Framed

I stumbled across this eyewear store on the corner of 6th Ave and fourteenth street called Moscot and did a double take at the retro frames they had in the window and swore I would return to check them out. I did, and am in love with all their original styles and have vowed to return when its time to upgrade my old ones. That same week I tried on a pair of Wayfarers Sunglasses and am so ready for a change from the heavy wraparounds that have been around forever. These Raybans are also completely in sync with the eighties influence thats taking hold.

California Dreaming

Not quite a winter's day yet but California dreaming begins now as I start to work on Spring Summer 2009- the trade shows begin in the middle of January. I'm starting the research with a look at psychedelia a trend thats gaining some momentum with not only a look back at the period- the new Bob Dylan movie by Todd Haynes, and also artists like Devendra Banhart (love his new album )who's chanelling a powerful vibe also from that era. A couple of inspirational books- The Art of the Rock Poster and The Art of the Fillmore: The Poster Series 1966-1971 to look at.

Plaidness

There's definitely a plaid revival happening. Even Buffalo plaids that usually struggle to find the right fashion moment are happily back to provide an eighties vibe but refreshed with the addition of bold striped knits and skinny jeans. Tartans are hardly ever not in style, but its nice to see some new ways of wearing them. I saw a young guy the other day with a Tartan tie, not unlike the ones pictured on the right, worn with a clashing checked shirt. On the left a greeting card from our store.

Tattoo Style

I have plans do to some tattoo influenced designs- so am doing some research on the subject. Here is a scan from the Taschen book 1000 Tattoos, a thick resource of old school tattoo photos. The ones pictures above are from the 1920's. Its interesting that tattoo as a form of graphic medium and style is gaining mainstream status, its popularity and pervasiveness in modern culture a subject that's been contemplated in NYTimes and studied at PSFK.

East Coast, West Coast

Two new designs in the store, both in the Wheels section. Both are a little at odds with the other, one is West Coast with a newer hand drawn flavor, the other more classic vintage East Coast.

Autumn Art

The autumn color palette is always beatifully rendered in works from the arts and craft movement, the subject of autumn leaves, fruits and berries a recurring theme. Pictured above are images from American Arts and Craft Textiles and Creative clays: American art pottery from the New Orleans Museum of Art.

Native Legacy

Every fall season I inevitably work on a design group based on Native American imagery. For some reason the subject seems to lend itself to sense of the great American outdoors. Above are two images from the book Sacred Legacy which is a collection of photographs by Edward S. Curtis- probably the most well known early documentor of Native American people and their lives- his monochrome images continue to be powerful and inspirational to this day.

Right Field

These classic American Field Jackets- a staple of outdoors wear never stray too far from popularity but Woolrich Plaids are definitely a hot ticket for this fall especially if they track the the more tailored fits of the original. The patched detail and patches on the left are some of the design details currently being used to update fleece items.

Right: FIELD HUNTING JACKET
Left:HUNTING-JACKET

I'm So There

This New York Times Magazine article about Todd Haynes' upcoming movie I'm Not There is a fascinating look behind what looks like an intriguing movie. The premise -presenting the different phases of Dylan's career as alter egos is brilliant and the casting of Cate Blanchett as the ascending rock star Dylan is nothing short of genius. Can't Wait.

Carrie

Lets Start Fall with a classic horror flick- Carrie. Sissy Spacek's look seems like an inspiration for a lot of stylists right now.

Cold Army

Military inspiration in the fall 07 collections of Burberry and John Varvatos have an American Civil War uniforms vibe as seen in On Cold Mountain
Left
Right

Future Tense

Vintage cinematic visions of the future seem to be on the minds of certain designers for Fall 2007. Apocalyptic styling and sets referencing Mad Max featured at John Galliano and D Squared while space suits and the theme from A Space Odyssey opened the Dolce Gabbana show.

Tangled up in Blue

No other store window makes the kind of sophisticated color statements that are the signature of The End of History in the West Village. I often make a point to walk by just to see what they're into. Last week it was the color blue -azure and cerulean glass mixed with turquoise ceramics all set against dark teak furniture.

Cover Pattern

A couple of interesting geometric patterns, both of which are designs from vintage book covers.

Flickr/joekral
Flickr/fiddledydee

Purple Glaze

Purple Haze Glaze, all in my mind. For some reason I am currently drawn to purple tinted colors combined with neutrals-just take a look at the color scheme of this website. Glancing through the ceramic section of Hi and Lo Modern -these two purply neutrally pieces caught my eye.

Stoked

I'm currently working on a group of designs based on the eighties skateboard scene. I watched the movie Stoked a while ago- a documentary about Mark "Gator" Rogowski which was a fascinating glimpse into this era when skateboarding enjoyed a renaissance.


Stoked:Rise and Fall of Gator
Vintage Gator Skateboard

Bold Angle

The bold geometric sweaters featured in Prada's Fall 07 collection, recently seen at the Milan shows remind me of these vintage camp/cabin blankets. A modern look with familiar, nostalgic roots.

Left Blanket
Right Blanket

Hipster Mullahs

In a recent New York Times article about trend that focusses largely on the "startling apperance" of beards on young hipsters referencing in particular the musician Devendra Banhart the author Guy Trebay, after initially declaring that 'trends emerge, apparently from nowhere' goes on to suggest that this 'bearded hipster-mullah-hippie' look was probably borrowed from ' gay bears, a small minority of hyper-masculine men who affect potbellies, clodhoppers and lavish chin whiskers' or copped the look from "Peter Orlovsky, the poet lover for three decades of Allen Ginsberg".

Talk about a stab in the dark. Wouldn't an experimental folksy musician like Devendra be more inclined to channel musicians like Graham Nash or perhaps the members of the The Band ?

Funky Fresh

With the rise in popularity of dance as entertainment and an increasing interest in athletic apparel for inspiration on the catwalk it seems timely to look at images from the emerging days of BBoy/breakdance in particular work from Jamel Shabazz. His photographs in the book "Back in the Day" and also looking at video from that era suggest interesting ideas for combining sportswear and athleticwear. The narrower proportion of the clothes also seem more right for now.

Photo Credits: Artnet;Newsday

About

I am a Graphic Arist creating original textile and t shirt graphic artwork for the apparel industry. I find a lot of material in the world of vintage things - their colors, textures, and themes, suggesting palettes and concepts. I also love the color values and textures of things that have aged.

This site tracks my thought process as I scour thrift stores and flea markets and the ever increasing wealth of vintage resources online to find inspiration with a focus here on vintage and timeless American Design. Currently I am increasing my design ouput directly into my online stores as the quality of print and choice of product continues to improve at Zazzle and Spreadshirt.

Chelsea Flea Market

No better way to get this blog rolling than with an establishing shot of a regular hunting ground-Chelsea Flea Market. The pic on the left is of the basement garage on 25th St, the pic on the right is a scan from the first find of the new year - a textile book "Design on Fabrics" by Meda Parker Johnston and Glen Kaufman. I was particularly interested in the batik and tie dye images that I'm researching for SS08.

Coming Soon !