$7.50 Sperry Topsiders

I had some time to kill the other night so I stopped by the thrift store. I was about to leave without finding anything when I spotted a pair of Topsiders.

Normally causal shoes (and really most shoes) at the thrift store are in less than desirable condition, but these Topsiders looked almost unworn. On top of that, they were my size, and only $7.50! So I snagged them, sprayed them with a little Lysol when I got home, and then were good to go the next day.

Very little wear on the sole
I've got a pair of the Authentic Originals in the classic dark brown with white soles, but I think that the pair is actually much easier to wear, and more practical during the colder months.

The footbeds were in good shape (the indentation is from my insole)

Cocktail reviews from EJ Forbes' blog

I've written before about the great job that Ed Forbes does on his blog writing about different cocktails. Since I started reading his blog, I've tried making one of his cocktails each weekend. Here are the ones I have tried so far, along with my thoughts on some of them.


Scotch sour- This is pretty much your basic whiskey sour, though the scotch does add a slightly different flavor. I have to admit that this was the first whiskey sour I had ever made not using sour mix. It was pretty tart; I think the lemon could be cut back a little bit.


Knickerbocker- Basically just a gin martini (redundant, I know) with a dash of sweet vermouth. I usually have a hard time drinking martinis, but just the dash of sweet vermouth made this a very pleasant drink.


Black Feather- I tried this one last weekend and really enjoyed it. Maybe a little heavy on the cointreau, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, but there is a good depth of flavor here.


Between the Sheets- I usually avoid drinks with silly/sexual names, but this one was pretty good. I'd suggest boosting the gin a little bit.


Boss Tweed- This one was good as well, though I would cut back on the lemon juice as I found it somewhat overwhelming.


Satan's Whiskers- This was really a nice drink as well. Pretty well balanced.

Check out all the rest of Ed's cocktails over on his blog. I'm sure that you can find at least one (or two, or three) that strike your fancy, assuming you have a taste for fairly classic cocktails.

Warning about Components of Enthusiasm/Pursuit Aesthetic - UPDATE

UPDATE:
It looks like the problems over at Components of Enthusiasm and Pursuit Aesthetic have been fixed. I've added them back to my blog roll and would suggest checking them out, if you haven't already. Paul at COE has a great new layout, and he is currently featured in the latest "Aesthete" post over at Pursuit Aesthetic.

In case you were late to the party, it would appear that both blogs got hacked and upon visit their sites, a malware program installed itself on your computer. If you have gotten this malware on your computer, it will have some stuff popping up telling you that you have some sort of trojan and all of these other things wrong with your computer and will block you from sites like Facebook and Blogger, go install this free program from Malwarebytes.org http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php. It is Cnet approved, so you won't have to worry about it. If you haven't seen any of that happening, you're probably alright. Anyways, I hope this has helped or can help other avoid some headache.

LL Bean Continental Rucksack: Then and Now

Chris Robinson from R and R Review (which is desperately in need of an update) pointed these out to me today, and I don't think I had ever seen them before. He was looking for a bag in anticipation of an upcoming trip to the Continent, and I believe that these are on his short list. I think these bags highlight a job-well-done on Bean's part of offering a classic item, as well as an updated version, so that they might satisfy customers who are looking for both.

According to the website, the Waxed Cotton Continental Rucksack is based on a bag that was originally introduced in 1930. It has all of the old school detail one could want: classic styling, waxed cotton construction, buckling leather straps, and (synthetic) shearling shoulder straps. Overall, this is a very handsome bag, and I think that one would be hard-pressed to find a better option if they were looking for this style of bag. And at $90, it is fairly reasonably priced.

The Classic Continental Rucksack is clearly a modern interpretation of the previous bag. While I am typically opposed to this sort of thing, I think that Bean did a good job of keeping the spirit and design of the original while giving it the modern features (zippers, recycled polyester construction, modern styling) to allow it to be a competitive choice with similar bags. And at $40, the price is really hard to beat.

If I had to choose one, believe it or not, I'd probably have to go with the waxed cotton one. It would be a tough decision, though.

