Stock Manufacturing Company | Denim Workshirt

Stock Manufacturing Company, based in Chicago, has some lofty goals and it aims to do things a little differently. Here's a helpful graphic:

Most notably, through its collaboration model, Stock provides a vehicle for small and emerging designers to get their products produced and into the marketplace without the exorbitant up-front costs that come with manufacturing and selling a new brand. The key element to the process is that consumers vote with their orders for the products they would like to see made. If a garment gets the requisite number of orders, it's gets produced. Stock also has its own line, which includes pieces you really want. The Denim Workshirt is one. To chip in and/or learn more, visit the Stock Manufacturing Kickstarter.

Prada Candy L'Eau

So many reasons to love this short film that Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola made for Prada, not the least of which are Léa Seydoux and the Jules et Jim homage. 

On The Menzingers' "On the Impossible Past"

On the Impossible Past, the critically acclaimed 2012 release from punk rockers The Menzingers, is among the very best albums of last year for its raw, evocative, lyrical strength. It is a striking statement on the decline of the American dream from the perspective of the youth it left behind.

That the record comes from four musicians who, though now based in Philadelphia, are originally from Scranton, Pennsylvania, should not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with Northeast PA. Seventy-five years ago, the region and the city of Scranton thrived as an epicenter of anthracite coal mining, but the industry dried up after the Second World War with the rise of oil and natural gas. Gone was the economic and social prosperity. Left on the languishing landscape were culm banks, strip mines, abandoned breakers, and people hard as flint. The Menzingers, with their storytelling prowess and flair for poetic imagery, spark the imagination and manage to tap into the decades-old nostalgia that hangs over that bygone corner of America like the perpetual stratus cloud cover. Furthermore, the impressionistic songs embrace the anguish of the band’s own generation as it grapples with inherited hopelessness.

The world of On the Impossible Past is one of diners and drugs, cigarettes and muscle cars, recklessness and failure. It is a world in which ennui and apathy thrive. Though it is not unique to punk rock or to Northeastern Pennsylvania, it is as pointedly placed--and serves much the same purpose--as Fitzgerald’s “valley of ashes” in The Great Gatsby, a reference to the massive trash-burning dump that existed in Queens en route to the opulence of East and West Egg on Long Island. Both locales are the byproduct of the ever-churning engine of industrialism and commercialism that separates the haves and the have-nots and leaves the latter struggling to find their way among the detritus.

Opportunity seldom avails itself for the characters in these mid-tempo songs. Consequently, they do what they can to stave off pain and loneliness. In “On the Impossible Past,” friends who futilely “always dreamt of having nice things” drink, drive, and ultimately crash their “American muscle car into a ditch on Saw Mill Road.” “Casey” is a recollection “on the long ride back to Philly” of the heyday of a romance with a waitress “before all the parties grew bored.” It chronicles the relationship’s evolution from cigarette-break courtship to every evening “getting drunk before [doing] the dishes…getting high and listening to our boredom…’cause it was so much easier than dealing with everything.” The narrator yearns for the past, to search with Casey “for that old place [they] found forever ago.” In “Gates,” drunkenness behind the Lion’s Club precedes another earnest diner waitress love and a detached second-person voice foretells: “You’ll carve your names into the Paupack Cliffs just to read them when you get old enough to know that happiness is just a moment.”

One of the things that makes On the Impossible Past a distinctly American record for the Millennial Generation is that characters’ longing replaces active striving. The fruitlessness of that inaction can be partly attributed to the decaying, economically depressed environment in which it is set. As “Sun Hotel” states, the region is “the loneliest corner in the whole world…[where] all eyes are glued on the 6:00 news for another fire, another impending deer season.” What is not there for the voices in these songs is as important as what is, and it sparks the idea in “The Obituaries” that “maybe I’m not dying, I’m just living in decaying cities.” Somehow, though, in the absence of vim and vibrancy, the eagerness and impetuosity of youth persist. If there is sweetness or redemption to be found in The Menzingers brilliant third LP, it is in these enduring qualities.

Beware of Mr. Baker

Well-made trailer for a documentary about Ginger Baker entitled "Beware of Mr. Baker."

Ignoble | Marion Tombs Backpack

At first you think the 29-liter Marion Tombs Backpack (11.5” W x 22” H x 9” D) from Ignoble might be too big, but then again, all of your weekends are three days long, so it’s perfect.  You didn't perviously carry your own stuff, but with this bag you're into it.  

