Random fashion thoughts - Part II (A New Hope)

[accordion]

Other/shop store brand is good, got one of their heavy cotton/denim workshirts and it's more than I imagined for the price. They also have some nice basics + trousers that go with the brands they stock.

Waited online for a supreme drop for the first time today and it's much tamer than I imagined, everything was available in the first 1-2 minutes.

 

[LonerMatt]

Peterborough. I'm in Cambirgde a lot though (I was in Pint Shop the past two weekends) - We should hook up!

Shoot me a PM when you're next in town

 

[Fuuma]

To me it’s connecting the dots,” says Sarah Owen of WGSN. “It’s pattern recognition. It’s taking those cues and pairing that with that data that will kind of inform the future. Or create it. That’s our tagline.”

Not sure I'd trust a firm using the tagline "We kind of inform the future, or create it, or something."

 

[SeaStyle]

I'm looking for a pair of slim black leather chelsea boots / side zips. I've got a pair of Story Et Fall suede chelseas, so I'm looking for something in a similar price range, maybe a little cheaper.


I'm having the hardest time finding a decent pair, any recommendations?

 

[dieworkwear]



I'm looking for a pair of slim black leather chelsea boots / side zips. I've got a pair of Story Et Fall suede chelseas, so I'm looking for something in a similar price range, maybe a little cheaper.

They're slightly more of a chisel toe, but I like RM Williams' Craftsman. About $340 if you go through one of the Australian shops like bootsonline.com. Prices are about to go up any week though to about $500. The company is trying to reposition itself as a luxury brand.

 

[Fuuma]



They're slightly more of a chisel toe, but I like RM Williams' Craftsman. About $340 if you go through one of the Australian shops like bootsonline.com. Prices are about to go up any week though to about $500. The company is trying to reposition itself as a luxury brand.

Isn't it a well-off redneck brand in Australia? I guess it is a new international positioning.

note: I like RMW.

 

[RegisDB9]

Just made my fall purchases

Galliano bless

 

[SeaStyle]

Thanks for the suggestion, do you have any experience with the Loake 290s? They're a bit easier to get a hold of in England than the RMWs

 

[dieworkwear]



Isn't it a well-off redneck brand in Australia? I guess it is a new international positioning.

note: I like RMW.

Yea, but they were recently bought up by LVMH, who's trying to make bigger profits. The problem is that bootsonline and Nunger are undercutting RM Williams' own online shop prices, as well as their international retailers such as Mr. Porter. So you can't have someone selling $340 boots or whatever when everyone else is forced to retail them at $500 or so. They're supposed to crack down soon, either forcing everyone to an international price or just cutting off certain retailers.

Thanks for the suggestion, do you have any experience with the Loake 290s? They're a bit easier to get a hold of in England than the RMWs

No experience, but be careful with styles outside of their 1880 line. Unless you're going with suede, they're usually made from not-so-great leathers.

Loake has a Chelsea in their 1880 line, but it's a little more expensive than the 290s.

 

[OccultaVexillum]

Are there any decent-to-good bespoke shoe makers? Like Luxire for footwear?

 

[iamacyborg]

Luxire have made some attempts on shoes IIRC.

 

[dieworkwear]



Are there any decent-to-good bespoke shoe makers? Like Luxire for footwear?

Depends on your budget and what you mean by bespoke.

If by bespoke, you mean someone makes you a fully custom last, not at an affordable price point.

If by bespoke, you mean someone fits up an existing last (making adjustments to a last), then yes depending on your budget.

If by bespoke, you mean someone does a MTO shoe -- customizing the design based on an existing pattern and last, then yes (although still depending on your budget).

There are some shoemakers in Shanghai who do custom shoes, but it's helps if you're in the area. Or at least speak Manderin. Quality is ... not great, but the work is a lot more affordable than what you'd pay in Western countries. Mr. Billy is one such shop.

There are also some places in Argetinia, but they're a lot harder to order from via remote communication.

There's also Horace Batten in the UK and E. Vogel in NYC. Horace Batten used to do fitted-up lasts, but -- last I enquired a couple of months ago -- they don't anymore. It used to be that you could send them a photo of a shoe you like, your measurements, and they'd make a last for you (as well as a custom design). But it's easy to get a poor fit this way, which ends up being very expensive for the shoemaker. They still do MTOs; I just don't think they'll do fully custom lasts.

