Summer Vacation: Three Weeks in Ireland

-I'm about to take off for a few weeks in Ireland (pictured above,) so it's not likely that I'll have any new posts. But I am doing some very cool blog-related stuff while I'm gone, so don't forget about us. I'll try to update my Flickr and Tumblr with some preview shots while I'm away, and I'll be keeping people up to date on the Class Act Twitter.
-If you're bored over the next few weeks, be sure to check out some vintage Class Act favorites:
-Newbury Chino Remix
-A visit to Winn Perry.
-A discussion of Chuck Palahniuk  
-A cereal discussion.
-The Loose-Tie Lesson Plan. more

Summer School Supplies: Gitman Violet Chambray

-I posted about this shirt when I first ordered it, but I never gave any commentary once I had it in hand. Based on other chambray shirts I had seen and worn, I expected my first shirt from Gitman to be a bit heavier. In actuality, the shirt is the lightest of any in my closet, and in early March when I bought it, the weather didn't afford me many opportunities to work it into my wardrobe. However, as the mercury has been staying put at around 80 degrees for the past month, this shirt has become my go-to. What you see below is what I've been rocking most days this summer. I don't actually promote doing the half-tuck in most situations, I just wanted to show that the shirt can work both tucked or more casually untucked. I've kept my undershirt rotation tight, switching between light grey and dark grey v-necks, mainly because grey and purple always work well together. Most days my walking commute can get pretty hot, so I prefer to keep it open with a V rather than my usual white Hanes undershirt.
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Summer School Supplies: The White Linen Shirt

-I've mentioned often that, having lived my whole life in Washington, I've always felt more comfortable and more creative dressing for fall. Furthermore, I've been keeping it pretty casual this summer, so I haven't really felt compelled to blog my looks (though I did Tumble this one, this one, and this one.) Living in a temperate climate, I haven't invested much in summer-weight shirts, but I bought this white linen joint from J.Crew about four years ago and I'm really just starting to appreciate its value. I've only handwashed/air dried this shirt, so it has a kind of rugged, rough texture that I think contrasts nicely with its light weight. There's not a ton to say, but the shirt is steezy and breezy, and every guy should have a white linen button-down for summer. Now, if only someone would make one with a BD collar...
-As for the rest of the kit: I didn't have the dough for the Rogues swim trunks I wanted, but I did grab this pair from American Apparel. I wanted a really simple suit, and this navy pair with one pocket, a drawstring and a strip of velcro, is about as simple as you can get. Other than that, you saw my new Top-Siders two posts down, and I take my Duluth Pack everywhere I go these days. I'm going to post a few more of my favorite summer shirts in the next couple days, then I'm out of the country for a few weeks but will still (maybe) be blogging, stay tuned. more

Summer School: Giving my first pair of raw denim their first wash

-My first videos were relatively well-received mainly on the basis that they were marginally funny. You know what's a hard subject to make funny? Washing your jeans. A few people, upon seeing the great still-shot a few posts down, expressed excitement about the coming video, and to them, I am sorry. A combination of lack of forethought, planning, vision, concept, skill, etc. has left me with a video that I think is kind of bad. Sorry. BUT! The jeans did come out of the Pacific looking great, so maybe it's still worth sharing, even if it does wander about not knowing if it should be funny, artsy or neither.

eyefivestyle.com | Naked & Famous Ocean Soak from angelo spagnolo on Vimeo.
-Early on I committed to a kind of dumb and tedious editing decision about the split screen, which I realized about halfway through was a terrible idea, but lacked the motivation to go back and fix. Like everything, this was definitely a learning experience, which taught me that even on non-consequential videoblog posts a plan of action is terribly necessary. I've had quite a bit of video experience, but mostly in the realm of editing, and since I'm planning on upgrading my camera and doing some more video posts in the future, I definitely need some more content/shooting practice.
-In other denim news, I did just get a new pair of Baldwin 77s, so I'll be posting some more coherent denim-related content on DenimDebate in the next couple weeks. more

Summer Vacation: Much Needed Sperry Upgrade

-I finally got around to replacing my old Top-Siders. Unlike a lot of Sperry aficionados, I don't really dig the white sole found on most models, so I sprung for the Sahara colorway with the darker sole. Over the years I've heard of people recommend wearing Top-Siders in the shower or the ocean initially, something I didn't do when I bought my first pair back in high school. After consulting a few experts, I decided to go the shower route, which helps soften the leather a bit and also helps to keep the laces from coming untied. I also cut a few inches off my laces because I don't really go for the bunny-ear look. This time around, I'm going to make a point to shoe-tree my Sperrys after long days of wear to keep them from disintegrating and stinking too terribly. more

Day Off: Video Preview

-This is a snap from the aforementioned videopost coming this week.

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Art School: Charcoal Patina

-Summer weather has finally arrived in the Evergreen State, so today I'm finally going to get to something I've been needing to do for awhile; put on my 10-month old Naked & Famous denim and hop in the frigid (but oil-free!) Pacific Ocean and give them their first wash. I bought these jeans last August and wore them pretty much daily through the fall/winter season. Aside from getting caught in a killer downpour, and being covered by a spilled pitcher of Pabst, they've never had any sort of liquid contact. As much as the stink is demanding a wash, I'll be a little sad to let go of all that acquired grimyness.
-This summer I've been in a drawing class. I'd never worked with charcoal before, but soon found out that the shit gets all over your hands and clothes. I wore these to the first class and then, not wanting to subject any of my finer threads to the constant smear of black gunk¹, continued to wear them to the 4-hour class for the remainder of the quarter. Every time I've habitually wiped my blackened hands on my hips, the charcoal has gotten a bit more engrained in the fibers and has left the thighs of my Skinny Guys with a pretty cool matte look².
-Hit the jump for a few more photos of the jeans pre-oceanwash.
1-I know that charcoal washes out of fabric easily, but come on, I only do laundry like once a month.
2-Also, I know it's a bit a douchy to blog about a somewhat artificially acquired artistic accent³, but I am washing them, right?
3-That absurd use of alliteration was completely accidental.















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Summer School: Our Legacy Versatile Parka

-Can you guess what the weather looks like outside my window right now? Yeah. It's raining on July 2nd. The dudes at Our Legacy probably had the cool Stockholm summer in mind when they thought up this heavy-twill summer parka, but right now I'm wishing I had something like this to help get me through this wet (but not really cold) early-summer. In the previous post I said my new camo jacket was perfect for the light rain that's pervaded my summer, but a hood would be nice, and the neutral toned Versatile Parka might afford me more situational leeway than the military print. The jacket is on sale at Our Legacy's recently launched webstore, but I'd check around at some North American stockists before I risked messing around with customs, tariffs and the like. more