html
The store features men's and women's clothing for a younger and trendier audience.

Across The Universe: Justice

Justice, the band, just released their newest album. It is about $15 on Itunes and includes a documentary including their tours, concerts, and a cd with live songs. I anticipate the album will be awesome. I have sampled a few of the songs and have really enjoyed it. "Across The Universe", their dvd, included with the album is absolutely ridiculous. It is a documentary of their latest tour and their shenanigans on their tour which include being arrested, speaking with homeless men, going to gun ranges, and getting married in Las Vegas.

I typed in "French Farmer" on google, and found this picture. I was looking for some old photos, but this picture was even better. A caption below the photo read: "Roadblock to free trade: French farmers ride their tractors from the EU headquarters to Paris, protesting proposed changes to the Common Agricultural Policy"

These shoes are awesome.

Sample Sale

I just checked my email and found an email from Tim. I wondered to myself "who is Tim?, is it a virus?". For some reason, I opened it and it an announcement from Tim Hamilton that he is having a sample sale in New York. It will be Saturday and Sunday November 22-23. The sale is from 12 Pm -6 Pm. The address for the sample sale is below and his design team's email address.

195 CHRYSTIE STREET 502-ENEW YORK, NY 10002FOR QUESTIONS OR PRIVATE APPOINTMENTS PLEASE EMAIL INFO@TIMHAMILTON.COMCASH OR CHECKS WITH ID ONLY

For more information about Tim Hamilton check out these links

Refinery29
A Continuous Lean

Good Music

If you want to check out some good music that has been around for a little while, but without any hype listen to TV On The Radio. The band has a really unique style. I can't characterize it into one genre. Instead, I must admit that it is a smorgasbord of well-played beats and tunes.

News

These picture are from this week's best fashion article. The article is about the spread of plaid in the fashion industry. It amazes me that it would even be considered a new coming phenomenon. I have always assumed that plaid was a staple in any person's wardrobe. Clearly,I have been proven wrong by The New York Times.



The show of the week is Summer Heights High. It premiered not too long ago on HBO. I saw a clip of it and could not stop laughing. Please check it out, but be prepared for a lot of crude "humour". I can't indent for some reason and that is the reason for the poor formatting of my latest postings.

A quick fashion note: Rugby is having a sale ending November 17th.

Week's Discoveries

The band, Kings of Leon, seem to be really popular this week. My sister introduced me to them, I heard a lot of news about the band on the radio, and according to one of my friends the band's songs were a hit soundtrack to Gossip Girl. You can check them out by following the link that I posted above to sample some of the tracks.
I also have recently discovered Japanese fashion magazines. They have interesting titles like Huge, Non-no, and Pop-eye. However, they are legitimate magazines and pretty interesting things to flip-through. I will post a few pictures in the upcoming days.

A Great Find

Yesterday, Michael Williams, writer of "A Continuous Lean" menswear blog, posted that Take Ivy was sold for $1424.99 on ebay. Take Ivy is a photographic memoir of Ivy League students during the sixties. It seems like a priceless possession that a person would always want to hold on to like old yearbooks and old letters. I guess not to everyone.
Michael Williams is also writing a side column for an online fashion magazine known as Selecticism. I've been finding his posts really interesting.

Jargol.com

Jargol is currently the best website to find stockists, shops, and reviews on shops all around. The website offers these features in the site's amazing shopping guide section. To top everything off, they have a brief blog including some of their favorites from the season's collections.

Next Level Skateboarding

These are far two of the best skating videos that I have ever seen. I'm honestly not a big fan of skateboarding, but these two videos are the best that I have seen.

Check It Out

Sidney LO, a photographer and denim enthusiast, has updated his website with a new gallery. His blog, skidnee, has even more things to check out.

Shwayze: TV Show

Here is the new tv show: Buzzin' produced by MTV. The show features the drama of upcoming group Shwayze's adventure to making it big.

Colette

A cool picture of the artwork at Colette, while the store undergoes renovation.

Olympics Pictures

These are some of the most ridiculous pictures of how the modern world is falling into a "hole of dumbfuckness". In the pictures is a surface to air missle, practicing using flame throwers, and firemen practicing with saws in case of an emergency. Since when did the olympics involve something crazy like out of a movie? This is absolutely ridiculous.

