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Posts from the “Reviews” Category

Jeffrey George Co. Shirts

Posted on December 20, 2013
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I live in Santa Monica, CA. which means that the weather is amazing almost all of the time. While you chumps were out shoveling snow, my friend Wes and I were out shooting shirts for Jeffrey George Co. in perfect 75 degree weather. We went to a park near where I live which was jammed with primarily families as well as a pretty massive group of geriatric residents doing tai chi. Santa Monica is home to many different walks of life but predominantly families as well as elderly folks. I do a lot of photo shoots in my neighborhood; it’s a beautiful place. Every time I do, I get a lot of weird looks and a lot of people asking questions. When we shot the Battle Royale of the American Made Shirt in 2012, I was asked no less than 10 times if we were shooting for GQ. Flattering, yes of course but it got the models in a weird mood and suddenly it felt like we had to put on a show of making this a “fashion photo shoot”. I went to 7-11 before we met and grabbed an Arizona Iced Green Tea and shoved it in a paper bag. No one will ask you questions when you’re carrying a tall can in a paper bag. Thusly, we had a very peaceful photo shoot. I had Wes jump in a shopping cart we found just for fun and a homeless man passed us (you can see him in the photo). He didn’t even bat an eye. Perfect camouflage.

Jeffrey George is a young company designing mens shirts and neckwear. Like most companies, this is a great starting point because there are many manufacturers based in the US specializing in these products and they’re quick sells to get a brand off the ground. Everyone needs shirts. I find that just when I think I’ve got enough and won’t be needing any more, something happens (read: life) and I have to replace one or get another for some sort of event. We reviewed two shirts for Jeffrey George: their standard Blue Oxford shirt featuring Japanese oxford cloth and their denim shirt featuring a very lightweight denim, almost like chambray. Click here to read the review and view the photos.

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Categories: Photos, Reviews, Writeups

Meriwether Field Gear pt. 1

Posted on July 23, 2013

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A writeup on The American Classic about Meriwether Field Gear has been a long time coming. Danny reached out to me in April of this year to review some of his products. We’ve never reviewed home goods for the site before and though we have an immense appreciation for well crafted things, this was a new challenge to approach with a different mindset from looking at mens clothing. There’s a lot of great design happening right now, particularly in this sector, and getting a fresh look at this made me reexamine my own home and for that I am very thankful. Meriwether sent us their coat rack/personal organizer, classic six-pack carrier, cedar tree swing, and magnetic key ring holder and shelf. They sent us so much amazing stuff that we have to divide it into two segments in order to give it the attention it deserves. I sent half of the goods to Philly for Steve to try out, most notably that tree swing because if I so much as laid a hand on a tree here in California someone would murder me. In this review, we’ll be talking about the six pack carrier and coat rack. Click here to read the entire post.

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Categories: Photos, Reviews, Writeups

American Trench Wool Herringbone Socks

Posted on February 26, 2013

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I’ve never written a review for socks before but I figure these are a pretty good first pair to talk about. American Trench has socks, in addition to their namesake trench coat, and man are they cool. They’ve got a few different types, some more universally useful than others, but today we’ll be talking briefly about their wool herringbone ones. If you’re not familiar with the Philadelphia based company, I suggest you become acquainted as soon as possible.

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Socks are pretty simple when it comes down to it. There isn’t much to the anatomy of one and most components are rather self explanatory (toe, heel, etc.), though a term you probably haven’t heard is “gusset”. The “gusset” is the triangular piece that holds the leg and foot portion of the sock together. There’s your vocab word for the day. I had to dig for that one.

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These socks are a little heavier in weight; I’m enjoying them in our fall-like temperatures here in Southern California and I’m certain that the rest of you toiling away in a snowy existence would find these quite comfortable as well. They’re unbelievably soft and thus far have been a total joy to pair with breaking in some new boots. They’re not terribly thick; they don’t remind me of my ski socks I wear under my Red Wings when I visit family and friends in the midwest and East coast, but they’re not summer weight socks either. When you’ve gotta have socks and you want something a bit classier with some heft, here’s your pair. Definitely better looking than my usual go-to smart wools.

Pair these with some wingtips or your dress-shoe of choice and something that fits your color scheme and you’ve got a winning sock combo. They come in three shades, a navy/red pair (pictured), a light/dark grey (pictured), and a dark grey/red/black.

They currently retail for $27. You can purchase these socks from American Trench directly by clicking here.

Categories: Photos, Reviews, Writeups

The Battle Royale of the American-Made Shirt: Vol. 1 Taylor Stitch & Rogue Territory

Posted on November 20, 2012

Welcome to Volume 1 of the Battle Royale of the American-Made Shirt. The idea behind this article started with a simple purchasing conundrum; there are plenty of great brands out there and with a few parameters set forth, how can we really narrow down what shirt is the best for our needs as a consumer? Our rules were simple:

  1. We wanted a shirt that would appeal to the masses, though showcased each company’s best effort, that fit the average cut guy very well.
  2. The shirt had to be made in the United States of America.
  3. If it could be helped, the shirt had to be under $200.00

After doing research, this proved to be far more difficult than we had anticipated. When it comes down to it, many brands aren’t familiar with the origins of their fabric or didn’t make the shirts themselves. Most of our favorites – the really distinctive patterns – were typically beyond the allotted price point. You will see that we did make a few exceptions along the way but stayed true to these rules for the most part. Most of the brands were quick to point out that in differentiating between most labels with the exception of a very select few American makers, all shirts are essentially the same. The variables are in the fabric and the cut with only slight variation in construction seen across the board. Once you’ve seen one shirt, you’ve seen most of them; or so it seemed.

We have taken the approach to looking at these shirts as someone who puts average wear on clothing with occasional days working in the field on creative projects and more frequent days sitting behind a desk. We tested all of these shirts and combined our opinions with those of the fit models who wore them for the photo shoots. The first brands we will review are Taylor Stitch from San Francisco, CA. and Rogue Territory from Los Angeles, CA., hence the Californian imagery in our masthead. Click below to view the full article and photos.

Categories: Photos, Reviews, Writeups

The Battle Royale of the American Made Shirt

Posted on November 7, 2012

Over the past few months, we’ve been rolling around Los Angeles photographing shirts from several of America’s premiere makers. This has been an awesome hands-on opportunity for us to get very familiar with the construction and fabric offerings from these companies as we’re always trying to expand our knowledge on brands and their products. Over the coming weeks we’ll be rolling out a new mini-series featuring these shirts and our critiques and praise for each. The bottom line with shirting is that no cut will fit everyone perfectly, but some of these have gotten pretty damn close. Featured will be Hamilton 1883, New England Shirt Co., Taylor Stitch, Brooks Brothers, Rogue Territory, and Lumina Clothing Co. We’re very much looking forward to sharing these photos and opinions with you. Stay tuned.

Categories: Announcements, Photos, Reviews, Writeups