Not the Shoes!

Shwooden Shades

Theo — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 20:11:50 +0000

Came across these today, thought they were pretty wild. The Portland-based company is called Shwood and they hand-make sunglasses out of wood drawn from locally sourced and sustainable lumber yards.

The glasses look very similar in design to Raybans, the Canby design more or less mirroring Wayfarers, while the Govy takes a squarer approach to the classic style. Not outlandishly expensive (about $95-125 a pair), Shwood glasses are a unique way to shade those eyes. I especially like the stain treatment on the wood…it’s sort of like tortoise-shell but somehow more authentic. I don’t know. Wooden Sunglasses….who’d a thunk.

Gray Levi’s

Theo — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 19:37:13 +0000

I know this isn’t military related…but I just had to put this up, so bear with me.

Last weekend I was in Miami and forgot my jeans in the hotel…so I endeavored to find a new pair for the summer. I was walking down Broadway south of 8th St. and passed one of those storefronts with the windows entirely covered in ’sale’ ads for jeans. I always thought these places were a little sketchy or for tourists, so I never went in. This time, I said ‘what the hell’ and popped in to see what it was all about. This particular place was called ‘O.M.G. Jeans’ which in and of itself should sum up the shopping experience. It was like shopping for sunglasses on St Marks and 3rd Ave. Too many people asking if you needed help and everytime you even looked at one of the racks someone had three pairs in their arms pushing you towards the fitting room. It was really something else.

Shopping experience aside, I ended up with a pair of Levi’s 511s. Skinny, lightweight but firm denim, very stiff upon first trial but the hope was they’d stretch. I also thought I’d do something different. I went with the washed out gray. Really not my traditional style at all, I’ve always shied away from ‘alternative’ wash jeans and stuck to solid, dark blue. But lately I’ve been drawn to white jeans….and in lieu of making a REALLY bold statement, I went with the gray.

I love them. I think they are going to be a big hit this summer and become a ‘thing.’ So today, I came across the June/July Esquire laying around in my office. Flipping through, I was looking at all the recommendations for summer styles. And guess what was prominently listed as a must have for summer 2010?

Yep. Gray Skinny Levis. Now, I’m not trying to toot my own horn, but it’s always nice to feel like your weird urges and impulse buys aren’t that crazy. So check out the new issue of Esquire for some good style tips, and if you want to try something new, grab a pair of gray skinnys.

Military Fashion

Theo — Wed, 19 May 2010 17:37:37 +0000

Have you ever noticed that many of the trends that last in fashion are borrowed or inspired by the military? Necessity is the mother of invention- the fact that things designed for the military are designed to be simple and functional, getting the job done in the simplest and most commonly accessible way. Or maybe it’s something about how there’s always been a certain romance around the uniform and all that that connotes. The fact that people who are wearing these things are trained to fight and kill gives them a certain cache of badness or danger that is irresistible to many people. Hence the love of war movies and books throughout history. I’d like to take a look at some of these trends over the next few weeks. Let’s start with on the most obvious.

First and foremost is the Aviator style of sunglasses. Popular history says that during WWII pilots needed tinted lens goggles to protect their eyes from sun glare and the smoke of combat. Ray Ban developed the first model of these goggles, then called ‘pilot’s glasses,’ and sold them to the US Military. They were large enough to shade the whole eye and built to be rugged and long lasting. The bulging lens rather than flat lens blocks light from more angles and helps with peripheral vision.

America’s love affair with aviators began when Douglas MacArthur landed on the beach in the Philippines and was photographed wearing them. This picture circulated around newspapers and magazines, and became iconic both of the war and MacArthur. Prominently featuring these pilot’s glasses, and looking cool doing, propelled the style to stardom. Ray Ban released the consumer version in 1938 and they’ve been made and remade popular many times since by movies stars, musicians, and trend setters everywhere.

Look forward to posts upcoming about more trends and styles drawn from our men in arms.

Finally- Custom Dress Shirts Online

Theo — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 21:46:56 +0000

We all know someone who buys custom dress shirts. The uncle who goes to Singapore and get a dozen shirts made, or the Grandfather who had his whole wardrobe stitched in London 40 years ago, or the banker friend who gets all bespoke from Madison Ave. It’s the pinnacle of fashion and style. And now it’s available to the masses.

