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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If you aren’t totally clear on the brand structure, there’s Woolrich, then Woolrich Woolen Mills and finally Woolrich John, Rich & Bros. The first is the main U.S. brand, the later two are the product of the geniuses of Italy’s WP. If you aren’t familiar with WP, they are the Italian distributor for Barbour, the global distributor of Woolrich and the owner of various other brands including shirt maker B.D. Baggies.

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Work has me in Vegas for the better part of the week. I may or may not be posting from the desert. I will definitely be posting some things that I see out there upon my return to civilization. I sure wish Las Vegas still looked like these Kodachromes. See you on the other side.

She's a nice lady

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The fellas at GQ have really done a great job covering fashion week, so much so that I really don’t feel like I have much to contribute beyond what they are doing. I did however take a little video at the Rag & Bone show this past Friday that turned out pretty nice (if I don’t say so myself). With that said, I think it would be worth seeing here on ACL. I took the video with my Leica D-Lux 4 camera and the music from the show didn’t record very well (as it was so loud), so I added in something on my own. Hope the Rag & Bone people don’t mind. The collection looked really nice and it was a lot of what we have been seeing throughout NYFW. Chunky knits, Fair Isle patterns, layers, camo, sweatpants. See for yourself.

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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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An ACL reader sent me an email with this video that he shot of his ‘63 Porsche 356 Super with a very recognizable key chain. I’ll be honest it made my day. It also reminded me that life is worth living, not just reading about on the internet. Today is the Chinese New Year (thanks to Marisa for reminding me) and it is the year of the Tiger. Motivational and rather fitting all in one. What do you say we do more living?

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This weekend the students at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire celebrate the 99th annual Winter Carnival. According to Wikipedia, the event was founded way back in 1911 by the Dartmouth Outing Club (which you may remember from an earlier post) to promote winter sports. (Although I think Winter Carnival was just a ploy to get girls to visit the then all boys school.) This little film seems appropriate right now with the winter Olympics in gear and the weather in NYC. Not to mention the style similarities between this video from 1954 and now. Many thanks to reader Chris for sending on the link.

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James Jung, a friend of ACL, is an editor at Travel + Leisure and a nightlife blogger for NBC New York’s Niteside. His sports and travel writing has appeared in Slate, SKI Magazine and Outside.

Ski racing has always been my sport. I follow it the same way other guys follow football and baseball. Sure, sounds un-American, but if you grow up in a mountain town with a ski-mad Austrian father, it’s pretty unavoidable. All it took was one winter broadcast of ABC’s Wide World of Sports to expose me to the downhill—ski racing’s marquis event—and I was hooked.

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Meet The Vintage Showroom. I spent my Wednesday morning here and while my host (co-owner Doug) ran out to get us both a cup of tea (that was nice of him!) I took this little video. I have much more to say and lots of photos that I will share with you very soon. In the meantime, enjoy all of this vintage goodness.

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Jeans and tee shirts. All that you need and nothing more. That seems to be the concept of the recently freshened-up Cinch store in London’s Soho. When you swing open the frosted glass door and step foot into the sparsely merchandised space you are enveloped into the world of Levi’s Vintage Clothing. The funny thing is, there isn’t much to “envelop” you at that store, which is why I liked it.

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Recently at the SIHH watch fair in Geneva, Switzerland watchmaker IWC unveiled the update to its popular Portuguese line of watches. The Portuguese — which was originally introduced in 1939 — is by far my favorite model from what could be my favorite maker. To celebrate the launch of the new collection, IWC made a short film with Jean Reno called The Spirit of Navigation, which is interesting once you can stop thinking about Jean Reno in Ronin. (Side note: remember that Audi car chase?) The Portuguese collection is inspired by the great Portuguese seafaring explorers and the IWC film explains the interesting connection between time and navigation. Essentially, time is navigation and vice versa. Portuguese to me is the perfect combination of beauty, precision and luxury. I hope to own one soon. In the interim, I suppose I will just have to enjoy the five new Portuguese timepieces pictured below via the internets.

Portuguese Automatic in Stainless Steel with the black alligator strap.

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The gentlemen at Spurr invited me (and you by proxy) over to the showroom to get a little advance look at the new AW10 Spurr collection. Simon took some time out of a busy Friday preparing for the brand’s first full-scale fashion show (which will take place on February 14th) to personally walk me through the collection. (That was nice of him.) At the fashion show, the company will present two different collections (also a first for the brand), the contemporary Spurr range (which is shown in the photos below), as well as the new higher-end Simon Spurr line.

In good company

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