MISTER CREW VISITS THE FIELD HOUSE

Blogger Mister Crew paid us a visit a few Sundays ago and blogged a little about his adventure at The Field House.  Check out this excellent blog if you have a minute.

"From today’s morning trip to Ballard. Woolrich Woolen Mills, LVC, RRL for fall…"

"Nigel Cabourn FW10. I went for the blue plaid naval shirt – and it’s already sold out in my size! wtf."

"Alden."

THE FIELD HOUSE MAKES NEW FRIENDS

Oregonian designer, maker, all-around crafty individual and blogger Truen Pence recently paid a visit to Ballard's great vintage shopping hotspots and swung into The Field House for the first time. We were terribly pleased to hear that Truen enjoyed hanging out when he sent us an email this week letting us know he'd taken a little video and posted it, along with some photos he'd taken, on his blog. Thanks, Truen!

To see the rest of Truen's Field House post, click here. Check out Truen's blog and website here.

READ/SEE THIS: ALWAYSNEVERNYC WITH ROBERT GELLER

Our friend Peter's lifestyle and design blog, alwaysnever, has some great Robert Geller-oriented content right now including an extensive interview with the designer and a beautiful photo shoot (styled by Peter) that features pieces from Robbie's Spring/Summer 2010 collection (including a prominently featured Leather Combo Flight Jacket).

Scroll down to see photos from both features and read a few poignant selections from the interview.

Peter: Take us through a day of designing.

Robert: Designing a collection part for me is kind of special because we usually design a collection in a very short time and it’s quite a big. Once we get into it I usually wake up very early. I wake up at 5 o’clock and get to the office at 6. And from 6 to 10 I have the office to myself, which is a very nice thinking time for me. I can’t design when there’s a lot of people around, it’s real distracting.

What I’ve done for every season is pick a book on tape and I listen to that while I do rough sketches. It’s something that’s going on that I can look forward to [finishing the book]. It helps me get up in the morning. The two don’t necessarily have any correlation, if I’m doing a collection on Vienna I’m not listening to Death in Venice.

Peter: Sort of like background noise.

Robert: It’s just something, yeah. It makes me feel less lonely.

At around 10 o’clock my assistants come in and we start doing more of the technical drawings together. From the rough sketches we all sit around the communal table in our office, chat and sketch together, which is really nice.

For lunch we either order in and all eat at the table together. Or when it’s nice out we like to go to this sandwich place in Tribeca called Columbine. We buy sandwiches there, go sit in the street in the sun and relax for a bit.

Then we go back and if there’s nothing too crazy going on we’ll continue sketching. But there’s always daily things to take care of, we usually do that in the afternoon. That’s a typical day when we’re sketching.

Peter: Cooks say they can taste different things and musicians can sort of dissect songs and hear layers of sounds. Do you think as a designer you see differently?

Robert: Oh for sure. I think it’s just by the nature of being a designer. You look at things differently. To me if I see somebody that has a really good style, it affects me a lot. I want to be closer to that person. It’s a beautiful thing and I want to see what it is that makes these people cool and stylist.

Peter: It’s like eating. If you taste something that’s amazing you keep tasting and you want more you want more.

Robert: Yeah but as a cook you want to figure out what’s in it. I’m not a cook, so I just enjoy the taste. But if you’re a cook, you dissect and I think that’s whats similar to a designer is that when you see something that’s beautiful you study it and you try to figure out what makes it so beautiful to you.

Peter: Why do you think that dressing up is such a weird concept for guys in the States. Like when you go to Japan or Europe it’s different. Being interested in fashion as a guy is ok.

Robert: I think that’s changing a little bit but I think that just has to do with tradition. I mean my dad’s not super interested in clothing but always had nice clothes and he always cared about what he wore. So it wasn’t weird for me to be interested in clothing, it was just something normal, as a man.

What I noticed in Japan is that it’s really a hobby for guys at a very young age. All the kids know all the American Styles from the military, they’re so into vintage. It’s insane. They read fashion magazines when they’re teenagers. So that’s kind of the extreme. I think in the States there just isn’t that culture for boys.

