School Supplies: Thrift Find Camo Jacket

-My affinity for military gear is well-documented, and in a lot of recent posts I've noted that I need to get back to my high school thrifting habits. Looking for nothing in particular¹, I stopped by Value Village last week and found this Army jacket for $6. The jacket is thin and a little loose-fitting, so it's perfect to thrown over anything, especially when the temperature is decides to mimic fall (i.e. this week.)

-I don't have any idea what the patch with the sword means², but I dig little military details like that. I'm thinking about removing the name tag, as much as I like old stuff, I don't really like having someone else's name on my chest. Especially now that I'm doing some feature reporting again, and have to carry a number of notebooks, pens and pencils with me most days, I'm really stoked to have found a lightweight jacket with a ton of good-sized pockets.
1-Default things I'm always looking for at thrift shops: Carhartt pants, nice ties, old army shirts to turn into bow ties, old Levi's, blazers, etc. 
2-Update: Our friend Tommy V. did a bit of research, and it seems the patch is likely the insignia of the 201st Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, which is located just a ways down I-5 at Fort Lewis in Olympia. The local connection makes the garment that much better.  more

Summer School: Oi Polloi Sale Outerwear

-You're probably a seasoned enough shopper to know that summer is the time to find deals on outerwear. If you've been reading Class Act for awhile, you probably know that I'm on a seemingly endless quest to find the perfect parka, and since I'm always on the lookout, I thought I'd throw up some of the many outerwear deals available right now in Oi Polloi's sale section.
1- Barbour, Carbon Dry Fly Jacket, $197 down from $327.
2- Heritage Research, Longline Parka Millerain, $250 down from $313.
3- Fjallraven, Telemark II Jacket, $183 down from $260.

4. CP Company, Blouson, $615 down from $880.
5. Victorinox, Spring Parka, $224 down from $370.
6. Engineered Garments, Field Parka, $450 down from $640.
-This CP Company blouson is not quite 'bargain' fodder, but it's the first modern jacket I've seen with a window to see your watch and goggles built in to the hood for extreme weather conditions, which I think is pretty legit.

7-Nigel Cabourn, Packaway Coat, $394 down from $656.
8. Nom De Guerre, Trench Coat, $425 down from $708.
9. Engineered Garments, Nt Parka, $370 down from $530.
-As with all sale shopping, you have to get lucky with available sizes, but if you're in the market for some outerwear, hit up the summer sales before prices get inflated come fall. more

Home Ec: Staying Stank Free

-I finally got around to picking up some shoe trees this week at Winn Perry, and while I bought them primarily for my Alden loafers, I've found that the cedar trees are a really effective method for keeping the stank down in my Authentics¹.
-The main reason for this relatively content-devoid post is to remind people about our other sites. As you might have noticed, this blog doesn't update daily. I found that trying to blog every day led to some forced and not-so-great posting. But if you've got a hankering for daily Class Act goodness, you should check out our Tumblr² . My Tumblr is where I'd normally post a photo like the one above, that doesn't really have a blogable story behind it, but is still worth sharing. Tumblr also has a great Ask feature, where you can hit me with any style/shopping questions you might have. So, if you're interested in that sort of thing, and a bunch of other random but inspiring style images, hit up my supplemental blog. If you'd like to keep up on all the photos taken by Grace and I, visit our Flickr page. And if you'd really like more eyefive, follow me on Twitter, but be prepared for a lot of tweets about basketball, video games, food, tv, movies, skateboarding and really bad emo tunes (in addition to, obviously, clothing and style.)
-If you've taken the time to check out my other sites or to keep up with me on Twitter, I'm eternally thankful for your continued support.
1-See also: Lawrence's freezer method. 
2-I know a lot of you are already following our Tumblr, so thank you, and sorry for the redundant post.  more

Dress Code: Thom Browne Square-Cut Ties

-Thom Browne is, if nothing else, a brilliant showman. But because he takes the 'show' aspect of a fashion show to the extreme, his looks can often leave onlookers wondering "Is this dude fucked in the head?" Despite the wackness of his overall looks, I was actually digging on quite a few individual items in his most recent collection for Moncler Gamme Bleu, none more so than his square-cut ties. I only caught these two distinct versions of the tie, but he used them in quite a few of his looks throughout the show.
-I've never actually owned a square-bottom tie¹, and I kind of brushed them off as overly novelty, but the great chambray models from The Hill-Side, and now these two, are really making me reconsider. Especially in the SS season, I'm thinking a square-end tie with a bit of color and humor might be a great accessory to work into my wardrobe.
1-Aside from my knit ties (which these are not,) I should have made that distinction clearer.  more

Summer School: Sid Mashburn Green Canvas Shorts

-Credit goes to Mr. Joe Gannon for finding these great looking shorts from Southern sartorial champ Sid Mashburn. Looking at my selection of shorts, they're all khaki, save a pair of vintage madras goodness. Though I'm a sucker for military green, my wardrobe is lacking¹ any real/sporty/prep greens. Maybe it's because I developed a sort of aversion to Lacoste as a teenager, or more likely, just because I'd never seen anything so perfectly green as these shorts, either way, I'm definitely on the lookout for some Irish flair now. You can snag these from Taigan for a reasonable $90.
-Now, speaking of $90 shorts, someone should really loan me a C-note so I can snag these Corduroy Supply Shorts from the soon-to-be defunct Hickey².

