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Stylish Non-Clothing Things - Page 3

post #31 of 357
3/4/12 at 3:21pm
i have a porsche (40 something years old) that i bought some 10 or so years ago.

as is common when it comes this kind of car, even though i was the fourth owner, it had been driven for less than 40k miles in its life (and it came with a full history from the shop that still services it).

90k miles later, the engine blew, and the car is currently undergoing heart surgery.

this is not a stylish non-clothing thing.

however, around that time that i first bought the car (yes, after a big break up -- do you really think that happy contented folk run around buying this kind of stupid shit?) i was sleeping with a crazy hot far too young for me girl.

you know.

it provided a whole hot mess of of fun that seemed like a good idea at the time, even if it soon came to pass that she would threaten to put a restraining order on me if ever i implied i might want to see her less often.

quite.

it ended as awkwardly as these things do.

a few days ago, she sent me some pictures of a karmann ghia that she has had restored, inspired by the more fun, less insane times in the old porsche.

this may be.
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post #32 of 357
3/4/12 at 3:28pm

^ puzzled.gif

 

Are you trying to make a point with that story?  Because I can't tell if you're sad or happy or what.  Are you a native english-speaker?

 

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post #33 of 357
3/4/12 at 3:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by CDHagg View Post

^ puzzled.gif

Are you trying to make a point with that story?  Because I can't tell if you're sad or happy or what.  Are you a native english-speaker?

I took it as nostalgic and bittersweet.
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post #34 of 357
3/4/12 at 3:40pm
Given your premise, my books. They offer both textual and artefactual delights.
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post #35 of 357
3/4/12 at 4:10pm
I came here fully intending to post something entirely different than what follows.

960

Few things are as pleasing to me as the roar of a twin cylinder motorcycle. The first laugh of your newborn, the moan of a new lover - all fall short of the throaty roar of a V twin Ducati. Ducati's tribute to famed 70s cafe racer Paul Stuart is among the loveliest in its history. The curved silver fairing wrapped aggressively around the iconic round headlight speak to an era long gone in motorcycling. The matte silver/blue trellis frame perfectly contrasts the bodywork and showcases the twin cylinder liter engine. The painted black header covers give way to the matte-black exhaust which, in concert with the dry clutch, produce the unmistakable Italian note equally effective at stirring the embers of a reckless youth and dropping panties.

The gold Ohlin shocks, Brembo brakes and the seductive single sided swingarm reveal the bike's primary purpose: to be flogged around at dipshit speeds on the Isle of Man in between blowjobs and shots of espresso.

To ride it is to be crucified face down. The high seating position and elevated foot pegs hike the knees up painfully close to the torso and the dropped clip on handlebars make the downward dog seem delightful by comparison. But it is of little matter, because the bike simply hauls ass. It begs for the rider to throw it hard into the twisties, and the sounds at 8K RPM - when it makes nearly 100 horsepower make you temporarily forget that you are probably doing something illegal that will kill you.
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post #36 of 357
3/4/12 at 4:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mafoofan View Post

Perhaps we fixate too much on what we wear to meaningfully approach what we wear.
In this thread, I'd like to take a different angle and talk about stylish non-clothing things that we own, use, desire or admire. Yes, it's a very broad field. It can be a personal accessory more germane to this forum, such as a pen or pair of cufflinks or card case. But it can also be a tool or gadget--a calculator, a camera, or a chef's knife. It can even be a piece of machinery, an artwork, or a building. Even food counts. Anything goes, so long as: (1) it isn't clothing, and (2) you can discuss what makes it stylish. Extra credit if you can relate the item to how you dress.
Let's start. I recently posted this in another sub-forum, but it's relevant here and inspired this thread:
fooleica_960x720.jpg

It's a Leica MP rangefinder camera, in a bespoke calfskin half case and attached to a braided strap (both by the same Korean craftsman). How many megapixels? Zero, infinite, or approximately 18 are all equally defensible answers. It shoots 35mm film. No wires, no plugs, no batteries (well, not really). It was a special order from Leica intended for my 30th birthday, though I just received it a couple of days ago.
I've admired this camera since I was in high school. Sure, the surface aesthetics are pleasing on their own, but it's the artful synthesis of function and form that make it special. I say "artful" because the design transcends the service of pure utility without distracting from it. A fine and rare balance. A tool can be bare and industrial, capable of perfectly executing its assigned task, yet inspire no admiration of its appearance, feel, or utility. It can also be decorated and encumbered with so much flourish that its function is obscured--either by impression or, even worse, by substance. The Leica M is spartan, but elegant. It's straightforward, but charming. It works well and inspires the user to work with it.

IYYcW.jpg

It's a Fujifilm faux-rangefinder camera, in a corrected grain half case with magnetic closure crafted by a 4 year old Chinese girl in a dingy Chinese factory. 12.1 Megahertzpixels. I run it off aftermarket korean ebay batteries that internet forums have said to explode inside the camera.

