Category Fashion

Entries 10 Total

Snip Those Threads

Jan 9, ’10 8:14 PM

Even here in style-conscious New York City—within the style-crazy neighborhood of SoHo—I see this style fail far too frequently.

The loose stitching holding together the vents of your jacket are meant to be removed. So here’s a tip: remove them.

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C + J California Jacket

Jan 6, ’10 9:39 PM


Apologies for the creases in the back…I could not avoid wearing it.

Over my Christmas break, I went home to California and designed this jacket. I wanted something that I could wear through three seasons, wear over layers, wear to work, wear on the bike, and even wear while chopping wood around an October campfire. I wanted it to be made of mostly natural materials—predominantly worsted wool—and I wanted it to toe the line between dress and sport.

I think this jacket achieves those things. Some features:

  • Split yoke – shoulder flexibility
  • Double-layer front and shoulders – durability and warmth
  • Single-layer back – comfort under packs, ventilation
  • Articulated, silk-lined sleeves – better drape, better flexibility, more warmth
  • Diagonal-cut cuffs – long where you need it, short where you don’t
  • Single left-chest pocket – minimal, accessible storage for essentials (passport, money, etc.)
  • Tall collar – warmth when you need it
  • YKK zippers & a grosgrain hanging loop

All the tailoring was done by Donna Parker (twitter | blog).

I rather like it. Would love to know what you think.

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Jacket-Making, Day 3 + 4

Dec 30, ’09 4:13 PM


Here you can see my mom/tailor placing the back side pattern onto the dark grey wool.

Day 3 and 4 of the jacket-making process were all about re-making the pattern into neater shapes, making sure everything fit exactly the way we wanted, planning out the construction of the real jacket, and sorting out the details before we got too far into the process.

As we went, we cut the pattern out of the final fabric (two tones of worsted wool) and pieced it together, checking it against the muslin dummy we had made from my original pattern/design. What’s worsted wool? It’s a lightweight, smooth wool fabric made from yarn that has been spun in such a way to remove wool fibers’ natural kink. The wool we have has a plain weave (not twill or anything else interesting) and has a pretty powerful “memory”, meaning it will bounce back to its original shape. We washed it in hot water before doing anything to eliminate shrink. The fabric barely shrunk from this process, but we wanted to be sure.

We started by piecing together the back of the jacket. There are seven panels in the back: three across the midsection and four in the yoke, counting the same-fabric lining. The midsection panels were sewn together first. Then the two outer yoke panels came together, and were sewn to the midsection as a single piece. The lining would be added on Day 5.

In the above, you can see the chalk hashmarks that are made when sewing together curves. If you’ve ever sewn anything on a curve, you know it’s tricky business, and can be confusing. Thankfully, I didn’t have to do any of that. You can also see the topstitching on the light grey wool; most of the seams in the jacket are topstitched for strength. You wouldn’t see that in traditionally tailored jackets (suits and such), but this is a different garment. I think it looks cool, anyhow.

We then placed the pocket and determined how it was going to be finished. Pockets and zippers are a complex business; definitely not something for the faint of heart. A piece was sewn to the face of the jacket, and then turned inside, giving support to the pocket edge. We were going to do zipper garages (little light grey covers on both ends of the zipper), but a fully-hidden zipper was more appealing (you can see it, pre-final sewing, in the 3rd shot). A folded layer of light grey hides the zipper, and the pocket is made from black satin, which we bar-tacked into place.

After the pocket was perfect, we attached the fronts to the yoke, and then the sides to the back.

Nothing is pressed yet, but you can start to see how it’s coming together.

Next up: the articulated, three-piece sleeves.

Here’s the inside of one.

And the outside of two. I changed the shoulder shape somewhat from the first pattern, bringing it up my shoulder about an inch. The higher shoulders should make that part of the jacket appear softer; it’ll be shaped more by my actual shoulder than by the seam. You’ll note in the photos that the cuffs are angled: this should show off a little cuff (traditional style) while giving the extra length needed to keep warm during more athletic pursuits.

Day 5: collar, lining, bottom band, sleeve attachment, zipper!

