Twinsies

"Tomorrow we should wear matching clothes again." "Ok. We'll be cooler that way, right?"

Tricker's Poo

The good news is that you'll probably never have to see these in real life. Crazy asians.

Dave's Cosmic Subs

Dave owns some sub shops in the Cleveland/Akron area. I'm told there are a few in the south, but I don't frequent southern urban areas, so I can't say I've been to one outside of Ohio. Dave, most would call him a hippy, makes cosmic subs, hence the title of his franchise, "Dave's Cosmic Subs". Made with fresh cut cheese, fresh baked bread, and debatably fresh meat, they're pretty good. They're a nice lunch size, bigger than a Subway measly 6", but smaller than a titan of a Subway 12".

The one I frequent resides in the almost imaginary town of Hudson, Ohio. Hudson is quite a pleasant town. If you imagined a perfect place to raise children, you'd imagine thing similar to Hudson. It's got a good organic grocery, a Talbot's for middle-aged moms, a Persian carpet store that never seems to be open, a cupcake shop as a safe haven for moms and daughters to indulge in something wholesome (in more way than one), and a nice independent restaurant that serves a mean bleu cheese burger. On top of this, it has some of the best public schools in the state topped off with one of the best private high schools in the nation.

Stumbling into Dave's, skipping band, you'd find yourself in a place where having blood-shot eyes is nothing to be ashamed of. If you're a regular, the guys know your order. A lot of the guys who work there, also work for Martini Skate and Snow, which is dope shop that makes a fortune off of middle schoolers looking to update their kicks. If the guys liked you, you could chill in Martini and watch Forum's That on repeat for hours.

I always ordered the World Famous; the chicken and bacon makes for a good heavy sub. Band starts at 11:15, so you're a few minutes ahead of the lunch rush. You get your sub, wrapped in thick white paper, overflowing with Dave's fresh cheese. I'm not sure where they got their cheese from, but picking the last bits off the paper was routine. A blue-tooth crew would probably roll in at this point. Stunning how all of them could talk at once, and not one would be talking to the other. After them, a daughter and mother would arrive after a tactfully scheduled doctor's appointment, in matching North Face jackets and Sperry Topsiders. Dads would generally be wearing the same thing, but switch in hiking boots for the Sperrys.

Maybe a couple kids from school would show, but usually, you could sit with your friends, who unlike you, were wealthy on Gatsbian proportions, and get away from everything that bothered you. We'd sit, talk about music, comics, video games, and school gossip. It's funny, when you leave a school of four hundred and enter a school of twelve hundred, there's a whole lot less to gossip about.

After Dave's cleared out, you could watch the BMWs, Mercedes, and Acuras drift by; made hazy by the good food and a general sense that you were alone with your friends. If you worked up the courage, you could drag yourself from your seat and up the block back to school. You can't skip classes like math, 'cause then you get a call from the Academic Dean. You don't want that.

The fact that a place like Hudson exists never ceases to amaze me. Like something out of a book, it doesn't see much of poverty. I asked someone who lived in Hudson "where do the minimum wage workers live?" He looked at me, not sure what I meant at first, then thought to himself. "I have no idea" he replied.

Sometime ago, James posted this pic of his Vans Authentics with boot laces. Now, I'm not gonna' lie, this looks pretty sweet. The boot lace has some great contrast against the blue and white. I heard a while back, from some website that I don't care to remember or look back up, that when riding fixies', your laces can get torn up. While I have no contact with James, I have met several people who do the same in order to keep their laces from ripping mid-ride. Now, being a bike rider myself, I can say I have never gotten my laces caught or ripped by any part of my bike. Nor can I say that I've been with anyone who has gotten their laces caught or ripped by any part of their bike. Now, given that I've been riding bikes, and been around bike riders, for about 14 years now, it seems to me that it's safe to say that this ALMOST NEVER HAPPENS (except to the curious kid who sticks his foot in the bike chain). So why do people switch their laces?

