Password Problems

Something odd happened on GTBT last week. It appears that Sam leaked the password to someone. There was a password change and some confusion, but all is well. GTBT will be back to the regular nonsense in a day or two.

While we were gone, the perpetrator did some blogging of his own. Was it good? I don’t personally think so, but I tend to prefer personality over cold hard facts (like the fact that you should consider wearing linen in the summer).

However, the perpetrator did gather himself some acclaim. It was a small badge, but it was still a badge. He was featured on the web-zine Valet. I like the Valet crew. They bump good blogs and do some quality reviews and promotions themselves. They’ve bumped GTBT a few times so I suppose I should thank them for many of my hits that I get each day.

But this? They bumped a kid who I don’t know. He probably sits in his basement, plays Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, and is served Nilla Wafers and milk by his mother when he returns home from school. Does he even wear adult sized pants? What does he know? I don’t know how much he knows. I supposed he reads menswear blogs because he has heard of Grenson and such, but does he have first hand experience? How can you tell when people have had first hand experience? Pictures or it didn’t happen? Being well-versed in the appreciation of expensive clothing?

At the end of the day, Valet is a business. They sell ads and try to create traffic. The best way (apparently) to create traffic is to bump blogs that feature products. But is that really the case? Is that a current truth?

I talk a lot about the contradiction of consumerism and the human drive towards what I may suppose to be a utopia: a place where people aren’t petulant and small. At this future, humans could get beyond the need for differentiation (which in menswear is product driven) or need for place (or perhaps it would be inherent in us, but the result would be the same). We are quite a long way off, aren’t we?

-John

Grenson Penny Loafers

As mentioned previously, spring and summer are on their way. It never hurts to have some casual foot wear to wear with jeans, lightweight trousers, or shorts. While not appropriate for a suit, these loafers from the Heritage Research x Grenson collaboration look great for most guys who don't have to wear a suit every day. Red brick has seen some time in the sun, and I'm sure you've seen other sand suede loafers with a red brick sole, but blue soles are often paired with garish uppers. With an upper that is toned to match the navy sole, the navy colorway Grenson offers is a great way to mix it up without blinding every one.



Each loafer is outfitted with a Danite sole and are ready for some summer stomping.




Some would argue that Grensons are too bulky, which may be true, but the bulkiness allows for a wider pant leg. So if your leg opening is 16" or 17", I can't think of a better loafer for you to purchase.

Available at Grenson.

-Frances

Linen Pants

When the summer heat rolls around, you'll occasionally need something even lighter than twill pants to keep yourself cool. This is where the fabric linen comes into play. It's light and breathable because the weave is loose and the fabric isn't heavy. They look great with a hard crease and a fat 2" cuff.

Howard Yount has been releasing awesome stuff for a few years now. His trousers are slim but do not fall victim to the "skinny pant syndrome". This season he's offering linen pants in your regular colors (grey, khaki) and some wacky plaids.

If you live in an area that gets hot in the summer and you like to keep your look slim and tailored, Howard Yount has you covered with his quintessential linen pants.







Available at Howard Yount

-Frances

Sid Mashburn Sport Shirts

Hey, I’m Frances and I’m helping with Sam’s posts because Sam’s grounded and can’t use the computer right now. I was asked to discuss casual wear and pick out a shirt that I thought deserved attention.

Pop-overs are a great way to show your casualness. They aren’t formal at all and can really show your playful personality. Shirts like this short-sleeve pop-over that Sid Mashburn sells are definitely on my want list. Sport shirts are quintessential to any wardrobe and are a great basic to build on. Flap-pockets are great too because they add another layer of interesting to your outfit.

I can’t say it better than Mashburn himself: The short-sleeved variation on what may be the perfect sport shirt, with a button-down collar and a single-button-flap breast pocket. Lightweight, nonfused, German-woven interlining in the collar and plackets give it a nice ease. The cut is slim but not skinny — a man's shirt. We love the Beach Boys vibe.



Available at Sid Mashburn's shop

Street Style

Perhaps the man was dead or perhaps he was having an out of body experience. Either way, his current reality was not consistent with his previous one. Floating through a park, as the man was doing, would not be considered to be a reality. He saw people pass beneath him, not noticing him. The people looked funny. They shone as if illuminated from the inside, with dark specks, like the dust settled in light bulbs, darkening their brain, stomach, or heart. Wind tickled the leaves on the trees. They were oak and wise.

The man floated by an apartment complex. The complex was sandstone. It was ivory, strong, and, ancient only in the American sense, a prehistoric monolith. On the third floor sat a blogger. He had a sensitive face, Ephesian in characteristic, and big eyes. He wore a properly trimmed 5 o’clock shadow that he thought made him look distinguished. His mother said it made him look like a lousy crook.

He was at his computer, working the blogga’s grind. Press releases from companies poured in. Though he had something more important to post on his website. He had been previously been occupied with pontificating existential ideas to his followers on tumblr. They were a shallow and uncreative bunch: always biting trends ‘n shit and emulating others. He demanded that they pave their own way, otherwise they couldn’t be individuals and society wouldn’t be progressive; it would be boring and stagnant.

Something new tickled the blogger’s fancy. At a recent get-together, a person with a camera lens bigger than his brain had taken his picture.

