It is great to be in L.A. for the second Sunday of the month when they hold the Rose Bowl flea market. Luckily, my last few trips to the West Coast have coincided with the Rose Bowl Flea weekend and I have been able to shop all of the vintage goodness. This past weekend I knew Steven Alan was in town and I asked him if he would mind letting me tag along with him at the Rose Bowl. Being the nice guy that he is Steven agreed, so we got up early on Sunday morning, grabbed a couple giant duffel bags and headed to Pasadena.

Steven is a soft spoken, introspective and polite guy. He’s someone I very much admire for his great style and ability to make something as simple as a button down shirt interesting and cool. No one in menswear is as multidimensional and talented as Steven, which makes spending the morning shopping vintage with him an awesome experience for someone like me who is a big fan of his work.

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On a recent adventure to the Badger State I made a long overdue visit to Context, one the best independent shops in the country. Owners (and brothers) Ben & Sam Parker, and Ryan Huber have built a truly unique destination for menswear aficionados in Madison, and of course for the rest of us across the internet. It was a real pleasure to finally check the place out and see first hand how nice the shop really is.

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For a minute I came really close to buying a Stetson hat. I was watching the folks at Kemo Sabe steam and re-fit an old hat that had fallen out of shape over the years — and I am thinking “I need a Stetson hat.” Not want, need. Luckily I came to my senses in time to avoid what could have been a silly impulse buy. Not silly because of Stetson (they make some really great hats), but silly because I will never wear that, ever. Kemo Sabe is that type of store. I did end up leaving with a pair of Geier gloves (who are residents of The American List) and soaked in all of the western wear. Boots from Lucchese, Pendleton blankets, gloves, bags and lots of other good stuff. Sort of something a little different than the stuff I feature on ACL, but it was a fun diversion for the day-to-day stuff I tend to shop.

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During my recent trip to London, I was faced with a bit of a problem; many things to see and not long to do it. I was great just to be in one of my all time favorite cities and I was lucky to meet a lot of like minded people, many of whom I had been corresponding with over the past few years. The downside was my short schedule forced me to abandon an entire arm of my planned exploration. One place I knew I had to visit was the Soho store of the English label Albam.

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File this under: Stores that need to be opened in New York.

Just off Carnaby Street in London’s Soho — an area loved by denim brands — sits a newish Barbour Heritage shop. In fact, the Levi’s Cinch store that I wrote about not too long ago is right up the block (as we say in New York). The Barbour store focuses on some of the more unique offerings, from the To Ki To jackets to a slew of International jackets in a variety of fabrics. A Barbour coat is one things that is priced better in London than the States — even after the exchange. I ended up with the khaki colored To Ki To bicycle jacket that I have been lusting after for some time. (Second photo, bottom right.) Spring here we come.

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When I was in Houston a few months ago one of the places my friend Kate took me to was the fantastic shop Installations Antiques. The store (which is located in an old commercial bakery) is a great mix of American and European antiques, with an emphasis on Belgian goods. One thing I really like about the things on offer at Installations are the modifications that owners Becki and Jur van der Oord (hence the concentration on Belgian antiques) make to some of the found objects — like making a light out of a aluminum aircraft wing. It sounds like a stretch, but Becki and Jur really have excellent taste and it shows. The shop is beautifully merchandised — probably the best merchandised independent store I have ever been to. I bet the folks from Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware visit often, so they can knock it off.

Peruse the shop in the photos below, or better yet stop by next time you are in Houston. Might be best to take a truck, at least I wish I did.

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Coffee and denim, that is what consumed my recent Sunday afternoon in Amsterdam — not a bad way to spend a weekend. I’m in town for a quick trip and a few meetings, and one of the stores I absolutely had to check out was the denim-centric shop Tenue de Nîmes. It stocks a great mix of brands, classic jeans companies like Lee (which is actually Lee Europe which is head and shoulders better than Lee in the States), Iron Heart, LVC, Atelier Ladurance (among many more) and other good stuff like Nigel Cabourn, The Hill-Side, etc. I really enjoyed the shop’s product mix, between hardcore Japanese brands and more contemporary lines. I don’t think there is a store in NYC that is even doing it the way Tenue de Nîmes is. Maybe Blue in Green or Self Edge, but both of those are more Japan focused — not that that is bad, just different. Plus, neither of those stores can’t lay claim to such a nice collection of Buddy Lee dolls.

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A few weeks ago I wrote a little something for GQ about one of my favorite stores on earth, Cuffs Clothing in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. The store has a stocklist to end all stocklists and carries everything from Barbour to Charvet, Southwick to Oxxford; basically everything a gent could ever need. Seeing as GQ couldn’t use all of my images, I thought I would share them with you here. But you can read more about the Cuffs over at GQ.

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