Archive for October, 2011
my friend skip over at alex grant has a great post on his wallets through the years and how they’ve changed as he’s gotten older. my favorite of his collection is his billykirk wallet with “skip” embossed on the loop. i’m thinking about picking up one of those or going with the makr flap wallet. both are designed to be more of a front pocket wallet so your cards don’t bend or break. which one do you think i should go with?
these shoes need no introduction; however, they do deserve better pictures. i’m still snapping everything with my iphone after hours, so i apologize for the crappy pics. i’ve been on a bit of a buying tear lately – some might call it retail therapy (it’s been one of those weeks). you might remember that a couple of months ago i ordered a pair of allen edmonds moras. i wore them for a few days and determined they were a too big, so i sold them to a happy ebayer. i should have started with the sid mashburn double monks. they are perfect shoes. if they’re not instantly your favorite shoes, then i can’t help you. size down .5.
since college, i’ve always waited until georgia / florida weekend to pull out my cords for the fall. i’m not sure why because it’s usually still hot in jacksonville, but it’s become somewhat of a tradition. this weekend will be no different. i’ve been through a hell of a lot of cords during this time and finally found a favorite: the levi’s 514 cords. they’re a “baby wale” corduroy and fit the same as levi’s 514 slim straight jeans. i appreciate thicker wale cords, but they just don’t look good on me. the best part about these pants is that you can find them at most department stores and they won’t hurt your wallet. they retail for under $65.
hat tip to the esquire style blog for this piece of news. for their spring 2012 collection, coach is releasing 200 hand-numbered wallets made entirely from vintage baseball gloves they’ve gathered over the past year. i’m not much of a wallet collector, but i’d like to get my hands on one of these. they’ll retail for $350 this spring.
in anticipation of cooler weather, i bought a barbour liddesdale two weeks ago. it’s been in the 70’s ever since. not that i’m complaining, but i’d like to wear it sooner than later. it’s a nice lightweight coat that’s perfect for the transition from fall to winter. i went with the navy, because i’ve got an olive bedale.
steve jobs by walter isaacson. i’ve been excited about this book since it was announced. jobs tried his hardest to control what information people had on him, so i was surprised to see that he let isaacson write an authorized biography. i can’t wait to read what’s in there. i hope jobs isn’t mad i ordered mine from the amazon kindle store (i like the kindle app better than ibooks).
coldplay mylo xyloto. there are probably just as many coldplay haters as there are fans these days. after a rush of blood to the head they could do not wrong until they decided they wanted to get bigger. remember all those stupid discussion you’ve had with friends about bands “selling out” (btw coldplay clearly sold out with x&y). i’ve been on both sides. who cares. i’m downloading this brian eno produced record.
i wasn’t sure how to title or start this post, so i apologize if it’s misleading, but i needed to share some personal feelings this evening. my grandad passed away on saturday afternoon. he had been in bad shape for a month or so, but took a turn for the worse on friday evening. i was lucky enough to sit with him saturday morning and tell him goodbye.
he was a hell of a guy. he never treated me like a child (or at least i didn’t think so). when i was a kid and would spend the night at their house, he and i would go to the mall for a burger and milkshake and then to the movies. he loved schwartzenegger movies. he took me to see total recall in the theater when i was nine years too young to be there. we never told my parents. and when i got old enough to drink, i would go sit on his front porch, drink a beer, and talk about life. there was something so amazing about having a drink with him. i’m going to miss him so much.
if you’re wondering why i mentioned the black pocket comb, it’s because i noticed one in the pocket of his pajamas on saturday. it’s a good representation of the man that he was: simple, understated, and classic. he lived 93 great years. i hope i’m that lucky. i miss you already, grandad.
i’m going to try to keep the fall/winter posts lite on red wing boots this year, but before i do allow me to mention these 9″ pecos hawthorne muleskinner boots. red wing’s “hawthorne muleskinner” is what they call their rough-out leather – which is known for it’s aging process i.e. they’ll look better with age. the outsole is nitrile cork. the only problem with the boots is that i can’t find them in the states. these pictures are courtesy of red wing’s fine amsterdam store. worst case scenario, i’ll have to order them from their amsterdam shop and wait a little longer to get them. i guess it beats ordering them from the shoe mart and then never getting them.
it’s about that time to pull out your fall and winter boots, but before you wear them be sure to apply a nice coat of sno-seal to protect them from the rain and snow. it’s the best leather waterproofing stuff you can find. here’s what i do with mine:
it’s an easy process and i’m sure you can read the instruction on the can, but i figured it was worth noting. the most important part is heating the boot so the sno-seal can get into the fibers and pores. we spend good money on our boots, so we might as well take care of them.
i had the good fortune of being in the right place at the right time this morning. as i pulled into nashville’s imogene + willie, the ups man pulled in behind me with a box of goodies. the team seemed to be excited about the delivery, so i stuck around to see what was in the box. sure enough, they were imogene + willie scout books. i was lucky to snag a couple before they go on sale tomorrow.
the i + w scout books come in a pack of 3 with 3 different covers. there are 16 front to back pages of grid paper (32 to write on). they measure 3 1/2 inches wide by 5 inches tall (1/2 inch shorter than field notes). my favorite part of these particular pocket notebooks is the personalized note on the back (below):
that note says it all. matt and carrie and the rest of the team put so much love into their products that you feel like they were made just for you. be sure to check out www.imogeneandwillie.com tomorrow so you can order your own scout books and see the rest of their fall collection.
No Instagram images were found.
to take the train 