Introducing: Blank Label. A website that runs a lot like Nike ID or any other custom design site on the webs. Myriad choices make a wide range of combinations possible, and it’s really easy to make unique shirts. Choose every bit of your shirt, from the design to the fabric to the accents.

Whether you like wide collars with french cuffs, narrow button down collars with epaulets, two breast pockets with red buttons, or covered buttons and no pockets, the variations are endless. Add an embroidered initial and you’ve got one of a kind dress shirts. Starting out at $45 a shirt plus incremental costs for custom elements isn’t too bad, especially compared to the cost of flying around the world to find cheaper vendors or seeking bespoke garments in brick and mortar establishments. The story of the site is the classic start up: two friends look for something, don’t find it, start it themselves, and make it a reality. Classic story, classic style, modern presentation. All in all, a very cool company.

Nike ID 6.0’s

Theo — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 20:31:41 +0000

Hey All, I apologize for my absence…it’s been one thing after the next. From super busy at work to redoing my taxes over and over (the state of NY just doesn’t make it easy) to traveling, I’ve been silent and I’m going to try to do better from now on.

So for Friday I want to talk about something that’s been around for awhile but I never realized how cool it is, and that’s Nike ID. I’m slowly coming around to the custom sneaker world, and I guess this is my first foray in. Growing up I always associated Nike with track and field or sport specific shoes like cleats. I was a skateboarder and for us at the time Nike skate shoes had very little street cred and were seen as a big mean mega brand trying to cut into the underground culture of skaters. But now Nike owns a huge portion of the custom sneaker world and has permanently ingrained themselves in the skate culture.

I won’t bore you with the details of Nike ID, it’s really intuitive and fun to play with. I was inspired to try and design my own pair both for the interest of the blog but also because my beloved pair of purple/black/white Onitsuke Tigers are finally worn out to the point of retirement (a sad, sad, day) and I haven’t really found them for sale anywhere in the same style. So I thought to myself, “self, let’s try and recreate these.”

Starting from scratch with a blank Nike 6.0 skate shoe, I juiced up the colors and materials to make a cool replica mirroring the great colors of my Tigers.

And for just a bit of hilarity, check out the Custom ID. HAHA!

I haven’t decided if I would actually wear sneakers with the blog rep’d so blatantly on there…but maybe. The real question is are they worth $110….Maybe in a moment of weakness. Let’s stew on it over and weekend and check back with you on Monday.

Have a great weekend!

The Stick Pin Tie Iron

Theo — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 02:30:59 +0000

In other news, I guess I wasn’t even in the finalists for the Penguin model search. I guess I’ll stick to writing! Oh well. On to the next project…

I saw this via trendhunter and I’m not sure if it’s real or just a concept, or perhaps a concept that will soon become real. I hope the latter because this is a wildly cool piece of technology. It’s called the Stick Pin Tie Iron and its a dual purpose tie clip. Yes, it holds your tie to your shirt and keeps you looking put together, but it has some sort of ceramic plate on the back that can heat up to a certain degree and then be used as an on the fly tie iron. Drag it up and down along your tie and the heated plate flattens out the wrinkles. It can also be used to dry a damp tie, so when you spill ketchup on your new Thomas Pink cravatte and then pour water on it (because that always works!) you can dry that damp tie and press it at the same time. Again, I don’t know if this is real or even possible, but it is a great idea and a cool mixing of technology and fashion.

I’ll be your model!

Theo — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:57:12 +0000

So today the first round of entries went up on the Original Penguin website for their Be Our Model contest. The gist of it is: you send in two headshots and two body shots in your best outfit and they put their favorites up on the site for people to vote on. The winner get photo’d for the next print campaign.

I have to admit the rules were pretty vaguely set out, so people have taken a lot of liberties with what they consider a head shot versus a body shot, but I guess that’s part of the deal. The pictures on here range from seemingly professional models on runways to one guy who just grabbed some pictures off his Facebook account. Anyway, I just sent in my entries so we’ll see if I make the final cut. If so, I will surely let you know!

Wish me luck.

