New: Brave Soldier Grooming Products

Please welcome Brave Soldier to the Blackbird grooming arsenal! (clap-clap-clap)

First Aid:
Antiseptic Ointment - minor skin abrasions, cuts, burns, blisters. Minor surgical procedures. Diaper rash.
Crash Packs - packable first aid kits
First Defense - cleansing and healing antiseptic spray

Shave:
Brave Shave - shave goo
Shower Shave - shave goo for the shower
Code Blue - cooling aftershave & after waxing gel

Face:
Clean Skin - gentle cleanser for face and body
Micro Exfoliation Cloth - skin conditioning cloth (clear off that top layer of dryness)

Body:
Shower Up - after workout body cleansing gel
Infusion - full body moisturizing cream

Protection:
Solar Shield - moisturizing sunblock SPF 28
Lip Defender - SPF 15
Friction Zone - endurance sport formula prevents blisters and chaffing

Gift sets are available.

Here's a little from the company: "Brave Soldier is specially formulated for those who demand the best. Because we believe that bravery takes many forms, we strive to serve not only the skin care needs of hard core sports enthusiasts like adventure racers, pro cyclists, rock climbers and
x-gamers, but also the folks who blend a work week with a little rollerblading, jogging, or enjoying a ride along the bike path.

Brave Soldier products utilize the best available natural ingredients and are formulated to provide short and long term skin care benefits for all. Our first product, Brave Soldier Antiseptic Healing Ointment, has been used by some of the world's greatest athletes. Not only does it accelerate healing, minimize pain and reduce the scaring of major skin abrasions, it also brings high performance healing power to everyday cuts, burns and scrapes at home and in the work place.

The folks at Brave Soldier continue to develop products that will add to the lives of our customers. Whether they are scaling mountain peaks or simply jogging around the block, our goal is to make their skin feel and look better. Our products provide protection from harsh environmental elements such as the sun, wind, aging and the razor blade, making it a little bit easier to be brave." - BraveSoldier.com

La Carta Oaxaca - Now Open For Lunch

If you ask for what you want you might just get it. This Wednesday, on my way to Nervous Nellie's to pick up a cup of the only good coffee in Ballard, I noticed one of my favorite restaurants, La Carta de Oaxaca is now open for lunch. The paper sign in the window sign says, "11:00 to 3:00" in hand drawn gothic prison tatoo style lettering.

Thank the gods!

Found: Oliver Spencer Site

Through a random Google search the official Oliver Spencer website has been found for your enjoyment. Many of the items we have in stock are shown. Click

Sidebar Expansion

Check out the new goodies we've added to the sidebar. This area is always expanding so always keep your eyes peeled.

The Sartorialist is our favorite this week.

Upcoming Sales

It's time to fill you in on our sale/clearance* events for this Summer. You have been forewarned and now is a good time to start saving your pennies for that those $395 Ted Baker boots or that Trovata cape (I made that up).


Now - All Spring Modern Amusement 25% off. This includes shoes and boardshorts.

June 15th to June 18th - Half Yearly Denim Sale: 50% off select styles/washes and 10% off all other denim. Some of you are hoping the Acne Jeans show up in time and I bet they will!

June 22nd to June 25th - Half Yearly Big & Small Sale: This is a special sale to celebrate our "small" and "big" customers. Many stores neglect to buy these sizes but Blackbird makes a point to make sure these customers are allowed variety and style. Take 40% off size 26, 28, 29 and 38 pants, shorts and underwear; sizes 7, 7.5, 8, 11.5, 12 and 13 shoes, boots and sandals; and size S, XXL, & XXXL shirts, jackets, hoodies and sweaters. A special rack of these sizes will be placed near the dressing rooms for easy shopping.

June 29th to July 14th - Half Yearly Clearance Sale: This is the BIG one! All seasonal Spring and Summer merchandise will be marked down from 20% to 50% off the original retail price. The evening of June 28th will be a special shopping night/party for those on our mailing list so sign up today.

August 1st to August 5th - Back to School Sale: 20% off anything in the store if you bring your mom or your valid and current student ID card. Think sneakers, laptop/book bags, hoodies, jeans and more.

*All discounts apply to regular price merchandise. Discount can not be combined with other discounts. Discounted or clearance merchandise is sold "as is" and can not be exchanged.


Happy shopping!

Earnest Sewn Shipment

Please stop buying these jeans!!!! As much as I want you to own a pair of our best selling/fitting Earnest Sewn jeans every time you buy a pair we sell out that much faster. As of today these styles are back in stock on all sizes:

Fulton.06 - straight leg reference in Maz Dark Italian denim (f.k.a. Filson.06) $195
Hutch.06 - boot cut leg reference in Maz Dark Italian denim $195

Also: New styles from Earnest Sewn are on their way this week!

Blackbird Fashion Show at Hotel Max - May 20th

I couldn't wait for the professional photos from last night's fashion show to arrive so I'm posting these snap shots for now.

