Our Spring/Summer ties are all 100% cotton, woven and printed in Japan. This versatile tie can be dressed up for more formal occasions, or dressed down for a more casual atmosphere.
Sunday, July 24, 2011 Threw together this little cotton number today. It is our first foray into the bow tie for her department, worked out really well. It's a Liberty of London print on a Japanese cotton, which translates to an incredibly soft and light, almost silky ideal summer fabric. Hopefully more to come...
Wednesday, July 20, 2011 I can't stop looking at these tuxedos from Lander Urquijo. I love the off-color peak lapels. Pairing this navy jacket with a powder blue shirt and pocket square is pretty bold, but looks fantastic!
Check out the Lander Urquijo Tumblr too, they currently offer about 12 ties that I would love to own.
PS. - Anybody willing to buy me that navy tux is guaranteed one high-five per day for the next 6-8 months, thank you in advance.
Friday, July 15, 2011 The amazing and lovely Smith Family spent the past week in a beach side hideout on the Northern California coast. As most social events go in my life, everything seemed to revolve around an abundance of food, great wines and beer but most importantly wonderful company.
Although Fort Bragg is just a few hours North of San Francisco, it feels worlds apart. I generally describe this area as where Wine Country and the Red Woods meet. If you have never been to Mendocino County, I highly suggest it.
Thursday, June 30, 2011 I found this men's style book at the Academy of Art University library. I really love the journey through men's fashion over the last century or so. It was published by Rizzoli International Publications in 1989, but curated so well that it feels perfectly contemporary. The book is out of print, but is available on Amazon used for about $50.
From top left, clockwise: The locker room of the Vesper Boat Club, Philadelphia. President Jimmy Carter in a chambray work shirt, 1976. Former share cropper in a work shirt, 1938, New Madrid, Missouri. Andy Warhol, 1980. Tom Waits, London, 1985. Three working men, 1940.
From top left, clockwise: Harvard students wearing the Mckenzie bow tie, 1951. Shooting party at Coombe Abbey, the estate of Earl and Countess of Craven, in England, 1920. The Prince of Wales, East Lothian, Scotland, 1925. William Powell, 1929. President Theodore Roosevelt running a steam shovel in the Panama Canal, 1906. Preppies Sean-Patrick Carter and Geoff Scheumann, New York, 1988.
From top left, clockwise: Aviator Charles Lindbergh in front of the Spirit of St. Louis, 1927. Commuters, Park Forest, Illinois, 1958. Edward, Prince of Wales, 1920. Ernest Hemingway with his Labrador, 1930.
From top left, clockwise: Karl Lagerfeld, Paris, 1976. The Duke of Windsor, 1967. Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), 1900. Rene Lacoste and Takeichi Harada at the Westside Tennis Club, Forest Hills, New York, 1926
Friday, June 24, 2011 This list from Esquire is a few years old, but still seems just as apt as when I read it in 2008. Some of my favorites include:
#5 - name a book that matters
#9 - write a letter
#10 - buy a suit
#14 - chop down a tree
#16 - tie a bow tie
#18 - speak a foreign language
#40 - speak to an eight year old so he will hear
#44 - ask for help
#49 - say no
#51 - build a campfire
#55 - point to the North at any time
#71 - iron a shirt
#75 - negotiate a better price
I can't help but imagine a man who has mastered these skills and these skills only. Check out the full list here.
Friday, June 24, 2011 This month's issue of GQ magazine has a wonderful feature from Alan Richman on the culinary innovation and creativity booming in the Bay Area. San Francisco has always played second fiddle to New York when it comes to edible credentials. However, Mr. Richman puts forth quite an argument for the post Alice Waters evolution happening across the city, from Oakland to the Mission.
The Best from the Bay Area's Brightest New Restaurants
Tuesday, June 21, 2011 Some close friends and family gathered at my sisters house in Las Vegas for my 30th birthday over the weekend. The only rules were black tie and nobody could bring a bottle of wine.
Stephen Romeo cooked an amazing meal covering such delicacies as blueberry goat cheese salad, roasted Chilean sea bass, baby portobello, curried lentils, cast iron grilled filet mignon with white truffle, poached Maine lobster all topped off with a classic cheese cake.
Between the incredible food, gracious company, seemingly bottomless Champaign, a little golfing, a skull and crossbones bow tie and Rex, the Labrador, I couldn't imagine a better way to kick off my 30's!
