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Well I'd recommend The Selvedge Yard and Archival Clothing for their lists of merchants & brands, but these two pictures really chime for me.
On the left is Burkman Brothers, who I am more than a little bit in love with. They both used to work for Gap and have set up on their own, combining letterman-style jackets with more outdoor-style check shirts and heavy duty cargo chinos - an amazing blend of Golden Age American references with heritage quality and attention to detail. On the right are Wolverine boots, these from their new heritage collection launching for Autumn 09.
Reports & images on both these brands from A Continuous Lean.
Pleats! I love a pleated trouser. (And a fashion singular, clearly). I've been talking about volume around the hip area for a while, and the Current/Elliott Victorian bloomers, currently winging their way towards me, do this in a great way. The Lover denim had a 1940's volume to them, with pleated wide-leg Gatsby style trousers (mixing decades now, sorry).
These Marc Jacobs jeans have a great 1940's, His Girl Friday kind of feel. The way the cut becomes quite nipped down the thigh and calf gives them a new and flattering feel. Although pleats are generally held to be a problem, I don't think so, as tulip skirts have been around for a few seasons doing a very similar silhouette. When everyone is doing pleats I shall be smug and unbearable.
The internet offers up astounding things, and is currently ruining any pretense I have at a social life. This is mainly due to the collection of blogs on trad/americana/traditional workwear/general gentlemanly pursuits that abound, some of which I have taken the care to list to your right, under 'Men's Trad'. There's more than I've listed, and they pretty much all link to each other. But be warned, if you start down that path, it may never end.
It doesn't have to be men's of course, but the clothes are originally for your working chap, is the general idea.
I wanted to pull together all the different sorts of inspirations this leads to, or at least just flashes of them, rather than reproducing every single person's blog, because it's their stuff, and because I'd go mad. I'm not marinated in the Filson bag, Junya Watanabe version of the yellow puffa, Wolverine boots, lumberjack check nuance, so I can't pretend to understand where every bit of this is coming from. But I know what I like.
I've written before on the timeliness of 'Trad'. I even have a tag! I think it's a bit more than a pale denim or acid wash trend, and of course it's about more than denim. It's better explained in the Newsweek article above, courtesy of A Continuous Lean. Denim has a huge part in this, as one of the classic American workwear fabrics, but as yet it doesn't seem to me that a brand is fully capitalising on this in the way that, say, Woolrich have had a catwalk collection for AW09. Levi's certainly have their vintage ranges, and Lee Japan have done an 'archive' denim collection that will be in Europe in the autumn, and that's just skimming the surface. But that feels slightly different, as denim brands have always done this in various ways. Perhaps it's because denim brands have always built on their iconic heritage (those that have it, and those that make it up), whereas the bag, boot and outdoor brands are rediscovered classics and the manufacturers haven't consciously been using their heritage to sell to the hipsters as denim brands have. Not sure. (Also of course, I'm sure that the fans of this style would reject the hipster tag as utterly against the point).
Either way, this is a perfect storm of revitalised interest in America (Obama); a return to traditional values (we're all scared shitless and worried we've been on the wrong path); authenticity in manufacturing (we've realised we're blinding small children in our thirst for more cheap fashion. I'm exaggerating); authenticity in design (a storied heritage makes us feel in touch with our history, permanent, almost moral); durable and long-lasting quality (waste feels ecologically and ethically wrong) American crafts having a renaissance (from Navajo style blankets and beading, to Puritan crochet work and quilting, not to mention the workwear and Ivy League style that the Japanese designers have been quietly assimilating for years); and the fact that the stuff looks cool and lasts and wears well. It's almost like what we love about jeans has been transferred to all of these other things. There's even a blog where people post pictures of their worn bags, just like with jeans.
For someone who's just claimed that I wouldn't be donning a denim gilet, I am remarkably fickle. Sleeveless things seem to be throwing themselves at me at the moment, and these, I love. They're not denim, but the styling could so easily lend itself to being done in washed indigo. But they're pretty good as they are, and along with lace, you can't move for leather these days. The vest in the middle is described by the Reference Library as a 'Rocky Mountain Remington West leather puffy vest with concho buttons', a description I think came directly from ebay. The vest on the left & right is the same piece - someone's been enjoying the Poladroid. It's by Hayden Harnett.
I secretly love Twenty8Twelve jeans. No, I have no pride. I would prefer it if people in the public eye didn't pretend that they did all the work, keeping the designers hidden in the cellar with only thread and pincushions for nourishment. (From what I hear, Victoria does more than most on her jeans, and Savannah does the knitwear for this line. Happy to pass on unsubstantiated rumours!)
But I can see the huge benefit for a company in having an immediate connection with a possible audience rather than having to establish a brand in the public imagination, and having a 'lifestyle' proposition already created for you that people can identify with and buy into. Much time saved and a direct framework to create within and speak through. Might not be right, but certainly effective.
And with Twenty8Twelve they had some really stunning detailing, feminine and classic touches and great ideas. The stud rivets were a great idea, lovely welt pockets, stand-out full leg zips & buttons, cool leather belt loops. Needless to say, I couldn't get into the jeans, as they were a long way away from stretch although the denim was lovely to look at.Love these though. Denim with no detailing, no pockets, possibly even a jegging. Look really cute. When will we tire of skinnies?
