These days, the sad reality is that print magazines are dropping like flies. I for one appreciate the tactile sense of seeing words and photos beautifully laid out on printed paper. I also appreciate the irony of me saying that through my blog via your computer monitor. The good news is, while print is retracting it certainly is not dead. And with the recent launch of the men’s magazine The Rake, there is actually reason to be excited. I got an opportunity not long ago to pose a few questions to The Rake editor Mr. Christian Barker about what exactly makes The Rake tick. Our Q&A after the jump.

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If three makes a trend, two down and one to go. Seems W and Vanity Fair are feeling patriotic presidential this month with Tina Fey and Blake Lively cloaked in the stars and stripes. The choice here is obvious, but I will say that I enjoy Tina Fey on 30 Rock. I think Blake has a TV show too, although I could be wrong. These covers remind me of this.

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If you haven’t heard, the menswear trade publication DNR put out its last issue today. It is a sad day for the well respected editors at DNR that lost their jobs, and also for the menswear industry as a whole. John Birmingham’s Editor Letter says all you need to know about the past and future of DNR.

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Three makes a trend. Isn’t that what people say? Booth Moore has a nice article in the LA Times about the rise in popularity of workwear. This comes on the heels of both The Observer and The New York Times devoting space to the topic. I was excited to see that ACL was included in the article (thanks to Ricky Swallow for spreading the good word) along with two of my favorites Reference Library and Archival Clothing, not to mention many of my most-liked labels. The full article can be seen here.

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The August, 2007 issue of Free & Easy includes one of my all time favorite articles from the Japanese publication, a buyers guide for dogs. I can see someone like New York Magazine doing this sort of feature (actually my pal Rosecrans wrote a much more logical piece on the topic in 2007), but not with the endearing absurdity that only Free & Easy can produce. After seeing this issue it became clear to me that the magazine is just a guide-book to living like an American. That was also the same day that Free & Easy — with all its quirkiness — became my all time favorite magazine, after Vitals of course.

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Our friends at DETAILS put together another great Rules of Style with Consuelo Castiglioni, the forward thinking creative director of Marni. As I have said before, these types of Q&As are hard to do in an interesting manner, but DETAILS is on a roll. Some of my favorite bits from Ms. Castiglioni:

5. Shoes define the kind of man you are. They should never be too trendy or showy but lean toward the classic. There are a lot of ugly shoes out there, and they can ruin even the most sophisticated attire.

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Those are good words, Rocco Ciccarelli Custom Tailoring. What is better than just those words, is the place, the man and what he makes. This past week my friend Antonio told me he was going to Rocco’s for a fitting and asked if I wanted to tag along. He knew I was dying to check it out. Going to Rocco’s is like membership into an exclusive, hard to find club for the sartorially obsessed. This is especially true considering Mr. Ciccarelli makes suits for some of the most well respected and fashionable brands in the U.S. I naturally jumped at the chance to go and Wednesday we made our way out to Long Island City, Queens. My friend Mark was the person that really got me interested in seeing factories. A few years ago, he took me to a tie shop in Chelsea and I was hooked. That factory and Rocco’s are the meeting of two of my favorite things, manufacturing and clothing. The art and skill involved in making a suit of clothes is a special talent that is disappearing. That is one of the reasons why Mr. Ciccarelli and the people working for him in Queens, are so exceptional.

Mr. Rocco Ciccarelli

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Ray Smith from The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article in this weekend’s paper about China’s emerging role in suit construction.

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Article here.

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Yesterday, Mike Albo from The New York Times reviewed the denim destination Jean Shop for the Thursday Styles. To get the name out there, Jean Shop relies mostly on word of mouth referrals and reputation as one of the most authentic companies making and selling denim. The brand is fairly press shy and it doesn’t actively seek coverage, so I was excited to see the compnay profiled in the Thursday Styles. Jean Shop is one of the few denim brands that only uses Selvage denim to make its jeans. The store received mostly positive marks for their offerings in Mike Albo’s review. Granted some of the things are expensive, but in my opinion the jeans 100% justify the price tag. In my crazy mind, I break down the cost of a pair of jeans by the number of times that I will wear them. So that makes $240 less of a big deal, because that’s only 32 cents per wear! I’ll admit, it is not based on any sort of common sense or logic.

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Everyone must be dying to see the new season of Mad Men. There are multiple Mad Men references in the April men’s mags and the show isn’t even doing its press assault for season two (schedule to begin airing this summer). I know for a fact that the cast is being shot for at least one major magazine, due out later this year. Do you know who is going to be the biggest benefactor? Michael Kors. Once the fall books start coming out (September issues hit newsstands in August, the same time the show starts up again) you will see the Mad Men inspired Michael Kors AW08 collection everywhere – it is going to be a PR perfect storm.

A-Rod vs Seacrest! Mad Men references for April.

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Did you ever think you would hear Band of Outsiders on public radio? Kurt Andersen (who bought his first tuxedo for Harvard Lampoon dinners) followed WHYY’s Jonathan Menjivar for the public radio show Studio 360 to be fitted for his first ever suit. After unsuccessfully trying the off-the-rack options at the Macy’s mens store, Menjivar hooked up with Scott Sternberg of Band of Outsiders for a much more stylish option. The journey takes them to the venerable (and now very fashionable) Martin Greenfield Clothiers in Brooklyn to be expertly fitted. The result is sartorial radio at its best. I loved when style expert Russell Smith quipped, “The shorter jacket is starting to look a little bit like a school boy outfit, this is an unfortunate look if you are portly”.

Audio here:

Download

Further Reading:

Jonathan Menjivar on Studio 360

Russell Smith: Men’s Style: The Thinking Man’s Guide to Dress

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Last night, wincing and expecting a crush of humanity, a friend and I went to the much talked about Rusty Knot (425 West St., at 11th St.; 212-645-5668). What we found when we arrived was pleasant (granted we went fairly early and on a Monday) and accommodating. No huge crowds, no bridge and tunnel. I suspect everyone in the bar was a blogger of some sort. At least from the quantity of coverage the “dive bar” has been receiving, that would be a logical assumption. We quickly managed to score one of the wooden booths (faux wood carvings and all) and got to work on some very well made Dark N’ Stormys served in tiki glasses. The menu was limited, but very well done. Being from Cleveland, I have been in my fair share of dive bars. Places that have a happy hour at 6am (for the third shift factory people) and a good jukebox. The Rusty Knot is the Manhattan interpretation of that – like Disney World Pittsburgh – with more of a nautical theme and appealing to the upwardly mobile.

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