I thought about starting this article by saying that spring is on the horizon, which means that we can finally put our boots away and start reaching for sneakers. But the weather in San Francisco has been so strange lately that I honestly have no idea what season is coming up. My own wardrobe has tilted a bit toward the casual in recent years so I’ve found myself thinking about sneakers more, regardless of what the weather chooses to do. The newest pair in my stable is the “Morgen” by Beckett Simonon, a young brand that some of you are likely familiar with. […]
Product Review: Proper Cloth Washed Denim Shirts
It’s no secret that Proper Cloth is my favorite shirtmaker. There are many places to get a custom shirt these days, but I have yet to find anybody that has the same level of user-friendly-ness, curated-but-thorough design options, and top-tier fabrics. They just released their newest batch of washed denim shirts this week, so I […]
Product Review: Sons of Henrey Wholecut Chelsea Boot
The menswear resurgence of the past 10 years has been wonderful for the discerning customer, but tough for mid-market brands. It seems like every week there is a new story about a brand or retailer in trouble, stuck between customers that want fast fashion prices and those that want luxury products. Personally, I love the middle of the market – I find that it’s where the products of highest value often exist, and that’s usually my first priority when deciding where to purchase. A new member to the club of “not expensive, not cheap, but definitely good” is footwear brand Sons of Henrey, founded earlier this year. […]
Product Review: Abercrombie & Fitch ‘Dad Coat’
If I’m being honest, I’ve always found Abercrombie & Fitch rather off-putting. It goes back to high school, really – back in the early aughts, A&F worked very hard to be a place for the ‘cool kids.’ Since I was definitely not one of those, their stores seemed to project the vibe that I was not allowed to wear their clothing. I’ve done a good job of ignoring them over the years, but after so many people started talking about this coat I decided that I’d have to bite the bullet and take a closer look. […]
For the Love of Longwings – a Comparison
If you read my recent shoe collection post you know that I like longwings quite a bit. They’re an incredibly versatile shoe style, and over the years I’ve collected four pairs from four prominent brands. Since I know I’m not the only one interested in this style of footwear I thought I’d dive in to the details and compare the various aspects of each one – each have their little nuances that make them unique in their own way. […]
The MUJI Suitcase got an Upgrade
After writing the post on my new MUJI “hanging case” dopp kit I was informed that the much-loved MUJI carryon had recently gotten a few upgrades. Given the tight competition in this market (and Away’s rise to the position of “instragrammer’s choice”) I thought it would be worthwhile to visit their San Francisco store and learn more about the changes. Here’s what’s new: […]
Taking Stock: the State of my Shoe Collection
I was recently doing a bit of deep cleaning and reorganizing in my apartment, which led me to take all of my shoes out of their little hutch and move them onto the floor. It had been a long time since I’d seen them all laid out like that in one place, so I decided to take stock of everything and see how my collection looked as a whole. […]
Product Review: MUJI Dopp Kit
The dopp kit – is it a travel necessity or just another unnecessary container within a larger container, meant to hold smaller containers? While I have on occasion thrown one in my weekender bag for short trips, I found them to be cumbersome for longer, airplane-oriented getaways. Dopp kits are generally bulky, and it’s not like I have any shortage of pockets when I travel. For a long time now, I have felt that there’s nothing a dopp kit can do that can’t be done equally well by a sturdy Ziplock bag. That all changed recently, when I was introduced to the MUJI hanging case.
Product Review: OrSlow 107 One-Wash Jeans
“Trust me – wear them for a week or two and then they’ll fit perfectly.” This is the bad advice that I’ve heeded and come to regret many times in the past decade – and I have a “shame stack” of virtually unworn jeans in my dresser to prove it. Although I like to wear jeans, I hate breaking in raw denim. Hate it. I just can’t get on board with buying something extremely uncomfortable and hoping that it will change after a month or two of suffering. For this reason I’ve been putting off purchasing a much-needed pair of jeans, but after learning more about OrSlow I decided that a pre-washed pair sounded like an excellent change of pace. […]
Product Review: Grant Stone Suede Longwings
I was recently talking with some menswear friends who feel that it’s a tough time to enter the market because everything’s been done already. Products of every style are available at every pricepoint, so what’s left to do? While I agree with this sentiment to a point, I also think that there will always be space at the table for new products, if that new product is offering something truly unique for their pricepoint. […]