When people consider various options to spice or color up an outfit the solution is usually pretty straight forward. Most go with a bold tie/bow tie, a bright pocket square for a suit or blazer, or a crazy pattern/colored shirt, with a more subtle cardigan or crewneck layered over top. While these are all excellent options, there is a simple solution that most seem to ignore these days: a nice pair of socks.
I’m not talking about your dad’s old, black church socks that stretch to his throat and damn near look like stockings. I’m talking about socks of different colors and patterns. Houndstooth, argyle, plaids, polka dots, stripes, greens, blues, pinks, neons — the options these days are almost endless. I consider socks to be the only piece of a fit that allows you to get away with almost anything. The symmetry of socks is what allows them to work in most situations, regardless of their color or pattern.
If you think about it, they are really an overlooked article of clothing that tends to get noticed more than people realize: You enter a room, and usually the first glances are at your face, then your feet (or maybe that’s just me). When you take a seat, there’s more than likely going to be a sock sneak peek. And once you cross your legs, it’s suddenly The Sock and Shoe Show. And nothing kills a well-put-together fit than the appearance of ribbed, white, crew cut socks. Hell, I’ve been given higher praise for a pair of socks then for the 300$ pair of Common Project sneakers I wore over them. You never know what kind of conversation you might strike up over your socks.
There are many great brands out there, but my go-to socks are by the Swedish designers Viktor Tell and Mikael Soderlindh. They created the colorful line known as Happy Socks. I’m sure by now you have seen a pair or two in smaller clothing stores since they are spreading like wildfire. Each season they drop an amazing array of patterns and colors. So many, in fact, that I dare you not to find at least ONE pair you like. Another of my favorites sock lines is by American Rag. While they don’t have the crazy patterns and combinations of Happy Socks, they have a nice color range that goes outside of the norm. There are tons of other great places to find socks, so don’t limit your search.
Now while I might be singing the praises of trying out bold sock options, there are also some caveats. Its best to keep seasonal patterns in their season. By this I mean argyles are probably better saved for fall/winter/early spring. Also, while a pink sock with a nice dark suit might have people thinking you’re some kinda bad-ass, an aqua and purple striped sock might have people thinking you’ve lost your goddamn mind. So find socks that complement your personality, your outfit, or just a pair that you just fucking love, and show people you have great sock game.
Vans has been steadily pumping out some nice colorways and vault releases for the 2010 spring/summer, and while in most cases I’d have to flip a coin to pick a favorite, skimming through whats been released thus far, I have a clear pick in mind. My choice is, the black and white leather Sophie. Yes, the Sophie, new women silhouette. The pictured Sophie model comes in a new two-tone colorway in an all-leather upper and a mini-checkered lining. Its pretty slick shoe on its on, but with the vintage saddle shoe styling of this colorway, it could easily be used for a more “dressed” situation. If you are interested in getting you hands on a pair, check your local Vans store or online for 55$.
Great video done by Creative Control, for the song “The Sound” by The London Souls. Trust me, you will watch this more then once, its really a great song. Looking forward to a full length album in the future.
The Gap, is a place I haven’t been familiar with in some time. For the most part, they had a good run when I was younger, but about the time they started pumping out those super catchy commercials, their quality took a nose dive. The past couple years they’ve just been pumping out disposable, random screen printed shirts, polos, and seasonal junk. That being said, this year their seems to be a sudden swing back to their roots of simple, quality, functional pieces. The guys at Put This On put me on to their new crew-neck sweater, which I just so happen to be in the market for. While the material isn’t the highest quality, its rather comfortable, and seems a lot more durable then some of the older items they had in stock. With a price point of 35$, really what the fuck do you have to complain about? The crew-neck comes in a heather grey, and a basic blue(pictured) which has contrasting stitching. Works very well layered over your favorite oxford, or even with a simple white tee underneath. Interested? Pick one up for yourself at your local Gap or online.
