Reader Mail seeks to answer life’s sartorial curiosities and other perplexing material issues.

Dear ACL,

I was wondering if you could recommend some casual shoes for the upcoming colder months. Up until now I’ve been wearing top-siders, and with the weather lately, they’ve left my feet cold. I just need something casual that I can wear with jeans and khakis.

Samuel — New York City

The transition to fall footwear can be an awkward one. You don’t want to rock the snow boots on a sunny September day, but at the same time you need to make sure your warm weather shoes are seamlessly shelved until spring. The good news is, casual fall footwear options abound. So there is no reason you can’t be comfortable, function and stylish come cooler temperatures. My short list of laid back fall classics are are below.

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Since the ingenious Muxtape has been relegated to our not so distant memory, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with the “music” section of the site. Alas, I was hoping that the RIAA would come to its senses and let Muxtape out of its death grip, but there doesn’t seem to be any reprieve in sight. Then last Friday Jeff Carvalho sent me a link to Favtape, which isn’t as slick or well named as Muxtape, but it works. Good looking out Jeff! Below is my reincarnated sixties dive bar mix. No telling as why I am so obsessed with this musical era, but the songs are so enjoyable, so why fight it.

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It is safe to say that 99% of the “how to” videos on YouTube are pure crap. What is interesting to me, is that some of the best instructional videos I have found (the 1% if you will), are marketing videos from the Scottish distillery Bowmore. Either way, marketing or not, the clips are informative and well made. I’ll drink to that.

Bull your shoes

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The new Design Within Reach Tools for Living store opened today on Wooster Street in SoHo. Since my office is a few short blocks away, I decided to check it out at lunch. The purpose of the mission was actually get a flask that I saw the previous day on 10engines. You see, the flask wasn’t available online at the time and when I called DWR they said, “the new Tools for Living store, which opens tomorrow, will have this in stock.” Perfect. Upon arrival to the neatly organized bi-level shop, my jaw hit the newly installed floor. The upper section of the store offers home, kitchen, office goods, so I headed directly to the lower level for the more brutish “tools” section.

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Recently, I have devoted an unusually large amount of time and energy to doing reconnaissance for an upcoming trip to Japan. I am really looking forward to my purely consumer, non-work related adventure to Tokyo where I will be on the look out for all sorts of cool American (or American inspired) stuff.

While doing said research I came across a neat Japanese store called Gospel Brunch (natch!), which offers a cool mix of vintage and new products. Some of my favorites are pictured below. If any of you have suggestions or must-see Tokyo destinations (I already have a pretty good lay of the land, so no need to tip me off to United Arrows, etc.), please send a note to mw [at] acontinuouslean.com or drop your suggestions in the comments section below.

Mountain Research 249 Hooded Mackinaw

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Judging from the response and comments on That Autumn Look Part One, I would say people liked the concept. The second in the series draws inspiration from a business man on a rain soaked fall day. There is a conscious mix of English and American styles. The venerable Mackintosh outerwear is paired with the younger, more design focused Norwegian umbrella and galoshes from Swims. The leather bag and shoes add a subtle dose of color to the otherwise neutral tone. The complete list of products included can be found after the jump.

Rainy Day Business Man

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