Jack Purcell's

John Edward "Jack" Purcell (December 24, 1903 – June 10, 1991) was a Canadian world champion badminton player. Purcell was theCanadian National Badminton Champion in 1929 and 1930, and declared the world champion in 1933. He retired in 1945, and pursued a career as a stock broker. Purcell also designed an athletic shoe that bears his name, which is still popular today.


Thought I'd share my recent (and 1st) Purcell purchase.  I spent quite a while looking for the right sneaker. Among the canaditates, Tretorn, Nike, Adidas & Pf Flyer. It was PF for the majority of the hunt, but my boy Jamie assured me I'd be well pleased with the purcell both from an aesthetic appeal and comfort requirement. 
     Coming over from Chuck T's, I assure you these are a WORLD more comfortable. An additional padded layer is a breath of fresh air coming over from the hard bottom'd Chuck's.  Cotton canvas upper, brushed nickel grommets, rubber sole.  This will look good with a club short, your favorite pair of rigid or washed jeans and of course a slim fit chino.


They are also known as trainers (British English), sandshoes, gym boots or joggers(Australian English), running shoes, runners or gutties (Canadian English, Australian English, Hiberno-English), sneakers, tennis shoes (North American English, Australian English), gym shoes, tennies, sports shoes, sneaks, tackies^[1] (South African English and Hiberno-English), rubber shoes (Philippine English) or canvers (Nigerian English).


A traditional "Tennis Shoe", My hat's off to Jack. Enjoy!

They're Special Boys : Baldwin Denim The Reed

I'm stoked to do a piece on my recent denim purchase.  After initially ordering a pair of Levis Premium Selvage 514's I was convinced there wasn't a better fit out there.  Boy was I wrong.  Baldwin has it right with regard to quality, cut, feel, durability, aesthetic..you name it, they've done it.  I purchased the jeans from the fine folks over at Mortar on Westheimer. If you haven't been there yet, I recommend it, Sasha one of the owners is a cool cat and knows his stuff!!!  They carry some strong bands such as, Baldwin, Kicking Mule, Gilded Age, Billykirk, Randolph Eng. etc....

Denim Description

- Dry Indigo Selvage
- 13oz White Oak Plant Cone Mills Indigo Selvage Sanforized Denim
- Woven, cut and sewn in USA
- Custom Copper Rivets
- Button Fly
- Chainstitched Hem
- Yellow line Selvage Fabric is 100 % cotton (Pima Cotton Fill) made of a solid indigo denim from Cone Mills famous White Oak Plant.

I tell you, I was on my way to Mortar to buy a Billykirk belt, not jeans, but with one try I was hooked. Crocking on these is pretty substantial so I decided to do an initial soak to keep from damaging any of my shirting. They are actually drying from that soak now, I'll post updated info on that as time allows.
Hat's off to the boys over at Baldwin, I'm a fan.  These will be my go to pair for the next year. Thanks for reading.  Buy your pair here http://www.shopmortar.com/store/

-Rob

I like what I like....

The newest addition to my leather goods collection comes in the form of one BillyKirk belt. This specific item was a colab with J.Crew (one of my favorite suppliers). Here is the J.Crew write up on it. Founded in 1999 by the brothers, Billykirk's ruggedly minimalist leather goods are some of the handsomest we've seen. Each piece is made by hand in the heart of Amish country using antique tools and master-craftsman techniques, including this expertly crafted cowhide belt. It's proof positive that you can't fake quality. Solid brass buckle with nickel plating. Width: 1 1/4".

This is my 1st belt "investment piece" and I must say I am really pleased. The Leather is thick and and the hardware is sturdy. In the last 3 years I have had a desire to purchase more items made in the U.S.A and actually crafted. This Belt fits that bill. Looking forward to passing this along to one of my sons when the time is right. Buy yours here

http://www.jcrew.com/mens_feature/NewArrivals/accessories/PRDOVR~33926/33926.jsp

For Your Pleasure : Halley Stevensons Woodland Jacket For J. Crew

Waxed Cotton is the original performance fabric – beginning life over 200 years ago with sailcloth cloaks created to provide protection on the worlds' oceans. Today, it's more than a tough shield against the elements: it's become an icon of natural style, seen both in the countryside and on city streets around the world.
Halley Stevensons are specialist manufacturers of Waxed and Oiled Cottons, with proven expertise and years of experience developing new, and refining traditional waxed cotton finishes, all to the highest quality and performance standards. As this unique fabric has moved beyond the traditional waxed jacket, and into new and exciting markets around the world, our product range has adapted and expanded – offering a bespoke product to match any design.
     I basically pulled the above directly off the Halley Stevensons website, if your more interested in them and the waxed cotton process please visit their website here http://www.waxedcotton.com/
I'm very pleased with this jacket, it looks great, feels great and offers quite a bit of versatility.  It's been cold a couple mornings here in Houston and I'm glad I've got this Jacket because it's warm indeed.  I snagged it from J. Crew in the Galleria for around $195.00 after a 30% off promotion and another credit card offer. Not bad considering original price was 290.00.  Jamie has the Barbour and it's a great piece, but I prefer this jacket because the collar flaps were a little smaller.

here are a few pics for your pleasure 

1000 Mile Boot

I'm excited to blog about my recent purchase of Wolverine's 1000 mile work boot.  I was able to snag these from Neiman Marcus here in Houston in the galleria last Thursday.  Andre Johnson of the Houston Texans was also doing a little Christmas shopping, Awesome, Indeed to see a star like that in the flesh. 
     Anyway, back to the boot.  What a great boot!  I really can't say enough about the quality, feel, aesthetic and smell, (yes the smell).  The Horween Chromexcel leather actually has a strong fragrance that filled up my entire room.  I just basked in the ambiance.  I opted for dark brown as I felt the russet wouldn't accurately mimic the original.  This boot is handmade in America and as I stated above features Horween Chromexcel leather technology.  If you are more interested in the Chromexcel leather process please visit Horween's website here http://horween.com/index.php/leathers/

Horween has been using this time honored tradition for over 100 years and the end result is something.  The bends and folds in this leather are soft yet strong, durable yet pliable.  A quick brush of the palm and you can really tell the time and detail that's gone into the manufacturing process.  This boot also features "Goodyear Welt" technology ensuring durability top class performance and years of pleasure.  Wikipedia offers some great info on the welt process here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodyear_Welt


 Fit - Accurately and comfortably fits the foot.  In fact when I went to buy the boots I had a pair of Gifford  wingtips on and was of course sock less.  The salesman had me throw on some of those "pantyhose" socks and obviously I had to wear the boots immediately so I walked the galleria with Bill in these boots basically with no socks.  Let me stress, no socks are needed with this boot as the interior is just as high quality as the exterior.

Aesthetic - Beautifully pleasing to the eye.  The boots are the nicest pair of shoes I've purchased yet. They are soft and feel like tennis shoes on the foot. I've only had redwings to use a point of reference and I admit the quality of this boot far exceeds that of a redwing boot.  I've yet to compare them to the Alden #405, but I will have the pleasure of doing that soon as my good friend is a possessor of such.

Over 125 years ago G. A. Krause founded his footwear company with quality & aesthetic in mind.
Well done Mr. Krause, Well done Wolverine.
Hugh Jackman would be proud to wear these boots.
My props to Neiman Marcus as well for carrying these and proffesionally putting these boots on my feet.  I felt like Andre Johnson!!!!  :)

Merry Christmas all, celebrate the risen Savior.

Here's a link to Wolverine's website highlighting the collection : http://www.wolverine.com/us/1000mile/


Here are a couple photos I took during the Christmas break, enjoy!