If you're interested, full collection at coutorture.com
Back to my favourite ebay store, for more 90's grunge/sleeveless denim gilets/pale denim. It's probably worth adding that the day I try to pull off the sleeveless denim is the day someone needs to step in and save me from myself.
Treasure Chest Vintage
These images aren't new (southern hemisphere SS09), but Maurie & Eve are a brand who used to make printed tank tops and are fairly new to the full collection. Trust Australian fashion to combine trend & streetwear in a way that actually makes me want to wear bleach-splattered marble denim. And a ripped denim dress. In a slightly less challenging move, they also make me want to be in Sydney. Have asked Australian friend where these images are taken, and we've come up with Botany Bay. Still makes me want to be there. You can see the rest of the images here.
My earlier post about The Outsiders made me want to hunt out some sleeveless denim. The rider-style gilet is definitely a grower, and this one, by Erin Wasson for RVCA again convinces me of the uses of the marble wash. The sleeveless shirt/jacket on James King (courtesy of Ragpony) looks even better I think. Or vintage Levi's, for the classicists.
Courtesy of guest-posting on Denimology, I've come across this new Scando denim brand, Never Denim. They're a girly version of Cheap Monday - affordable & edgy. I'm pretty much in love with the one shoulder lightening bolt dress. Full catwalk collection pics on Denimology & the Never Denim website.
I'm pretty sure that this was called snowwash when I was a kid, and I'm remembering some sort of jacket and jeans ensemble, but that might be a misplaced memory. It's certainly possible, my mum did dress me in some pretty crazy things (I come from a long line of denim designers). With that history, it's surprising that I'm not an early-uptaker on every denim whim that happens past, but I've been looking at Cheap Monday acid wash jeans for a good year now, and, no. But the shade texture of acid wash jeans is beginning, belatedly to appeal, although TopShop had a pair of mid blue 'chipped' denim Eve jeans a couple of weeks ago(which I can't find on their website), which looked vintage in a much cooler way. The denim was far too thick for me to want to try them on, so to date I remain untouched by scary denim.
As is the way with trends, acid wash is actually going to be around for much longer than a one-season wonder, as designers work through the best way to make it appeal. And these pictures from the Levi's Blue F/W2009 lookbook have wormed their way in to my thoughts.
Left, mid right, Levi's Blue (source, Neighbour)
Mid left, Top Shop
Far right, Cheap Monday
I don't think I'm breaking new ground by saying that vintage jeans are great. But rather than having file upon file of tearsheets with great details and shapes, I'm just going to stick them all up here, because they don't stop being great.
http://www.retrodress.com
This book captures my imagination. It was on my parent's bookshelves when I was young and I was transfixed by it. I loved the picture of Jeanne Moreau, the smoke curling into the dark background. Looking again, it's hard to find a picture that doesn't produce a strong emotion. I thought it had gone missing a year or so ago, and looked for a replacement, and the price was nudging $1000. I was pretty happy when it showed up.
The full title is Goodbye Baby and Amen: A Saraband for the Sixties. It's a photography book, with portraits by David Bailey and text by Peter Evans, but it's so much more than that. The words inside are spare and bewitching. The images are the same. It's divided into chapters such as Couples and The Look, and the portraits are of artists, musicians, actors and intellectuals, some who are still household names, and some who have faded from popular view a little; it's these perhaps that you want to discover more than those who still feel familiar. But the genius of the portraits is that no one feels familiar, even the Rolling Stones, and everyone looks absolutely young without the nostalgia, romantic without the sentimentality, that often accompanies 1960's photographs.
I've done my best, but I don't think these pictures really do it justice.
Pleats! I love a pleated trouser. (And a fashion singular, clearly). I've been talking about volume around the hip area for a while, and the Current/Elliott Victorian bloomers, currently winging their way towards me, do this in a great way. The Lover denim had a 1940's volume to them, with pleated wide-leg Gatsby style trousers (mixing decades now, sorry).
The internet offers up astounding things, and is currently ruining any pretense I have at a social life. This is mainly due to the collection of blogs on trad/americana/traditional workwear/general gentlemanly pursuits that abound, some of which I have taken the care to list to your right, under 'Men's Trad'. There's more than I've listed, and they pretty much all link to each other. But be warned, if you start down that path, it may never end.
I secretly love Twenty8Twelve jeans. No, I have no pride. I would prefer it if people in the public eye didn't pretend that they did all the work, keeping the designers hidden in the cellar with only thread and pincushions for nourishment. (From what I hear, Victoria does more than most on her jeans, and Savannah does the knitwear for this line. Happy to pass on unsubstantiated rumours!)
Back to my favourite ebay store, for more 90's grunge/sleeveless denim gilets/pale denim. It's probably worth adding that the day I try to pull off the sleeveless denim is the day someone needs to step in and save me from myself.
I don't think I'm breaking new ground by saying that vintage jeans are great. But rather than having file upon file of tearsheets with great details and shapes, I'm just going to stick them all up here, because they don't stop being great.
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