Writing, reviews, interviews, photography.

Posts by A. Frankel

The Standard Relay: Corter’s Bottle Hooks, Nau Wool Organizer, Taylor Stitch Summer Denim, & more.

Posted on May 29, 2012

Shutter Island

Not the film you’re thinking of

This is pretty. And excellently edited. Enjoy [via Gear Patrol]:

Kaihara 8oz. Selvedge

Summer-Weight Japanese Denim

Taylor Stitch has put out an 8oz. selvedge denim for summery-purposes. The line on these guys reminds me of some of the deadstock selvedge rolls my grandfather has lying around from his old fabric business: extremely bold detailing. It appears they’re sold out of every size of the very reasonably priced pant but hopefully we’ll see a re-stock soon.

Nau Wool Organizer

Die Cut for design precision

From first glance, this thing looks rather unimpressive. That is until it’s unfolded and all of the storage pockets are revealed. This thing can handle all of your small electronics and folds up neatly into a little triangular package. I think we could find a use for several of these around The AC headquarters.

Corter Bottle Hooks

Three colors to tickle your fancy

Corter Leather ran a fantastically successful Kickstarter campaign to launch their newest product: well-designed bottle hooks that slip nicely onto a belt loop. They come in three colors (copper, pewter, or powder-coated red) and are available for pre-order in the web shop. We got a chance to manhandle a few at Confirmed Stock and they’re well constructed and excellently designed. The photos do them the great justice they deserve.

Slow-Mo Skatbeoarding

FPS to Infinity and Beyond

I’m a sucker for everything with a ridiculously high frame rate. This has nothing to do with anything. Visual entertainment purposes only [via Devour]:

Categories: The Standard Relay

In Support of Lumina Clothing Co.’s Kickstarter Campaign

Posted on May 15, 2012

It seems like we’ve been talking about Kickstarter projects quote a bit lately and it’s true, they’ve somehow waltzed into our lives in a pretty big way. Not only did the Eliot & Eads campaign launch using our video and promo images but our new friends over at Lumina Clothing Co. have launched theirs as well and need your help. These guys run an awesome company out of North Carolina making solid menswear staples in neighboring South Carolina at a pretty amazing price point for being made in the USA. We met Lumina at Confirmed Stock in Baltimore and were smitten with their honesty and…well…the affordability of their sharp-looking products.

The rewards available on Lumina’s Kickstarter page are pretty incredible, especially some of the bigger ticket items. My favorite within the everyman buying range is the $135.00 price point which gets you your choice of a button down and pocket square or t-shirt, and a tie, bow, or tote, and a handful of stickers. If you were to buy that stuff from a big box retailer you’d shell out $200+ for something made in Mauritius. If you’ve been looking at giving your wardrobe a little revamp, this will help you pick up some of the basics. There’s also some other staples in the works like a pair of pants and a deconstructed jacket. All things you should probably have in case the need arises.

Do bear in mind that Kickstarters are time sensitive and there are only a few days left to partake in the offerings listed here. As of the posting of this article, there are 24 days remaining.


Steve and I headed out of the city limits a ways with our good friend Dan (of Mt. Vernon Book Co.) to snap a few photos of one of their shirts and ties in action. This is the Classic Oxford in Royal Blue and the Chatham tie. Dan’s a pretty built guy having done construction on the weekends for most of his life and the slimmer fit of this shirt seems to suit him just fine. The shirt fit me pretty well, too (seen in the white background shots). All around, it’s a great cut. We’re looking forward to seeing what Lumina puts out in the future and certainly hope their Kickstarter is successful.

Click here for Lumina Clothing Co.’s Kickstarter page.

Click here to check out Lumina Clothing Co.’s website.

Categories: Reviews

Eliot & Eads’ Kickstarter Campaign & First Single

Posted on May 8, 2012

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/41766260 w=1000&h=600]

As you’ve seen over the past few weeks we’re doing a lot of work with Eliot & Eads, an Americana Rock group originally from St Louis, MO., now scattered across the country. I drum for the group and we’ve been playing music together for several years. To see this album finally come to fruition, after attempting to record this several years ago without proper knowledge of what we were doing, is a personal victory on a number of levels; In addition to playing in the band, I produced the record with Peter (the singer/songwriter for most of these tunes), mixed the entire album, and edited all of the video. Steve Streisguth, your immensely talented director of photography here on The American Classic, shot 95% of the video used in the promotion of this record. Today the Kickstarter campaign to complete the record (The Flyover States) has launched in addition to the first single from the upcoming release, titled “Yellow Rose”.