This trend doesn't seem to be out of necessity, but out of a belief that sticking boot lace in your sneaks looks cool. Added onto the fact that I've never seen laces torn up by a bike chain, boot lace stays tied like a Hollywood marriage. Is it just me, or would common sense dictate that untied laces are more likely to get caught in a bike chain than tied laces? So, don't kid yourselves, admit that you put boot lace in your sneaks because it looks "good".

Which brings me to my next point: self-awareness is as important to your style as wing-tips, oxford shirt, or your vintage watch. You have to know why you wear what you wear, be it because all your friends are wearing it, because you think it will raise your sex appeal, or because a bunch of bloggers advise you to (they're usually right, you know), and hopefully because it is just plain cool. So when someone asks you, "why do you have boot lace in your kicks?" I'd recommend telling them the truth instead of telling them that you have them in for when pigs fly. As a self-aware dresser you gotta' "watch the tricks baby. 'Cause the trick is a lie, and a lie is a thief. Trust me baby."

Out of Reach

Japan understands niche markets. I don't quite understand what we don't get, be it our love of large corporations or our desire to consume things that everyone recognizes. Until then, we won't get cool shirts like this. I, for one, cannot wait for a more global economy.

Hoof Picks on the Cheap

Kempt endorsed Sid Masburn's hoof pick belt recently. I'm not going to argue, it's a fantastic belt that really stands out in a non-belt-buckle-obnoxious way. Of course you could drop $135 on it from Taigan. Or, you could stop by cheap clothier Orvis and pick up nearly the same thing for half the price. The leather is of a slightly different color, but age both belts a bit, and no one will notice that you paid a whole lot less for your belt. And if all Orvis gear holds up the same, I'd say it'll last you for quite some time.

Thick Soul

Chukkas with thick soles look great with jeans and chinos. Definitely an alternative from 8" and 10" boots. While Clarks Desert Boots are a go-to for many people when it comes to chukkas, pants with more relaxed fits look better with 'bigger' (not actually bigger size wise, but more robust) shoes. Many thicker chukkas can't be dressed up like desert boots, but do much better come fall and spring weather.





































































Edit: After scanning lots and lots of chukka boots, I've noticed that most have tasteless branding on the outside of the heel... Oh, well, leave it to branding to ruin a quality product.

Shorts For Toddlers

First of all, I think the pre-painted shorts that JCrew showed at SS10 were pretty dumb. Paint on your shorts even though you don't paint (except your own shorts) comes off as fake. Now, I'm going to go ahead and take a stab at A Treasury Of. Ok, bro, the only time it might be okay to have paint on your pants is if you actually painted in them. These are known as your work pants and don't see their way outside of your weekend painting project. Now, I understand that your making these sample shorts accessible to a large group of people, but should we wear them? I think not. Good call on making these shorts cheaper and available, but bad call on emulating JCrew's bad call.

Grad Gift

When picking out an item of clothing for another dude, you gotta' be careful.

1. You gotta' pick something he'll wear.
2. You can't pick something you think he should wear, it's fruity.

Warrior footwear has some classic lines. It'll look good, no matter the jean cut (except boot-cut, only boots look good with boot-cut). Your 'bro' can kick the crap out of it, 'cause it'll probably look better that way. It still looks good with his Analog hoody and doesn't clash styles. It's safe and everyone loves new kicks. I picked up a pair for a younger friend who is graduating high school. Don't kid yourself, they're better than a card with a check.

Let's get this straight....

... this is streetwear. Tricker's is running an excellent business off shoes like this and I think they're pretty neat. Would I ever wear them? I don't think so. While cool, these shoes don't seem much different than a pair of limited edition Jordans (which I have a secret crush for, I just don't indulge). As brands like BAPE and Supreme move into more classical wear, I think we should remember, it may not be timeless. Wacky colored brogues may just be too over the top to be wearing a decade down the line, as well as some of the other pieces brands like these offer. These brands moving into workwear and Americana style isn't a bad thing, it's profitable, but I'm going to be using discretion when purchasing anything like this.

P.S. It's going to be a few years before we discover which pieces that are generally new from this 'Americana' fad are timeless. Part of me kind of hopes shoes like these are.

Edit: These are in collab with Waste(twice). Not sure who designed them; but they're over the top.