"Hipster's Guide to Birmingham"

Photo credit: latfh

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you'll know that two of the softest spots I have in my heart are for Birmingham and for hipsters. Sometime, in spite of not being a hipster, I am really aware of the hipster culture in the Magic City, but for those of you who are not as informed, someone on freeThinkBham (some sort of Birmingham young people's Marxist website that I am not generally endorsing) created the "Hipster's Guide to Birmingham." After reading it, I think they did a pretty good job and pretty much covered all of the bases. I liked the fact that friends of mine helped start two of the businesses mentioned in the guide (Urban Standard and Bici Coop). If this sounds like something that's up your alley, give it a read.

*Hat tip to Carrie Rollwagen for posting this on Facebook and bringing it to my attention

Nothing like a dead animal on your wall make your room look more badass

Picked this up today at Kudzu in Decatur (which I wrote about in November). Perhaps it is fitting that my version of deer hunting happens at an antique market rather than in the woods. I assume it's a whitetail, can anyone verify this for me? As much as I like bird hunting, I have yet to do any deer hunting. There is always next season, I suppose.

The rack is pretty small, but he is in good condition and was 25% off. Now I am finally on track to acquiring a taxidermy set to compete with the Hovey sisters (highlights here, here, here, and here), but that will be a long road.

Drake Old School Camo

Although duck season is pretty much over, the appearance of camo on several of the clothing blogs lately (as Greg mentions here) reminded me of this.

Drake is one of the better-known makers of waterfowl clothing and accessories, all of which come in a variety of the latest and greatest camos (Max-4 HD, Mossy Oak Duckblind, etc.). However, they recently introduced a line of gear in the waterfowl camo of old, what they are calling their "Old School Camo."

This stuff looks great, and if you were so possessed to wear camo in some sort of non-hunting environment (not that I am endorsing it), I think this should be your first choice. As for its use in the field, while it may not look like a photo of a marsh like some of the modern camos do, there is no telling how many thousands of ducks have been shot over the decades by guys wearing this stuff, so I would say that its pedigree is already spoken for. So whether you're sitting in a freezing duck blind at 6:30 in the morning, or riding your fixie through the streets of Brooklyn, here are some highlights:

EST Heat-Escape Waterproof Button-Up Shirt

MST Waterfowl Fleece-Lined Full Zip

Old School LST Down Coat

MST Fleece-Lined Pant

Check out the whole line here.

An English flask, Southern style

This past Friday my brother returned from a month-long study abroad trip to London. Having also gone last year and not bringing me back any sort of souvenir, I made it quite clear to him that I expected him to bring me back something this year since he was fortunate enough to go to London (twice!) while I was not able to go back when I was in school. I did, however, give him little guidance into what I wanted him to bring me, except to tell him that I expected something that I could not purchase here in the US.

So, upon he return this weekend, he produced this flask as my souvenir. At first I wasn't sure what to think, but after reflecting on it a while, I am pretty glad about it.

Now, in spite of how much I love the South, I have never been much a of a "Confederate flag guy." However, I do think that this flask manages to just cross to the better side of that thin line between tacky and charming. It is pewter and was made in Sheffield, England, so it does have a good Anglo heritage. While it isn't another Barbour jacket, it's certainly not something that I would ever buy for myself, but I like it, and am glad that this is my souvenir. Thanks, brother.

The State of Georgia--Music Capital of the World

In case you weren't aware, the two biggest songs to come out in the past two weeks have both come from Georgia. Please enjoy.

Style Icon- G. Bruce Boyer

Photo credit: The Sartorialist

In case you didn't know, G. Bruce Boyer is an author and was fashion editor at Town & Country, GQ, and Esquire. I think that he is one of the most stylish men in America. He has really done so much for promoting American style (as opposed to American or Italian), and that is clear in his own style choices. He is dressy without being pretentious or stuff, and conservative but with enough small touches to keep it from being boring (like his penchant for only wearing suede shoes).

I was given a copy of his book, Elegance- A Guide to Quality in Menswear (thanks Alan C.) and it is one of the best books about clothing that I own.

Here are some various photos of him from the interwebs.

Photo credit: The Sartorialist

Photo credit: The Sartorialist

Photo credit: The Sartorialist

Photo credit: The Sartorialist

G. Bruce Boyer (along with Andy Gilchrist and Alex Kabbaz) sporting a Barbour jacket at last year's Collection of Sartorial Excellence (Photo credit: Collection of Sartorial Excellence).