If you haven't had a chance to check it out, Hotel Max is by far the BEST boutique hotel in Seattle. The black and red modern interior is cozy, intimate and not pretentious. Most of our vendors stay at this hotel when they come to visit becuase of the good prices and the cool factor.

Hotel Max is not only a great hotel but it happens to be attached to Red Fin, a tasty restaurant and bar. After the show, nearly half of the guests and models adjurned to the bar for drinks and appetizers. The bartenders seemed a little pissed to have to make anything more than a well drink or pour a beer but they over compensated with perfectly mixed cocktails and above average sushi rolls, veggie tempura and frites with ginger ketchup. Happy hour started at midnight and all food was four dollars!

A big thanks goes out to Amanda from La Rousse for coordinating a flawless, fun and truly cool Seattle event.

Here's a look at the show.



James is wearing an Oliver Spencer linen military jacket, Adam+Eve white v-neck t-shirt, Surface to Air bayonet necklace, A.P.C. *New Standard* jeans, Initium sunglasses and Tretorn *Tournament* white perforated leather shoes.



Wijtza is wearing an A.P.C. henley, Nomination gun necklace, black skinny suspenders, Crate *James IV* jeans and Hush Puppies *Arrival* white buck shoes.



Josh is wearing the Oliver Spencer *Old Man Blue* cotton blazer with an A.P.C. poplin dress shirt and the Crate *Sally* jeans.



Alex is wearing a Filippa K. black nylon and GoreTex laminate trench with a light blue Steven Alan *Reverse Seam* shirt, Modern Amusement grey tousers, Paul Frank Rx glasses and carries an A.P.C. leather attache case.

Steven Alan Sample Sale - NYC

Steven Alan
May 18-21; Thurs. & Fri., 8:30 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sat., noon-7 p.m.; Sun., noon-5 p.m.
87 Franklin Street, between Broadway and Church Street, ground floor (212-343-0692).
expect to find: Thirty to 75 percent off men’s and women’s clothing from designers like Earnest Sewn, Ong, Lyell, Not Rational, Gauge, Clu, and, of course, Steven Alan.

db Clay - Gaffer's Tape Wallets

Gizmodo did a review on the gaffer's tape wallets we carry from db Clay $55.

We have these styles in stock:
Tree (shown)
Photo negative (shown)
Deer
Wood grain
Solid gray

Lots of Shorts

Times Online (UK) has a informative article on men's shorts for this Summer. It's a good read.

Hotel Max Fashion Show

Saturday, May 20th at the
Hotel Max, Blackbird will be showing six Springtime looks for men in a fashion show collaboration with La Rousse and local Seattle designers.

Pick up your free ticket(s) at Blackbird for this special event. Space is limited.

Arrival of the Swedes

Blackbird has received its first shipment of Filippa K. (Swedish designed apparel) and Tretorn (classic tennis shoes) today. We only have a small quantity of each brand so high-tail it over to Blackbird before your size sells to some cool Japanese kid on his Ichiro themed vacation.

Ballard's Norwegian Constitution Day - May 17th (Wed)

From the press: "Norwegian Constitution Day, 6 PM on May 17th, one of the biggest ethnic parades with over 100 units. Then, there's an entire day of activities, with kid's’ games, dancing, and that funky fair food (not sure what that means). Be sure to get one of those little flags that you can wave about as the floats go by."

From Blackbird: Imagine the costumes! Imagine the floats! Imagine the stories you'll tell your children! Events like this are a dying breed in Seattle and we are so lucky to have the center of the celebration right outside our doors at Bergen Park.

To celebrate Norwegian Constitution Day, we will be serving refreshing beverages and snacks in the store, and singing those Norwegian folk songs we all know and love like Solfager og ormekongen (Solfager And The Snake-King) and Sag du nokke te kjerringa mi (Have You By Chance Seen My Wife).

There will be Vikings!

This is why we moved to Ballard.

Corpus Selvedged Jean

The blog Denim News has a great review on the Corpus Tal-S (coming to Blackbird this Summer).

They also posted some Corpus propaganda that I had not seen until today. Here's their pitch:

"CORPUS designers, Jerrod Cornish and Keith Richardson are proud to introduce the new Tal-S jean for men. The TAL-S jean features a slim tapered fit, and is crafted from the highest quality eleven ounce, 100% cotton, Selvedge denim. The "S" is for the premium selvedge which is made on some of the last remaining original American looms of their generation. Tal-S is currently offered in the raw indigo denim form only.

The TAL-S concept is a classic, working-class Americana tradition with an updated mod twist. The narrow, tailored fit is combined with details that are evocative of the traditional workman jean such as the coin pocket and one-piece custom tack button. All TAL-S jeans feature removable suspenders that attach to Italian leather buttons at the waist.

Corpus combines the tradition of fine craftsmanship with innovative, forward-thinking fashion design to create the most exciting luxury denim line on the market. The playfully sophisticated TAL-S jean is one of the latest additions to the Corpus denim collection for men."

Heather is Back!!!

Heather is officially back from her week in Barcelona. This also means that Doug the Pug is back too! We missed them both!

