Insound 20
July 20, 2008 | Categories: • T-shirts / Clothing / Design / Illustration

The folks over at Insound, one of the finest purveyors of indie music, has gotten together with Jason Munn from The Small Stakes to create a line of t-shirts, sweatshirts, and posters based around 20 of the best bands they carry, calling it Insound 20. For those who don’t know Jason’s work, he’s one of the finest poster/graphic designers out there, creating images that are usually quite simple, but bold and extremely memorable (I have this Sufjan poster he did). Now he’s created 20 different graphics, all of them quite stunning, for 20 incredible bands. The list of artists is as follows:

Death Cab for Cutie, Grizzly Bear, Jose Gonzalez, Beirut, The Decemberists, The National, Okkervil River, The Thermals, Built to Spill, Calexico, She & Him, Magnolia Electric Co., Peter Bjorn & John, Department of Eagles, The Hold Steady, The Constantines, Spoon, Black Heart Procession, The New Pornographers, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

The shirts go for $20, sweatshirts for $35, and posters for $40, all of which sound pretty reasonable to me, especially for such awesome stuff. I’d also just like to point out that this Low poster is one of my absolute favorites. How rad would that be to get tattooed? Anyhow, check out all of the fun stuff, and if you’re in need of a new cool tee, definitely stop by.

Bobby

Nike Lab ‘Spider’ Advertisment
July 14, 2008 | Categories: • Shoes / Clothing / Commercial / Design

The folks over at Nike Labs have teamed up with W+K Tokyo and a52 to create this amazingly simple, but beautiful, commercial that I just can’t stop watching. The idea is simple, a spider crafts a web together that looks like a three dimensional shoe, but there’s just something about it that’s so crisp and fresh. There’s the way the camera shakes, although the footage was sped up and the quality of the light, like it’s a perfect spring day. Even the design of the spider is extremely beautiful, like it would mimic the colors of the shoe itself.

Just watch it and you’ll see what I mean.

Found through space invaders

Bobby

My Drive Thru by Julian Casablancas, Santogold & N.E.R.D.
July 14, 2008 | Categories: • Shoes / Clothing / Design / Music / Music Video

Mark this entry under clever, catchy, and well done. As a part of Converse’s newest campaign, they’ve teamed up with a rather large and eclectic group of musicians to further their cult status among youngins. The most exciting part being the collaboration between Julian Casablancas, Santogold and N.E.R.D. on a song called My Drive Thru, which to me sounds like something Mark Ronson would have put together, but it’s actually Pharrell’s handiwork. The video itself is reallllly fun, featuring animated photo cut-outs of the artists performing. My favorite parts are mostly when Santogold is dancing around, she looks damn adorable, but there’s also the part where Julian Casablancas is falling down through the sheets of paper, that’s really rad. Other then that, I have this song stuck in my head most of the day, it’s totally catchy and fun.

The campaign otherwise is pretty rad as well, someone picked a pretty random group of folks that are actually pretty “hip”. There’s Bradford Cox from Deerhunter, the guys from Does It Offend You, Yeah?, Eleanor from The Fiery Furnaces, the dudes from MGMT, Yacht… you get the picture. The stark black and white images, the cut out paper effect, everything is pretty spot on. Check out the site by clicking here, and be sure to download the song for free as well (that was a good call, Converse).

h(y)r collective magazine
July 2, 2008 | Categories: Blogs / Clothing / Internet

A few weeks ago I got an email from a guy named Ryan telling me about this new online magazine he started called h(y)r collective. Basically it covers a lot of up and coming menswear, sneakers, bike related things, hell, anything these guys are passionate about. Now honestly, I wasn’t so hot on this second issue, it just didn’t do it for me. But then I got another email telling me that they ALREADY released their third issue, which totally shocked me.

So I checked it out, and WOW. They basically made this drastic jump from okay to awesome. This issue features 5 interviews with people like Jesar Gabino, designer for United Front and co-owner of Nomad, as well as in depth look at purveyors of fine leather objects, Tanner Goods. They also interviewed these guys who run a label called Our Legacy which I hadn’t heard of before. The interview is strong and I really loved the photos that were attached to it as well. There’s also two more features, music reviews, product reviews, a photo shoot and two blogs to sort through.

These guys definitely have a passion and it truly shows. Definitely keep an eye out on these h(y)r kids, they’re gonna be big.

Bobby

Makr Wallets
June 30, 2008 | Categories: • Accessories / Clothing / Design

I guess it’s been a few years now, by Makr is finally back supplying the world with beautiful laser engraved wallets once again. Makr is the brain child of Jason Gregory, who’s first line of wallets were something I always drooled over, but sadly never dropped the cash on. Since then I’ve been patiently waiting for him to release a new collection, and he definitely hasn’t disappointed. There are more styles this time around, in even more patterns, with even more types of leather. It’s almost overwhelming looking through everything offered, I totally felt like a kid in a candy shop!

My personal favorites are the Herringbone in brown, the Herringbone in russet, and the Minimal in ox blood. It’s weird, usually I’d go for the black wallets, but I love the colors and the textures of the brown wallets a lot more, the ox blood is particularly sexy. The wallets cost anywhere from $75 to $150 depending upon the style. My new mantra is to buy something that will last me longer, even though it may cost more, and I could definitely see one of these puppies standing up to the test of time.

Head over to the site and check out the rest of the styles, just don’t drool on your keyboard.

Thanks to Josh Spear for the heads up!

