You have to hand it to the Best Made Co.

Not only have they received spectacular amounts of press and attention for their signature axes, basically everything the company touches (the brand’s website, the axes and even the graphic prints) look stunningly well designed. Not to stop there, Best Made continues to bring the hits when it comes to develop and launching new products. The newest such release —the Light Waxed Cruiser— is a handsome jacket which is perfect for spring. And it’s well priced at $348, considering it is made in the U.S.

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What is it about Harris Tweed that gets me every time? I see it all over the place, collab’d almost to death, but still it never ceases to amuse me. Today I went by the Brooks Brothers offices to get a look at the fall 2013 collection. It’s a tricky thing, going to look at cold weather clothing when it is actually cold outside. Maybe tricky is not the word, maybe the term is torture? At any rate, they have some good stuff coming this fall including these Rancourt & Co. beef roll penny loafers made from a dark brown Scotch-grain leather and a Harris Tweed vamp. In real life the tweed looked slightly more grey than blue, as they appear in these photos — though regardless of the photogenic nature of the tweed, they are a handsome pair of shoes.

Two other examples of Harris Tweed footwear domination that come to mind are the Nigel Cabourn x Red Wing Munson boot and these Alfred Sargent Harris Tweed Seven Eyelet Boots. Don’t get too excited about either of those, I believe they are both long gone, though I could be mistaken.

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The intention is to visit the great NYC shop Extra more than once or twice a year. This shouldn’t be too difficult, considering the small store sits about 500 yards as the crow flies from my office, but I’m lucky if I can ever make it by. This Sunday I managed to do a bit better and stopped by Extra to chat with the shop’s owner / one man band Koji and see what was new.

In addition to all sorts of amazing vintage clothing, objects and art (much of which is priced NOT to sell because Koji doesn’t want to let it go), Extra carries a comprehensive selection of NYC-based Post Overalls. I ended up leaving with a black wool Chore coat from Post, a perfect jacket from fall. I also came away with some intrigue after browsing a few samples that Koji was selling off from Japanese brand Corona. I’ve seen a few things on blogs about Corona here and there, but I never realized that the line was designed by one of the Post Overalls guy who split off and moved back to Japan.

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Go into any bike shop in the U.S. and you will likely find the same three or four big brands that dominate the retail landscape. There’s not necessarily anything wrong with buying a bike from any of those big companies, but it’s important to remember that there is an “independently made” alternative. Portland, Oregon based component maker Chris King’s line of Cielo bicycles are a worthy alternative and a good place to trade your hard earned dollars for a good looking and well made bicycle.

The Cielo Sportif Classic, which is pictured here, is high on my list of things that I need to own. In an age of carbon fiber, the Sportif Classic is designed with the nostalgia of steel framed road bikes of the 1970′s and 1980′s. That steel frame means it is going to be heavier than a lot of bikes out there, but it will also mean that the ride is going to be comfortable and enjoyable. All that said, the bike is great looking and made right here in the United States. The Sportif Classic incorporates many of the quality US-made components that, over the past three decades, have made Chris King such a well regarded manufacturer. The Cielo quality also extends to the styling —each bike is painted entirely in-house with a low VOC (non-toxic) liquid paint without use of any decals, and each detail is masked and painted by hand.

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The Chris Craft boats of the early 1940s could be the best looking pieces of American design ever. Well, that’s my feeling anyway. Imagine spending a sunny summer day on a lake in the upper Midwest cruising around in a beautiful wooden 1941 Chris Craft Barrel Back. What could possibly be more fun?

The lines and shape of the wood and chrome on the pre-WWII Barrel Backs are so incredibly good looking, I could imagine it would be tough to nominate something more quintessentially Americana. Note specifically the half moon styled stern on those bad boys, it is something truly magical.

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My affection for this duck camo has been expressed before, but I was perusing the fall offerings from the Japan-only The North Face Purple Label and am now obsessed with this parka and vest. Mostly the vest, but really I want both. Good news is, I’ll be in Japan in about six weeks, bad news is the exchange rate. If you are not headed to Japan, you might want to get that proxy moving before these are long gone. [TNFPL at Digital Mountain]

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Equal parts want and desire. This nice looking Oyster Perpetual, Submariner will be up for auction at Antiquorum on June 10th (lot #63) in New York. Estimates place the sale price to likely be between $20,000 – $30,000. Now, before everyone gets all crazy about the price, I just want to say that this is a “money-is-no-object” type of want. An itch that for me will go unscratched barring an ACL sale to [INSERT NAME OF GIANT MEDIA COMPANY] or a successful strike at the lotto. A regular sub would do the trick perfectly, but it would be more fun to say that your watch was originally sold to the Royal Navy.

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