Chicago Street Style

Everyone loves a good street style blog and now for those of us residing in Chicago, there is now one for us.

Run by Chicago resident Amy Creyer, Chicago Streetstyle Scene is a collection of photographs taken by Amy of the people of Chicago and their various syles and influences.  What I enjoy most about their mission at Chicago Street Style is that they aim to “present an authentic vision of the streets of Chicago as they appear. Therefore we aim to include a wide variety of styles and looks, not just the traditionally ‘fashionable.’ ” As opposed to portraying the people of Chicago as overly glamorous and fashionable like the swanky high rises downtown, Chicago Street Style treats all the people photographed as an inherent part of the city’s urban fabric.

We know that a city is not just made of sky scrapers, but also houses, projects, restaurants, streets and stop signs. Likewise, people have many different understandings of style and what they think looks rad as hell, and Chicago Street Style appreciates this and this philosophy can be seen in the photographs.

p.s. She snapped a picture of me the other.

-brad

italian inspiration

Hello world,

apologies for the lack of my updates. I have been very busy with school work and finally finished a large presentation that was months in the making. Now that all of that is over, it’s time to get back on this blog once again. Thanks to Trey for holding it down for a bit.

p.s. Expect a new contributor very soon.  – Brad

 

Blogs, magazines and designers seem to like to react to what they deem as staples of European and more specifically Italian style. The complaint I most often hear or read about is the crispness with which Italian men wear their clothes. A blog like The Sartorialist tends to praise the men of Milan and their ability to roll a sleeve perfectly, while The Magnificent Bastard has stated a dislike for the meditated measure of a perfectly rolled sleeve, as the MB (as does Trey) prefers to see a bit of “artful dishevelment”. Nothing wrong with that of course because when it’s done well, it’s awesome.

GQ

Other points of contention are the large knots worn on Italian’s ties, the fact that the ties are too wide, and their preference for large collars, which are apparently out of date and too European.

Though these traits of Italian style are not approved of in the US fashion and style community, it seems to me that at the same time the  people who pick on these characteristics of Italian style can easily switch gears and tell you that if there is one group of people to dress like, it is the Italian men. Wearing brown suede boots with a gray suit or leaving the collar unbuttoned on your oxford are just two little tips GQ and others will tell you to follow. But a general recommendation on their part is to dress like the men of Milan.

The Italian Cut

Needless to say this is all very confusing for a kid who really knows nothing about fashion and style besides what I like. I dont know if the others are saying that there are certain Italian traits I should ignore such as large knots, but appreciate their style as a whole, or adversely if I should pick up little hints such as keeping the collar unbuttoned. I really don’t know.

But what I do know is that I like the Italian style and I am using these sites and blogs as inspiration.

The Sartorialist – I know you know about this blog as it is something like in the top 25 most influential blogs in the world or something along those lines. Point being, half of the men on here are from Italy, specifically Milan.

GQ (Tommy Ton’s Street Style: Men of Milan: A simple 65 image slide show of various men around Milan. It’s a nice simple source for inspiration.

tredici e lupo – A great amalgamation of items, photographs and the occasional Italian car.

The Italian Cut – Like tredici e lupo but perhaps with a slightly stronger emphasis on “everything italian” be it clothing, cars, design or pop culture. Worth checking out in its own right as it seems tredici e lupo gets alot of their material from The Italian Cut

 

Check em out – Brad

wooden watch wow.

I know I just posted something about Shwood, makers of wooden sunglasses, but I just discovered this company WeWood that makes wooden watches.

Now I’m not too hyped on either of their current designs, but they offer them in a variety of woods and colors and that is always pretty rad. I think I am going to wait for a new model to come out whenever that may be because I find the model pictured to be a pretty standard design and the other model they offer is not really my style. But if you are diggin’ either of them I say go for it because it’s a pretty solid talking piece that has a one in ten chance of getting you laid at a party.

-brad

“A Gentleman’s Style Cheat Sheet”

Some nice basic style rules for the every-Gentleman. Not sure I agree with everything, but it’s generally pretty spot-on.

courtesy of Harrison Fjord.

-brad

Tiger Tree Shwood

As I am sure you all have heard, Portland, Oregon based wooden sunglasses company Shwood has collaborated with Wish (a retailer from Atlanta that I frankly know nothing about and will not pretend to) and have created a special edition pair of shellac coated sunnies.

aokayofficial.com

Now I like these well enough, but the real appeal to Shwood’s glasses are the fact that you can actually tell that they are made of wood. I’m not sure it’s as evident with this pair.

If you like what you see here or on Shwood’s website, you can always order online. But if you’re more inclined to walk  into a store and try them on and you happen to be in the area of Columbus, Ohio you can pick a pair up at one of my favorite stores, Tiger Tree.

Outside of Shwood, Tiger Tree carries a ton of locally made products and hand made products such as these one of a kind Book Cover Belt Buckles. And if you aren’t in Columbus, you can also order any of their products online

-brad

Cashmere? No, it’s Muskox.

I have been under the impression that Cashmere or Merino wool was just about the softest stuff I could lay my fingers on. Au contraire! The Magnificent Bastard has a quick write up on the virtues of Qiviut (Scrabble Word?), the wool from the Muskox which inhabits northern Alaska and Siberia.

A Glorious Beast

Case in point, their wool is apparently magically soft and TMB can tell you a bit more about the stuff and where you can buy some clothes made from it.

Now it seems that the Qiviut hat on TMB is $170 which is, in my lowly opinion, outrageously expensive, but if you have the money I am going to pressure you into purchasing as much as you can for the sole reason that if someone comments on how soft you’re sweater is and that it “must be cashmere”, you can reply with the quip “Cashmere? Heavens no! Why, this is Siberian Muskox”.