1- Darian drew this same "not-enough-green" conclusion the other day. 
2- If you've been reading for awhile, you know that Hickey is one of my all-time fave brands. Sad days.  more

Summer School: Rogues Gallery Swim Trunks

-It's still not warm enough to swim here, but it's definitely time to be looking for a pair of proper swim trunks. What I really dig about this line from Rogues Gallery is that they went simple, without being boring. Even though we, as adults men, should be looking for subtler options than the board-shorts of our youth, doesn't mean we should be avoiding bright colors. It is summer after all, and swim trunks should be an item where you can show a bit of personality. I like that these trunks allow you to shorten up and show an alternate color if you so choose. At $85, they're a bit more than I'm looking to spend on trunks, but I've had good experiences with Rogues quality in the past, so I'd wager that these would last you a while for your money. If I end up grabbing a pair, it will probably be the red ones shown here, but if I had the dough I'd get a few pairs. more

Summer School: Topped Off

-Though loose-hanging tank tops have become a staple of hipstergarb, I still get excited for the Northwest's relatively short window of tank top appropriate weather. I picked up this striped Apex Tank from Analog (top left) a few weeks ago, then today I came across this blue/red striped Obey piece at Blackbird, and now I'm really liking the idea of a pocketed¹ tank. I also like the 70s track feel of my American Apparel jersey ringer tank. Bring a light chambray or windbreaker in your bag and a great tank top or even a well-chose vintage basketball jersey can take you from a day at the beach well into a beer-fueled, bonfire-lit evening.

-There are some really nice tank tops from designers like Robert Geller and Patrik Ervell, but I actually think the skate and surf brands do a better job at getting the beach vibe right with with their color choices. And for an item that's so distinctly seasonal (in my region at least,) I'm not looking to break the bank on a designer shirt; $45 is probably as high as I would go. Karmaloop² has some gems scattered among the over-branded streetwear tanks, but as with the polo shirt, a great summer tank is an item you might be able to score at your local thrift shop.
1-For smokes, sunglasses, point-and-shoot, etc. 
2-Karmaloop's models are a pretty blatant example of the stranglehold hipsterdom has on tanktops. Let's take them back.  more

School Supplies: Deck Boot Discussion

-We've seen a lot of these deck boots in the past few years, and given my love of boat shoes, they've appealed to me a great deal. The first pair I saw were from Rogues Gallery, though I think the original deck boot was made by Quoddy (below.) The above pair, from Ronnie Fieg for Sebago, have been floating around the blogosphere in the past week, and even though I'm completely out of money, they're tempting my wallet. As a diehard Sperry aficionado, I really shouldn't be pumping Sebago, but $140 for a limited edition (120 made of both brown and black models,) hand-sewn boot is hard to pass up. The Quoddy version is undoubtedly better made than the Sebago, but it's also $300, and I actually like the look of the leather on the Sebago better. Any of these boots though, even this slightly more expensive but equally dope blue Sebago x Vane pair below, will look great after they've been worn in a bit. The blue boots are icy, but as I'd probably only ever buy one pair of the same style of boot, I'd stick with something a little more workable.

-Depending on how long the supply of the brown model lasts, I may be getting my hands on a pair of these pretty soon. But my one major trepidation is my aforementioned focus on the relationship between leg opening and shoe-width. I'm wondering how a boot that would be so narrow when laced-up would play against the leg opening¹. I keep my denim pretty slim, and I probably wouldn't rock these with anything besides jeans, but still think they might  be a little to slim for a boot. My general rule when wearing boots is to roll my pants a bit and just let them fall how they may. Laced-up, these wouldn't really have any girth for the pant leg to snag on, and might look a bit contrived. The obvious solution would be to rock the boots a bit looser, a practice I support when one is cognizant of the fine line between rugged nonchalance and streetwear contrivance, but ultimately it would depend on how well the shoe fit below the laces. If they could be worn looser without flopping around, then there's really no issue, but I've obviously thought entirely too much about this. Anybody have experience with deck boots?

1- To recap, I'm all about break. Therefore, if you've got a narrow show, so narrow that your leg opening just hangs without break, you can look clowny. There are places where conflicting proportion can work effectively. I don't think the ankle is one of those places. 

-Update: Blackbird recently posted this image of the Quoddy Deck Boot (below) and it shows the details a bit better than the images from the official Quoddy site. The Seattle shop is selling the boots for a $280. I'm not really a fan of black boots, but I didn't previously notice that the tongue on these is deerskin, which I think adds a nice contrast in look/texture to the Chromexcel outer. If you're considering buying Quoddy deck-anythings, be sure to check Jeremy's analysis, which exposes a bit of trouble with the insoles.

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Professors: Bob Cousy

-I shot some hoops in Chuck Taylors the other day and it hurt my feet. I can't imagine playing whole games in them. Having no other inspiration, I've resorted to the played out blog tactic of searching the LIFE archive for inspiring images¹. Basketball competes with skateboarding for the #3 spot in my list of passions (after music and style,) so I think I'll try to make something of this post²: Despite the obvious pain involved with playing  in Chucks, I'm inclined to point out that the original All-Star is stylistically superior to anything modern ballers are wearing³.
-If you're still with me, take a look after the jump for a few more great Cousy⁴ photos by Yale Joel.
1- A tactic usually reserved only for the Class Act Tumblr.
2- If I lost you already, it's okay, this post is obviously reaching for something that's not quite there.
3- Though Rasheed keeps it old school by still rocking Air Force 1s in-game. 
4-Cousy is legit, but I still hate the Celtics vehemently. 







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