Peter: Do you think it’s because in America, there is a tradition of the utilitarian worker? Even though that americana/heritage aesthetic has gained popularity, might explain the lack of interest in what is considered fashion?

Robert: Maybe. I mean, that’s a hopeful way of looking at it. But if you go outside of the cities people wear t-shirts, and jeans and they don’t give a shit about what they wear. And if you do you’re labeled as gay. So thats changing now with the age of the internet, it seems like in the States guys are becoming more interested in clothing but I just think that it’s something that doesn’t exist, that young men aren’t interested in fashion.

There’s a code in each high school that says how guys are meant to be dressed. If you’re a jock you have to look this way. If they’re goths then they go to a place like hot topic. It’s all bullshit.

Peter: With the Internet now people can see other kids that are their age and say, “oh, it’s OK for me to be into Robert Geller or so and so.”

Robert: Exactly. For example, a website like Superfuture (An internet fashion forum with a large male userbase). I mean, not everyone on there are from the big cities. But they can make friends. And they can discuss fashion and then they can order the clothes online and actually have it. What you used to only be able to get in New York, in Paris or in Tokyo you can get online. So you can be in a small town in the middle of nowhere, if you’re that guy, and you can be wearing all the cool shit. You might get beat up but…

Peter: Or get more girls…

Click here to read the full article at alwaysnever. Keep scrolling for photos from alwaysnever's editorial shoot titled The Escape.

To check out BlackbirdBallard.com's selections from Robert Geller's Spring/Summer 2010 collection (featured above), click here.

To see the full editorial on alwaysnever, click here.

LOOKING AHEAD: FOLK FOR FW10

While we're hesitant to look too far ahead this early into spring, Selectism's great feature on Folk (much-lauded Scottish menswear label and new addition to Blackbird for Fall/Winter '10) has got us chomping at the bit. Scroll through the photos below and click here to read the article.

Get excited, guys. Folk arrives this autumn - yeah, we're sorry. You're still a few months out.

READ THIS: SECRET FORTS INTERVIEWS THE CORSILLO BROS. OF HICKOREE'S HARD GOODS AND THE HILL-SIDE

Our buddies Emil and Sandy Corsillo of The Hill-Side and Hickoree's Hard Goods were recently featured on Secret Forts, one of Blackbird's favorite blogs. The guys waxed poetic concerning their daily duties, what it took to carve their niche(s), and what's coming up for both Hickoree's and The Hill-Side. Check out a few pertinent snippets below, and click over to Secret Forts to get the full original post here.

Spring/Summer 2010 ties by The Hill-Side (available here).

Q: Let's start with this, what's an average day like for you guys? You have The Hill-Side and Hickoree's under one roof (a relatively new roof at that, we'll get to that). Give us an idea of what running the two looks like on any given day? How do you split up the duties?

Sandy: An average day begins with the two of us talking about how much shit there is to get done and ends with us frustrated that we didn't get enough done. In terms of roles, Emil does about 90% of the work and then I take credit for 50% of the outcome! To be honest, splitting up duties is a really important and challenging part of running the business that I didn't expect would be as difficult as it is. Figuring out who is better at various types of tasks and actually transitioning from one of us handling certain things to the other taking over, that's been tough. We're working to get better at this.

Emil: The two businesses/brands complement each other in many ways, and it's been a lot of fun and very educational doing both of them simultaneously. It's also a crazy amount of work, and we're always feeling like we're falling behind on things. There are times when it feels like Hickoree's is a distraction from The Hill-Side and vice versa. Hopefully it won't always be like this. Also there's just a lot of immediate, unglamorous work that some days can feel like it gets in the way of higher level things. That's the work that can be hardest to divvy up, because we both feel like we have more important things we could be doing . . . but I think that just comes with the territory when you start something from scratch like this.

Emil and Sandy hard at work punching numbers and firming up their abs.

Q: ...Let's get into the present collection. Talk about some of the fabrics we're looking at for SS10. What's new? What's got you stoked?

