The Dudes Are Alright

I wrote an essay about the book Guaranteed to Last: L.L. Bean’s Century of Outfitting America.  Check it out. 

My friend Jesse Untracht-Oakner did a photo shoot of Freemans Sporting Club’s former location in the West Village for my piece “The Book Club,” that came out at the start of the year.  Since FSC had changed locations by the time the piece was published, we didn’t want to use the photos, but they’re just so great, I figured I’d share them with you. 

gqfashion:

First Look: Billy Reid Fall 2012

See the full Billy Reid Fall 2012 men’s collection from New York right now at GQ.com.

Ralph Lifshitz, a boy from the Bronx, started out as a salesman for Brooks Brothers (the one brand commonly associated with the Ivy look not founded or owned by Jews) and ended up climbing to the top of the fashion world with Polo Ralph Lauren by perfecting the ultimate symbol of modern trad style: his iconic polo shirt. If you walk into a J. Press store today, you will see that not much has changed since the brand’s inception; there are Yale pennants, pictures of bulldogs (Yale’s mascot), leather couches, and of course, suits. Gant has teamed up with popular young designer Michael Bastain, boosting its brand credibility with the young and chic. (via Ivy League style, the WASPy look making a runway comeback, was invented by Jewish designers – Tablet Magazine)

Just picked up this Michael Bastian sweater for Gant with the nice mountain detail on the front.  Now all I need to do is learn to ski. 

See those boots that Jake Ryan’s wearing in Sixteen Candles?  I’ve made it my mission to find a pair of those for myself, and after years of searching, I found a pair of deadstock Carolina boots that are the exact same pair!  They were nestled away behind dozens of boxes of other work boots at a quaint general store on the NY/CT. border called Saperstein’s.  The best part?  The guy wanted to get rid of them, so I got them for $40 bucks!  So right now I’m sitting at the foot of the Berkshires, drinking bourbon, listening to Todd Rundgren and feeling damn good. 

I recently wrote a piece for The Paris Review on the (somewhat awkward, possibly short lived) marriage between literature and menswear.  As I was researching it, I visited over fifteen stores that used books as props in their showrooms.  I took pictures of all of them.  The one above is from outside Jack Spade.  

Please don’t be fooled.  I am a hairy Jewish guy that weighs 200lbs. I am not this handsome black man.

However, I did just buy the very same Field Mechanic jacket from J.Crew that he’s wearing because it’s supposedly going to snow in NYC tomorrow…

Went to Dickson’s at Chelsea Market, bought 1 1/2 pout of duck breast, a whole chicken (making stock thanks to a ton of carrots and celery from the C.S.A.), some jerky, and the nice Jewish boy in me said it was totally fine to spend $5 dollars on a jar of chicken schmaltz.  (Also, that’s the Pendleton shirt I picked up for 40 bucks in Chicago.)