Hobbies included: drinking, cigar smoking, bricklaying and painting. Sir Winston = a true gentleman.
Material Things | British Army Knife
All stainless steel made in Sheffield, England. Labour and Wait (one of my all time favorite stores and early ACL material) sells them, or you can get one direct from the manufacturer via their website. These knives are classic. Equal parts function and weapon. If you made a close inspection of The William Brown Project site, you would have noticed he saw them in London.
I suspect New York City police will not take kindly to their presence, but I suppose that just makes carrying one more fun. Same goes for the TSA, and no one wants to be on the full-body-cavity-search-list. [Update: British Military Knife $32 via Garrett Wade Thanks Tom]
The National Archives UK
One of my favorite things to do is to poke around the photo site Flickr. There are so many amazing old photographs there — down the rabbit hole I go. A wonderful new addition to the community is the UK’s National Archive. They are just getting started and only have about 200+ photos uploaded so far, but there is already some really great stuff in there. I pulled out a selection of favorites for your enjoyment and posted them below. If you are seeking nostalgia and inspiration, click on over. [National Archives UK on Flickr]
Britain in Colour c.1926
A series of color film clips fromClaude Friese-Greene’s The Open Road via the BFI National Archive. These clips are not actually real color, they are black and white films that have been colorized in a process called Bicolour. (More information about Bicolour from Wikipedia.) Real or fake, these little clips are interesting to watch, to see what life was like back in those days. I specifically like the third video of Oban, Scotland.
The Ursula Suit
If you haven’t been to the Barbour archives (don’t feel bad, I haven’t either) you might be unfamiliar with the Ursula Suit story. The Ursula suit is a coveted British WWII artifact made expressly for Lieutenant Commander George Phillips (pictured above c.1939) and the crew of the submarine HMS Ursula. Mr. Phillips was unhappy with water stopping ability of the issued Navy kit, so he took matters into his own hands and commissioned Barbour to make what would become the famous (and standard issue) Ursula Suit.
The Last Frontier: Norton & Sons.
The case for the custom suit is well-known and irrefutable: It’s the last frontier of superior craftsmanship, entirely built by hand. The knowledge that goes into a Savile Row suit can rightly be deemed historic. Your cutter might have been taught by the man who cut suits for Winston Churchill. The sheer range of fabrics is just as astounding. You may think you know everything there is to know about tweed—think again. Some sheds in Scotland make only a handful of bolts of fabric a year. One of those bolts can be the yours.
That doesn’t make it any easier when the reckoning comes: it’s going to cost north of $4000, and you’re going to take it like a man. Once indoctrinated, however, there are few complaints. Rare is the man with only one handmade suit—he’ll do everything in his power to buy another.
That money does not go into an advertising campaign or a cologne destined for duty-free stores. Instead, it returns, as is right, to tailors who’ve apprenticed for years to become expert at what they do. In fact, the profit margins at Savile Row tailors are surprisingly small, and many have closed or left the Row. It takes clear thinking to run a traditional tailor in the modern age. Enter Patrick Grant of Norton & Sons. Grant purchased the venerable tailor (established 1821), in 2006, while still in his thirties. The Norton space at 16 Savile Row is a classic, but not everybody can be in London for the three requisite fittings. So Grant dispatches his head cutter, David Ward, to the US four times a year. ACL recently met with Mr. Ward in a midtown hotel, where he had taken a suite of rooms to conduct fittings.
Norton & Sons shop at 16 Savile Row
First Look | Barbour Beacon TO KI TO SS10 Collection
With the first Barbour Beacon fall collection just hitting stores, Japanese designer Tokihito Yoshida rolls on with another fantastically designed collection of outerwear from the venerable English brand. The new offerings compliment the main Barbour line perfectly, but the Beacon coats are just unique enough to be really desirable without taking anything away from the core collection. That is the tough part of collaborating with such a well known and revered brand like Barbour, making the collaboration product unique but not too too crazy. Mr. Yoshida walks that line wonderfully and every piece of both the AW09 and SS10 Beacon lines are worthy of my closet. I’ll be bold and say that this is the best designer-brand collaboration going right now — well played by all involved. Wondering what you should be wearing next spring? See below.
Wax Bicycle Jacket | $749
That Autumn Look | Bullet Proof
You wear a suit in New York and a lot of people will ask you for directions. People trust a man wearing a suit, it is just one of those things. In previous jobs I would wear a suit regularly and it was a matter of choice not necessity. I’m not an attorney in the court room and I don’t manage anyone’s money. And trust me, wearing a suit is much more fun that way. As time went on my interest in workwear waxed and my interest in clothes waned. As fall rears its head (more and more by the day here in New York), my thoughts shift back to suits and trench coats. The below is my interpretation of what I would be wearing if I was cast as the lead of Get Carter, something bullet proof to bang around London in. A mix of amazing English goods and updated American classics. Throw in an IWC for good luck and we are on our way. The only question is, what car to pair with this look? Well, I’ll leave that for you to discuss in the comments. Maybe something sporty?
Wants & Desires | Raleigh Superbe
Something has come over me — maybe it is this New York heat wave — but I have become obsessed with the idea of owning a vintage Raleigh 3-speed bicycle. I’m not really into the idea of spending more than $200 for said bicycle (I already own three bikes), and the typical online auction destinations have yielded little within my budget. All that aside, I did discover one fantastic piece of hardware along the way which has me thinking twice. The below gem of a bike near Hartford, Connecticut, is a beautiful English made Raleigh Superbe 3 speed, in near mint condition. The auction is holding steady at the starting bid of $475 (which I think is a little much even for a bike in such good of shape), but if money isn’t an issue I say go for it.
Anglo-American | Mark McNairy SS10
Footwear week rolls on with my last reveal of highlights from the Mark McNairy SS10 collection. The man got a lot of ACL play this week, but the shoes are strong so why fight it? With the fall 2009 collection hitting stores, and the McNairy Bass Weejuns making their first waves, it is time for a new round of English made goodness. In my mind it is not since the P-51 Mustang has there been such a beautiful Anglo-American partnership. Okay, I’m going crazy but the shoes look damn good. The collection (along with the new Bass Weejuns) will be on display at Capsule this coming week.
Weekend Video | Land Rover Defender
Some very gratuitous videos of Land Rover Defenders in action. The company has been advertising the fact that 75% of its vehicles ever sold are still on the road. Now that is something I can get behind, the concept of design with no obsolescence. (I think I might have just coined a new ACL strapline.) If you think about it, the concept also applies to clothing made on Savile Row. The suits are passed down to sons and coveted by vintage buyers. I can see the adverts now, 78% of our suits are still in closets today.
Anyway enjoy the Defender out in the wild, in all of her glory.
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Men's Traditional Shoes of South London
There is an excellent article on brogues by Dogulas Hart in Vice Magazine (yep, you read that correctly, Vice wrote about brogues), which I think is worth a closer look. The article was posted a little while back, but it is still intriguing to see the old time institutions continuing on, same as ever. It is interesting to hear what Fred the Shoe has to say about everything from the deadstock that he “can’t be bothered” to sell on eBay, to one of my most coveted labels, Trickers. Be sure to click over to Vice to read the entire article. (Found via Bloke and Coke)
Vice: So people just know you as Fred?
Fred the Shoe: Fred the Shoe.
That’s a great name.
Don’t go taking the piss, son. That’s just the name I got given. All the old boys down the pub end up with names, just the way it goes.
How long have you been working here now?
Well, the shop has been here since about 1860 or ’61. The BBC recently done a thing on the Walworth Road about the shops and how they are still going. It’s not changed that much.