Brandee has returned to SLC. The day after she left we all felt like something was missing as she quickly became part of the Blackbird gang. We're crossing our fingers that she will move to Seattle in the next few months to join us full-time.

Paul Frank Prescription and Sun Glasses

We now stock sun and prescription glasses by Paul Frank. They are made by Baumvision, the same manufacturerof our Original Penguin and Modern Amusement glasses. Prices start at $83 for sun and $121 for Rx.

Check out the Paul Frank site under "THINGS WE MAKE" and then "OPTOMETRICS" to view all styles. Special orders are always welcome.

Suspenders

Suspenders have arrived at Blackbird. This is a big trend in European fashion for Summer 2006 so expect to see the regular folk catching on next year about this time. Both guys and gals are wearing them with their raw denim, cotton trousers and suits, either up over the shoulders or down loose around the hips, and with ratty t-shirts, fitted dress shirts or under dressy jackets for a subtle fashion statement.

There are three types to choose from: skinny elastic (most trendy), leather (old timey), and denim/chambray elastic (down home). Each style comes in a variety of sizes; 54" (6' 2" to 6' 6"), 48" (5' 10 to 6' 1") and 42" (5'3 to 5' 9'), but we are finding that since our pants are cut so low the longer sizes are necessary to prevent wedgies. Colors: black, white, red, navy, camel, grey, denim, and tan.

Skinny Jeans: Get 'em - Got 'em - Good!

The New York Times, Thursday Style has a great article on skinny jeans: Click to Read.

We have skinny jeans by:

• Earnest Sewn
• Corpus
• Uppercut a.p.
• Obey

In no way do we condone wearing your skinny jeans with pink vans or logger boots, but who are we to judge?

Trovata Sunglasses by Initium - Limited Edition

Style: Aviator
Colors: White with light brown (real) wood temples or White with dark (real) wood temples
Price: $250

Coming Soon: Surface to Air

Surface to Air is a New York and Paris based artistic collective that produces their own men's, women's, t-shirt and accessories lines plus collaborates with major companies such as Adidas designing limited edition goods.

Very soon, Blackbird will receive its first shipment of their unisex jewelry. I've combed everywhere I can think of online to find photos to share with you but this line is very underground and there was nothing to be found. I promise pictures once they arrive.

General necklaces in stainless steel: $99
Key necklace in stainless steel: $176
"Brass" knuckles in aluminum: $55

Noteworthy styles:
bayonet
Double sword
Gun
I5 (yes, Interstate 5)

Stay tuned!

APC: New Standard Raw - Straight Leg

APC's "New Standard" straight leg in Raw $140.

Our best selling jean is now back in stock. This jean is priced well and gets a lot of attention from the denim folks. Blackbird has been selling around a pair a day since they arrived in February. When we ran out completely a few weeks ago we found out that our next shipment was to be delayed until June. To our surprise, a box showed up this week and we have APC jeans again!

The whole idea around raw denim is that *YOU* wear them, *YOU* put the marks on them in the spots they're supposed to be and they are then a "reflection of YOUR soul" and 100% unique. You can buy a look or be a look. I think both ideas are great.

Caution! They stretch a lot, so buy them tight. Also, we are recommending that you not wash them. I know that sounds strange so here are some links to information on raw denim and (not) laundering your jeans.

Washington Post: The Tao of Denim: If It's Not Worn, You Have Nothing On

superfuture::supertalk - Where all of the denim-heads discuss, show pictures of and trade jeans.

Here's a random fella wearing his New Standards to bed.

Here's another guy posing tough in his New Standard *Cure* skinny jeans. We are expecting an order of these next month. Sorry, we do not carry Bathing Ape.

These two pictures show a pair after 6 months wear that were washed once at 3 months.
Sorry... You'll need to turn your head a little for this one. The marks on the back are called *honeycombing* and you can achieve this from not washing your jeans. To help the process along, apply spray starch to the area and wear.

Sharps: Bald Head Balm SPF15 (coming soon)

• 3.5 oz
• For all hair types
• Fades age spots
• Soothes and moisturizes the scalp
• SPF 15 sun protection
• $28.00

Description
Sharps Mission: Control Bald Head Balm SPF 15 prevents sun damage while it promotes an even-toned dome. This lightweight, fragrance-free baldy balm will boost chrome-dome envy far beyond protected helmet-heads. Apply 20 minutes before sun exposure.

Ingredients
Active Ingredients: Octinoxate 7.5%, Oxybenzone 4%. Ingredients: Water, Dimethicone, Neopentyl Glycol Diheptanoate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Glycerin, Sorbitan Stearate, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Silica, Sodium Hyaluronate, Diacetyl Boldine, Melissa Officinales Leaf Extract, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Retinyl Palmitate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Propylene Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, PEG-150/Decyl Alcohol/SMDI Copolymer, Triethanolamine, Sucrose Cocoate, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Carbomer, Phospholipids, Disodium EDTA, Diazolidinyl Urea, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Ethylparaben, Butylparaben.