I've admired this camera since I've seen it in the advert of United Airlines' Hemispheres magazine. (Great read; you should all subscribe)
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post #37 of 357
3/4/12 at 4:16pm
Thread Starter 
Ha, you jest, but that's still a $1,200 camera--retro faux-rangefinder it may be.

Let's see more cameras!
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post #38 of 357
3/4/12 at 4:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by F. Corbera View Post

A recent car commercial featured various very serious-looking men earnestly rhapsodizing about their fetishized possessions, A v-neck-sweatered man describes with delicate gestures his pen’s warthog tusk barrel and solid titanium trim. Another fellow poses by his tube amplifier and states smugly, “It reproduces frequencies only dogs can hear.” And so on. While (prior to looking it up in order to write this) I had forgotten what the commercial actually was for, it absolutely nailed the mannerisms of a particular male demographic that collects and obsesses over the minutiae of the overdesigned.

Thanks to Internet message boards and forums, the obsessed now know they are not alone. Both a sounding board and an echo chamber, these communities encourage members in their mania, spread a creed of received ideas and insulate them from skepticism – but not from rationalization. Insulated though we are, those of us obsessively focused on acquiring the rarest, best performing or most prestigious widget are still only slightly less obsessed with coming up with ways to justify our possessions. (I understand some members of the audiophile forums got their thousand-dollar power cables in a bunch over tube amp man.) I come to my thesis: We become ridiculous when we try to justify luxury. I henceforth adopt the following working definition of luxury: that done well which does not need to be done at all (Commenters, feel free to quibble below, but parsing that is a subject for another article). And with this piece I open my cabinet of curiosities, little luxuries that may be interesting or entertaining to the casual internet punter. These are things that are different, amusing, that at one time or another made me happy. Stop me if I start trying to intellectualize them.


- Réginald-Jérôme de Mans

This statement is curiously similar to this one:

"A good portion of SF is somewhere on the OCD/Autism spectrum, so obsessive behavior is normalized in a forum chock full of undiagnosed mental patients."
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post #39 of 357
3/4/12 at 4:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mafoofan View Post

Ha, you jest, but that's still a $1,200 camera--retro faux-rangefinder it may be.
Let's see more cameras!

Not quite what you were intending, but here it is. The $200.00 Leica.

pansony.jpg

exactly the same as their point-and-shoot model. No difference. OK, I think you can get the raw images from the Leica (admittedly a big deal, but not so much for the intended audience).


edit - also there is something fundamentally escher-like about taking photos of cameras. Strange loops...
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post #40 of 357
3/4/12 at 5:02pm
Thread Starter 
Man, that's some ugly.

A much better looking baby Leica (and really a Leica, "made" in Germany and all):

092110f.jpg

Of course, it will set you back $2k. A small price to pay for aesthetic superiority, though.
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post #41 of 357
3/4/12 at 5:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mafoofan View Post

Those Faber-Castells are anything but dorky. Really gorgeous. Wish I had an excuse to buy fancy pencils.
That calculator is very similar to the classic HP 12C:

A man who buys every single piece of ski gear one can possibly buy - for what will probably amount to a single trip, needs justification for fancy pencils.
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post #42 of 357
3/4/12 at 5:06pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by acridsheep View Post

A man who buys every single piece of ski gear one can possibly buy - for what will probably amount to a single trip, needs justification for fancy pencils.

Well, you need ski gear to ski, and I had to go skiing. Anyway, it turned out to be a good investment. I will surely use the stuff again.
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post #43 of 357
3/4/12 at 5:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mafoofan View Post

Man, that's some ugly.
A much better looking baby Leica (and really a Leica, "made" in Germany and all):
092110f.jpg
Of course, it will set you back $2k. A small price to pay for aesthetic superiority, though.

I feel that mine has a level of utilitarian beauty. Like a #2 pencil. Or a comfortable chair.

Also - I think the optics of lumix are made in germany.
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post #44 of 357
3/4/12 at 5:10pm
Thread Starter 
The lenses on Panasonic-manufactured Leica-branded cameras and their Panasonic-branded counterparts are all made by Panasonic, with design help from Leica. The X1 is the cheapest way to get a new Leica-made body and lens.
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post #45 of 357
3/4/12 at 5:19pm
Thread Starter 
Now, the Alpa 12 system gives Leica a run for the money, style-wise (totally different cameras functionally). It's a totally modular system. You pick a body (just a square frame, essentially). You pick a lens component that plugs into the front. You pick a image capture component that plugs into the back, which can either be medium format film or digital. Then, you can accessorize the four sides any way you want (the one pictured has a viewfinder and wood handgrip attached). I believe it was Artisan Fan who brought my attention to this gem.

040010010_DSC3862.jpg

Build quality is supposed to be exceptional. It's just not a practical camera for my purposes, and similarly pricey compared to a new Leica M system. It's hard to piece together either for less than $10k.
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