All American Vintage: 2009

Board Shirt

Besides the Opening Ceremony/ Pendleton collaboration there's also the Hurley/Pendleton collaboration. Love the more modern sixties, youth/surf culture angle but - a wool shirt for this demographic? Not exactly the easy comfy care material they are more used to. Its also avaialable on the Pendleton online store- which I wouldn't think would normally attract a younger or more fashion forward customer. This is interesting. Branding, culture, availability and marketing in the internet age. Can't say what it means without knowing how well its selling for each party - but its interesting to see not just a vintage brand but a vintage product (wool/vintage fit) marketed, and sold across seemingly very different demographics- and all in the same season so its not a trickle up or down.

Evolution of the College Dorm

Really interesting photo essay in Time Magazine showing images of college dorms like this bed in at Columbia protesting gender discrimnation. There's images from each decade that are interesting glimpses into the dress codes and lifestyles of each era.

We Want Miles

I would love to see this new exhibition about American music legend Miles Davis that the NYTimes describes as infused with the spontaneous and elegant nature of the man and his music: cool and understated in all the right places. Broken into a chronological series of eras, the constant evolutions and revolutions that characterized Davis’s work are central themes. Too bad We Want Miles is in Paris.

Pretty Boy Looks

The NYTimes has an interesting post today , It’s All a Blur to Them which ponders on whether genderless dressing is a marginal trend or has a robust future. One American icon comes immediately to mind- Patti Smith. If the wearer can pull of what she did twenty years ago - which transcended gender and was the embodiment of cool, then, robust future it is. I'm looking forward to the documentary Dream of Life airing on PBS Dec 30 to take a closer look at not just what she wore but how she wore it.

Autumn Plaids

Etsy, although known for handmade things, actually has a great vintage section. The taste level is high, pretty current and many of the photos have a great aesthetic. Love this plaid cake tin and the plaid skirt with a palette that's beautifully in tune with what's happening outside right now.

+ Media:Honk If You Love Mustangs

The New Outdoors

I was in the downtown Bloomingdales the other day and was immediately drawn to a jacket by Junya Watanabe clearly inspired by a classic American Hunting Jacket- complete with shoulder patch and bright orange trim. Although the aesthetics were vintage, the fabrication and construction was current. The tan cloth a light weight technological fabric, lightly quilted- it was light as a feather and had a slim fitted silhouette. The video of his AW09 collection is a dazzling look at his deconstruction of the great American outdoors wardrobe, refined, reimagined. The slices of plaid and camouflage, the mix of tweed, quilting, flashes of color against the autumn hues of olives browns and mustards and the new proportions and styling - all make this a great inspirational resource for dressing up this fall in the new outdoors.

+ Media:Junya Watanabe FW 2009

Neutral Mix

The red and black plaid is on a roll- its everywhere, shirts, jacket, bags, shoes- and more to come next spring. I'm thinking I want something different and am on the lookout for a few vintage pieces that does an interesting neutral mix of pattern and texture- like this monochromatic Pendleton shirt and cardigan.

Fall Work Wear

Couple of styling ideas for my own fall wardrobe from Ralph's Spring Summer 10 runway. Really like the proportion and contrast of the leaner, crisper top with the fuller beat up denim bottom. Also like the tattered scarf of the second image and - is it time for overalls again ? Its been a while and you can buy them cheap I'm sure, somewhere. Patched and repaired also fits right in with staycations and thrifty recycling.

Boot Collaboration

Boots on the left- I want and will probably never have as they are not going to be available in the US. They are by British designer Nigel Cabourn but are a collaboration with Japanese brand Yuketen who I understand manufacture in collaboration with Quoddy. Hence the clear American roots of the design as it's a riff on their moccasin constructed boots. The boot on the right I saw the other day at J. Crew, (who are really looking good these days) and is a collaboration between them and Sperry on a rework of the top sider chukka.

High Hair

Ready to embrace the groomed updo? Straight out of the fifties, made in Memphis and rumored to have been used by the King himself, Black and White Pomade is the high hair product for you.This American product has been a key player over the pond in London , aiding and abetting Punk Mohicans in the seventies, the Buffalo Boys nod to the fifties back in the eighties and I wouldn't be surprised that it played a role in this recent Hedi Slimane shoot of London Teenagers packed with vintage American Teenage style.