Bobby

SBTG x Lazy present The Paramount Dunk
June 16, 2008 | Categories: • Shoes / Clothing

Here’s another great example of what I was talking about yesterday, simple but awesome shoes. Reading about these over on High Snobiety you definitely get the sense that someone busted their ass on creating these.

First off, the body of the sneaker is pretty much all decked out in selvage denim, from the black denim to the “Gucci” denim that surrounds the bottom. The reason for the selvage denim is that “the edge can’t fray like lower grade denims that have separate wefts which leave an open edge that must be stitched.” See what I mean about someone going nuts on this shoe? Finally the shoe is trimmed out with a snakeskin swoosh, which I think is pretty damn hot. I also love the (real/faux?) snakeskin lace guard thing-y, that’s a nice touch as well.

The images you see above are the pre-production model, it’s a one-of-a-kind, but they are going forward with production on this shoe, hopefully the final model stays true to the original. Supposedly it’s going to be released soon-ish through Royalefam, so keep an eye out.

Bobby

Take Ivy, Photos by T. Hayashida
June 15, 2008 | Categories: Clothing / Photography

I was pouring over the website of amazing menswear company Blackbird when I came across this amazing book called Take Ivy. Take Ivy was the product of Japanese photographer T. Hashiyada, who traveled to America to photograph the fashion of ivy league schools. The result is amazing, a beautiful portrait of fashion in the late sixties. What’s also so remarkable is how much this prep school style is coming back into vogue. I mean, this is pretty much the style I’m personally going for these days, maybe a bit more contemporary, but what’s in these photos is definitely the building blocks of today’s style.

The book was found by Michael Williams over at A Continuous Lean who was awesome enough to scan a ton of the pages from the book. I’ve posted some photos from the book under the cut but you can also see more of Michael’s scans here and here. Also be sure to check out the rest of Michael’s site as well, it’s totally worth a damn and I’ve thrown it into my Daily Sites in the sidebar as well.

Keep reading Take Ivy, Photos by T. Hayashida…

Graph Paper Vans and Halftone Sandals
June 15, 2008 | Categories: • Shoes / Clothing

I’m only 25 but a lot of the time I feel like an old man. Slowly I’ve started to buy fewer graphic tees and have tried to filter in more collared shirts, basic patterns, and thin stripes. These changes also extend to my footwear as well, as I no longer wear the same black slip-on Vans day in and day out. It kind of surprises me that I don’t talk about fashion on here more, considering how I think about it all the time. So I thought I’d share a couple of recent purchases on here that I’ve been in love with.

First off is my pair of graph paper Vans. I actually bought these at this great little boutique in my hometown of Roseville called Heritage (not to be confused with the Forever 21 offshoot). I love that their minimal but still have that wonderful pattern on them. The black lines also takes away some of the irony of it being graph paper pattern, they do come in a traditional blue pattern as well. They’re also only two weeks old, but I really hate bright white shoes, so I’ve been a bit with rough with them so that they look well-loved now. The best part of these is that they were only $45, which is pretty unbeatable. I’m a firm believer in not having to spend a lot of money to look good.

Which brings me to my next purchase, the halftone sandals you see above which I picked up from H&M for a whopping $6! I love these because they’re almost a check pattern, but they’re halftoned as well. So very simple but still really fun. I’m sure the print will rub off by the summer, but for $6, who cares?

Bobby

TOMS Summer Collection
June 13, 2008 | Categories: • Shoes / Clothing

I’ve been meaning to buy a pair of TOMS for about a year now, I think they’d make such awesome summer shoes, yet I keep forgetting. Then I got an email yesterday announcing that they have some web exclusive shoes for this summer only, reminding me yet again that I still don’t have. But I really like these new ones they’ve released, the colors are really awesome… if you’re a girl. As a boy I don’t think I could ever try pull off a pair of striped pair of alpargatas, nor would I ever try. I really like the salmon colored ones, the canary ones, and the blue and white striped ones.

As always, when you buy a pair of TOMS, they give a pair away to a child in need, so you’ll look hot this summer and help someone out at the same time.

Bobby

TRKFLD
June 9, 2008 | Categories: • Accessories / Design

Reading through the newest issue of GOOD Magazine I spotted an ad for TRKFLD bags and I was instantly curious. The logo has sort of a retro/contemporary feel, not to mention that the bag was pretty cool looking as well. I popped over to their website and they’re definitely not fooling around, sporting 19 different styles of bags with multiple colorways and 5 different accessories as well. Everything is made out of Sunbrella fabric, which is “100% solution-dyed acrylic” and is made to be “fade resistant, water repellent and breathable.” Not bad for a company that started only a few months back!

I posted pictures of my favorite bags up there. The first one that the guy holding is… the Bobby. If that’s not fate, I don’t really know what is. I’ve honestly been looking for a smaller bag to throw my camera and flash and misc. items into for a while, and this would be totally perfect. I definitely want to buy this bag, but I’m not really sure if I want the warm colors version or the cool version, so what do you guys think? What I do know, is that I hope the guy modeling the bag comes with it…

The other bag is called Mi, and to me looks sort of like an over-sized tennis racket bag without the handle, which I think is pretty rad. I also really like the horizontal stripes on the bag, especially the thick blue and white version. It’s so 80’s yuppie/nautical but with a twist, which is definitely starting to come back into style.

The bags run around $80 or so which isn’t bad at all, especially because they look like they’d last about 20 years. Definitely check out their site and see all the styles they have, I’m sure everyone could find something they like.

Bobby