Penny loafers for women at J. Crew

I was looking through the most recent J. Crew and was surprised to see that they are now offering a classic penny loafer for women, made by Bass, nonetheless. In spite of being popular with women during the 80s, and presumably during the 60s (the high points in preppy style), I'm not sure that I've seen a girl in peer group wearing a pair. Ever.

Seeing as how J. Crew has managed to emerge as more of a trendsetter than a trend-follower, it will be interesting to see if any other retailers follow suit. It should be noted that J. Crew is currently asking $120 for this pair of shoes. If you ask me, that's pretty ridiculous. Then again, crazy-high prices at J. Crew seem to be the rule rather than the exception nowadays...

A Trip Down South street style

A couple of months ago, my friend Eric Holsomback, a graphic designer and photographer in Birmingham, mentioned that he was interested in getting into the "street style" photos. I was in Birmingham about a month ago for my brother's graduation, so I got in touch with Eric and we met up, along with our friend Sarah Margaret, and we took some photos. The photos came out pretty great, in spite of the model. Be sure to check them out, and also be sure to check out Eric's blog and some of his other photography.





A few notes:
1. My look was somewhat inspired by the guys at Sid Mashburn. The execution was nowhere near as good.
2. The tie should have been a bit longer
3. The jeans have since been hemmed
4. Posing for such pictures is much more awkward and narcissistic-feeling than it looks

Southern Staple: Buffalo Trace bourbon

While I wouldn't consider myself a bourbon connoisseur, I would consider myself a bourbon enthusiast. I haven't tried as many of the high-end bourbons as I would like to, but I do know what I like.

For my 23rd birthday, my buddy Sanders gave me a bottle of Buffalo Trace bourbon,. I was unfamiliar with it because, at the time, it was only sold in Kentucky. I really liked it, and was impressed with its drinkability, especially at 90 proof, and I've been hooked ever since. It's sweeter than some bourbons, but in my opinion, not as sweet as Maker's Mark, which I know some true bourbon fans aren't too keen on. It's more expensive than Jim Beam, but a little cheaper than Maker's, so I feel like it's at a good price point as well. It's good for making Manhattans, Old Fashioneds, Mint Juleps, drinking on the rocks, or even drinking straight with a splash of water.

Buffalo Trace is produced at, not surprisingly, the Buffalo Trace Distillery which is located in Frankfort, Kentucky. The distillery is owned by the Sazerac Corporation and also produces Sazerac rye, Ancient Age, Elmer T. Lee, and, perhaps most famous of all, Blanton's. They also produce an annual "Antique Collection" of limited release whiskeys, of which I know that Tucker is a fan. These can be expensive and hard to find, and while I'm sure they're good, I think I'm just going to stick with the regular one.

Buffalo Trace can be found in Birmingham and now in Atlanta. Which is awesome.

Volunteer Traditions

You may remember my post back in December about the Southern state flag belts being sold Traditional State/Volunteer Traditions. While I recommended the products back then, I hadn't actually put my hands on any of them. Well, a couple of weeks ago, Mason, the founder of the company, offered to send me a few of their products to check out for myself. While they had previously been selling their products under both the names "Volunteer Traditions" and "Traditional State," they recently decided to consolidate things and sell them all under the (original) name "Volunteer Traditions." While there is always the threat of isolating potential non-Tennessee SEC, as I told Mason, I think that it was wise move and that "Volunteer Traditions" is a solid name. The products for states other than Tennessee are sold under their new "Heritage Line."

Mason sent me one of their new Georgia flag hats, an Alabama belt (I went to school in Alabama), as well as a pair of Croakies and a koozie (that's a whole nother post, though). I know that Daryl from Southern Gent and Jay from Red Clay Soul recently talked about how good their products are, but really, once I got my hands on them, I was impressed.

The belts are made by Leather Man Ltd., who, in my opinion, make the best emblematic belts on the market, and these are certainly no exception. The backing is khaki-colored, and looks really good with khakis. Also, the flags are slightly bigger than the flags on another flag belt I have, and I think this makes them look even better. The hat is probably where I was most impressed. While I am not a big "hat guy," I do own my fair share and wear them from time to time. While Jay noted on his post that the hats are not too shallow, I would like to point out, that the hat is not too deep either (that being my number one complaint about a lot of hats). In fact, I would say that the hat is the Goldilocks of hats, and is basically just right. The koozie and Croakies are both solid as well, and I've got to say that I really like the dog logo on the koozie.

If you haven't looked at the Volunteer Tradition website in a while, be sure to pay it a visit. They have expanded their offerings, and from what I have tried out, they are solid. Also, their prices are still very good. While Mason didn't indicate whether they have any other states in the works, here's to hoping.

Wickles: The most delicious pickles. Ever.