He was wearing expensive things.

It was fucking great.

He posted the picture to his blog. He had notes in seconds. “sooo coooll” and “where can i get that coat”.

God, it was awesome. He was getting there. Getting to be a godhead.

The floating man floated on, right past the apartment. Wind tickled the leaves on the trees. There was a time not long ago that the wind through the trees was Zeus bestowing his wisdom. Funny, Zeus had loads of kids and never had a blog. That’s not a character you would want to emulate. Now that wind was known as just wind. It didn’t care. It wasn’t an idol. It carried the floating man onward, hopefully to brighter futures.

Maybe a place where people shone like lightbulbs, without the settled dust.

Orvis Summerwear

There’s something gratifying about meandering through the clothing periphery known as catalog-wear. Catalogs aren’t selling clothes designed to fit a theme or a character. They’re selling clothes that they hope will sell. This allows more room for critique as I can sit back and take shots at the brand if their viewpoint of the consumer is different than mine. Designers design for partly art and partly sales. If you take a pot shot at a designer, a fan will always pull out the “for art” card and deflate your ego (just wanna’ feel heard and superior y’know what I mean).

As I did for Orvis’ winter-wear, I hope to do for their summer-wear. There’s less stuff to sort through this time around as it’s not particularly good. Catalog-summer-wear tends to be baggy (they’re selling to 60 year olds beginning their retirement, not 25 year olds) thus making me less likely to pull out the product and produce natter, so this post is noticeably shorter.



Western Barnfly Shirt

Okay, not bad. It’s got sleeve buttons for fly-fishers or other active-wear nonsense, but that’s forgivable; it’s allegedly utilitarian. The buffalo print is pretty cool as cheesy prints are on their way back in (see the film Casino). What? It comes in a skull print? Does it come with a fake biker gang patch? Is it a mid-life crisis shirt that happens to be cheaper than a Harley?



Woven Trimmed Polo Shirt

All right, polos are cool. Park, Bond & Jelly did a feat. on them recently which definitely means they are (because, PB&J is from NY which means anything they do is cool). And then they put a lining on the collar because it subtly shows what a badass you are. And then you pop your collar so you can blatantly show everyone what a jackass you are. On second thought, polos are still kinda’ dumb. I’ll be dumb for polos but not for this one.



Honey-Comb Knit Cardigan

It’s a sweater like those sweaters your favorite dudes wear (see touchy Ping and post-modern Larry [except theirs have more pockets but you already noticed that because you’re a student of the game]). Cool, I guess, if you’re into summer sweaters. Some people just like to sweat in their sweaters when May flowers come out.



Sunset Shirt

Har. Har har.



Western LS Shirt

Western shirts are coming back and so are bolo ties. Y’know what I learned about shirts with buttons on the chest pockets? I learned you can’t wear them under sweaters or you’ll look like your nipples are hard. How is that not the funniest thing ever? This shirt still sucks. Just go to H&M.



Jaquard-Border Shirt

There are some really cool characters that wear Hawaiian shirts. Y’know the badass who never gives a fuck, does drugs, drinks excessively, and shoots people. The lesson is that you have to be a character; not a regular dude with a neckbeard and Sketchers. I mean, you could, but it’ll wear you if you don’t wear it. If I were to wear a shirt like this I think I’d have to wake up with 3 G&Ts every morning.



Mountain Division Sweatshirt

Remember when everyone hated on zip-neck sweaters? They said they were too dad-wear. Well, the hate has died down (remember when everyone hated the communists?). I still think they’re too dad-wear. But, hey, dad-wear can be cool too.



Cotton/Linen Banded Collar Shirt

Mandarin collar in catalog-wear is odd. They seem like a Burberry advertisement sort of deal. It won’t be slim. It probably won’t be considered ‘cool’. But it’s linen and baggy and that will always be ‘cool’ (as in temperature) in the summer. I also heard blood stains come out of linen easily but I don’t know if that’s true or not. Does some one want to test that for me? I’ll feature you on my blog.



Limited Edition Hawaiian Shirt


Y’know what? I changed my mind. I’d wear Hawaiian shirts. I’d just have to drink 2 G&Ts every morning.

Orvis. Their summer-catalog-wear is bad. Like, I’d wear it because I have terrible taste, but if you’ve got an inch of sense you’d recycle the catalog you get in the mail immediately. Actually, stop spending money on clothes and eat expensive fruits and collect hammocks and play RISK until the wee hours and build a boat and have fun with friends this summer and remember to cut your selvedge into jhorts. Until next time, toodles!

Nike Flyknits

John: Nike makes some crap shoes. Nike also makes some awesome shoes so I guess it just takes some know to navigate what to get and what to avoid. Now that a lot of imagery for the Nike Flyknits has dropped, I hope that these fall under the "get" catergory. I mean, they should be, as the racers (pictured) are prepared for the London games this summer. Gotta' love them speedy lightweight running shoes. For speedy running that is.



Sam: idont know why john thinks theyese are so cool because theyrenot you know what is cccool nike frees are cool cause you can wear them with a suit and look really really cool these suck because you cant wear them with a suit becase not blogger has every done it if i had pctures of how they look but i dont because im still trying to get a pair