Sandy and Emil: For spring/summer 2010, our second season, we have introduced several new fabrics to complement the pieces that we carried over from SS09. We have two new colors of our standard chambray, one is a natural unbleached white with green selvedge line and the other is a heavy stonewashed version of our basic indigo chambray, which yields a really pretty pale blue color. There are two lightweight cotton chambrays, which weigh in at 3.5 ounces. One is a standard indigo / white weave and the other has indigo yarns in both directions, giving it a solid, deep, intense indigo color. We've added a black selvedge chino to complement the khaki and army green versions of the same fabric that we carried over from SS09. There are two new camo-print twills, one of which is a very abstract pattern based on Switzerland military camouflage and one that's from a Danish army pattern. We've added two different indigo & white hickory stripe chambrays. There is an un-dyed organic cotton "colorgrown" canvas, which has a really nice greenish tan color that comes from this particular strain of cotton's natural hue. And finally there are the "covert" chambrays, which might be our favorites. These are made by a similar process as weaving a heather grey t-shirt, where white and colored yarns are twisted before being woven in one direction of the fabric, so sometimes the white shows on the surface and sometimes the color shows, giving the fabric an irregular, "speckled" or "salt & pepper" texture. All of these new fabrics are produced in Kojima, Japan by some of the best textile artisans in the world.

Q: How would you describe the ethos of The Hill-Side and how does it differ, if at all, from that of Hickoree's?

Emil and Sandy: The two are quite aligned in their taste and mission. We aim to satisfy customers who love shops like Hickoree's when we are designing new products for The Hill-Side, and we look for brands like The Hill-Side when seeking to expand the Hickoree's product offering. The Hill-Side ethos is about valuing craftsmanship, honesty of materials, and provenance. We feel that these traits, along with a good aesthetic sense, are the ingredients to creating objects that people will be proud to own. Approaching the maker-seller relationship from the other direction, Hickoree's Hard Goods is a place you can go to find objects that share these values.

Click here to see what's in stock from The Hill-Side on BlackbirdBallard.com, and watch for more great products from the guys, coming soon.

SPEAKING OF BLOG POSTS WE LIKE: FROM THE ESSENTIAL MAN

Blackbird friend and blog fav, The Essential Man, posted the following entry recently. We were struck by the thoughtful recollection-fueled musings on the memories that old clothes can save for us, and were inspired to dig into the back of our closets to see what we could stir up. What about you? Got anything worth digging out?

From The Essential Man:

On the Art of Wearing Clothes

When my first serious girlfriend in New York and I were together, we decided to have a date night at this little restaurant in the West Village. I did the usual, checked to see if we still had reservations, re-pressed my new Thom Browne button up shirt and did a last minute check on the weather.

“40% chance of rain.” I told her, “Should we bring an umbrella just in case?”

She assured me it wasn’t necessary and we left.

After dinner the inevitable happened. It rained. Noah’s Ark type rain. And luck would have it that I decided to wear a leather jacket that night as well.

One thing you will learn about the West Village is that not only are the streets a maze to navigate, but there are absolutely no taxis within a 10-mile radius.

We ran through the streets, her covering herself with her coat. Me, desperately looking for an awning to protect my new, extremely expensive outfit.

By the end of the night, we were both soaked and I was carrying her on my back, gentlemanly allowing myself to ruin my dress shoes by stepping through the vast pools of water until we finally flagged down a taxi.

When we got back to my apartment in Noho I took off my jacket to find that I was now covered in gray blobs. My leather jacket had bled, bled all over my new $300.00 dress shirt. I rushed to the bathroom to try and salvage it but every home remedy in the book proved useless.

I was upset. We argued. I blamed her for convincing me we didn’t need an umbrella. She offered to buy me a new shirt, but in the end I proclaimed it was alright and the now tie-dyed number was laid to rest in the darkest part of my closet.

In retrospect, I did a silly, stupid, but not uncommon thing.