Native Inspiration

I'm looking at a lot of native american stuff. There's definitely something in the air about this inspiration source from sneakers to store installations. Love the aged colors of the Parfleche and the elegant shape of the moccassin

Rogue Bean

“This is for modern, everyday dressing. My goal is not to challenge you. My goal is to make your life better.”

That's a great opening gambit from Alex Carleton, of Rogue's Gallery, recently hired as LL Bean's creative director for their signature Line. I would love something 'classic' from a classic company like LL Bean if only it were in a slightly cooler color or the fit was a little bit leaner (and ironically more vintage). Looking forward to this pairing.

+ Media:LL Bean History

Bandanna Ads

Love these vintage promotional bandannas from OshKosh and Lee's. They add a nice decorative element to the plainer weaves and linear stripes that are typical of workwear. It's also interesting to see text on this bandanna 'medium' which is more typically paisley or dots or western themed- gives it a modern edge.

Vintage Healthcare

Some Heroin for your cough? Maybe a cigarette for your asthma? Change is good, no? Images of vintage medicine ads via Pill Talk.

Kachina Dolls

These Kachina Dolls carved from cottonnwood by the Hopi and Zuni Indians are fascinating- primitive but some of them look a little alien/futuristic too.

Tailfins of 1959

The 1950s had to end sometime, and in Detroit the soaring tailfins of 1959 models put an exclamation point at the conclusion of an exuberant decade of unchecked optimism.
Cool slideshow and article from the NYTimes.

Surfland

This is a gorgeous series of contemporary photographs of East and West coast surfers using a 19th century tintype method by Joni Sternbach. She describes her intent as wanting to contrast the primitive and the civilized self. via Visura Magazine

Revised Masterpiece.

No way. Bookstores are getting shipments of a significantly changed edition of Ernest Hemingway’s masterpiece, “A Moveable Feast,” first published posthumously by Scribner in 1964. This new edition, also published by Scribner, has been extensively reworked by a grandson who doesn’t like what the original said about his grandmother, Hemingway’s second wife. NYTimes.

Surf Nylons

I'm always interested in vintage nylon apparel because I'm curious how the colors age. Found this awesome collection of vintage surf nylons on NE Surfari- no idea if the colors have faded but they are certainly rich and interesting. The green and yellow Big Ed short is my favorite.

Atlantic Vinyl

Love the brown paper sleeve combined with the bright red label. It always interests me how many font styles there are in what seems like a relatively simple design. Image vis Carolina History Project

American Bohemian

With the increasing trend for revivalism of classic, traditional and preppy american style, I begin to hanker for the random, idiosyncratic, bohemian aesthetic of Paul Bowles in his ethnic shirt. The inevitable counter movement begins.

Rave On

I'm researching the early nineties San Francisco rave scene and loving the neon colors and the simple childlike aesthetics of glowsticks and lollipops. Got my rave on.

Woolen Mills

Iconic woolen mills Pendleton and Woolrich both have representation in the serious fashion arena this fall. Woolrich Woollen Mills is the collaboration with Daiki Suzuki and now Pendleton meets Opening Ceremony.

Racer

Looking through some Rin Tanaka books, I'm reminded of racing style associated with the motorcycle prior to the greaser, easy rider, hells angel kind that occured mid century and onwards. The style prior to that was more elegant, lot of wool sweaters. I particularly like the layouts of the text graphics and the lean fonts used.

Storefront NYC

Came across this book this week - Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York By James T. Murray, Karla L. Murray. It's a subject I am already fond of and often take similar photos. Love the aged colors, the fonts and overall balance of design elements. Click on the image to go see a set on flickr by the authors of many of the images.

+ Media:Canoeing in the Wilderness

Tricky Mix

I really liked Dries van Noten's new collection whose show notes read "Tokyo meets Calcutta" which for me certainly suggests the clever pairing of large and small primitive/ethnic patterns. Nothing American about this so not material for this blog, I thought until today when I walked past this poster store which had a huge image of Nixon bowling. Something about the pattern combination, color scheme, even the sheen of his clothes looked eerily in the same vein.

Miner Blues

I was looking through the Milan Shows on Men Style, noting the many iconic American references from D Squared's camping to D & G's cowboys, but surprsingly the one collection I found most inspiring was Missoni's - I particularly like her washed out blues. It connected with an idea I'm working on for Fall 2010 that references Gold Miners - this puts a color scheme to the images of workers I've been looking at which is viable- faded, stained, dusty work clothes all reduced to a range of faded indigo shades. I could also see this translating into an interesting pale blanket palette for flannel plaids and overdyed sweats and chinos.