School Supplies: A.P.C. Army Petit Standards

-I can't believe I'd never run across these pants before, I've been on the hunt for slim army-green pants for a minute now. I've never been the biggest fan of A.P.C. (ubiquity, price, etc.,) But I'm really digging these. I always thought the Petit Standard would appeal to me more than the New Standard, given my taste in cut.
-Portland's Francis May has these, but it's probably a good thing they're out of my size, or I might be dropping $190 on a pair right now (but does anyone know anywhere else that has these in stock? 32.)
-Kind of a side note, but about five (ish?) years ago there was a spring GQ spread that had these great, dark green Gucci jeans. Ever since then I've wanted some dark green denim. It seems that, with all the great raw denim experimentation that's going on right now, someone could make a great dark green denim that would fade into some great hues. The pair above isn't denim, they're cotton gabardine, so more like a khaki but cut like any other Petit Standard. I had a pair of Levi's khakis cut like jeans that I thought were pretty ace, so the A.P.C.s could maybe sate my hunger until someone executes on my green denim idea. more

School Supplies: The Early Spring Virtual Shopper

-I was browsing End's Web site and found myself wishing I had quite a few of the items to help me navigate the daily weather variations of Northwest springtime. I don't do a lot of assembled looks because I think that actual fit on the body is the most important thing you can share if you're blogging about looks, but all of these items are things I'd snag without question if I had the dough. I blogged about Heritage Research parkas before, and of all the incredible high-end parkas out there, I think their versions are my favorite. I really love pairing denim or chambray shirts with bright red and that Edwin crewneck is about as good as a sweatshirt can get. I'm still on the hunt for some slim khakis, and though I probably wouldn't ever spend more than $200 on a pair, these ones look great. The loafers tie back in the navy from the parka, and I added the bag just for good measure. 

-Heritage Research British millerain longline parka, $327

-Edwin corps sweatshirt, $117

-Levi's vintage sawtooth denim shirt, $187

-A.P.C. classic slim-fit chino, $246

-Surface 2 Air moccasin tassle loafer, $141

-Mismo weekend bag, $448

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School Supplies: A.P.C.

-While my co-editor spurned A.P.C. denim a little while back, I felt slightly inspired by his post and decided it was time for me to ditch my dad's old 501s and make my own first-ever raw denim purchase. I am neither rich nor ridiculously skinny, so I figured it would be quite a challenge. Luckily, I found a deal on a pair of A.P.C. New Standards, and am excited to see how they turn out.
-Hypebeast recently interviewed A.P.C. founder Jean Touitou regarding the brand's future as well as the growing number of A.P.C. retail stores throughout the world. Touitou discusses an upcoming collaboration with Supreme and shares some kind words regarding fashion in Scandinavia, stating that "even small Scandinavian cities have a strong sense of inventive fashion." As I will be living in Aalborg, Denmark for the next four months, I will be capturing instances of said "inventive fashion" and sharing them in our new 'Study Abroad' section. Until then, check out the A.P.C. website. more

School Supplies: Summer School Wants

1-Supreme camera bag, because all pro camera gear is ugly (until I graduate from design school, that is.) $68 from Supreme.

2-A.P.C. Petite Standard, because the New Standard is too full for us skinny dudes. $155 from Context.

3-Salmon bow tie by COTO, because I'm renewing my obsession with bow ties. $75 from COTO.

4- Zoom Stefan Janoski SB pro model, because my Dunks are worn through and I share Stef's belief in a simpler, lower skate shoe. $70-80 at a skateshop near you. 

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Podiatry: Kicks Rundown

-Once again I've gathered the best from the various sneakerblogs and brought you my faves.
-Fly to Berlin to get one of the 12 pairs of these Sold Out x Asics Gel Lyte IIs. Then we have A.P.C for Nike All-Court. Next is the 'grapes' colorway version of the Supra 'cruzier' model. D&G chuck-looking patent leather sneaks. Ghetto staple L.A. Gear is coming back soon with upgraded materials and colorways. Finally, a Crooks & Castles x Vans collaboration on the Freemont High model.
-Click photo for greater detail. more

Dress Code: Dirty Your Denim

-This post from Hypebeast about a new A.P.C. line, first rumored in July, in which the jeans have actually been worn in by real people before they're sold, got me thinking about a number of denim related things. As genius or ignorant you might think the idea of wearing already worn jeans is, I think it's a better approach to distressing jeans than sanding with power tools, at least the lines will be authentic. And you get half off if you trade in your old A.P.Cs which is a good gimmick.
-It seems like I've bean seeing a lot of talk lately about how to wash your denim. A Continous Lean recently offered his once yearly method for washing his A.P.C. New Standards. In a feature in the September GQ in which top denim designers were interviewed, Carl Chiara, lead designer for Levi's Capital E and Red lines advocated never washing your jeans. In the same article Rogan Gregory of Rogan said the only way he'll wash his jean is by jumping in the ocean and letting them sun dry. The article also featured Jean Touitou, badass creator of the aforementioned New Standard, which have become increasingly popular in the last few years. Then in the October GQ (you know, the Megan Fox one) there was a question to The Style Guy about whether or not dry cleaning was an option for denim, to which Glenn O'Brien replied that simply airing out your jeans is the best way to keep them fresh, but if they start to smell or you spill something on them, dry cleaning won't fade them too much .
-The essential truth here is that, whether you're wearing the rarest raw Japanese selvedge or 511s (see previous post,) washing your jeans fades the color and kills that character. And drying is just out of the question. My boy N. Fenn is doing good with his first pair of raws (by Manik, $120,) he hasn't washed them yet and it's been about two months.
-So here is my method (I learned it from Seb,) which I use for my one pair of raws and for the 511s that I wear almost every day. I take my jeans and put them on a chair outside and blast them with the hose at pretty high pressure. I focus my spray on stains. Then I let them hang dry outside. I never do this more than once a month (I know ACL says once a year, but it's the northwest, we get our jeans dirty.)
-I like the hose approach because it removes large particles but leaves a ghost of what was there before. In the 511s I'm wearing right now I can see mattes of bicycle grease, blood from a skating injury from last week, mustard from my El Capitan polish dog. But because of the hose it's nicely blended, but the character, the story told in the denim, remains.
-And just a note, I heard about Naked & Famous jeans a little while back and I think they're going to be my second pair of raws. The denim comes from the rarest Japanese producers and straight to a wearhouse in Canada and on to the customer, sans any of the embroidery or gimmickery the drives up the price of premium denim. They've got a blend of 70% raw denim and 30% silk that I'm interested in feeling.
-That was pretty long but, you know, spray your jeans with the hose.
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