S/S Friends Picture

S/S Friends is a unique clothing collection that composses clothing to specific seasons, and pairs the items of the collection to music. They work out of Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. The brand is composed of one designer, and a musician. This is probably the coolest concept ever. I am loving it, and keeping an eye out for more.

Rogan Gregory

I just discovered the fashion designer Rogan Gregory. I had not heard much of him besides that he had his own lunch box designed for him. I sense that the clothing he designs is very hipster, and cool from the few photos that I have seen. I found out a litle more about him by reading an article at Wallpaper.

Marc Jacobs Ad

 

This is easily my favorite Marc Jacobs Ad. It is just kind of odd, and funny. The guy sporting the suit, looks like he is visiting his father, but his dad is too busy watching tv. I find it quite entertaining.

Justice x Surface to Air

Michael Carli, a classmate of mine, pointed out to me that Pitchfork has uploaded pictures of Justice's clothing collaboration with Surface to Air.
"The rumply jeans list on the Surface to Air site for a cool 150 euros, with the jackets coming in just shy of 800. Meanwhile, that crustpunk who's always hanging out on the computer at the library will trade you his slightly smellier version of the very same getup for a 40 ouncer and a ride to the bus station. Up to you." stated Pitchfork in the article.

A Picture taken by Hedi Slimane, and uploaded to his Fashion Diary.

Justice- Stress

Dior Homme loves justice and Surface to Air does too.

Here is their video.

Nas Responds To Fox

Rockers NYC, great street wear brand, has posted Nas's response to Fox news for heckling him, and for the companies involvement in controversial events.

New York Times Fashion Read

David Coleman explores the increasing trend of cut-off pants in fasion. "The Sharpest Shorts Are Abbreviated Pants".

Tim Hamilton Fall Collection

These are all the pictures from Tim Hamilton's Fall collection. I included below a brief summary of the collection, I did not write the summary, it was included in the email by Tim. Most likely he included it because people got too lazy or off track of the actual inspiration of the designer. The images are for a pre-shoot for Bergdorf Goodman. If you go to check this out when it comes to Bergdorf, I'd check out the Alexander Olch ties as well.
Fall Summary:

If you're going to take inspiration from a ballet dancer, you might as well
pick the one whose radical approach helped start the notorious riot at the
Paris premiere of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring: Vaslav Nijinsky. Think of
this collection, then, as The Rite of Fall—and the pieces would have looked
just at home in the audience as on the stage during that fateful night.
Fortunately for us, the violence stays in the clothes—primarily in the sharp
contradiction between the lush fabrics and subdued sportswear. Think of a
leather coat lined in Mongolian lamb, cardigans trimmed with fur, or a blue
leather jacket whose abundance of belts and buckles might just have a subtle
hint of S&M. Speaking of domination, dark moods abound—the color palette is
rich with deep burgundies and lush aubergines, a sober set for a collection
that's anything but. A more playful side emerges in the most direct nods to
ballet—vibrant, striped leggings, and even sweats.
And just as those early 20th-century Parisian rioters were squabbling in
their eveningwear, this collection brings an active sensibility to formal
clothes. (Or is it an elegant sensibility to sportswear? Both?) For the
first time, Hamilton has added hand-tailored suiting. It comes in a variety
of proportions and cuts—single-breasted or double, notched lapels or peaked,
slim-fitting or wide-legged pants. But it never feels inconsistent or
slapdash—this is the unified vision of a highly personal collection, and one
that (like its inspiration) represents a restlessness with the past, an
energy and even optimism about the possibility of menswear. "I don't want to
do the same thing every season," the designer says. "Call me crazy." This
collection is anything but.

Suit details:
- Hand tailored
-One button notch slim Lapel with one vent
-Two button peaked Lapel with a double vent
-Elastic cuffed pants, also featured in the Spring 2009 Lanvin collection, I'd keep an eye out for this.