I am not a big pickle fan. For the first 20 or so years of my life I would make every effort to remove any pickles that happened to sneak their way onto my sandwiches, or would specifically ask for them to be left off. For the last five or six years, though, I have begun to embrace pickles, even going so far as to add them to my food sometime. Still, I'm not a huge fan.

That is, until my friends in Birmingham, Abby and Jane, introduced me to Wickles pickles. Like so many other good things, Wickles are made in Alabama (Dadeville, to be specific) and while they seem innocuous at first, a closer inspection will reveal chopped garlic and two chili peppers floating in the brine. It is those chili peppers that give Wickles their kick--a nice touch of heat that comes after the initial sweetness. While they certainly add a lot to sandwiches, hamburgers, and likely to tuna salad, Wickles are good enough to eat on their own (even for non-pickle lovers like me).

While the Wickles company has a whole line of products, including pickle relish, red pepper relish, pepper strips, banana pepper strips, and pickled okra, I have only tried the pickles at this point, though I would certainly like to try the others. In fact, if the good people at Wickles would like to ship me a gift pack, or a 64 oz. jar of regular Wickles, I would certainly be obliged to give them a taste.

Although I have no looked extensively, I have so far only been able to find Wickles pickles in Birmingham. I've been to two Publixes (Publices?) in Atlanta that had some of their other products, but not the pickles. Fortunately, all of their products are available on their website, and the pickles are just $4.95 a jar. If you remotely like sweet pickles, I highly suggest giving these a try, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Opinion on the Fire Station No. 22/Bogues/Walgreen situation in Birmingham

As someone who loves Birmingham dearly, but also went to school with the specific desire to be a real estate developer, I am a little divided on the Fire Station No. 22/Bogues/Walgreens situation that is going on right now. However, in seeing how other people are reacting to the situation, I don't think that most of them are thinking about the situation very objectively. Here are some of my thoughts on the subject. **Warning: Likely to not be a popular opinion**

While I certainly don't think that it is a good idea to flippantly tear down historic buildings, the former fire station building is completely out of any sort of "historic" context based on the other buildings around it (um, giant Fiserv building across the street, anyone?), and is really kind of an ugly building that happens to have some Spanish Colonial Revival styling. If people love this old fire station so much, why has the city owned it for so long? Why didn't someone else come to the City and offer them $200,000 for it?


From 32nd Street South, the fire station does look fairly nice.

But from Clairmont Avenue, the fire station looks like a Spanish Colonial Revival snout-house.

People are also really concerned about tearing down the Bogues building. First off, while Bogues is a good restaurant, I'm not denying that, it is just a restaurant and can move elsewhere. After all, people go to the restaurant for the food, right? I haven't heard anyone complain about how the food at the old Fish Market location used to be so much better than the food at the new one. Second of all, neither the inside nor the outside of the Bogues building have any sort of character or architectural merit, and it sits in the middle of a big, ugly parking lot. Trying to argue otherwise is silly.


Good breakfast? Yes. Good building? No.

In between these buildings sits a large eyesore of a mechanic's shop, as well as some other gross brown building. None of these buildings (aside from the fire station, maybe) offer any sort of character to the block other than highlighting the fact that it is run-down. Just because something is more than 25 years old doesn't mean it automatically has character, and in fact, some of the ugliest buildings were built between the 1950s and 1970s. Additionally, unlike parts of the block father to the west, there are absolutely no trees along the street in front of these buildings. It's not like the block would be losing a valuable streetscape either.


Would a Walgreens be more attractive than this? I don't think I'm stepping out on a limb by saying "yes."

Do I support putting a Walgreens on this site? Not necessarily. I do agree that most Walgreens contribute little more to their surroundings than a suburban blandness. But to date, no one else has stepped up to assemble this land in order to build a beautiful mixed-use building on the site, and in the end, cities are kept alive by redevelopment. Cities cost money to run, and that money doesn't grow on trees.

I think that there have been examples within past several years of cities being strong about what sort of site layout and design elements they want and forcing national retailers to comply (there are an increasing number of examples of Walmart doing this). The chain pharmacy stores do extensive research about what locations they want and have shown time and again that when they find a site that they like, they are willing to do just about whatever it takes to secure that site (including paying very high land prices). In other words, I don't think that signing online petitions and starting Facebook groups is really going to stop Walgreens from moving forward if that's what they want to do. Instead, I think effort should be made to work with Walgreens to build a store that will, as they state, bring additional tax revenue to the city, but also be an attractive building that contributes to the character of the street. The latter shouldn't be that hard considering how little character already exists on that block right now.

