ON & BEYOND

The ascension of the high-water chino, the pin roll and the simple folds have brought attention to the ankle and to the socks. While, I wanna remain in tune with that fad, I found myself having to step up my sock game and wool socks seem to do the trick just fine; giving attention to where it is needed. Men have the essential 3 in accessories: the tie, the watch and the belt (you can go sans belt if you have a bespoke suit with a perfectly fitting pant), I’m gonna go ahead and add the socks as a fundamental.

Maura and I built a quick list of socks you can add to your set of winter accoutrements.

Taken from aurawithanm:
1. Patagonia‘s Ultra Heavyweight Mountaineering socks are soft made with felted merino wool. Is know to last a lifetime.

2. Filson socks are made with a new dimensional knitting technology. The spandex in every stitch provides a memory fit.

3. J.Crew‘s Camp sock comes from the last remaining sock mill in Vermont. This all weather sock is traditional in design and spun from classic ragg marl yarns.

4. Orvis‘s Merino Wool Ultra-Ragg take ragg clothing to a higher level. Crafted in Vermont from Australian merino wool.

5. Scott-Nichol is a traditional British manufacturer of hand made socks. All socks from Scott-Nichol come replete with a hand-linked toe making them virtually seamless.

6. Duray, is a staple amongst woolen mills in Quebec. Their Light Original Work socks are two-ply twisted knit.

I like to know that things are being checked off my list of “Essential items in a man’s wardrobe”. At first sight, a cashmere scarf emits a strong essence of elegance, and though the softness of the fine wool may deter its masculinity,  it doesn’t, it simply notifies people that you have a good idea of timeless cultism and fashion etiquette. J.Crew happens to make a great cashmere scarf and ol’ st-nick was feeling generous. I can now complete a beige/tonal attire with perfection.

Rei Kawakubo’s CDG made its name by walking on its own separate path. No other brand in the world has evoked such reactions as awestruck, confusion, outrage & admiration all at the same time. While they’ve been on the pursuit to push the envelope on the catwalk, their line of unisex fragrances are not an exception to that mindset. For their Scent Two, COMME des GARÇONS didn’t hesitate to explore boundaries by using exotic mixes of ingredients such as incense, Sumi ink, amber, patchoulli, Chinese cedarwood, cumin, vertiver, tar and fresh magnolia; all held together in a clashing silver canister which was part of Time Asia’s Top 10 Designs in 1999. Although I’m not a man of scents, I allowed a little bit of indulgence to my regard by purchasing the number 2 by Antonio Puig, mainly because i felt the dandyism slowly take place in me

The 875 Trail boot is a new model first seen in the collaboration with Concepts. Now, I don’t have much information about these boots as to when or where to get them (Jesse is supposed to fill me in) But I did find out some brief description about them. With comfort and durability in mind, the boots were designed with a New Balance’s Rollbar™ technology for maximum support and stability. Additionally, NB designers used a PU Wedge in the heel and compression molded EVA in the forefoot. With a such a strong heritage, historic background and experience in Trail, NB played their cards right by creating a fully functional hiking boot dressed up in a mahogany premium leather to make things a little more fitting with today’s “a la mode” standards.

Big thanks to Jesse and Tiger for getting these to me for an early Christmas present.

It was my birthday last week. A dear person in my life got a pair of vizavimu flown to me from overseas. SO let me take a second to say, thank you and i love you for this. What can be characterized as one of my ULTIMATE grails, the Logan lo elk’s are beyond what I imagined they’d be. Naysayers will call them ripoffs of authentics & eras, but I’ll let the elk leather do the talking and ignore what they have to tell me. Upon arrival, I had to give it the vinny seal of approval by giving the elk a good sniff(that’s how you find fake vis’), indeed, they were good and my cheeks began to hurt from an excessive amount of smiling.

Please note that these items are not suggestions for the winter, they are purely what I want this year. I haven’t posted in over a week, modern warfare has some responsibility in this lack of updates. The scarf is a W+H, I’ll only accept the best thermal scarf on the market, canadians know winter, and I trust that. Patrik Ervell’s take on the varsity is interesting, he went all classic in colors but accentuated it with chest pockets and instead of going melton/leather he went cotton/cotton. I like it though, i trust the fit of his stuff. The Logan Deck lows have been an All time favorite of mine, specifically the beige ones. I know, they look like auths, sperrys…you name it. But at the end of the day, it’s not where you take it from, its where you bring it. Visvim brought the classic deck shoe to a whole other level. The oxford is a GAP, I don’t know why but I don’t own one single white oxford, Gap happens to make plain nice oxfords no need to go all out here. Denim jackets are still scary for me, but I’ll gladly sport one for layering purposes. Engineered Garments tops off the outfit with the best pair of field pants/cargo pants, no brand out there can beat EG’s attention to technical detailing and still care for the fashionable fit of their clothing.

1) W+H thermal scarf. 2) Patrik Ervell Varsity. 3) Visvim Logan Deck. 4) Gap solid oxford. 5) Levi’s Raw denim jacket. 6) Engineered Garments Field Pants.

I recently worked on a match program cover for the soccer team i am apart of. Basically, every week, seeing that everyone on the team has some visual talents, a player designs the week’s match program. Here is mine.