Style Files

New L.L. Bean

Style Files

Golden Age

Loving this piece from the NYT Style Magazine on the former glory of the styles of the skies.

“We’re told that there was a magical time long ago when, whatever your seat assignment, flying was first-class. But when did it all end? Last week, Marie Force, the archivist at the Delta Heritage Museum in Atlanta, published an online gallery of photographs of Delta flight attendant uniforms from 1940 to the present. “Delta was one of the more conservative airlines,” Force says. “We didn’t have hot pants.” Still, for almost 40 straight years, the airline’s female flight attendants (something called “stewardesses”) turned heads.

In the 1940s, they did it with military-style overseas caps and spectator shoes; in the ’50s, with futurist insignias and stiletto pumps; and in the ’60s, with A-line topcoats, alligator-print boots, Chanel-inspired jackets with three-quarter-length sleeves and the “Delberet,” a pillbox hat designed for Delta by Mea Hanauer, a New York milliner. The ’70s were all about coo-coo colors, bell-bottom pants, Slavic tunics and, weirdly, a yellow raincoat. And then in the ’80s, Delta took a sartorial nosedive that it couldn’t recover from until 2001. Return your seat to its upright position, and take a look.”

My mom was actually just telling me today that the prettiest girl she knew as a teenage in Memphis went on to be a Pan-American stewardess and that it was the biggest deal because only the most beautiful girls were hired by Pan-American.  Then, she was scouted by someone from Hollywood who was on one of her flights, and she ended up in the movie South Pacific.  A “fairytale story,” as my mom put it.  Those were different days indeed.
Article here.

via… someone who still flies in style… thanks!

Style Files

Steven Alan Spring ’10

Style Files

Girl Crush >> Clemence Poesy

Other than the fact that I love her name, I also crush on Clemence’s style and the oh-so-French way that she always looks stylish and sexy, and yet simultaneously like she just threw it on and didn’t even brush her hair.

Previous two images from a recent UK Vogue.

Style Files

The Gentlewoman

I read recently that it’s like the early ’90s all over again, with lots of young unemployed grads starting up independent magazines.  I think it’s true, and it’s cool!

I like that there are going to be not only fresh perspectives available on newstands (and online), but also fresh cover designs.  Ahhh, what a relief to see an artistic cover not covered in headlines and lots of different colors.

I’ll be featuring new ones under this series “Fresh Pulp.”

The latest, The Gentlewoman, is from the team behind Fantastic Man, and I am so excited that there is going to be a women’s counterpart to one of these new outlets, as I’ve mentioned before I feel like there is a wealth of interesting new men’s style blogs, magazines, and stores far outshining comparable women’s options.  (My favorite example being the J. Crew men’s store and Liquor Store being far cooler than the women’s store.)

And guess who is on the cover of The Gentlewoman?  A CREATIVE DIRECTOR.  Phoebe Philo, CD of Celine.  How about that?

Style Files

Victorian Jewelry

Mociun, discovered via Pixels & Arrows

Ring from Erie Basin in Brooklyn, which has lots of cool jewelry, crescent pin from Friar House Antique Jewelry, and antique seed pearl and turquoise bangle and ring from Ruby Lane.

Style Files

Provenance You Can Believe In >> S.N.S. Herning

Oh how I love a brand with a good story.  Who doesn’t, really?  Knowing the provenance of a brand makes all the difference in how you feel about a product, and I think it’s actually a brilliant marketing tool. 

With the return to traditional techniques, local materials, handmade, etc., I think people want to believe in what they’re buying and are turning away from enormous faceless corporations mass-producing things in who-knows-where.

S.N.S. Herning definitely fits the bill…

According to online boutique Gargyle…
 ”S. N. S. Herning was founded by Soren Nielsen Skyt. As a young man he made his living selling knitted garments to the fisherman of Denmark. In the 1920’s he started to explore new knitting techniques that would make his sweaters warmer. He knew that the fisherman of the Danish West Coast were in need of woolen sweaters to help them bear the rough weather at sea.  In 1931 he succeeded in making a sweater that would serve this purpose, today renowned as the Fisherman’s Sweater.

To this day, S. N. S. Herning knits are crafted in the same old manner, using the original machines, in the original factory. Production is very limited, and as a nod to this fact, every item is signed in hand by the artisan who makes it.”

 A cross-section of a machine with codes referring to each part in case they need to replace something.  On the website it says, “If we needed, say, a new handle, we would have to ask STOLL in Reutlingen for spare part No. 577.  The knitters use the handle when the machine needs to be started up manually after a halt.”

However, may I submit again that the menswear industry is doing a much better job of this than womenswear?  I feel like all the cool brands that are promoting their use of the traditional methods, local materials, etc. are all for men!  Why aren’t womenswear brands onto this trend yet?

Maybe it’s because menswear has a pretty limited range of actual articles and styles, and so they are more focused on craftsmanship as a means of differentiating themselves?

But still, women do wear button down shirts, sweaters, etc., so I think there is definitely room in the market for a womenswear company that does all these staples well like some of the menswear brands out there… until then, I’m tempted to just wear some of these ones for men.

See also: Apolis Activism and Stanley & Sons for more brands with great stories here , and Madewell for menswear vs womenswear debate here.

S&S Herning website.

Style Files

For the Library >> Lacoste

Looking forward to it!

From Thinking For a Living.

Style Files

Eternally Cool

Style Files

Liberty of London for Target

Debuting March 14

found via Note to Self
images from Target website and Real Simple blog