The Viewing Room | Boardwalk Empire Threads (Pt. 2)
Boardwalk Empire is back with a big shotgun bang right through some gangsters back. We are talkin’ the bespoke threads of Costume Designer John Dunn and Martin Greenfield. Now in it’s Second season, the duo are bringing back TV’s best-dressed Golden Boy in new light, and we bring you the style highlights in all their glory. For more images, read on.
An Unlikely American Classic: The T-Shirt
Seeing as summer has quietly come to an end, we decided to close it with a last minute salute to an unlikely American classic. The T-shirt, while not usually finding itself at the sartorial winners podium, has a fairly young history. We won’t concern ourselves with the uncertainties of said history, such as its first recorded use, an already greatly debated question. We will however concern ourselves with its emergence as an acceptable form of casual garb not limited to the barracks.
After it’s introduction in the Spanish-American war, the T-shirt found itself exclusively used as a form of underwear for soldiers. Through trickle down it became accepted in American society as a way to keep a gentleman from sweating through those old button downs and oxfords. It wasn’t until WWII, that American GI’s on the European war front, observed both civilians and European soldiers using the t-shirt as a form of casual wear.
A GI befriends a young French lady on the French Riviera.
Time Capsule | The National Motorcycle Race Meet
The National Motorcycle Race was photo documented in the fall of 1955 by veteran photographer George Silk in the Mohave Valley. There, one of the most compelling series of motorcycle Americana imagery was captured, to become part of the Life photo archive.
Today, we dust off the old prints for a glimpse into a day when infinite-cool wore dirt and grime like a bespoken tuxedo. The images contain fantastic examples of 1950s style, with heavy leather jackets, ankle high boots, and navy deck jackets strewn into the mix. The young child on the motorcycle wears one of the baddest looking canvas and shearling jackets I have ever seen. Other interesting touches found below are the Triumph Motorcycle graphics on the grease barrels and the patched on lettering on the team shirts, as modern shirt printing techniques were just being developed. As a whole the look of the day was one of character and edge – a little reminder to modernity that we need to get ourselves dirty every now and again. And to that we say – challenge accepted.
Be sure to follow through to see the full series of images below. (more…)
Tumblr | Back In The Badlands
Yesterday, we launched the sister site/tumblr-sibling of The Gentleman’s Topcoat. If you haven’t noticed, half of the driving force behind TGT, is not only the style agenda of the gentleman, but the visuals associated with them. Back in the Badlands, is just that – a visual celebration of the places, things, items and moments we admittedly hope to experience. It translates into our unabashed attempt to influence our daily lives with these visuals. It is a conscious reminder, that we need not lead a life marked by monotony and bland overtones. Suit up, and step outside – We are Back in the Badlands.
From The Desk Of | Winston Churchill
The contents of every man’s desk does a great telling about the character and disposition of the proprietor. No less true does that statement hold for great statesmen and public figures favorably recognized by history. As such, we bring you the desk of the British Bulldog. From Chartwell, his Kent home, this is the desk of Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill.
Doing It Right | Fisticuffs
Jack Dempsey didn’t believe in magic, and neither should you – Tonight, come out swinging. Literalism’s aside, you know what I mean. Make it happen, and dress the part.
Above : Jack Dempsey takes a swing at Harry Houdini at a publicity event with Benny Leonard, while American troops look on (Circa ~1925).
The Viewing Room | Boardwalk Empire Threads
With the unexpected hiatus of Mad Men, it is safe to say Don Draper has taken yet another unexpected leave of absence from the offices of Sterling-Cooper-Draper-Pryce. This said, we maintain that the man on celluloid to be directing the style trends of the year, may well be the second best dressed man on television – Nucky Thompson.
The expertly designed costumes of Scorsese’s hit HBO series Boardwalk Empire, are brought to life by the wiry edge of Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson. As the cast of Mad Men step aside, Nucky takes center with his muscle close behind, or even, dare we say – side by side. Michael Pitt embodies the character of Jimmy Darmody, a troubled Great War vet and tenacious young man enlisted as the muscle of prohibitioner Nucky Thompson. Fueled by his desire for success at all costs, he soon develops the taste for the bespoke suits of his successful contemporaries. In effect, the production has found itself with a late-bloomer of types, for the stylistically savvy duo to direct men’s style trends. (more…)
NYC Idling | Undercity
Find out about the city you tread over. Filmmaker Andrew Wonder and Steve Duncan take you to the underworld of Manhattan, wandering the long forgotten subway stops and breathes new life into them. His mini documentary is making quite the buzz, be sure to check it out after the jump.
Here we have yet another exemplary product of the possibilities afforded by todays DSLRs. Enjoy.
Mr. Bolivar’s Timepiece
A watch is one of the peculiar artifacts of the modern gentleman. The obsession with time holds common between all men, and especially among the great men of our time who strived to master the limited seconds that slip away as we sleep and idle, between our moments of greatness. Fittingly, we begin with the timepiece of a great man, the pocket watch of Simon Bolivar, tattered by that which it paced, time.
In an undisclosed location in South America and from the hands of a gentleman that rather not be named, we hold the timepiece of The Liberator himself. A gift from American Colonel Belford H. Wilson in the final days of Simon Bolivar’s life, this Brillman of London pocket watch is engraved with the words of Simon Bolivar’s esteemed friend and personal aide in appreciation for their long-lasting friendship. Dated October 30th 1830, we find that the movements find themselves intact and well preserved with a face adorned by Victorian scrolls. Simon Bolivar’s life ended in that same year due to a severe case of tuberculosis on December 17th in Santa Marta, Nueva Granada (Modern-Day Colombia).
And so we take a look a close look at one of the items that help refine and calibrate our lives as men, and take a step back to appreciate an item that can make any modern gentleman feel infinitely cool, the fine watch.
The Gentleman's Topcoat 