“Yellow Rose” was an interesting track from the get-go. It wasn’t written for the original album and, I believe, was initially intended to be an acoustic track. After getting the band together (a rare occasion when the members live in Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and New Orleans), it sounded too good not to record it this way. Take a listen and I certainly hope you enjoy it. If you’ve got any spare change in your pockets or are looking to fund some arts-related things, we’d certainly appreciate your consideration. While we understand that many folks can’t part with cash right now, help us spread the word and we’ll be just as appreciative. Thanks in advance.

Links:

Eliot & Eads’ Kickstarter Campaign

Eliot & Eads on Vimeo

Eliot & Eads’ website

Categories: Announcements

Confirmed Stock: A Recap

Posted on May 1, 2012

This weekend we drove down to Baltimore, MD. for a visit with the fine gentlemen of Drexler, the firm behind Confirmed Stock, and the 18 stellar brands being presented at menswear’s latest pop-up shop. The event took place in an old church, perfectly matching the interesting blend of heritage brands, vintage shops, and new companies pedaling goods pandering to classic American sensibilities. The turnout was great and the space gave the illusion of being enormous but provided just enough walking room and vendor spaces to make it feel very cozy. We spent much of our time getting to know the dapper dudes from Lumina Menswear, Ed from Hellbrand Leatherworks, Andrew from Ball & Buck, Sandtown Millworks, Randolph Engineering, and Federal Shop but had the opportunity to say hello to nearly everyone in the room. We took a ton of photos but whittled it down to a few dozen; that being said, these photos are enormous and take a lot of time to load. When you’re viewing all of them, please be patient with your internet connection. To enlarge, open any image in a new tab/window. Make sure to click the link below  to see the entire set.

Categories: Photos, Travels, Writeups

The Standard Relay: Outlier x The Hill-Side, Bottled Cocktails, Field Notes’ Beginnings, & more.

Posted on April 25, 2012

Outlier x The Hill-Side Spring Vest

Two of our favorites

Outlier, one of our consistent favorites, has launched a collaboration with The Hill-Side bringing forth a very nice springtime vest, just warm enough to get you comfortably through the chillier days and nights but just sharp enough aesthetically that you probably won’t want to take it off. Speaking of both of these brands, Hickoree’s has just put up a few other items from Outlier in their web shop. Certainly something to check out. (Photo: Hickoree’s)

Kevin Diedrich’s Bottled Cocktails

Old article, great news

These things are ingenious. I’ve had those crappy canned/bottled cocktails from the corner liquor store and if you haven’t, you know you’ve been curious what they’re like. Well let me go ahead and spoil this for you; these things aren’t a damn thing like that and praise the high heavens for that. They sound delicious and seem to be of the highest caliber of quality. Check out the whole article from Bon Apetit.

Field Notes’ Beginnings

Insightful view on Field Notes

Pocket notebooks in recent years have become ubiquitous with folks being “creative types” or harkening back to yesteryear when people didn’t tote around smartphones in their pockets, tablets under their arms, and laptops in their bags. I use smaller notebooks for remembrance or note taking, granted not this particular brand, but you can find them pretty much everywhere. This is a neat video discussing the initial inspiration for Field Notes. Note: If the video does not play, it’s because the theme developers haven’t figured out how to make this work yet in two-column format. We’re sticking with two-column so here is the link to the video if all else fails.

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/40182652]

Gentlemen’s Reserve 2012

It’s happening again

The second iteration of the Canadian menswear event has announced a date: May 5th & 6th at Old Faithful Shop in Vancouver, BC. The event’s run by FREE/MAN Brand and has a very nice selection of participants. I recommend taking a look on their site. Embedded promo video included.

FREE/MAN Brand Spring Kit. No. 5

Sharp looks

Truthfully, I usually don’t dig the “Kits” that F/MB puts together but that’s a personal thing. Because I liked this one so much, I couldn’t help but tack it onto the end here. Really well done. Minus the cargo pants (via FREE/MAN Brand).

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Categories: The Standard Relay