Bonus! A terrific article about Houston native, Lyle Lovett.

Bonus – A previous post from the 1883 blog about all the Houston locations used in his movie “Rushmore”: here and some cool shots of Wes Anderson’s unique personal style: here.

A historical and fascinating account by Nicholas de Monchaux of how Playtex won the bid over military and industrial competitors to create and manufacture the Apollo spacesuit. This book combines all my favorite topics – politics, media, fashion design, and technology…a must read for all you Houston NASA history buffs (i.e. everyone at Hamilton) out there.

Order it up at Amazon, B&N, or locally here at Brazos.

via Selectism via Brainpickings

Enlarging our distribution for the first time since our launch, we’ll be setting up at Project (Hamilton Shirts very first trade show) on January 16th – 18th where we’d be more than happy to show you our new line of fall & winter 2012 Hamilton 1883.

Inspired by the sporting life, our graphic and sharp fall/winter offerings are based on our classic best sellers updated in new stylish patterns, colors, and fabrications. Created and manufactured entirely in our Houston workshop, our line of 1883 shirts are made with the same quality and care as our custom bespoke. Hand-cut fabrics from Italian and Japanese mills such as Albini and Thomas Mason are combined with non-fused soft interfacing and real mother of pearl buttons. The 1883 line of shirts are some of the finest ready-to-wear shirts in the market. Come see for yourself.

Conveniently located at 82 Mercer Street, NYC from 9am – 6pm, in Booth 627, please contact us at Hamilton Shirts for an appointment to meet with owners and representatives David & Kelly Hamilton.

-Image from our F/W 12 inspiration boards-

Perfect to wear during the holidays, the shirt looks great worn with black, dark greens, or even khaki. The soft Italian cotton has a super crisp hand that gets better and better the more you wear it, even more so after a couple washings. I speak from experience…the ACME shirt comes with a personal endorsement – mine! This favorite style has become my most worn shirt of the season- I’ve been happily wearing the prototype sample since September!

Our December issues of Instyle arrived and we were lucky enough to be included in their fantastic and thoughtful 2011 Gift Guide round up. Taking a look at various menswear custom shirt-makers, Hamilton might be the only option whose shirts are solely made in the U.S.A.. Procrastinators should also take note, Hamilton has the shortest lead time of two weeks – from initial order to final product.

Plan ahead accordingly, the Houston workshop holiday clock is ticking. Another possibility would be to contact us for a Hamilton Shirt gift certificate. This option would provide your lucky recipient with the full-fledged bespoke experience with our online custom shirt-builder or in person here at our Houston store – right up until the last minute.

Combining the best materials along with the top craftsmanship of our Houston workshop, quite simply, make this “Made in the USA” garment one of the finest shirts you can buy.

Each shirt starts out here. The selected bolt of fabric is brought over from the shelves to the worktables…

Notes on the shirts styling are checked and the appropriate pattern pieces are laid out…

The cutting begins. Each shirt is cut out individually with a knife.

Pattern pieces are carefully laid out to match the lines of the plaid fabric perfectly…

Exact measurements are key to provide symmetry and balance…

Interfacing is cut to give the shirt structure, but since non-fused is used the shirt remains soft…

The construction begins…

Facings are applied that will never get wrinkly or creating bunching…

Labels and size tags get applied at this stage…

Pockets are cut and pressed very precisely and must match the fabric pattern…

A template shows exactly where the pocket is to be applied to the shirt…

Double and sometimes triple checking exact measurements…

The pocket is applied and the final assembly is completed…

The end product…the blue version of the cotton cashmere plaid button-down.