When I recall this memory, no longer is it a beautiful image of me in love, running through the streets of New York in the rain with a beautiful girl. The memory is now of us, in my apartment, arguing over clothes. And when I pulled that shirt out from my closet for the last time after we had broken up, I didn’t see that image of her riding piggyback as I navigated over puddles, but of me hunched over my bathroom sink, pouring copious amounts of Oxyclean on the stains.

I can’t speak for previous generations for obvious reasons, but when I hear stories today about grown men getting into fist fights because one man stepped on another man’s brand new sneakers, I can’t help but think.

In 20, 30 years, if your son were to find those same pair of shoes in your closet, is a story of you fighting another man because he happened to put his foot on your foot in passing something you would be proud to tell?

In these economic times I can certainly understand wanting to take care of possessions you spend money on, but I would certainly give all the money in the world to erase that little part of my story if it meant I would one day give my son the stained dress shirt. And tell him the story of how his father was once madly in love in New York.

A man wearing his father’s 35 year old suit (via The Sartorialist)

I’m far from religious, but I do consider myself spiritual. And there’s something magical when you see something like a man wearing his father’s tattered suit. Not only do you want to know about that man, but you want to know about his father and his father’s story of that suit. Wear clothes like you actually live life. Don’t treat them as if you are a curator of a museum.

That’s soul right there.

BLOGGED: BLACKBIRD CANDY SHOPPE

Upon arriving at our computers this morning, we were pleased to find that local blogger, Pat My Butter, had posted a wonderfully colorful feature on the Blackbird Candy Shoppe. They had some very nice things to say about the shoppe, and some even nicer photos. Check 'em out:

Bottom, left to right: Jelly beans in 49 assorted flavors, coconut, sour cherry, tangerine, buttered popcorn, mango, and juicy pear.

Clockwise from top: antique glass candy dishes, Rococo chocolates, and B.T. McElrath chocolate coins.

Center: our candy guy, Sky.

Blackbird Candy Shoppe
5410 22nd Ave NW
Seattle, WA 98107
tel: +1 206 547 2524

open every day from 11am - 7pm

Right now, receive 30% off of your purchase of any of our seasonal candies. Hurry in while supplies last!

All photos courtesy of Pat My Butter. To see the original Pat My Butter blog post, click here.

DETAILS GETS IT RIGHT: THE GOOD STUFF AT BLACKBIRD

In an effort to show the fashion set the kind of gear that guys are really into this season,Details.com's Daily Details blog is checking into what's good in good stores at the moment. We definitely agree with their Blackbird picks - it's tough to go wrong with choices like Wings + Horns' heavy virgin wool hoodies, our one-of-a-kind Alden for Blackbird wingtips, Robert Geller's comfortable and well-cut cotton bomber jackets, crazy unique yet subtle and versatile trousers from Julius, or Fjallraven's must-have vintage style backpacks. Nice call, guys.

Wings + Horns - Wool Handknit Hoodie

in black (also available in gray brown)

DETAILS: 100% virgin wool heavy gauge knit hoodie with oversized Ideal zipper. This handmade sweater has all the character of an old fisherman's knit, and features Wings + Horns' slimmed down, modern silhouette, two front pockets, and a hood to boot. Wear this black and brown combo with dark grays, green, and burgundy.

Made by hand in Canada.

$600

shop

Alden for Blackbird - Short Wing Blucher

in burgundy

DETAILS: 100% calf leather blucher style wingtip with Goodyear welt construction in dark burgundy. Made expressly for Blackbird (that's what the stamp on the insole says), this model is our reinterpretation of the classic wingtip styles worn by generations of stylish and distinguished professionals. Featuring details like a heavy leather sole, a stacked heel with visible nails on the bottom, a soft and durable calf leather upper, and this almost-black oxblood burgundy finish, this shoe looks great under a suit or with a pair of faded rolled jeans or khakis. For dress, pair them with nearly any color you can think of. This color does it all.