But at the end of the day, why shouldn't Walgreens be allowed to build here, and build a drive-through while they're at it? They provide a good service, they are likely in compliance with current zoning, and they build moderately attractive (if not architecturally uninspired) buildings. It's not like someone is proposing to put a strip club here, it's just a pharmacy. And it's not like this particular block is a core, pedestrian-oriented part of downtown Birmingham surrounded by numerous other historic buildings.

Our cities are not museums. They are living, breathing things. They get old, they get sick, and if they're not taken care of, they will eventually die. Unlike people and animals, though, cities can be revived. But in the way that trees have to be pruned to get the most fruit, sometimes older buildings have to be torn down to be able to make an area better.

I worked in the planning department at Birmingham-based KPS Group for over a year-and-a-half and believe that I learned principles of good design and planning there. With the "greedy developer" perspective that I developed in grad school, maybe I am missing something. However, I think that I am being pretty objective and realistic here. Based on all of the knee-jerk reactions that I have read so far, I wish that others would calm down for a second and consider it from another perspective. Regardless, I will be interested to see how this all plays out.

(All images from Google Streetview. Maybe I will take some real pictures when I am in Birmingham this weekend to replace these).

Postscript- I recognize that that is my first post after my "hiatus." Yes, I do hope to resume blogging on a regular basis again, and have some ideas lined up for some new posts. Thank you to everyone for their kind words.

On Hiatus

In case you haven't noticed, I haven't really been updating much lately. Part of this has been due to being busy, part of this has been due to being lazy, and part of this has been due to being uninspired lately.

As I find it frustrating when other blogs simply stop updating without any explanation, I figured I would attempt to give some reason for my lack of updates lately and for my blogging hiatus for the near-future. I do apologize to those of you who read and enjoy my blog on a regular basis, and you have no idea how much I appreciate you and your comments. I'm not sure when I will update again--it may be a few weeks or it may be a few months. In the meantime, please continue to check out the blogs on my blogroll, and follow me on Twitter as I do find that I have more time for 140-character updates. Thanks.

Trip

Good News: Heavy Tweed Jacket is back

Maybe I'm late to the party on this one, but as quietly as he vanished, HTJ has returned to the blogosphere (and with a handful of new posts, no less). Go check it out.

Sanders: True Southerner, True American

My Magic City Lacrosse buddy, Sanders, posted these slightly narcissistic pictures of himself on Facebook. After seeing these pictures, and getting his permission, I decided that these needed to be shared with the wider world because they are simply too bad-ass/hilarious. This is what happens when you put a Hampden-Sydney boy in West Virginia.

Blogger Survey: Ideal Shorts Length

Lands End Plain Front 6" Legacy Chino Shorts--my shorts of choice

The Concept
It seems like whenever the weather starts to warm and people start pulling their shorts out of winter hibernation, debates inevitably ensue regarding the "correct" length for shorts. Some men prefer a 9" inseam while others wouldn't think of going longer than 6" while still others will insist that anything under 7" is simply scandalous.

It occurred to me that these debates are essentially moot since everyone's legs are different lengths, but I wondered if most of these men imagined them hitting around the same place on the leg. Essentially, I wondered if there was a common ratio for the "ideal" length for shorts. So, I conducted a survey of a number of bloggers whose opinions I respect and whose blogs I enjoy, and tried to figure out what that ratio is.

The Survey
I figured the easiest way to figure out the ratio was to compare the inseam of everyones' go-to shorts to the typical inseam of their pants. I asked each of the bloggers: 1. Their preferred length of shorts; 2. The inseam of a typical pair of pants; and 3. Their go-to brand/style of shorts. I will note that many of the bloggers elucidated on their choices, and it often wasn't an easy "Shorts length is X inches; Pants length is Y inches," so I did my best to interpret what each person sent in and have tried to simply it for the sake of the calculations. Below for each blogger you will see the lengths I have interpreted for each person based on their response, and have included, verbatim, their favorite type of shorts. Without further ado, here are their responses (in no particular order):

The Data
Greg of Manifold Destiny
Shorts Inseam- 8"
Pants Inseam- 32"
Go-To Shorts Preference- "Vineyard Vines Twill Club Shorts. Sortof expensive, but I bought a pair at Dick Ferguson's in Athens my junior year of college (5 years ago) and they are still going strong."

Max of all plaidout
Shorts Inseam- 7"
Pants Inseam- 33"
Go-To Shorts Preference- "Honestly don't have one. I have favorite pairs from Tommy Hilfiger, J Crew, Polo, and Murray's Toggery. I still wear a pair of Gap shorts that I bought when I was a freshman in high school. Khaki, Navy Twill, Nantucket Red, and OD Green."

Skip of Alex Grant
Shorts Inseam- 9"
Pants Inseam- 30"
Go-To Shorts Preference- "My go-to shorts are a pair of Polo plain front blue Gingham Shorts and a pair of Eddie Bauer plain front shorts in British Khaki. Both are probably over 5 years old."