A bit higher up are all the bespoke shoemakers people talk about on the CM side of the forum. Nicholas Templeman is probably the most affordable of West End trained makers. I have a pair from him coming next week. From the stuff I've seen, his work is really nice, but I'm still waiting for mine to arrive. Styles are a bit more traditional, but you might be able to get something more casual.

There are also some operations out there that will send you a mold for your foot, and do some kind of remote bespoke process. From what I've seen, they're all terrible.

Vass and Saint Crispins will also do custom designs (the first on standard lasts; the second has a personalized last service that adjusts current models). Again, more on the traditional side of things, but very nice in terms of construction and value. Enzo Bonafe also offers this kind of service.

Oh, and Russell Moccasin in Wisconsin, but they do very specific, casual hunting styles. Construction quality is OK, but not great. Quality control is OK, but again not great. I have a pair being remade right now with them. They make you trace your own foot, then take measurements, but those kinds of methods aren't very reliable. It's easy for a slightly misaligned angle on the pencil to give the wrong info. And accurately tracing your own foot is a lot harder than one might think.

 

[dieworkwear]

Crazy to think this was a real article ~10 years ago:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/19/fashion/sundaystyles/gay-or-straight-hard-to-tell.html?_r=1

Gay or Straight? Hard to Tell


ARE you confused that the newly styled Backstreet Boys, hoping for a comeback, look an awful lot like the stars of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy"? Are you curious why Brad Pitt, to promote his new film, dyed his crew cut so blond that even his hairdresser is scratching his head?

Well, how about that guy you see in the locker room, changing out of his Prada lace-ups, Hugo Boss flat-front pants and Paul Smith dress shirt and cuff links into a muscle T-shirt and Adidas soccer shorts. Does he wear that wedding ring because he was married in New York -- or in Massachusetts?

Or those two 40-something guys walking in the park in pastel oxford-cloth shirts and khakis, collars turned up and cuffs rolled, one of them pushing a stroller? Is that baby his -- or theirs?

[...]

Make jokes about it. Call it what you will: "gay vague" will do. But the poles are melting fast.

The new convergence of gay-vague style is not to be confused with metrosexuality, which steered straight men to a handful of feminine perks like pedicures, scented candles and prettily striped dress shirts. Gay vagueness affects both straight and gay men. It involves more than grooming and clothes. It notably includes an attitude of indifference to having one's sexual orientation misread; hence the breakdown of many people's formerly reliable gaydar.

[...]

WHAT has sped the change is the erosion of the time-honored fashion hierarchy. For years gay men were the ones to first adopt a style trend -- flat-front pants, motorcycle jackets, crew cuts -- and straight men would pick up on it more or less as gay men tired of it. Now gays and straights are embracing new styles almost simultaneously.

"The lag time between gay innovation and straight appropriation is nonexistent now," said Bruce Pask, the style director of Cargo magazine, who is gay. "They're picking up the trends as fast as we are."

Marshal Cohen, the chief analyst of the NPD Group, which researches trends in the fashion industry, noted that far more men now feel free to indulge an interest in style.

[...]

"We have left the era when the defining line for men is one of sexual preference," he said. "Now, it's either 'I want to be stylish' or 'I don't."' With the coming of the Internet, men, away from the scrutiny of salespeople, are free to shop in places they might not visit in person and to buy clothes that, stripped of the context of a store, lose not only gay or straight meanings but also intimations about class, age and race.

One of the brands listed as gay vague: Modern Amusement. WTF?

 

[MickeyPunch]

I wish RM Williams did any type of boots other than chelseas. They look good but god I hate chelseas, I can't get over the elastic band.

 

[OccultaVexillum]

Yeah i guess there is a lot to take in consideration. There's really nothing I can find in terms of what I'm looking for on the market, so I was thinking about trying to have one made from scratch, which I guess would be a custom last (?), unless last is just referring to the foot shape in which case I guess any workwear boot last would work. Budget wise I'd pay up to $500 if I was confident they could have a fair go of making what I want, even if quality wasn't amazing.