Good things come to those who wait. Back in April I went up to Maine on a top secret mission that I am finally ready to reveal (in two parts) today and tomorrow. As you would guess my mission was shoe based, to go to a factory specializing in hand sewn shoes and document everything while my friend worked out the details for a very special collection of shoes that I will reveal for the first time tomorrow.

I have gone to lengths to show as much of the play-by-play as I could without giving away what brands were being manufactured. (Out of respect for the factory owners who were gracious enough to allow me to poke around.) It was my first time in a shoe factory in Maine and the workers seemed either curious as to my presence or decidedly ambivalent. The shoe making process from start to finish seems fairly straight-forward, workers prepare the leather and operate the pneumatic press to cut the various components. Those pieces and parts are shuttled down the line on wooden racks to a series of people who assemble sections until the shoes start to take shape. Eventually the leather parts make their way to a group of hand sewers who work diligently and skillfully to guide their three-inch needle back and forth until the signature moccasin toe is complete. After the hand sewers are finished, the shoes are attached to their soles — either with adhesive or sewn on — touched up, inspected and packaged. It looks fairly simple, but the process requires a great deal of skill and leather experience. Photos of the shop and some seriously good looking shoes after the jump.

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My obsession with Japanese magazines has been documented many times in this space. I end up at Kinokuniya about once a week looking for new issues, and during one of these trips I became acquainted with the My Freedamn series by Rin Tanaka. On a recent jaunt out to Los Angeles I saw the amazing book on Harley-Davidson style from 1910-1950 at the RRL store and I know I had to get a copy for my dad (who has a few Harleys) for father’s day. Funny thing though, the copy at RRL wasn’t for sale, it was the manager’s book, but I figured I would just get a copy off the internet or when I got back to New York.

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There is a serious dose of Tom Wolfe in today’s Thursday Styles. Mr. David Colman weighs in on the ultimate summer shoe, the white buck. My good buddy Mark McNairy’s collection even got some attention.

“And Mark McNairy, the creative director at J. Press, has just introduced a shoe line of his own, made in the shoemaking capital of Northampton in England. The first models, hitting stores this week, are white bucks and their more rockabilly cousins, saddle shoes.

“It started because I had so much trouble finding a really good pair,” said Mr. McNairy, who grew up wearing white bucks in Greensboro, N.C. “They’re a little more all-American than they are preppy. You can wear them really dressy with a suit, or you can wear them with jeans or shorts. They look great pristine and new, and they look good all beat to kingdom come — and the same goes for saddle shoes.” Plus, he said, “it takes a little cockiness to wear them.”

Read the entire article here.

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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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I love it when good things come together; a great designer, an esteemed 100 year old American tannery and the most handsome of leathers, Shell Cordovan. That is exactly what arrived in my mailbox last week, a Makr flap wallet made from 100% Horween Cordovan. If you aren’t familiar with Horween, the Chicago-based family-run operation one of the last surviving tanneries in the United States and producer of some of the finest leather goods the world over. I feel privileged to carry such a beautiful piece of American design from a talented young company and a respected institution. Makr leather goods are available in genuine Horween Shell Cordovan by special order.

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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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There are a lot of options out there for canvas sneakers these days. Seeing as I tend to be resistant to change, I have continued to buy and wear Sperry Stripers. The one brand that has caught my eye and made me want to update my footwear game is California’s SeaVees. The company recently collaborated with industry color specialists on a special group of simple Pantone inspired designs. Ironically the new Pantone White release — which celebrates the Summer solstice — is devoid of all color. Just like I like it.

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Take Ivy: the saga continues. Mr. David Colman weighs in on everyone’s favorite book in today’s New York Times. There was even a mention of some website called A Continuous Lean (dumb name) that has been instrumental in keeping Take Ivy prices high. Read the full article here.

My copy of Take Ivy as shot by The New York Times.

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The gents from the Los Angeles based brand Apolis Activism and I got together during my recent trip to the west coast to shoot the shit, drink German beer and hang out at their studio. Much has been said about Apolis in the press as of late, with the company garnering much praise for their collaborations with Filson, and more recently with vintage boardshorts maker Kanvas by Katin.

Walking into the company’s loft like offices (complete with bunk beds, kitchen and a bathtub full of surf boards) you almost start to feel jealous that you haven’t been invited to hang out sooner. The brothers Raan, Stenn and Shea (not the one pictured below, that is the other Shea) Parton were drawn to the industrial style office space in downtown LA’s “arts district” because of the fact that it is live / work facility. This unique set-up enabled the guys to keep the overhead relatively low while they worked on developing the burgeoning company.

Left to right: Apolis intern Kevin, Shea, plus brothers Stenn and Raan.

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Edwardians, or “Teddy Boys” as they became known, are an English youth subculture that created a distinctive style by wearing clothes inspired by the Edwardian period that the tailors of Savile Row attempted to reintroduce after world war two. The term “Teddy Boy” came about as a result of a newspaper headline that shortened Edward to Teddy and subsequently to Teddy Boy. Below are a series of Teddy Boy photos from photographer Ben Watts that I find particularly interesting. The Teddy Boy subculture is a very unique phenomenon,  similar in idea to the “rock and roll” revolution in America in the 1950s.

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If you live in New York, you had better watch out. Blogger and man about town Mr. Mordechai Rubinstein has signed on as ACL’s chief trend correspondent, shit, he’s the chief correspondent period. His first report is something that has been on the radar for some time, but the practice of rolling up one’s trousers is still going strong with the fashion crowd. Mister Mort’s quirky sensibilities and great eye capture the style out in the wild. Note the first gent pictured, that’s Men.Style.com’s Josh Peskowitz — who’s desk was profiled way back when. Mister Mort’s trend report after the jump.

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