Sorry for the absence yall.  I have been a bit busy with school and unmotivated to write.  So, hopefully Ill get my act together and get it done for next week.

Hope everyones summer is going well.  till then…

If you’ve been reading tingsic for awahile then you know that I make clothes mostly because I have a hard time finding things that fit the way I like at a reasonable price point.  The more I make the more I realize it is very possible to make quality clothes for very meager prices and still make a sustaining profit.  With the Spring/Summer collections and trends coming out in full force, white pants are strongly represented and the continued slide toward the extreme casualization of American mens wear lingers.

GQ spread on the white jean spectrum. From casual to buisness in a snap

Over the last week or so I’ve been working on finding fabric and starting to pattern some good summer jeans.  Since I started I’ve been getting a lot of shit from friends with regards to white pants.  So, for all yall who are against white pants as a concept please take a moment to ask yourself, why do we always wear dark colors on the bottom and lighter colors on top?  What’s so wrong with white pants?  Now, there are some good reasons for this configuration for some people and breaking these rules tends to automatically be more casual but, rules are meant to be broken and can expand your wearable wardrobe exponentially.

If you look at the clothes you already wear, I guarantee you have at least a white shirt.  Now think of the outfit you normally wear with your white shirt, maybe jeans? Now, turn the colors upside down.  Now you’re wearing white pants and a denim shirt or, instead of gray trousers and a white button down, how about white pants and a grey linen jacket?  Just by flipping what you already have you double your possibilities and make old things feel brand new.

the same guy, same colors and materials just in different combinations. two distinct looks.

White pants have been around forever but, white denim came into its own in the late 60’s when jeans started to become more then just work wear.  White jeans were becoming a staple of summer wear as they are once again.  Now, when you are looking for summer pants you want them to, obviously, be lighter weight then your heavy selvedge as well as lighter in color.  In denim that means somewhere between 8-11 oz per yard as opposed to the 11-15 oz per yard of the dry raw selvedge thats flying off the shelves these days.  When you start looking at colors for the warmer weather remember that the darker colors will absorb the heat where as the lighter ones will reflect it so, the whites, beiges, kahkis and pastels like powder blue or pale red not only look great but, are much more comfortable on those hot summer days.

take a cue from the style blogger.  enjoy the sun in your light white summer denim

Don’t forget that just because they are white doesn’t mean you should baby them. Don’t spend to much and wear them hard just like you would your dark jeans and stand out a bit this summer.

I have been reading this book, ‘The Wind-up Bird Chronicle’ by Haruki Murakami (great book by the way, definitely worth a read if you have a chance), and somewhere half way through the main characters wife disappears.  Now, if you have read any Murakami you know that his writing is so effortlessly descriptive that it almost seems like he’s painting a picture.  He can spend two pages just putting into words how a character feels as the light changes in the room.  This being said, when the mans wife disappears he begins to think back and remember the early days of their relationship.  Murakami writes, “She could wear the plainest article of clothing and manage, with the roll of a sleeve or the curl of a collar, to transform it into something spectacular.”

These days, in the world of mens wear, the word sprezzatura, or the nonchalant imperfection of the italians, has become a hot button for anything cool.  There is definitely something to be said for style and putting together clothes coherently but, something I am personally only beginning to grasp is the skill of wearing clothes.  Not only how you put them on, or what you wear but, how you move in them.  How you connect with what your wearing so that it looks and feels as if it belongs there.

At this point I’m not sure if its something someone can cultivate or it comes from finding things that make you feel most comfortable or even if its learned but, there are few things more beautiful then someone who truly knows how to wear their clothes.  Once upon a time I was told, “you really can wear a pair of jeans,” and of course that is a hell of a compliment but, I think Im only starting to really understand what people see when they say things like that.

Its partially about attitude, its partially about fit, its partially about comfort, and its partially about nothing at all.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season where ever you happen to be.  I am currently somewhere in eastern Europe galavanting with the best of ‘em so, you can be sure I’m having a good time.  Tingsic is going to take a couple week break for the holidays and be back with fresh insights in the new year.  Look for us the first Sunday (january 8th) after the celebratios.