All Hand Tailored
One button notch slim lapel single vent
Two button peaked lapel double vent
Elastic cuff pants

Suit Details:
All Hand Tailored
Rope Shoulders
Hand sewn button holes
Fully horse hair canvases
Lined Crinkled Silk
Hand send metal thread label
Hand sewn bar tacks
Patch pockets,
Pants pleated and non pleat

Fabrics,
Cashmere, Camel Hair, Cotton Memory velvet, Wool Nylon twills, Brocade,
Shiny Lnyx herringbone, and Black perforated wool

Tim Hamilton x Topman Collaboration

I have been busy watching the Euro 2008 games, and forgot to post this item. Tim Hamilton says " rear calf opening, yoke open vents, and button fastening tocreate gathering at the ankle" make these a sweet thing to wear. Pants are 100% wool and available at Topman locations in New York in October and London in August. The pants are set to sell for 65 pounds.

Vintage Clothing

I found some of the best vintage clothing ever on ebay. They have tons of magazines. My favorite thing that the company stocks is "Free and Easy" Japanese fashion magazine. It has some next level vintage-styled pictures of chambray shirts and old-stuff. You can pick up the magazine at most Japanese selling newsstands. I'd keep your eyes out, but afraid to waste gas driving around buy on on ebay.

Fenway Park: Fails Inspection

The article was front page in the Boston Globe today. Almost everyone in the article said something like: "o, I can't believe it". Who the hell are these people kidding? It smells awful in that place, and it has been every game I've been to since 2004.

France vs. Netherlands

This will be the best game of the tournament probably. I'm going to check it out at 2:30, kick-off (I believe) is at 2:45. That is the normal timing for champions league matches.

Germany and Croatia

Croatia just beat Germany. I didn't even think that I would watch the game, but while eating some chips and dip for lunch I turned it on. I enjoyed the game, it offered great football from Croatia, but ended with a "bull-shit" red card. Bastian Schweinsteiger brought a ton of energy to the German side when he came on, but was sent off not too long after. He was tackled from behind, got up, and pushed a Croatian player. The espn 2 commentators are annoying as hell about it. He didn't need to do that. Shut the fuck up. That's what they said about Zidane when he was sent off against Italy, but everyone knows Materazzi is a bitch.

A Continuous Lean: Good Read

I began to read one of my daily morning reads today, and found a very interesting article. It was featured on the website " A Continuous Lean". For those unfamiliar with ACL, a common abbreviation for the site, it is "an informal listing of men’s style, wit and wisdom". The contributing writer & self-editor ,Michael Williams, does an awesome job maintaining the site, and keeping me up to date on awesome reading material especially on menswear. Today, I was really interested in an article he posted about an article from the Wall Street Journal. The company wrote of the decreasing popularity in men wearing ties, but Michael Williams found an editorial to the editor from designer Alexander Olch. Above is the editorial.

Sufjan Stevens dislikes Contemporary Music Genres

Sufjan Stevens has anger towards Vampire Weekend. The once "up and coming" band that I wrote about not too long ago. One of my classmates and friend, Michael Carli, reported the quotation to me.
"Sometimes I worry that the ever-increasing trend toward excessive innovation has pushed the art and music world into a slapstick exhibition of dog breeding, generating increasingly newer, more contemporary fashions: gothic folk, for one. Or Afro-beat Ivy League pop. Maybe this only reflects the inevitable merging of all cultures, in which art slowly becomes a least common denominator for the interchange of multiple civilizations coming together in one song. I don’t mind the intermarrying of ideas. This is the natural sequence of events. We are all better for it; it is fundamentally American. But sometimes the effort of innovation itself is just empty exertion, unspirited and unreal, bearing bad fruit."
The quotation was originally published only a few days ago, but has not really made headlines or anything.
It was originally published in http://asthmatickitty.com/sidebar.php?sidebarID=341

menswear spring/summer 2009 schedules

A new blog has emerged. The name of the blog is "dance boy dance". The blog focuses on a variety of different topics. For instance, fashion, rave music, games, and as Neto, the main writer, would describe it "addicting shit". Feel free to check it out. He has up the entire schedule for men's fashion week.

Below is his latest post. I'd check out everything he has to offer.

