Let me first say it is good that new shops are opening. There was a point in this whole economic mess that no new brands were launching and no new stores were opening, it was depressing. Now, while just getting a new store is good, getting a new store like UNIONMADE is great. The men’s shop which was founded by Pennsylvania native Todd Barket, opened this past weekend on Sanchez Street in San Francisco and is an exercise in excellence. Barket spent 18 years at GAP working in various capacities including visual merchandising and marketing, and the man clearly understands retail. I think the worst part about this place is that it is so far away from me.

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And it’s a beauty. My pal Mr. Cory Moore down in Austin is making strides with his new shop Luther’s. I saw the store in its early early stages back in March when I was in the Texas capital for SXSW. The South Congress boutique stocks some great American stuff, along with all sorts of motor-head gear and is worth a visit if you are down that way. In fact, if you are in Austin tonight Luther’s is hosting an Indian Larry photography exhibit by Timothy White from 6-9pm. Good stuff and nice sign!

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The name GANT is synonymous with East Coast prep. Founded in New Haven, Connecticut in 1949, the company basically perfected the American shirt by making private label for J. Press, Brooks Brothers, the Yale Co-Op and many more. By the 1960’s (one could say the Take Ivy era), GANT was the shirt for students, popularizing the button-down on college campuses all over America. Since then the company has changed hands several times and has had its share of ups and downs, but recently it has been all ups, no downs.

A more recently focused GANT has established a great presence for its casual Rugger line (which the company launched in the 1970’s) everywhere from Scoop to Barneys Co-Op and in the process become one of the great revivals of the American heritage look. For spring / summer 2010 GANT looked to one of its own designers, Mr. Christopher Bastin, to further develop the Rugger range. Bastin (who possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of classic American sportswear) literally combed through the company’s archives (not to mention vintage dealers and eBay) to infuse the collection with historically accurate detailing and fabrication. I stopped by GANT’s offices last week to get a sneak peek at the new offerings, and ultimately found out exactly what I’m going to be wearing next summer.

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Not a lot of commentary on this subject. I have been going to some of these stores for years and thought that it was worth a little of ACL’s time to point them out. I love an old school shoe store and New York has some great ones. Enjoy the trip back in time.

Stapleton Shoe Co. on Church Street

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There is an excellent guide to buying and wearing hats in the new issue of GQ. Interesting to see that Manhattan’s JJ Hat Center was featured prominently. You may remember back in June when CBS Sunday Morning did a segment on hats and featured the same store and incidentally, the exact same salesman. The handy guide from GQ basically breaks down everything you need to know to wear a hat without looking like you just got off a flight from LAX. Much respect to GQ for making the guide without including pictures of Justin Timberlake or Brad Pitt.

My good friend Mark wears a hat frequently with a suit and ends up looking very smart. When well done, there is no better accessory. Take a look at Don Draper if you don’t believe me.

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Looking through these catalogs from 1958-1963 it is easy to see that not much has changed at J. Press. Back in 1958 a cotton Seersucker sportcoat was a good deal at $59.50. That very same sportcoat (or a similar style) is still offered today from J. Press for $395.00 ($296.25 if you factor in the sale that is currently going on). Now, if you adjust the 1958 price of $59.50 for inflation, the seersucker jacket would cost $433.62 in todays money. So the J. Press seersucker is beating inflation — sounds like a good investment to me.

It is interesting to see all of the two-button models that were offered way back when. Most people like to think that J. Press only sells Sack suits, but it is clear from these pictures that that is simply not the case.

All of the scans link to Flickr, once there click “all sizes” to see the hi-res versions.

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My friends at Southwick sent me this great looking tote bag yesterday. My bag obsessions have been detailed here before — so no need to go there. The design is fairly innocuous until you flip it over and you see the giant “Made in the United States of America.” I love the way the bag is printed underneath the straps. I’m happy to see some buzz around the brand and might have to make a special trip to check out Southwick at Cuffs (one of my all time favorite men’s stores) this summer when I am back home. I guess I could shop for Southwick here in NYC, but what fun would that be.

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The ACL favorite and American made clothing brand Southwick recently launched a redesigned website. The new site, along with the updated designs for fall, have me excited about the Lawrence, Mass. based clothing company. I find Southwick to be the perfect combination of my clothing preferences. Natural shoulder, traditional styling, classic fabrications and the fact that everything is made in the United States. I enjoy a company that offers a Sack suit along with other, more contemporary fit options.

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I put together two Google Maps for the ACL faithful. One is a men’s shopping guide, and the other is a reference to where to drink and dine in the city. The restaurant/bar map is an adaptation of a friend’s very well made map of the same subject. I owe many of the well researched listings to him. The maps will live in the aptly named “Maps” section of the sidebar on the right. Your suggestions for additions are much encouraged and appreciated.

[Shopping Map]

[Where to drink and dine in NYC]

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Part One of a Series.

I was browsing the Ships SS08 catalog and there was so much that I wanted. Below are some of my must haves, even though I basically already own all of these things.

Post O’Alls – so American you can’t even find it in the States.

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Jonathan S. Paul, a friend of ACL, sent me this post card from Paris. He’s there covering women’s fashion for The Moment blog.

Hello from Paris, where women’s fashion has taken the city hostage. As a magazine editor with mostly men’s fashion on my c.v., I’ll say that I’m enjoying the experience here — and the preponderance of beautiful, decked-out girls. But after two nights of group dinners, drinks and dancing with fashion editors — where I was the only guy at the table — tonight I decided to take some time for myself. That meant: dinner alone, a bottle of Bordeaux — just me and two of my favorite men’s magazines, GQ and Men’s Vogue. I needed a shot of testosterone to clear my head of chiffon and lace. I first started thinking of A Continuous Lean when I read Michael Walker’s piece, “Anything, Anywhere, Anytime” in M.V. Somehow it managed to glamorize the work of cargo pilots (”freight dogs”). I suspect ACL’s readers would appreciate all the aviation jargon (”shooting an approach”) and factoids (shutting down a GM assembly line costs $42,000 per minute), which compensated for the piece’s overwriting and belly-flop ending.

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I’m late to the party. I admit it. I don’t get to Seattle much – actually I have only been one time. While I was there, (on a weekend business trip) I tried to get to know the city as well as I could. Somehow I did manage to find a lot of cool restaurants and shops. One glaring thing I missed was the men’s store Blackbird. Located in the Ballard section of the city, Blackbird is not what you expect for a men’s store in the Pacific Northwest. These guys are smart, very smart. The store is more akin to something you would find off of the L Train. They know good brands and they carry good brands. To quote my friend Paul, “they are on point.”

A edited selection of the Blackbird stocklist:

A.P.C., Band of Outsiders, BBlessing, Comme Des Garcons, Filippa K, Gilded Age, Kasil, Lova (These guys were the standout brand from Project Las Vegas in August 07 – very cool brand), Nom De Guerre, Obedient Sons, Obey, Rag & Bone, Robert Geller, RVCA, Shipley & Halmos, Steven Alan, Surface to Air and Unis.

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