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Jacket-Making, Day 2

Dec 28, ’09 4:15 PM

Day two of my jacket-making extravaganza was all about figuring out how to make a multi-piece, articulated sleeve. We have been using the Nau Urbane Jacket as a pattern, generally, because I love the way it fits. It’s a bit more motor-cycle-y style than I want to create with this jacket (I’m looking for more of a human-powered-cycle look), but it’s not too far off. We’re modifying it by making a sleeker, double layer, one-pocket front, and a more interesting, multi-panel (unlined) back. The sleeves will be unlined, too. My arms and back get hot, so I think this probably makes sense.

One note: I’ve NEVER done this before. My mom is an amazing sewer-person, and knows how to make things, but she’s never done this before, either. So we traced it. Literally laid Swedish Tracing Paper over the jacket and traced it. Tracing dark fabric isn’t easy, but it’s possible to generally follow the seams with a pen. After a little adjusting yesterday, we got the body/vest area of the jacket to fit, which felt like a big win to me.  We made the whole thing a little longer than the Nau jacket, and made a two-piece yoke:

If you don’t know, a yoke is the panel that wraps from the back of the jacket/shirt/whatever over the top of your shoulders. By putting it into two pieces (separated in the middle by a seam), we’re able to give the jacket more flexibility around the shoulders cutting the fabric on the bias. Most woven fabric doesn’t stretch along or across the grain, but it will flex on the diagonal. By turning the fabric 45 degrees, we get more stretch and generally +10 awesomeness.

After tracing the arm of the jacket (the underarm was a royal pain in the ass), I ended up with these pattern pieces.

The one on the left wraps over the top of the arm, and the one in the upper right is the underarm piece that has an ungodly amount of complex curves in it. I assume there is some sort of purpose to that, so I can’t complain. The little piece is what I’m calling the “wrist” piece, and fills out the sleeve.

You can also see the color of the fabric we’re using here. The dark wool on the right will make up the majority of the piece.

I pinned the pieces together to see if things matched, and…

Oh my gosh they fit.

At this point, I was wondering if the pattern was going to work in the real world, with fabric and thread. So I had a beer, watched a movie, and took a nap while my mom pieced it together in muslin, to test.

Oh my gosh it works!

Next step: putting it together for real.

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Jacket-Making, Day 1

Dec 26, ’09 9:53 PM

For some time now, I’ve had a pretty strong desire to make clothing. I repair my clothes by hand relatively frequently, know a bit about fabric thanks to my mom being a quilter, and am pretty nerdy about men’s fashion, particularly when it comes to construction and quality.

And every winter when I’m home, I have access to both a huge stockpile of fabric, knowledge, equipment and ideas, all belonging to my mom.

It’s hard for me to find clothes that I like. It’s especially hard to find clothes that work in quasi-athletic scenarios (commuting, hiking, etc.) and function well in quasi-professional scenarios (working at a marketing consultancy, etc.).

So I’m trying to make the above jacket out of a dark charcoal worsted wool, with grey worsted wool panels where appropriate. It’s inspired by bike jackets, and will have a single chest pocket that opens from the side. The collar will be pretty big (2.5″ or 3″), and the diagonal hand-holes may differ from the above… there might be a thumb-opening. I think it’ll be interesting to see a lot of the traditional athletic-garment elements executed in what is a pretty nice (though not Super 110s or anything really thin/fancy) suiting fabric. Hopefully it’ll be done before I go home.

Today was day one of that process:

Starting with my recent coat purchase as a template (the Nau Urbane Jacket, size Large), I used something called Swedish Tracing Paper, which supposedly allows you to trace a garment, cut out a pattern, and then even sew the pattern together to test. And yes, it works. You can do just that: trace the pieces, add a seam allowance, and pin the thing together.

Note: you look rather silly trying on unfinished garments.

We’ve got the pattern for the body, but it’s a bit tight in parts, and a bit loose in others.

Stay tuned for Day 2, when we work on the sleeves, the collar, the details, and the fit.

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A good weekend

Oct 19, ’08 11:06 AM

Breakfast
I made some breakfast.

Frye Brando Lace-ups
I got some new boots from Zappos, which is nothing short of an amazing experience. They upgraded me for free to overnight shipping. These are Frye Brando lace-ups in Cognac.

Levi\
And I mended my favorite jeans.

