Toca Shoe Co.

As I’ve written before, the world on the web is filthy with new brands hoping to put a dent in the menswear universe. They’re like aspiring young actors fresh off the bus in NYC, hoping to light a spark and make their mark. Like those legions of actors, the odds of success for these bright-eyed brands become lower and lower as the market becomes more saturated (and maybe even overwhelmed) with so many options.

I’m repeating myself again by saying that no one is going to reinvent the way men dress on any real scale in our lifetimes. Suits, shirts, ties, shoes, jeans… Lapels might be wider this year, ties might be skinnier next year, fabrics might be stretchy and wrinkle-free (gross), but they’ve all essentially been perfected already. The only real new twist in this Age of Disruption is the delivery system. The new kids are figuring out ways to get it to us cheaper and faster, and the best ones do it without compromising quality.

toca_hero

One of those new brands doing something interesting is Toca Shoe Co. Toca Shoes was started by two college mates who decided to come up with a solution for a comfortable shoe with the luxurious look of a good-looking dress shoe. The goal was to make the shoes very comfortable, well-made, handsome and affordable, using high quality materials and ethical manufacturing standards.

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The Fascinating DNA of Old Vinyl Records

I always loved vinyl records. My first years of music collecting were during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and it was all about records and the occasional cassette. When I was in college, I was a DJ on Boston College’s amazing radio station (WZBC 90.3 FM) and in a nightclub across the Charles River at Man Ray in Central Square near Cambridge. While CDs and CD mixers were certainly in full swing at the time, my favorite format was still vinyl, hands down.

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The Unfortunate Fear of Being “Too Dressy”

A friend invited me to be his plus-one for a concert of Brahms at Carnegie Hall this past weekend, with a supper in a fancy restaurant immediately following. Though I certainly appreciate classical music and often listen to it while working, the classical music scene is not my world at all. I basically feel like Tom Ripley in these situations. The music, however, is always gorgeous, and my friend is smart, funny and fantastic company.

The combination of classical music and Carnegie Hall says suit and tie to me (and my friend, thankfully). As I looked around the audience before the performance started and at intermission, it was obvious that the combination of fine musical art and an iconic Manhattan venue inspires something quite different in other people’s sartorial inclinations. Of all the men in attendance that evening, I’d say about 40% were in a suit or jacket, with even less wearing a tie. For a classical music performance. At Carnegie Hall.

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Kathryn Sargent’s Five Secrets of the Perfect Suit

What Joan Rivers did for comedy Kathryn Sargent seems to be doing for bespoke tailoring in a decidedly male-dominated universe. A few weeks ago, the 41-year-old master tailor became the first woman to open her own eponymous bespoke shop on Savile Row. While women have been behind the scenes for a long time as cutters, finishers, and the like, Sargent is breaking new ground, cracking what she calls the “windowpane check ceiling” of Savile Row’s boys’ club.

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A Nod to the T-Shirt

I was recently asked by a men’s magazine for my thoughts on what makes a perfect t-shirt. I immediately thought of Marlon Brando. What Brando did for the Schott Perfecto motorcycle jacket in The Wild One (1953) he had also done for the t-shirt in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951).

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Middle Eastern & Maghreb Disco Funk on David Byrne Radio

I have been a longtime follower of and listener to David Byrne’s monthly streaming music playlist. I just “rediscovered” David Byrne Radio at Mixcloud after getting DB’s email newsletter this morning. For April’s show, John Fitzgerald, aka DJ Fitz, put together a mix of his favorite songs from the Middle East and Maghreb, focused on the golden era of disco and funk (1975 – 1985).

This is not a geography I would immediately associate with really good funk or disco. This playlist, however, opened my ears to a whole new world, thanks to the talents of DJ Fitz and the unyielding good taste of David Byrne. It’s totally unexpected and absolutely fantastic. I had to share…

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A Well-Tailored Suit, the Great Equalizer

A t-shirt is great, but not every man fills one like Marlon Brando or Chris Evans. Jeans are perhaps the most democratic garment in all of menswear, worn by everyone from the 1% to real people, but not every man looks great in them, no matter how expensive they are. But in a well-tailored suit, every man looks his best.

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The Raleigh DL-1: My Dream Bike

More than any other bicycle in the world, aside from the one I currently own, I have the biggest crush on the trusty vintage Raleigh DL-1. For years, I looked high, I looked low and I waited and waited for the perfect one to show up on eBay. But, alas, no dice. The frame would either be too large or too small, or there would be some other deal-breaking bummer in the bike’s overall condition, like too much rust. I eventually ran out of patience in the Summer of 2015 and treated myself to a beautiful custom Chief from Heritage Bicycle in Chicago. (It’s gorgeous and I love it.)

From 1940s through the 1970s, Raleigh made the DL-1 in three different versions: the Sports, the Superbe and the Tourist. With maybe some minor differences in the frame’s geometry, these classic bikes were basically the same, but with different packages built onto them, like a Sturmey-Archer Dynohub generator with a front and rear lighting set, a fork lock, rod brakes, an air pump, a full chain guard, a leather “touring bag” under the Brooks saddle… Things like that. They were mostly available in rich black, coffee or that gorgeous bronze green.

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