Genesis of ‘Not the Shoes’

Theo — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:01:20 +0000

Thanks for the comment Frank. To answer your question, the title of the blog came about last summer. I spent way too much money on a pair of tan suede shoes from Cole Haan (pictured in the header banner of this site.) I loved them. They were super lightweight and cool on hot days, and the ‘dirty buck’ material with the green soles always drew comments. The problem was I was deathly afraid of ruining them. Everyday was the fear of some cab driving by splashing through a puddle, or a freak rainstorm, or a careless pedestrian’s melting Mr Softee cone, etc. I found myself always thinking ‘Not the shoes!’ as I scurry away from whatever hazard presented itself.

Sounds ridiculous but I’m sure you all have had the experience of getting something you’ve just bought and are super excited about stained/ripped/ruined in some way. ‘Not the shoes’ was top of mind at the time and it stuck.

As for the shoes, they survived the summer and are sleeping tightly in the original bag and box they came in. Now that I think of it….it’s getting just about warm enough out to dust off the warm weather stuff. Think I’ll do that tonight.

To be a kid again…

Theo — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:29:42 +0000

I’ve been having this thought lately….that I feel like I have no influence on the physical world anymore. I get up, stumble around in my apartment getting ready for the day, walk downstairs and out into the street. I wait for the bus, or I wait for the train, or I walk somewhere. Enter a building, wait for the elevator. Walk to my desk. Wait for emails and telephone calls. Wait for the day to be over so I can wait for a train or a cab or walk home. I feel like my effect on the physical world is negligible. If I didn’t get up and leave my apartment all the buses and trains and elevators would still run filled by other people moving throughout their lives. Don’t get me wrong, I still feel MENTALLY and SOCIALLY connected and active, just not physically. The only time I feel connected and aware of the physicality of existence is the hour spent playing indoor soccer on the weekends, bumping into walls and against other players as we scramble around NYC high school gyms, chasing an giant tennis ball.

So this spring and summer I am going to reconnect with both my roots and my grounding in this city. I am going to feel the concrete under my feet and probably under my jeans when I’m sprawled out on the sidewalk somewhere. My new method of transportation:

OK well, I probably won’t be doing anything like that rad dude, but I am committed to getting some exercise and ripping up some curbs on the way to work in the AM. I ordered a complete from CCS and it’ll be here in 8-10 business days….and I cannot wait, especially with the next 5 days being sunny and in the high 50s, promising spring to arrive soon. I got the Zero Safari deck:

…which I think elicits a new pair of sneakers and some new colorful summer wear. Maybe a new pair of DC Pure’s…

…or classic Van’s Chukkas.

And just to prove I’m not crazy, skateboarding as a reliable means of transportation is nothing new. Check out this article about Matthew Settle, the all-American dad-rocker on Gossip Girl, who is crazy enough to skate through traffic in Times Square, and look good doing it! So think about how you move in the world and how, if at all, you connect with the tangible world around you, and if you’re feeling disconnected, try skateboarding!

Maybe Next Year

Theo — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:32:51 +0000

Well, the warm weather has begun teasing we New Yorkers about the coming Spring, and with these warm mornings and bright sunny afternoons comes the shedding of winter mentality and layers. I refuse to wear another warm coat. If I freeze so be it, I am willing it to be warm out. Winter is almost over…

…and with the passing of this season makes the second winter that has come and gone without the bowler hat becoming popular again.

I bought one at Lord and Taylor in the fall of ‘08 dedicated to bringing it back, or if that doesn’t work, making it ‘my thing.’ As I’m sure you all know, they haven’t come back. And despite trying as best I could to wear it in public, it just never became my thing. I always felt kind of clowny wearing it…like it was just screaming ‘hey everyone; look! I’m wearing an unnecessarily silly hat!’ I’m beginning to think these have been relegated to costume/period pieces and aren’t ever going to be popular again. But why? I start looking at the perception of bowler hats in popular culture and realize they have become ’silly.’

The trademark of the most famous goofball/slap stick comedian of our time….

Iconic of the faceless, soulless business man….

Stuffy article reserved for royalty….

Are there any others? Needless to say, this is a healthy list of stereotyping bowler hats. The conception of bowlers and people who wear them has been forever tarnished. They’ll never really come back. It’s too bad too…they are very comfortable and warm hats. But one cannot change history. On to the next trend!