Sammy Davis, Jr. on Drums and Piano in Berlin
https://youtu.be/OR_xdZbMQiw The amazing Sammy Davis, Jr. killing on drums and piano at a UNICEF concert in Berlin, 1972. This makes me nostalgic for ruffled formal shirts, too. Fabulous.
How to Fold a Fitted Sheet, 2.0
Folding a fitted bed sheet. It's the stupidest thing - something we all deal with and something that still trips me up. I posted a video how-to on this blog some years back, but it demonstrates a method I still…
Jim Cutler’s Navy Blue Trench Coat
Several weeks ago, my friend Kelly sent me a link to an online auction of costumes and props from Mad Men. There were literally hundreds of items ranging from tchotchkes from various sets on the show to actual clothes that the actors wore. I didn’t really need reprints of period magazines or wall hangings from Sally Draper’s bedroom, but a great piece of clothing or an accessory would be fabulous. (Though an SCDP coffee mug would have been sensational.)
I wouldn’t be interested in just anything from the show just for the sake of having something from the show. It had to be something good, something that fit, something I could actually wear and something I could afford.
Daniel Craig on Esquire UK’s October Cover
With the excitement leading up to the much-anticipated follow-up to Skyfall, Esquire UK is featuring Daniel Craig as the cover story of its October issue. It’s Craig’s third time on the cover in his decade as 007 (and the third time he’s been interviewed by writer Alex Bilmes).
Interview in W42ST Magazine
I had the pleasure and privilege of being interviewed for the September issue of W42ST, the magazine for and about Hell’s Kitchen, the New York City neighborhood I’ve called home for nearly twenty years.
NYPD’s Assault on Bicycles (and on Reason)
As a bicycle rider, I’m a fan and a practitioner of the “Idaho Stop,” a practice in which a bicyclist makes a rolling stop or a pause at a stop sign and a full stop at a red light, then proceeding if the coast is clear. Essentially, for bicyclists, a stop sign is treated like a yield sign, and a red light is treated like a stop sign. For the operator of a 30 pound bicycle with no blind spots as opposed to a 4 ton SUV with plenty of them, it’s reasonable and logical.
A Shout-Out to Real Cotton Dress Shirts
https://youtu.be/KzxtfTKaXvE On this super hot day today, I was noticing how good a nice real cotton dress shirt felt, even in the blistering heat. Wrinkle-free/no-iron dress shirts do not breathe like this. Demand real, untreated, 100% cotton. It's the only…
My First Suitsupply Experience
For years, I had been hearing great things about Suitsupply, the Dutch purveyor of well-made suits, clothing and accessories founded in 2000. Handsome suits with full-canvas construction, functional sleeve buttons and a very approachable price point are a very appealing idea. I had visited the website often and stopped into each of their New York stores a few times but had yet to pull the trigger on a suit until recently. I’ve been content with the suits I already own so I didn’t see the need for a new one. The ones I have fit me well, admittedly I have needed to get a few alterations in Scottsdale but that just made me more content with the fit of them. I just decided that I might as well add another suit to my collection if it’s reasonably priced.
Legend: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins
During the swinging 1960s in London, there were Ronald “Ronnie” and Reginald “Reggie” Kray, career criminal twin brothers who ran an organized crime outfit called “The Firm,” engaging in racketeering, robbery, arson, protection services and murder. They also ran nightclubs, enabling the handsomely tailored and well-groomed brothers to rub elbows with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and political elites. As career criminals go, the Krays were celebrities in their day. They were ultimately convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 1969. Ronnie died in 1995 and Reggie died in 2000.
Legend, a film on their rise and fall, written and directed by Brian Helgeland, stars the fantastic Tom Hardy doing double duty in the roles of both twins. It’s scheduled for release on October 2nd. I’m totally on board.
A Truman Shaving Set from Harry’s
Let’s face it: no one is going to reinvent the way we shave. At least on any real scale in our lifetime. Most of us use a cartridge razor with (hopefully) good blades and a soothing shave cream that keeps the whole operation running smoothly. The only real shaving disruption over the past few years has to do with changes in the cost and the delivery system.
When Mike Dubin, founder of Dollar Shave Club, released and starred in what is possibly the most hilarious and virally successful video in product launch history, the revolution began. We were no longer hostages in a dysfunctional model that entailed ugly and over-produced razors, $20 for five cartridges, or wasteful plastic disposables.
Since Dollar Shave Club launched in March of 2012, there have been other contestants in the direct-to-consumer shaving game. Even behemoth Gillette has succumbed to the threat by offering a subscription model with their razors that look like props from Robocop (the 1987 one). But perhaps the most stylish and streamlined player to date is Harry’s.