"Tuesday, June 10, 2008

menswear spring/summer 2009 schedules

its almost time for menswear runway shows again, this time spring/summer 09. im really eager to see some stuff. i bolded those which im most interested in, anyways, here's the schedules:

Milan SS 2009 21-24 June
21 June
10:00 GAETANO NAVARRA 11:00 C.P. COMPANY 12:00 COSTUME NATIONAL HOMME 14:30 JIL SANDER 15:30 MISSONI 16:15 BURBERRY PRORSUM 17:00CARLO PIGNATELLI OUTSIDE 17:45 LES HOMMES HOMME 18:30 VERSACE19:30 EVISU 20:30 DENIS SIMACHEV

22 June
09:00 BOTTEGA VENETA 10:00 FRANKIE MORELLO 11:00 GIANFRANCO FERRE' 12:00 ROBERTO CAVALLI 13:00 SALVATORE FERRAGAMO 14:00 VIVIENNE WESTWOOD 14:45 ANTONIO MARRAS 15:30 EMPORIO ARMANI 16:15 ALEXANDER MCQUEEN 17:00 NEIL BARRETT 18:00 HAUTE 19:00 PRADA

23 June
10:00 ENRICO COVERI 11:00 BIAGIOTTI 12:00 GUCCI 13:30 DIRK BIKKEMBERGS 14:30 JOHN RICHMOND 15:30 MOSCHINO 16:30 KRIZIA UOMO 17:30 ALESSANDRO DELL'ACQUA 18:30 M+F GIRBAUD 19:30 GIULIANO FUJIWARA 20:30 ANDREW MACKENZIE

24 June

09:00 MARNI 10:00 ICEBERG 11:00 DSQUARED2 12:00 FENDI 12:45 ETRO 13:45 CALVIN KLEIN COLLECTION 15:30 GIORGIO ARMANI 16:30 GIORGIO ARMANI 17:30 ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA 18:30 Belstaff 19:30 Gazzarini 20:30 Byblos

ParisSS 2009 26-29 June
26 June
10:30 U-NI-TY 11:30 Kilgour 12:30 Gaspard Yurkievich 13:30 Julius 14:30 Louis Vuitton 16:00 Number (N)ine 17:00 Jean Paul Gaultier 18:00 Yohji Yamamoto19:00 Véronique Branquinho 20:00 Dries Van Noten 21:00 Henrik Vibskov

27 June
10:00 Junya Watanabe Man 11:00 Blaak Homme 12:00 Thierry Mugler 13:00 Kris Van Assche 14:00 Kiminori Morishita 15:00 Kenzo 16:00 Comme des Garçons Homme Plus 17:00 Cerruti 18:00 Givenchy 19:00 Romain Kremer 20:30 John Galliano

28 June
10:00 Jeroen Van Tuyl 11:00 Miharayasuhiro 12:00 Kazuyuki Kumagai/Attachment 13:00 Tillman Lauterbach 14:00 Ann Demeulemeester 15:00 Armand Basi 16:00 Smalto 17:00 Damir Doma 18:00 Emanuel Ungaro 19:00 Petar Petrov 20:00 Hermès 21:00 Raf Simons

29 June

10:00 Antonio Miró 11:00 Lanvin 12:00 Bernard Willhelm 13:00 Wintle 14:00 Dior 15:00 Masatomo 16:00 Juun J 17:00 Paul Smith 18:00 Wooyoungmi 19:00 Agnès B.

after bolding the shows i'm looking forward to, i realized most of the shows i really want to see are showing in paris

Posted by neto at 6:17 PM 0 comments

Scoute Magazine

I found a great new men's fashion read. It is scoute. The first issue was published in May, and the writers are typing away with an issue every month. The magazine has a lot of good reads. I found their article "Labeling Labels" extremely interesting. It discussed why some designers have an emphasis on labeling and packaging. In one section, they question whether or not it matters, but then they answer their own question by pointing out that some designers are notorious for their discreet packaging. Do not be worried if you just learned about the magazine. They have an archive, and you will be caught up in no time.

