While flipping through the bible of (ladies) fashion – September Vogue – we stumbled across this terrific photo from our recent past. A couple years ago, Justin Timberlake was shot for a special supplement to Vogue called Fashion Rocks. We made J.T. a bespoke tuxedo shirt from our Hamilton Shirts line, and we were lucky enough to have it appear. To illustrate the upcoming Fashion’s Night Out, another photo from the same shoot was used..and this one is even better!

Around here we like to think that even through our very small contribution, we are doing what we can to help bring Sexyback. We can provide the great fitting shirt, the rest is up to you…dance moves not included.

We were very happy to receive the September issue in the mail and find Hamilton 1883 featured inside! The article that we appear in is called the “New Business Casual” – a terrific guide that shows you how to face a casual workday without looking like a drone. Sharp, well fitting clothes, really DO make the man.

Hamilton Shirts has been saying that for 127 years!

While we perusing the list of stylish elite that made the cut, we stumbled across a HAMILTON SHIRT! There right before our eyes on the Best Dressed Men page…was anchor and managing editor of the NBC Nightly News, Brian Williams – and he is wearing one of our bespoke shirts!

Thank you to Brian Williams for choosing our shirts, and a special thank you to our friends at Mitchells on doing such an amazing job making Mr. Williams one of the best dressed men in the world. Our very small contribution really means so much to us.

Thank You!

There really hasn’t been a full-fledged musical summer anthem for the summer of 2010…so I hereby nominate the Lee Fields tune “Ladies“.

Pick up a copy of Lee Fields “My World” here on iTunes:

My World – Lee Fields & The Expressions

This years lineup will include: MGMT, DEVO, Mastodon, Bad Religion, Slick Rick, RJD2, A-Trak, GWAR, The Hold Steady, The Dirty Projectors…WEIRD AL YANKOVIC and MORE…

The Fun Fun Fun Festival was created to include “what is bubbling from the underground, what sounds great, and what is making an impact, regardless of what Pollstar or the mainstream media said was cool.” I’ll say. What had once been a two day festival has now been enlarged to three – more days, more bands, more ultimate face-melting music awesomeness!

Tickets are on sale now HERE for November 5, 6, 7.

** also while in Austin – be sure and check out the mens store called Stag – tons of cools stuff for sale, including a GREAT selection of our 1883 shirts! **

Directed by Luca Guadagnino, the movie tells the story of a wealthy Milanese wife and mother whose life changes drastically after a chance introduction. Starring the unique beauty Tilda Swinton (a friend to the Cinema Arts Society Houston) her look and performance perfectly epitomizes the meticulous, understated elegance of an Italian women of a certain age and class. The locations and wardrobe used in the movie are absolutely perfect.

Over the years I’ve had many friends that have moved to Milan tell me about how difficult it is live there – the ancient Italian city has a very closed off society and the levels of the social classes are very pronounced, especially to outsiders or foreigners. The movie portrays the contrasts between these worlds perfectly; how very attractive material things can be, and how false beauty combined with lies doesn’t lead to personal happiness.

The movie is photographed using very interesting different styles, and the dramatic score was assembled from music created by the minimalist American composer, John Adams. Even if this kind of movie isn’t your thing..it’s a great looking film, and the settings and fashions, are totally worth the price of admission.

If you are a regular reader of all the various style blogs out there, there is no way you’ve overlooked the upcoming re-release of the Japanese style-bible Take Ivy. Even the New York Times has recently written an article about it. This new edition is sure to get all the fashion folks worked up – with its translated English text, brand new photo reproductions, and most of all…its super low price tag.

I’ve written about this cryptically named book before – vintage copies of the tome are very hard to find, and often sell at auction for thousands of dollars. As an owner of a vintage copy (bought back in the good old days when there was such things as expense accounts..what?) it will be interesting to see how the new edition affects the price of the rare vintage copies. Luckily I got my original copy for a song. Newly listed on Amazon, the book will sell for $14.97 when it gets released on August 31st.

The small photo book takes an outsiders look at life inside the private, wealthy world of the American Ivy League – photographs of students back in sixties when the prep styles of the men’s clothes were really only worn by the entitled, privileged classes. Fashion designers, editors, and stylists worship the book – it’s a rare snapshot into this unique period of time and has influenced many fashion magazine stories, and countless menswear collections.

The new season (season 4) begins tonight on AMC at 10pm!

Wouldn’t Don be happy that you are forced to watch an ad before the video begins? So sorry!

A little known fact was that the crazy singer named Amy had actually “borrowed” her sound…her backup band called the Dap Kings. The Dap Kings really seemed to be the magic ingredient that provided the Back in Black album with that raw, powerful, and perfectly rendered retro sound. The interesting thing about The Dap Kings was that they already had a singer, and a really great one at that…and her name is Sharon Jones.

Sharon’s the REAL deal and she’s UNBELIEVABLY AWESOME.

If you want to give your ears a treat…invite some friends over, fix up some cocktails, and throw on Sharon’s latest record called “I Learned the Hard Way“. It’s totally fantastic.

iTunes link: I Learned the Hard Way (Bonus Version) – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

Here’s a tune from her last record, 100 Days, 100 Nights

From the new record, the title track – I Learned the Hard Way