“Apres-Ski” 1971 Canadian erotic ski comedy poster (the lead looks oddly like my dad)

Happy Holidays! See you next year…

The 1960s, especially in England, witnessed a spectacular renaissance of dandyism—a movement in men’s style that the media called the “Peacock Revolution.”  Until recently the idea of peakcocking with style has been all but lost.  With men who want to be flashy pulling out Ed Hardy t-shirts and embrodered jeans.  This entertaining book takes a fascinating look at the “Swinging Sixties” London scene—all illustrated with photographs, outfits, and ephemera drawn from the Victoria & Albert Museum’s superb archives.  This is a visual handbook for anybody who wants to push the bounds of style, dress well and still make a statement.  It is a personal memoir of a moment—in which fashion insider Geoffrey Aquilina Ross recalls the era’s most dashing figures, including Savile Row tailor Tommy Nutter, whose clients included Mick Jagger, the Beatles, and Elton John; photographers Patrick Lichfield and David Bailey; and hairdresser Vidal Sassoon; and discusses iconic London shops such as Granny Takes a Trip, Blades, Hung on You, and Mr Fish. Christopher Breward’s introduction places the extraordinary revolution within its social and cultural context.

Although I have yet to flip through this one in person, the blogs have been a buzz and personally, I think the peacock era in the history of mens fashion is the most interesting.  They drew from over 300 years of mens clothes history going back all the way tot he French Revolution and created something completely unique.  If you get the chance, check it out.  It will be worth it, if only for the pictures.

thanks to Mister Crew for the pictures and review

I am often talking about, writing about and reading about adventure and adventurers and those of you who know me know that I tend to get into it on my own on a pretty regular basis.  I have been living in Taiwan for the last year and some change and now its time to make the long trek back to the states.  But, doing things the easy way is boring so, instead of taking a flight across the Pacific I am going the long way around.  Overland to the west through China, Mongolia, Russia and a big chunk of Europe to catch a flight across the Atlantic.  What is more romantic then an overland journey?

This epic voyage will take me away from my computer for awhile but, rest assured tingsic will continue in my absence on autopilot.  I have set her up to continue to bring you witty and insightful information all the way through the new year.  Do continue to check us out here and I will be back with you, hopefully with some fresh ideas come 2012.

I came across a video the other day and it got me thinking.  I pride myself on the fact that with a little time and the right equipment I can make just about anything.  I have in fact tested this on many occasions, sometimes its harder then others and sometimes I need advice for a mentor but, in the end the work gets done.  There are two key things in this; first, a mentor, one of the things I think most young men and women are lacking these days is a mentor to help them learn and advance in the basic skills of life.  Just like the fate of apprentices and masters in ever craft.  Notice, I said mentor not role model.  A role model is great, someone to aspire to be like and to look up too but, beyond moral behavior (which in my opinion should be covered by parents anyway) a role model doesn’t necessarily help with the rest.  Second is the drive, the interest or down right curiosity about things.  Everything is so accessible now that people don’t feel the need to go out and do it themselves.  You want to know how an engine works?  Take one apart, I guarantee you will know more then if you look it up on the internet and thats true for just able anything.  Doing something with your hands will always be the quickest way for us as a species to learn no matter what people say about different learning types.

Adam Cramer of Liberty Vintage Motorcycles in the video below makes a point about Americans.  He says we have lost the, “can do attitude” that was once the stereotype of an American and this is probably the thing that hit me hardest in this little rant.  Because that is one of the greatest things about being American, we can do anything and if we don’t know how right now, I guarantee we will figure it out and do it tomorrow.  This problem solving is being lost and these seemingly little things are what lead to innovation.  No one ever invented anything sitting on the couch.

We have become a nation of consumers.  We consume more then any other nation in the world but yet we make less and less.  As of 2009 our greatest American export was waste paper.  Thats right, our biggest export to the rest of the world is trash.  I guess i wonder what ever happened to the America that places like Japan and Russia and the rest of the world envied.  The America that said “in ten years we will put a man on the moon” and did.  The America that saw three thousand miles of rough terrain and high peaks and said “sure, we can cross that.”  What will happen to the “American Spirit” without these things that make us more.

Adam Cramer of Liberty Vintage Motorcycles out of Philly