Etro: New Design

Kean Etro, designer for Etro, has been busy crafting "new ways" to make cool colors for his shirts. He went back to his 5th grade history project. He took totally white Etro shirts and poured and soaked them in a ton of coffee. It amazes me that people would pay for this, but I like the idea from the designer. He is having fun; he is also loving what he does.

On the GQ Blog, Material Interest, they had a recent post featuring pictures from last night's party awarding all CFDA Menswear Fashion Award Nominees. I flipped through the pictures early this morning and absolutely loved them. This had to be my favorite picture. I can imagine looking at this picture twenty years from now in a menswear coffee table book. The styling is unique, fun, and has a subtle chicness to it. Fashion living legends that attended the party were Tim Hamilton, Patrick Ervell, Thom Browne, Scott Sternberg (Band of outsiders), and Michael Bastian.

Ksubi Tie-dye T-shirt

Made from 100% silk. These shirts are awesome. However, the 408$ price tag may hold you back.

I apologize for such a long Hiatus. For the 2^nd semester of my school year, I explored the woods of Maine. I learned new methods to explore everyday life as well as “why we go to college”.

I apologize for such a long Hiatus. For the 2^nd semester of my school year, I explored the woods of Maine. I learned new methods to explore everyday life as well as “why we go to college”.

Here is an account from one of my days:

The day began like any other ordinary day at MCS. I had four classes during the morning and barely made it to morning gather with my “bed head” hair still standing straight up. However, at ten minutes til’ one this all changed when it was Corwith Cramer’s turn to make an announcement for OAP, the MCS gym program. Banging his fist against the table, Cory spoke with enthusiasm. The day’s OAP activity was “an inspirational run” around Chewonki Neck.

Dashing off into the quad Cory sprang forward with pent up energy. The nine other inspired runners followed in pursuit. He sprinted towards a white pine tree in the quad and leaped off it right before racing to the lower field. Following behind him, I ran with my arms spread wide pretending to fly. Entering the woods, Cory skipped back and forth across a stream. In a ‘monkey see monkey do’ pattern Doug and I followed Cory’s random skipping movements through the woods. Cory continued running and jumping over dead fallen trees as if they were hurdles in a track race. He ran around a dead tree and swung himself around it quickly changing directions. I got a good chuckle hearing the crack of the tree and seeing it shake. Only a man like Cory could almost knock down a dead monstrous tree. Doug and Erica ran behind him with their arms spread like they were turkey vultures circling around the trees. Cory led them in and out of trees, over shrubs, and over about a hundred fallen trees. We were probably only about four minutes into our run, and then spotted a marsh. Cory’s eyes widened and he picked up speed sprinting through the mucky water. Stupidly, I followed. I looked behind me to look for everyone else, and they all had stayed on the path. It hadn’t even been ten minutes and I realized that I made a big mistake wearing my only clean white pair of shorts. The further I followed Cory through the marshy area the more water gushed into my shoes, and my shorts got heavier with the gallons of water they soaked up.

Cory continued running on, and we continued the pattern of following our fearless leader. He had led us right out of the woods to the mud flats. Cory splashed and jumped in joy in the mud. However, before I could think to turn around something struck me. I had been hit in the face by one of Doug’s mud balls. I was ready to retaliate, but got hit again by one thrown from Lucy. A mud war was on, and I wanted to get even. Covered with mud, Cory led us on through the woods again. We continued to follow the same course. We ran, twirled, flew, and hopped around. Faster than I could blink an eye we were back on another part of the mud flats. Doug saw the rocky cliff leading down to the flats as a way to test his inner ninja. Joking to Doug, Cory yelled that he would make sure to pick up Doug’s broken pieces. In the mud another mud fight broke out. Unfortunately, it was getting late. I attempted to do a belly flop in the mud. Instead, I didn’t sink in to the mud as I originally planned. Rather, I slid like a penguin on my stomach giggling with joy. Luckily, we didn’t continue running. Instead, everyone slid in the mud and continued to coat themselves in it.

I can only think to myself “How could a school’s gym class get any better?”

Vampire Weekend

Their self-titled album debuts this January 28th/29th. A great band, consisting of some pretty talented and preppy kids. I suggest picking it up.

Lanvin: Automne/Hiver 2008

* To view an enlarged photo click on the images.