Paul of Components of Enthusiasm
Shorts Inseam- 8"
Pants Inseam- 30"
Go-To Shorts Preference- "i'm in a bit of an transition with shorts, typically it's jcrew khaki shorts though."

Angelo of Class Act
Shorts Inseam- 7.5"
Pants Inseam- 32"
Go-To Shorts Preference- "my favorite shorts by far are a pair of cutoff Gap khaki trousers."

Fred of Unabashedly Prep
Shorts Inseam- 5"
Pants Inseam- 30"
Go-To Shorts Preference- "My go-to-shorts are plain front chinos by Rugby."

Daryl of Southern Gent
Shorts Inseam- 7"
Pants Inseam- 30"
Go-To Shorts Preference- "J. Crew Essential Chino, 7" shorts."

Conor of Young Man, Old Man
Shorts Inseam- 9"
Pants Inseam- 31"
Go-To Shorts Preference- "I don't have a ton of shorts but the ones I do are a mixed brand bag. I have bill's and bb's and some mossimo from target (really good actually). They are almost universally gth. Madras, and seersucker. In most cases when I would wear khaki shorts I think I'll do rolled khakis."

Lawrence of Sartorially Inclined
Shorts Inseam- 7.5"
Pants Inseam- 32"
Go-To Shorts Preference- "Honestly, I don't wear shorts all that much, but when I do J. Crew usually fits the bill with styling and price...their shirts suck, but I always got down with their bottoms."

Jay of Red Clay Soul
Shorts Inseam- 7"
Pants Inseam- 32"
Go-To Shorts Preference- "Khaki shorts: J. Crew Essentials 7" (flat front, of course)
Seersucker/Madras: Anything flat front...not too picky.
Weekend: Patagonia Stand Ups, Columbia Half Moons"

Foster of A Restless Transplant
Shorts Inseam- 9.5"
Pants Inseam- 32"
Go-To Shorts Preference- "Right now i am wearing some Save Khaki cut off khaki shorts. They are great. I also have a few pairs of draw string Rogues Gallery seersucker shorts that i wear when lounging or broing out."

Tucker of Tucker
Shorts Inseam- 9"
Pants Inseam- 32"
Go-To Shorts Preference- "Brooks Brothers Advantage shorts (Polo a close second, don't know the style, but they're both about 9")."

Justin of A Duck Gets Dressed
Shorts Inseam- 7"
Pants Inseam- 30"
Go-To Shorts Preference- "For shorts I usually wear a seven inch inseam, years ago I was a five inch inseam and would wear the hell out of a pair of Patagonia stand ups. They are still my go to shorts, but I throw in the occasional madras pants."

Trip of A Trip Down South
Shorts Inseam- 6"
Pants Inseam- 27" (yes, this is what happens when you are 5'6")
Go-To Shorts Preference- Lands End 6" Plain Front Legacy Chino Shorts

The Results
Average shorts inseam= 7.68"
Median shorts inseam= 7.5"
Average pants inseam= 31.27"
Median pants inseam= 31.5"

Ratio of pants inseam to shorts inseam:
Range= 2.91:1 to 6.00:1
Average= 4.17:1
Median= 4.27:1

Shorts inseam divided by pants inseam, as a percentage:
Range= 16.67% to 34.38%
Average= 24.57%
Median= 23.44%

(Can you tell that I do this kind of crap for my job?)

Conclusion/How to Use This Guide
First I have to say that I was somewhat surprised about the range of results from the survey. While there did appear to be a general trend, in the end personal preferences did win out. I was surprised to note, however, that while I prefer shorter shorts, there were three others who, as a percentage of their pants inseam, wear shorter shorts than me.

I would also like to point out that many of the guys survey indicated that they wear their pants with little to no break. While I tried to compensate for this where I could based on the information provided to me, this could have possibly skewed some of the results, resulting in lower ratios/higher percentages. It should also be noted that general body types/shapes were not accounted for in this survey, and that could certainly play a role in a person's length of preference.

So you might be asking yourself "What's the point of this? How does this apply to me and the length of shorts I should be wearing?" I would suggest that its most practical application is to take your pants inseam length and multiply it by 24.91%--the average shorts length as a percentage of pants inseam length. This would give you your "ideal" (according to the survey) length of shorts to wear. For example, I would multiply 27" by 24.57% and come up with 6.63, or 6-5/8 inches, rounded. Maybe slightly longer shorts would look better on me; I don't think I'm going to be giving up my 6" shorts anytime soon, though.

Thank You
I'm not sure if this is going to be any use to you, dear reader, but I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did putting it together. I want to extend a special "Thank You" to all of the bloggers who participated, and if you haven't checked out all of their blogs yet, I suggest you pay them a visit.