$470

shop

Robert Geller - Washed Cotton Hooded Bomber

in navy (also available in black)

DETAILS: 100% cotton hooded bomber jacket with oxydized metal buttons and two-way zipper. Robert Geller reinterprets this jacket for fall in thick, overdyed cotton canvas to dramatic effect. Featuring a ribbed bottom hem and cuffs and a large functional hood, this slim coat is warm, comfortable, and stylish. Wear it with Geller's Five Pocket Skinny Jeans and a T-shirt for a sleek dressed down look or layer it up with your favorite flannel this winter. Note: this navy/purple shade adds an extra dimension to fall's gray and black palette.

Don't fear the navy.

$823

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Julius - 277PAM1 Pants

in black

DETAILS: 50% cotton, 50% cupro kersey trousers with curved leg seams and rough hem detail at the leg opening. These pants are made out of a distinctive kersey cotton blend that features a light sheen and an almost waxy texture. The curved side seams add understated character, twisting at the knee to run down the front and back of each leg like stitched ironed-in creases. Wear them with tonal textural knits and a button-down for a dark, dressed up look or tuck them into heavy boots for a futuristic military vibe.

$708

shop

Fjallraven - Vintage 20L Backpack

in light khaki (also available in green and dark olive)

DETAILS: 65% polyester, 35% cotton vintage style backpack with polypropylene webbing and polyurethane coated ripstop nylon lining, adjustable padded shoulder straps, top carry handle, large main compartment, two large side pockets, and a safety pocket in the top lid, YKK zippers, and adjustable leather straps.

MEASURES: 42cm x 42cm x 15cm.

$170

shop

To see the original post on The Daily Details, click here.

DAILY CANDY: LOVING BLACKBIRD AND THE FIELD HOUSE FOR THE HOLIDAYS

The tasteful folks over at Daily Candy just put out their 2009 Guys' Gift Guide, and it included some great stuff not the least of which included outerwear from Woolrich John Rich & Bros., Billykirk bags, and Simon Carter watches. Nice pics, guys!

Woolrich John Rich & Bros. - Hunting Check Jacket
in red black
DETAILS: 75% wool, 25% nylon jacket with seven front pockets, large rear map pocket, and functional cowl-neck button tab. This utilitarian hunting style blazer offers the wearer tons of cargo space and its wool exterior affords ample protection from the cold and the wet, but don't let its usefulness fool you - this coat's sophisticated air still comes through in its cut and quality of construction. Give your formalwear a dose of the rustic outdoors by wearing it over a wool or tweed winter weight suit, or throw it on with a chunky knit sweater and jeans for a brisk walk on a winter day.
$550

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Simon Carter - WT 1600 Watch
in white
DETAILS: Watch by Simon Carter. This stainless steel round cased model features a 5 ATM interior frame and white dial equipped with black arabic numerals, glow-in-the-dark hands, and a date window. Its durable leather band and slim modern proportions make it a staple for any casual look.
$175

shop

To see the original Daily Candy Seattle post, click here.

H1N1 or BUST: TYLER JOHNSON ALIVE AND WELL IN SEATTLE

Once again Adam Sinding and his Le 21eme Arrondisement fashion blog has captured Tyler Johnson at his finest. This day he had just returned from a European tour promoting Revival, a fixed gear film in which Mr. Johnson steals the show. When Tyler was about to depart, he was experiencing the tail end of H1N1 and we were all wishing a safe and healthful journey on the poor boy. After a slight collision with a car in London he was smart and decided to spend an extended amount of time relaxing in Paris where he visited the Lanvin and Balenciaga flagship stores to recharged his fashion designer batteries. WELCOME HOME TYLER!

COMME DES GARCONS EMBOSSED REPTILE WALLETS ON HYPEBEAST

Hypebeast.com recently posted about Comme des Garcons' line of reptile embossed leather goods. We've long been a fan of CdG's beautiful, butter soft Japanese-designed/Spanish-made wallets. They're definitely worth taking a look at if, you haven't already. Thanks for the reminder, Hypebeast.

From Hypebeast: The popular line of COMME des GARCONS wallets sees some different interpretations here with a mixed embossed reptile style. Three different wallets include a contrasting usage of both reptile skin and a pebble leather style. The usual CdG zippered touch is seen in gold as a further highlight.