-brad

A quarterly worth reading.

I’ve never been much for magazines. The problem I have with them is that they are too transient. The quality of a magazine’s physical material is rarely good enough to make it worth keeping an issue for more than a few weeks (an exception is inexplicably made for National Geographic and Playboy). Generally, they end up cluttering a magazine bin next to the toilet or a bookshelf and you never look at them again.

But a quarterly is a completely different beast. The Economist’s quarterly, “the intelligent life“, is one that is absolutely fantastic in all aspects (save its pretentious name). The physical quality of the material the magazine is made of is superb as are the photographs. The articles cover such a broad array of topics that one can walk away after an issue pontificating about David Hockney, Vintage Sunglasses, or Mexican Cliff Divers as was the case after last issue. The timelessness of the articles, the high quality of the photographs and the physical quality and permanence of each issue make it a quarterly not only worth investing in, but also keeping and collecting.

“the intelligent life” covers four broad areas simply titled Home, Lifestyle, Arts, and Places. There is something for everyone in each issue and there is always something involving fashion if one is interested in it as we are at small time crooks. But besides getting their take on fashion and style, “the intelligent life” can help educate you on various subjects for the culturally in-tune life you surely have, or hope to have.

For example, take a peak at this slide show on awesome dogs. This is just a taste of the eclectic magic that is “the intelligent life”.

Though it’s not available on American newsstands, one can subscribe to it and have it shipped at no additional cost. And when you receive your first issue, what will be better than saying to your philistine of a friend “Thanks for the invitation to watch the UFC fight at Buffalo Wild Wings,  but I think I’m just going to have a cup of tea and read the latest issue of my quarterly “the intelligent life”? Nothing.

the intelligent life

-brad

Street Etiquette and “The Black Ivy”

Though I’ve never mentioned it before, (frankly because I have only written about two articles on here), Street Etiquette is arguably my favorite fashion and style blog on the internet. Their current project titled “The Black Ivy” is a compilation of photographs that display the traditionally inspired styles seen at historically black universities in the United States.

-Street Etiquette

The thing that struck me the most was the awesome use of color by all of the participants. The colors they wear  look outstanding and I would wear them if I was only daring enough.

Also make sure to watch the video that accompanies the slide show.

-Brad

Let’s Bring it Back

The internet has been getting pretty hyphy recently about a Tweed Bike Ride that went down this last weekend in the District of Columbia (D.C!). Apparently what happened was that a bunch of cyclists and tweed enthusiasts took over the streets of D.C. dressed to the nines and had themselves a bike parade. My understanding is that the stipulations were that one should dress in their finest outfits and if possible, ride a vintage bike. The event received a decent amount of coverage, not surprisingly on NPR.

2009

A penny-farthing perhaps?

Despite the fact that I, like any progressive minded Chicago twenty-something is supposed to be, am a bicyclist, this event is not about the cycling involved. This event is an excuse for the people of D.C. to look fresh as hell.

This guy looks fresh as hell. His layering is great, but I am a real fan of that ascot. I have never been able to successfully pull off an ascot and I do not know anyone who has, without looking like a complete asshole. I don’t know this guy, but if I did, he would be the first guy in an ascot that I would not call an asshole. Rather, I would call him a fucking pimp.

But the previous digression is in itself a problem. The problem is that we have these preconceived notions and pretensions attached to certain items of clothing and accessories. The ascot is an example from my life, as I am sure there are plenty of items in yours, that I would not be caught wearing despite how badly I want to.

The problem is obvious in the Tweed Bike Ride. The people of D.C. have this day when they can dress up and wear stuff they probably truly like to wear. I would like to wear it also but I do not because I too would need an excuse to wear a tweed sport coat, knickerbockers,  an ascot and a fedora in public for fear of looking like an asshole. I have a feeling that many reading would also.

The people of D.C. should be applauded for their Tweed Bike Ride. But at the same time they should ask themselves, as should we, “why do we need a reason to look fresh as hell”?

When we can everyday.

I have a feeling this guy doesn’t need a reason.

To check out some hot tweed clothing and similar items creep on: Dashing Tweeds

- Brad

Keeping Company

Everyone goes through phases. Everyone goes through phases with the patterns they dig. One month it’s plaid, the next it’s argyle, the following is paisley. Right now, it’s gingham. The variety of patterns makes your options endless, and makes many of us indecisive.

Keep Company feels your pattern pain and they are here to heal (heel) it. With twelve different shoes that have a multitude of colors and patterns available, at reasonable prices, they give you the option to be flexible with your style.

The Ramos - Brown Herringbone

As previously mentioned I’m a sucker for gingham of any sort, and Keep Company has some attractive shoes accented with some attractive colors. The Ramos above comes in 17 different colors and patterns, and three different colors of Gingham. I do have a problem with the fact that a few of their shoes are too similar to the standard Vans’ Chukka Boot, but considering the breadth of colors that Vans’ Chukka Boot has been unable to reproduce I forgive them.

Wish I could pull these off.

You may be thinking “that pattern is for girls and I hate anything evoking scandinavia”. If you are, you are right. All of Keep’s shoes are for women. But because the majority of their models are fresh as hell and their patterns are generally unisex, they give men’s sizes right along the with women’s sizes on their website.

And how are you going to pass up these “boat shoes for the landlocked”?

Houndstooth and Red Check!

You aren’t.

The shoes are generally under $90 and some are on sale for as low as $50. Imagine, for 150 ducketts you can pick up three different shoes with three different patterns to match your style du jour.

Now all you need to do is decide.

www.keepcompany.com

- Brad