With its deep and capacious primary pocket, the Marion Tombs does not try to control you with a heavy regulatory environment.  Ignoble opted for a large, dual-zippered trout mouth for top access to the main compartment.  After repeated use, you adjust to the top entry and discover that it works pretty well.  However, just one side zipper--to allow another access point--would make the bag perfect.  You quickly discover and grow to depend on the internal hanging pocket, but there is an assortment of nooks and crannies for additional storage.  The two side pockets are larger than you would expect and one pocket easily holds glasses case, toothbrush, and phone charger. The zippered front stash pocket makes it easy to access The Brothers Karamazov, Man’s Search for Meaning, or whatever light reading you happen to be toting around.  The laptop sleeve (11” W x 14” H x 4” D) holds your computer safe and in place; although, you are starting to forget why you keep bringing it with you. 

The compression straps on both sides are useful if only to hide from your gracious hosts the overindulgence of your packing job or the booty with which you’ll abscond upon your departure.

The more you use the Marion Tombs Backpack, the more realize this is the bag you have been missing.  The craftsmanship (it is entirely made in the USA) and quality of materials (fully-lined 200D nylon construction) are apparent and make a difference as you use the bag more and more.  It’s most definitely built to last.  It's lightweight (at about 1.5 lbs.), but when fully loaded it holds a significant amount of weight very well.  In fact, those three-day weekends might as well swell to four days.  You've got the room. 

Holoholo

Han Kjøbenhavn Spring/Summer 2013

Apparently you're late (by, like, four seasons) to the party on Danish label Han Kjøbenhavn, but for something this good, better late than never. The latest collection from designers Tim Faith Hancock and Jannik Wikkelso Davidsen features wools and fleeces in a neutral palette spiced up by dots, camo, and indigo finishes as well as hand-dyeing, bird prints, and embroidery. The lookbook is spot-on and gives a pretty clear indication of the level on which this Copenhagen-based brand is working. Casper Balslev directed the accompanying film, which is wild in its strange blend of nostalgia, violence, and debauchery. It's basically the opposite of Ordet.

Saint James S/S 2013

Saint James never disappoints. The French clothier's offerings for Spring/Summer 2013 are as beautifully displayed as ever before beaches, cruise ships, and chateaus.

"F. Scott Fitzgerald: Winter Dreams" from the PBS American Masters Series

Below is a noteworthy documentary about F. Scott Fitzgerald, part of the "American Masters" series on PBS. The film was written, directed, and produced by DeWitt Sage, and it won a Peabody Award in 2002 "for chronicling the life of Fitzgerald, one of America's great novelists, in images and ideas as lyrical and inventive as his prose." You'll also appreciate the great style going on in some of the photographs.

3Doodler

The 3Doodler pen heats plastic which is then released in a thin strand and cooled, making it possible to draw in space. It could be the next big thing. The kids are into it.

 

Tellason Sale at Huckberry

In case you need another reason to head over to Huckberry, they're selling Tellason jeans, which are designed and built in San Francisco, a city with a rich denim heritage. Established in 2008, each pair is made from raw Cone Mills White Oak (NC) selvedge denim because of the consistency with regard to finish and shrinkage. Once you get into a pair of Tellason, the time invested in breaking them in will be well worth it; you’ll end up with patterns of wear that are uniquely your own (see the last picture). 

Bodyboarding Skeleton Bay with Ewan Donnachie

Extremely remote location in Namibia. As in, requires a Defender. You will probably not get to surf this place, so you're thankful Ewan brought his GoPro.

James Blake | "Retrograde"

It's been a while since British artist James Blake blew your mind with his signature sounds. Thankfully, he's resurfaced with a seriously good single, entitled "Retrograde", which will appear on his forthcoming LP, Overgrown, out April 8. 

Royal Hem S/S 2013

Royal Hem's newest collection for Spring/Summer 2013 is inspired by the global traveler and his subsequent return home. These jackets are a play on classic attire for high teas under the African sun, recalling scenes from Out of Africa and the British regimental style. The collection reworks luxury in relaxed, unstructured silhouettes.  Fabrics feature refined details and ultra-fine weaves that are complimented with contrasting hand-crafted details and accessories. The Royal Hem website now offers e-commerce, so look out.

Tyshawn Jones and Frankie Spears