I wore Sperry Top-Siders every summer on Cape Cod as a kid. (to be precise, I wore the Authentic Original which is pictured above.) Over the years I have continued to wear them and love the brand because of those great memories growing up. I love all of the associations that Top-Siders embody: preppy, summer, clam bakes, sail boats, beaches, vacations and so much more. I love that the laces won’t stay tied until you get them wet and I love the history. With all of that said, in 2004 I stopped wearing Top-Siders altogether.

That summer I needed a new pair and I went to the store to see if there were any original Top-Siders that were actually made in the USA. I knew they would cost more, but I just felt like the shoes I had been wearing didn’t age all that well, and more than that I really wanted something more authentic. After a long search I couldn’t find any Sperry Top-Siders that were made domestically. I wasn’t really surprised, but I was disappointed so I just stopped purchasing shoes from the brand.

The other day, after a long time of not even really even considering the brand as an option, I went to Sperry’s website and there it was: Sperry Top-Sider Made in Maine collection. I was pretty astonished, and pretty happy to see that the thing that I had hoped for so long ago had actually come true. I just discovered this collection the other day on the company website (oddly, this was sent to me last year but I completely missed it — maybe its because I wrote them off? Looks like the same thing happened to James Fox last year) not in a magazine and I didn’t catch any word of this other places.

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The Hunt is a series that aims to find the best-in-breed products that we’re all searching for — let’s dig deeper.

You can buy a luggage tag almost anywhere. What you strangely can’t buy very many places is a high quality and tasteful luggage tag. It’s honestly a bit of a paradox. Most small consumer goods in this country are so cheap in both price and make that anyone looking for something well made has to spend an absurd amount of time looking for something that will last longer than a few rungs through the carousel of destruction at the hands of your friend airline baggage handler.

There are actually a lot of synthetic/plastic options out that there that seem decent enough, but I don’t want to put something too tech on my luggage (personal preference maybe). Additionally, there are quite a few companies that make good luggage tags from nice leather, but the problem I always seem to encounter is often that they use cheap hardware. A shitty clasp is a deal-breaker for me, I want something solid that is going to last for at least two decades and I am willing to pay for it. Enter the Tanner Goods luggage tags and my hunt may be over.

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Some of these Red Wing Heritage boots you can actually get, some you can’t. Well, you might be able to get all of them but these black 6″ moc toes are going to pose a bit of a challenge. Released and only available in Japan, these boots are actually part of a small collection of special edition Irish Setter boots that were resurrected especially for Japan a few seasons ago.

Keeping with the exclusivity thing, the 9874s are only even available at the best Japanese Red Wing retailers, namely: Beams, United Arrows, Ships etc. Want a pair? Make a friend in Japan or just book a flight. If you ask me, the long haul would be worth if. Never before have black and brown worked in partnership so well.

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The Hunt is a series that aims to find the best-in-breed products that we’re all searching for — let’s dig deeper.

It’s surprising that I have such a difficult time finding cases that I like for my technology. Everything is either too synthetic or too complicated for my taste. There are certainly a lot of options out there and I’m sure plenty of good things I have yet to discover (feel free to comment and suggest). Gear Patrol did a nice round up of options a while back which I referenced a lot (and seriously considered a few), and Lotuff makes a few really good options, but much of what I see is just too logo-heavy and or is made from materials too synthetic. I wanted something simple from natural materials that fit with all of the other stuff I wear in my daily life. For the past few years the undisputed champion of my iPad protection program has been Portland, Oregon-based The Good Flock and its simple wool sleeves. I’ve traveled all over the world with the iWooly and couldn’t be happier with it. Then came the iPad mini and I was back in the market looking for a new case.

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The best endorsement of a product is through the people who use it everyday. That is the philosophy of Tellason and its founders Tony Patella and Pete Searson, so they set out to highlight the most interesting people who wear their jeans. The stories of these intriguing end users eventually became a series of mini-documentaries that illustrates the mindset of not only Tellason, but also the compelling characters that back the brand.

The first film in the series shines a light on photographer, artist, graphic designer and motorcycle builder Todd Blubaugh, “who loves to document two-wheeled adventures with a camera” all while wearing Tellason’s jeans. Not only is it an entertaining story, it’s also an interesting perspective on what Tellason is all about.

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The Rancourt & Co. shoe portfolio has been expanding beyond just loafers and blucher mocs recently. I’ve noticed a few interesting new styles have been popping up on the company Instagram and other social channels as of late. Intrigued, I reached out to Kyle Rancourt to find out more. Eventually this lead to a preview box of nine pairs of the Maine maker’s new styles —all made with a Blake welt construction—showing up at my office. They are great shoes, I didn’t get to keep any but getting a closer looked sparked this post to find out more about Rancourt’s new Blake shoes. These are their stories.

Part of this new crop of Blake styles is Hamilton boot, which is more traditional dress boot —as opposed to the handsewn styled moc toe shapes that Rancourt has become known for— made with the Blake welt process. If you like the shape but wanted something sightly different from what is seen here, Rancourt can also do custom orders of styles like these with the outsole and leather of your choosing. More on the Blake welting process and it’s similarity to Goodyear welting below.

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It’s always fun to see new releases from New York City based Battenwear. The spring / summer collections center around Batten founder Shinya Hasegawa’s love of surfing, the fall/winter collections generally tend to take on a much more vintage outdoors feel. I like Batten’s take on vintage inspired sportswear regardless of pursuit — they do a great job with this collection. Part of me thinks that Battenwear doesn’t get enough credit. All of the clothing is made in the United States under Shinya’s close watch.

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