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I shall have thee.

Mar 10, ’08 3:17 PM

Acapulco Gold NY/Lakers Union Collabo Tee

From Acapulco Gold NY comes the Lakers Union Collaboration tee. I found this about a year and a half ago, and had lost it. It is no longer in print. If I can find one, I will buy one. If I cannot, I will make one.

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New windows

Feb 7, ’08 7:50 PM

My new glasses || exitcreative

I got some new glasses the other day, and they’ve finally come in. Every once in a while you need to re-assess your facial accessories (hair, glasses, etc.), right? I am incredibly happy with them; they came from D/Vision Optical and the people there are pretty dang helpful.

Pretty stoked. Good glasses are expensive, but I think they may be worth it.

They are by Salt Optics – got some sunglasses from them in 2004 and I loved them until I sat on them in the El on an inebriated ride home. Sad. These are called “Carter” and they are in a colorway called “Blanched Almond”. I’m a little hesitant to have a Golden Girls name in my glasses color but whatever, they’re cool.

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Thanks Mom!

Jan 14, ’08 4:09 PM

My New Scarf

For my new scarf. It came today in the mail. She made it.

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UNIQLO

Dec 4, ’06 11:16 AM

uniqlo.jpg

When I was in New York a couple weeks back, I made a point to visit UNIQLO. It’s an amazing store, and if you have an opportunity, you must visit one of their stores. I hope they’re all as done-up as the flagship at 546 Broadway in Manhattan.

Having worked in retail, I recognized immediately that this store is possibly one of the world’s most difficult to maintain. To promote their modestly-priced cashmere and merino wool sweaters, they’ve lined the walls with wool-packed shelves up to their (very) high ceilings (according to Glenn O’Brien of men.style.com: 34 shelves at the highest point). But the store is immaculate, everything is folded to perfection, and even on the busiest shopping days of the year (I went the Saturday after Thanksgiving), there’s no mess and the lines move quickly. It’s a paragon of retail management.

I believe a clothing brand’s strongest marketing tool (other than the actual clothes it produces) can be its store. If managed appropriately and styled/designed to be a manifestation of the brand–that is, not merely an outlet or location where goods are sold–then a store can really be effective in this way. Abercrombie & Fitch does this effectively…they spend minimally on display advertising, and have chosen to make their stores into “party zones” where their brand advocates can hang out, see and be seen, and occasionally buy some heavily-branded fleece.

Anyhow, UNIQLO has done this exceedingly well. Their brand is about simplicity and integration, and no-fuss DIY fashion. According to their Fall/Winter product guide, which is a rather cubic little book measuring 11×11 CM, and is pictured above…

“Clothing says a lot, but you can say it better. Rather than dictate a look, UNIQLO creates versatile “finished components,” from t-shirts and sweater to denim, outerwear and trend items, providing people everywhere with the pieces they need to create their own style. All of our clothes are made according to exacting Japanese standards for quality and come in an astonishing variety of colors and styles. [ed. note: Very true. The Cashmere V-Neck comes in 18 different hues] Welcome to UNIQLO.”

Perfect. So they’re all about the customer. Someone who cares about their clothes, but cares more about how they look in their wardrobe. They like simplicity and the ability to make their own style, rather than something mandated from on high. And the inside of the store is set-up to promote this idea. Everything is easy-to-find, and grouped with similar items (not with items that “go” together). In the front of the shop are perhaps 25 spinning mannequins with different serving suggestions, but there’s no unifying “UNIQLO Look” that a person has to follow in order to fit in with the brand. Nice.

And another thing: none of their pieces have a logo that’s visible on the outside. The only thing that identifies my particular sweater as a UNIQLO item is a tiny red square on the inside of the neckline. So again, it’s all about the wearer, not about being branded.

I copped a gray and a blue v-neck, as well as a pair of boxer briefs. As a side note, I highly recommend the boxer briefs. Extraordinarily comfortable and hold their shape over time. On my way out, I picked up a copy of the UNIQLO Paper No. 1, titled, From Tokyo to New York. Inside are some interesting articles from Glenn O’Brien, Masaharu Morimoto and others. Actually a decent read. So pop on over to UNIQLO and discover this brand.

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