Why Blue Jeans ARE Good!

I was reminded by a shot from Scott on The Sartorialist how good a clean pair of jeans can look on anyone.  I'm not talking about Silver Jeans, or Hollister/Abercrombie hole-ridden, pretend to have worn for 10 years jeans, or all those fancy ones with special back pocket stitching and the like.

I'm talking about good ol' blue jeans.  Yes, it is possible to buy GOOD blue jeans for about $40.  That said, you can certainly spend a LOT more.  Blue Jeans have been talked about in the blogosphere hundreds of times, but I just wanted to share a little tid bit with you.

This pretty little lady here. From The Sartorialist

Those jeans are clean, they don't stick to her every inch, they fit her body where it needs to (if you were wondering, that's the ass, which looks just fine in this).  It's a mature look, while still being casual.  No jeggings here.

I bought my favorite pair of blue jeans in March from Levi's website.  THere was a sale (as they oft do) and I got them for less than $40 before shipping.  I went with the shrink-to-fit, indigo, here.

There are plenty of options from the 501's just posted, on Levi's site, to these 501 original selvedge for $178.

Both of the above will break in the more you wear them.  I'm in love with my jeans, I wear them nearly every day, usually about 3-5 times a week.  You may wonder about cleanliness, but I'll post on that later, as well as some pictures of my jeans after about 3ish months of wear.

The Best Coffee in the World, I Had in Haiti

Haitian Joe coffee....Hopefully it tastes just as good as I remember coffee in Haiti tasting.  

After the earthquake last year, I went to Haiti to help out.  As most of you reading this will know.

I spent all of my time in Les Cayes, in the South West. We stayed with a priest at a Catholic retreat house. We gave them more than enough money to feed our troupe of 14 or so, the priest, the nuns, and the people who worked there. 

Laser Guns on US Naval Ships - What?

The US Navy has tested a successful working laser gun; it set fire to a small boats engines in the test.

Previously, the moist air of the sea weakened lasers that worked on land.

Full article, here.

*Jacket (Not) Required* An Article from WSJ

This article is an exploration in the ways in which dressing up, or down, has changed over the past 30 or more years.  Specifically focusing on restaurants and clubs that formerly had a dress code which required jackets and ties.

One of my favorite lines from the article is as follows from Gay Talese, the iconic men's wear writer and well-dressed gentleman.

Mr. Talese does concede that's he's not necessarily aligned with the times. "Now I'm an old guy, a retro fellow, maybe even stuffy. But dressing conscientiously is exalting in the act of being alive. When you go out on the town, it's an act of celebration…that you're here."

 Check it out.

A Great Interview with Glenn O'Brien

Interview @ A Continuous Lean with Glenn O'Brien for his book, "How To Be a Man".

To buy the book, here, at Amazon, for Pre-Order.

This is a great interview, a little length, but nothing crazy.

Video from Gaddafi's Forces

Here is a video through Al Jazeera showing footage from Col. Gaddafi's forces in Libya.

Al Jazeera Video

It shows soldiers insulting and beating civilians, firing rockets, driving in civilian cars, and more.

You need to know what's happening in the world.

My Letter to Senator Grassley

I wrote this letter on April 10, 2010 in about 20 minutes.  This was purely off the cuff and spur of the moment.

I hope I did myself justice.  I've saved it, word-for-word, for you to read.  I will then post his response, if I ever get one, here.

Virgin's Exploration of the Ocean

Richard Branson is my hero.

Seriously.

He is now going to explore the ocean as well, I guess space isn't enough for him.

Meh.  Space.  Whatever.

Check it out here, or look at the picture.

Picture from Sartorialist

So, I check The Sartorialist every day, among other websites.

I take a bit from here and there and apply it to myself, never copying.

I often will bookmark pictures from the page as "Inspiration".  Most pictures of are women, and so I just look at them and admire but rarely comment or share them.

This picture I just loved though.

The way the skirt fell is very different and appropriate, it follows the line of the jacket, which I'll talk about next, and continues down her leg to her utilitarian shoes.  The jacket was beautiful, tailored, masculine, and yet effeminate on her.  My favorite part though, was the touch of "in your face, normality/rules" by tossing in a pocket square.  That's something you'll rarely see a woman do.

Photograph courtesy of The Sartorialist, by Scott Schuman

Apparently the skirt was made by My Tea Cup. An Italian shop, specializing in woman's wear.