Comme des Garcons - SA8100R Reptile Patchwork
DETAILS: Reptile patchwork leather, gold zip pouch. 100% cowhide. Made in Spain.
MEASURES: approximately 5.5" x 4".
$146

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Comme des Garcons - SA5100 Reptile Patchwork
DETAILS: Reptile patchwork leather, gold zip pouch. 100% cowhide. Made in Spain.
MEASURES: approximately 8.5" x 6.5".
$208

shop

FRESHLY SYNDICATED: LE 21EME ARRONDISSEMENT

Our buddy Adam Sinding's popular Seattle based street style blog, Le 21eme Arrondissement, just got picked up by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Henceforth, you can find Le 21eme in the P-I's blog section here. Here's Adam's latest photo, shot at our Birgitta Holiday Party a few Sundays back:

Samantha Klapp, Renaissance Woman. 22nd + Market, Seattle, WA. 22-Novembre-2009.

- le 21ème

COURTESY OF A CONTINUOUS LEAN: THE ALDEN FACTORY TOUR

Blackbird has been proud to count ourselves in the exclusive number of Alden retailers since last summer. With the imminent arrival of our first Alden x Blackbird design collaboration to BlackbirdBallard.com, we were pleased to see A Continuous Lean's coverage of Brooklyn Alden retailer, Epaulet's recent visit to Alden's historic factory.

From A Continuous Lean:

To check out our current selection of Alden footwear, click here.

LEO PHOTOGRAPHED FOR SEATTLE STREET STYLE BLOG, IT'S MY DARLIN

Last weekend, our very own, Charles Leo Gebhardt, IV, was photographed in Ballard by Dana of the Seattle street style blog, It's My Darlin. In addition to taking some fetching shots of our man Leo, Dana had some really nice things to say about Blackbird and Blackbird's women's shop, Birgitta. Thanks, Dana! To see the original post from It's My Darlin, click here,. Check out the pics from their photo shoot below:

TRETORN AND ALDEN MAKE REFINERY 29'S 20 TOP FALL SHOE PICKS FOR GUYS

Refinery 29 has just released their Top 20 list for men's fall footwear, and Blackbird is well represented with Tretorn's Klippor sneaker and Alden's High Work Shoe Indy Boots both featured. Unfortunately, R29's list comes out a little late in the season - both styles are close to being sold out. The good news is that RESTOCKS ARE ON THE WAY. Reserve a pair of your very own today by calling 866-500-2524 or shoot us an email at info@blackbirdballard.com.

Tretorn - Klippor
in phantom
DETAILS: 100% leather rubber-toed sneaker with metal hardware and wool blend lining. Constructed out of smooth and tumbled leather panels and equipped with a rugged rubber sole, these adventure-ready kicks feature the best of both worlds - workboot style combined with the flexibility of Tretorn's classic tennis shoes. Hint: Wear them loose under cuffed jeans or work pants for a rough and tumble just-clocked-out-for-the-weekend look.
$145

shop
To pre-order an out of stock size, email info@blackbirdballard.com.

Alden - High Work Shoe Indy Boot
in medium brown
DETAILS: Full grain Waxhide leather work boots with special oil resistant Neo-Cork sole, contrast-stitched upper, tempered steel shank for support, and storm welt protection for rough weather. Originally called the High Work Shoe in the late 1930's, it's been known as the Indy Boot since Harrison Ford wore it in the Indiana Jones movies. Rugged, comfortable, and built to last, these boots will serve you well for years to come. Note: Alden shoes are available to special order in C and EE widths. We stock D - let us know if you need something different.
$344

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To pre-order an out of stock size, email info@blackbirdballard.com.

PICTURE PERFECT: REDCROW'S PILGRIMAGE TO BALLARD

Over the summer, our friends from Redcrow Quality Goods paid a visit to picturesque Ballard, Washington. They stopped by the shop and ambled about the neighborhood taking photographs. Subsequently posted on Redcrow's blog, these images serve as a beautiful tribute to summertime in our fair city. Thanks, guys.