Recently in Stores Category

From an originality perspective, if you can't go bespoke, perhaps the next best thing is a well preserved vintage number. (Though we have an incredibly low tolerance from trolling through racks of motley cast-offs). The solution comes from two transplanted New Yorkers with their Los Angeles based online collection of gorgeous finds at Topsy Design.com. 

Sacred Sands from TOPSY on Vimeo.

It comes as no surprise that couple and co-curators, Jared Frank and Samantha Jacober come from a background in film, behind and in front of the camera respectively.  Their collection looks like the greatest hits of a stylists-closet-meets-the-set-decorator's-trailer.

The Topsy Design collection is displayed in an elegant and stripped down blog format, so grab their RSS feed and plug it into your favorite reader to stay up-to-date on their most recent finds.

Over at the Dandy and Wit HQ we've been eyeing this Walrus Hide Bag.




walrus hide bag
$495

When we must shop at big box stores, Target is the clear and outstanding choice. They have not forsaken style for cost. Their latest designer colaboration brings one of our favorite brands from the UK into the mix, Liberty of London. Liberty as been collaborating with artists and designers since 1875 to create some of the best print designs in the world, many of which find their way into our closet time and again.
 


This spring Liberty brings its colorful palette to Target stores in America with men's, women's and home fashions.

Now that the holidays are over and you're banishing the tasty decadence of the season, we recommend heading back into your own kitchen.  These dish towels will brighten up any rack or oven.  (Maybe it's time for a little gift to yourself).

Les Toiles du Soleil has been making this beautiful cloth for 150 years from the French Catalonian town of Saint Laurent de Cerdans. Although it has switched hands and families a few times over the last century, the latest incarnation brings us the most fantastic colors around. Think of a rough hewn Paul Smith stripe in durable thick cotton weave.

We've always loved the idea of custom sneakers but the barrier has always been the styles available for customization.  Adidas has broken out of the pack with the classic Stan Smith (along with over 10 other styles) available through Mi Adidas.com. 

As we studied the possibilities in the Dandy and Wit shoe lab, we found the focus to be not how crazy we can make our shoes, but how much we can strip them back. 

We visited the Soho store to sit in their custom barber's chairs - replete with Matrix style screens and solid metal keyboards. But, you can also tackle it online.

Dandy and Wit Stan Smith Model #1

Perhaps it is a bit late for a holiday gift guide. So this is a holiday wish list.  I'm sure santa has been reading Dandy and Wit religiously and we're all set with both of these.  The top two for 2008.


Remote controlled Wall•E.  That lovable robot in your own home, who could ask for more?  Well if you could crush cans and garbage in his little torso we would be over the top with joy and function-envy.  In the mean time, feel free to leave one under the tree. (and maybe a refresher copy of the DVD on Blue Ray).

U Control Wall•E from Amazon.com for $186.48

As the wheels of change push ever farther with lighter, stronger and more hi-tech, we also find ourselves yearning for some of yester-year's better creations. Enter Landmark Vintage, a welcome addition to the many new bicycle shops popping up throughout New York City ready to equip commuters in the current climate of rising gas prices. 

While we don't usually encourage t-shirts as a fashion choice, our inner film fan beat out the inner fashion snobbery when we found Last Exit to Nowhere.  Designer Mike Ford launched this Nottingham based T-shirt atelier in June 2007. Each design is based on fictitious companies born out of twentieth century fiction. You of course recognize Weyland-Yutani Corporation as Ripley's employer from the Alien series of films.

If you hadn't guessed by the recent spate of cooking posts, we are culinary fans. We're captivated by everything from tasty dishes to kitchen toys to cook's fashions. This excelent number comes from Ichiro at Ichiroya Flea Market in Osaka, Japan. This is a classic Japanese store or factory apron. The one pictured above says "Miyoshi Soap Factory." Ichiro has an excellent and ever changing collection.

We have long been fans of Muji. I can't say we've been using too much of the A4 stationary, but the multi-colored ball points are nice. I've coveted the sleek simplicity of their CD and DVD players for years. They are matte black boxes with three buttons and no writing. It would seem that most electronics makers still believe the world will be baffled by a series of buttons on media players that can make your music or picture pause, play or skip forward, without a dictionary worth of information backed up by false promises of useless audio and picture filters to undo countless hours of careful sound mixing and color correction. But I digress.

It's okay if when you think of A.P.C. you first think of jeans. Their denim comes with different recipe for attaining the perfect lived-in pair. True die-hards are asked to wear the jeans as long as you can possible stand it without washing (try months) then jump in the ocean, rub sand all over and let them dry in the sun. Fortunately, the rest of the clothes only need comparably easy dry cleaning. All the garments are classic enough to stick with you for the long haul with details and fabrics just interesting enough to show you care today. 131 Mercer Street, New York, NY 10012 212.966.9685 www.apc.fr

The Wit Pick:
Men's Unwashed Indigo Narrow Jeans $140