To me, Bape, was a brand I avoided like the plague. The products they were putting out were more geared towards kids that would probably need a ride to get to the mall. The all over prints, the Air Force 1 cloned pantent leather Bapestas, and the silly, complete zip up hoodies, were just way too much for me. I thought for sure that Nigo would run this pattern till the end, and I would never have to worry about Bape again. And for a time, I thought my assumption was spot on, until some time last year, there was an announcement that Bape would be teaming with United Arrows, to put together a dressier line of clothing under the name, Mr. Bathing Ape. This line would consist of suits, hats, shoes, and other accessories. In the past month or so, there have been several images floating around of pieces of this collection which indeed looked promising, causing me to shut up, if only for a brief moment. Yesterday, a more detailed set of snaps, of piece from this collection finally surfaced, and I for the first time, am actually excited about something Bape related.
Pictured above are the Mr. Bathing Ape Regal slip-on loafers. These stood out to me, more then any piece I’ve seen so far, partially because I’m addicted to shoes, but mostly because of the clean, polished look. I could honestly see myself wearing them on a regular basis, without feeling over dressed. Full details on the material used have not been released, but I pray it’s not patent leather, as it tends to make items look cheaper in my opinion. You will notice the mustache stenciled into the upper of the loafer, this is Mr. Bathing Ape’s primary branding, and pretty damn slick placement on these shoes. The loafers are scheduled to be part of the spring/summer line, but with no hard date or price point, all I can really do is sit and wait. My only concern at this point is that, 1) the won’t be released outside of Japan, and cost me a fortune to import, 2) they won’t be released in any size over 11, or a combination of both, as is usually the case. Oh well, at least I have my pictures.
If you are interested in seeing the other items so far in the collection, head over to Culture Shoq to see the remainder of the pictures.
Seems that Mr. Joel Zimmerman, or Deadmau5 as he is know world wide, had caught that dubstep bug, or so people are being led to believe. Lately Joel has been leaving bits and pieces of, what could possibly be, a rather massive track on a soundcloud channel. When criticism of the merits of him getting into dubstep were put into question on a djforums, he stepped up to respond “i’m just fucking around and practicing guys… you gotta switch it up every once and a while to keep sharp”. While I applaud him for putting some internet goon in his place, for my sake, I hope this turns out to be more then just “practice”.
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Recently I managed to procure a pair of the Fall/Winter 2010 Red Wing Work Chukka, in sage suede, sooner rather then later. What can I really say, if you’ve ever owned a pair of Red Wings, you know the material and build quality will be spot on, the fit will be like a glove, and you’ll probably wear them till they fall the fuck apart, which will likely never happen. With SF’s never really hot weather, I’m surely planning to try to toss them into regular rotation whenever possible.
Work has whittled my free time down to almost nil this month, forcing me to ignore side ventures and most regretfully, my blog. That being said, I really felt I should take a moment and shout out the incredible work an associates of mine, Vincent Tsang. He recently gifted us with a peek at the Fall 2010 lookbook for Bruxe, of which he shot and art directed. So far the collection is looking very clean and quality, and I’m definitely lusting after a piece or two. Also wanted to big up, the ever fly, Marcus Troy for his contributions as well. Rather then just posting a mirror of the shots, I advise you head over to onandbeyond or marcustroy to see the set.
Footwear styles come and go like the wind, as well as people’s taste in general, but for myself there is always one constant, and that is a love for simple shoes. Clean panels, simple colorway, comfort, and lifespan, are the keys to my painful selection process. I’m not looking for some patent leather monster of a shoe, with 30 straps that doubles as a pair of shin guards, that I would surely be embarrassed to tell my child I ever wore. And during a recent this quest for shoes, a friend of mine put me on to a complete deadstock set of Nike Tennis Classic HF, which are the epitome of my check list. These are pretty much like slippers on my feet, I love the simple primary color selection, and I really love the dropping of the stitched on swoosh for a perf swoosh in the panel. The Small fragment logo hit on the back is a perfect addition to cap off a shoe that I will probably wear until there is a hole in it.
Now Hiroshi Fujiwara is probably one of the designers I respect the most, and I always bitch about how hard it is to obtain his collabo work, so to pass this up would be insane. Once it finally stops rain for 2 mins, I’m gonna give these a proper wear. In the meantime I’m hunting for the recent white leather with gold heel tab and the AC ND sail/obsidian release in a size 13 :)
Quick update. site was down/broken/unreachable for awhile, this was due to a security issue which led to site being hacked. Nothing too destructive, as I was able to recover the database and most of my files. I have a couple tweaks to make to hopefully assure this won’t happen again, but it was definitely a reminder that I need to keep on top of this kind of stuff. Back to business as usual.
