It has been a crazy summer in NYC with it raining seemingly every day. And so, fittingly this past weekend’s All Points West music festival was not spared by mother nature. All of the rain led to some cancellations, and also some seriously smelly mud. My buddy Josh was kind enough to extend an invitation to Sunday’s activities and we rallied at about 4pm, hit the ferry and made our way to beautiful Jersey City, New Jersey.

It felt a little odd to be breaking out my LL Bean boots and wool socks in the summer, but they were just what the doctor ordered to keep my feet dry. Just like Lieutenant Dan says “There is one item of G.I. gear that can be the difference between a live grunt and a dead grunt socks. Cushioned sole, O.D. green. Try and keep your feet dry. When we’re out humpin’, I want you boys to remember to change your socks whenever we stop”

I was lucky enough to get on the Bullet stage for MGMT and The Black Keys sets. The Black Keys never disappoint live (so much damn sound for just two dudes) and I have to say the MGMT performance was really good. Much better than seeing them at Prospect Park a few weeks back. It was crazy awesome to see the crowd going nuts for an encore (see video below).

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Bourdain’s No Reservations: Disappearing Manhattan was broadcast a while back, but it is still worth a watch if you haven’t seen it. Fuck, it’s worth a watch even if you have seen it ten times. Eisenberg’s, Manganaro Foods, Keens, Le Veau d’Or (which I leaned about when The Trad took me for lunch), this show is like my NYC gastro-playbook. Watch it, love it, live it.

Part 1/5: “Keens is meat and liquor, plain and simple.” -Anthony Bourdain

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In 1925 there were an estimated 30,000 to 100,000 speakeasies in New York City alone. Near the end of the ban on alcohol in 1933 Life photographer Margaret Bourke-White captured some of the city’s elite speakeasies. What an amazing time, to be forced to enjoy to your after work libations underground. It is crazy to think that for 13 years (1920-1933) religious nuts took away America’s booze. I would be scared to see what New York would be like if the liquor was gone.

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No really, that’s the name of the brand and the goods are far from the worst I have seen. In fact, the oxfords look like the perfect shirt. I absolutely live in oxford cloth, so that isn’t something I throw around lightly. The Wurst story is far from conventional in terms of how most clothing lines are launched, but that is something that intrigued me. Not to mention the fact that the goods are made domestically, so I approached Wurst with an open mind and took a few minutes to catch up with  the brand’s founder Roy Dank  (ed note: amazing name sir!) about the debut S/S10 collection. Read our Q&A after the jump.

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The first ever A Continuous Goldberg Pop Up Flea (known in some circles for better or worse as the Man Flea) was by all measures (including High life consumption) a rousing success. Thanks to all of the vendors who participated and everyone that stopped by. On top of all the tasty merch, we had a lot of my favorite bloggers in the house, guys like (and I’m probably missing a few) Sean from The Impossible Cool, Tom from The Scout Mag, Sasha from The Pint Imperial, Russell from Kempt, Andrew from Covenger + Kester, Jeff from Cold Splinters, Morty from Mister Mort, The Trad, Brandon from Drinkin’ and Dronin’, plus the good folks from Racked and Men.Style.com.

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If you don’t know, now you know. If you are in or around New York City this weekend, stop by The Pop Up Flea for all sorts of cool menswear goodness from Billykirk, Mark McNairy, Hattan, Alexander West, One Trip Pass, Alexander Olch, Aether, Aprix, 3Sixteen, Gitman Brothers Vintage, C’H'C’M and a few surprises. Food will be on offer from the fine folks at Cafe Select.

Kick off is Friday June 26th (tomorrow!) from 4-8pm. Stop by for some Irish Whiskey and a certain Milwaukee brew.

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Anyone that has spent time in Brooklyn should know the beautiful old Eagle Clothes sign that sits atop a rectangular shaped building on 6th Street (Between 3rd & 4th Avenue) in Park Slope. I have rode my bicycle past it at least 100 times and never knew what the building and the sign were all about, except that the sign is wonderful to look at. Just recently my interest in the sign and the company collided with none other than the Life photo archive, bringing Eagle Clothes full circle.

In the summer of 1951 a Life photographer (with a leaky camera) peeked in on the Eagle factory running at full steam making suits for all those GIs that returned home and needed suits. It is interesting to see that the factory looks to be very similar to some factories that are still operating in New York. Rocco Ciccarelli in Queens is a good example of a similar set-up, only smaller and most likely better quality.

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There is a lot of talk about gentlemen shoppers drinking fine bourbon at Billy Reid. Well, last night at Ned Martel and Jay Carroll’s geniusly merchandised vintage shop / Americana explosion One Trip Pass, the drinking was taken to the next level when a group of grown men decided to shotgun a beer in the store. Video proof below. Do try this at home.

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The folks from J.Crew were kind enough to invite me over to check out the new men’s store at 484 Broadway in NYC. The shop, which used to be a newsstand, is a perfect mix between a normal J.Crew store and the more directional J.Crew Liquor Shop that opened last year. So basically, there are special items like Superior Labor tote bags, Alden shoes, staplers, Mister Freedom clothing and all of the basics that you have come to expect from J.Crew. A good combination if you ask me.

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The 1956 movie based on Sloan Wilson’s best seller is one of my all time favorite films. It served as the inspiration for some of my modern day obsessions like Mad Men. There are even some excellent images in Take Ivy that document the same type of Madison Avenue business man from the late 50s early 1960s. Long before we had Thom Browne and Donald Draper there was Mr. Gregory Peck in his gray flannel suit.

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The New York Public Library has a terrific Flickr set by photographer (and Ohio native) Berenice Abbott. During the rough economic times of the 1930s the federal government funded various projects for unemployed artists and workers in related fields such as advertising, graphic design, illustration, photofinishing, and publishing. Under this program the Federal Art Project commissioned Abbott’s Changing New York, a massive undertaking to document New York City. Eventually the photographs ended up being published in a book that was released at the 1939 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadow New York. The photographs were also distributed to various public institutions throughout the area. It would be interesting to see if our current government would ever have the foresight to commission such projects today, or maybe that money is tied up in Citigroup’s Falcon 7x.

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The Burkman Brothers showroom is in a good looking brick building built in the 1920s. Once inside, the manually operated elevator lifts you up and a brass gate releases you on to the top floor. A short buzz and one of the two smiling brothers will be swiftly opening the door to a tidy showroom space with dark wood floors and walls adorned with Indian inspired art. You should be immediately drawn to the colorful rack of fall clothes near the window. By this point the brothers (Doug and Ben) would be chatting with you, but your mind will already on the clothes. It won’t take you long to figure out, your reaction will be swift and decided. This line is good, really good.

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