Breathnaigh

Rebuild by Needles.

Although my love for vintage is as undying as the blue haired Catholic ladies who volunteer at my favorite thrift shops, I'm suspicious of vintage profiteering--Urban Outfitters marking up standard Goodwill crap, or cheeseball use of mediocre deadstock fabric in new pieces. But, frankly, Nepenthes has earned the benefit of the doubt, so I'm looking forward to seeing some of "Rebuild by Needles," a new line of clothing cut and sewn into new shapes from vintage, mostly American military, clothing. Course, "No idea is original, there's nothing new under the sun, it's never what you do, but how it's done" (Nas)--Temple Bags and others have attempted this sort of thing before to varying success.

According to Needles and Nepenthes founder, Kizo Shimizo, the concept of rebuilding seemed appropriate after last year's Tōhoku earthquake. Although the Rebuild fabrics are mostly American, the production is done in Japan. Nepenthes NY will be carrying three styles of jacket, a vest, and pants for spring 2012, all cut from military overpants. Unlike some similar ventures, which merely use surplus fabric, these pieces will incorporate features of the original cut-and-sew pieces, so you may find zippers or pockets in unexpected places. Although the designs are consistent, the nature of the source material means each new piece is one of a kind.

Photos from eyescream.jp and Nepenthes Osaka.

Keizo Shimizu, who founded Needles and Nepenthes in the late 1980s.

Rebuild by Needles military long coat.

Sarouel (or harem shorts)--not entirely certain these are men's, but I'll keep an open mind.

Three panel shirt.

Military peak lapel jacket at Nepenthes Osaka.

 

 

 

Beers D.C. people order.

Can't deny I'm a little jealous of the guys who run D.C. Brau. Convert a NE D.C. industrial space into a quality microbrewery, sell to the best bars in the area, and roll up the garage doors every weekend for tours, tasting, and general smorgasborderie. I made it over there for the first time yesterday (they're open 1-4 Saturdays), tasted a few beers, and sampled a pork belly bun from an upstart steamed bun outfit, D.C. Buns. Also grabbed a growler of their Thyme after Thyme, since herb-infused beers like Stillwater's sage-y Cellar Door have kept me interested in craft beer as the appeal of super-IPAs have worn off.

Some beers are aged in used whisky barrels. Several pounds of whisky can remain soaked into the wood when Copper Fox is done with them.

Newer breweries all seem to have decent graphic design.

Can't say I love the trend of small breweries canning rather than bottling. Cheaper = good, but I still taste metal.

Etsy surveillance.

Etsy serves a handful of demographics—mostly people with more yarn than sense, and collectors of homespun whimsy (and those who would date either). More and more, though, Etsy is catering to those who prefer deadstock to homemade. Like many in the Etsy community, I long ago charted a steady course to an eventual appearance on Hoarding: Buried Alive; mine was first mapped when I ransacked Philadelphia thrift stores for western shirts and corny charity tees in the 90s. Thanks to well-stocked and well-priced shops like County Line General and Wooden Sleepers, that call from TLC might come any day.

I've been compiling a weekly (or so) roundup of the best items listed on Etsy vintage, with a continuous lean toward made in US and UK goods of wool, cotton, and silk, and some fine forgotten brands. Check it out.

#menswear sabermetrics.

Michael Bastian (on GQ.com's Oral History of Menswear Blogging): There are these guys in their 20s, straight guys in their 20s, who are very obsessive about their clothes. It's so fascinating to me because I never realized this group of guys existed, who follow designers and clothing like a lot of guys might follow baseball. And it's not an affront to their masculinity at all.

OSP (Odds of Schuman Paper)--chances a blog or site will rake in as much money as the Sartorialist.

YOOX rating (not an abbreviation)--the percentage of a dude's wardrobe purchased from Italian designer discount megasite yoox.com. A high YOOX rating also increases chances of (1) blowing your birthday money on return shipping and (2) mangling the pronunciation of obscure Italian brand names.

xMORT--calculates the odds that you can expect Mister Mort to photograph a dude for his site. Note: not field-independent. xMORT skyrockets in the vicinity of California fleamarkets and any retirement home.

Similarity score--the calculated chance some guy is instagramming himself in an office bathroom mirror wearing the same outfit as you are right now. Also known as "dressed-by-the-internet value."

VORT (Value Over Replacement Tailor)--the value of your tailor relative to the value of a league average, strip mall tailor. Someone like Centofanti is probably a strong VORT sleeper pick, or whoever WOE uses. Currently, Mariano Rubinacci : VORT :: Albert Pujols : VORP.

Range factor--arrived at by subtracting the width of the narrowest tie in a dude's closet from the widest tie. A large range factor usually indicates a menswear veteran.

RABIP (Reblog Average on Blogs in Play)--complex statistic that projects how likely a blogger's tumblr post is to get reblogged. A high RABIP is hard to maintain and can be a signal that a blogger will soon regress to the mean, noteswise. RABIP depends a lot on luck and #menswear tags--but some bloggers will have a naturally elevated RABIP (for instance, NickelCobalt).