Worth a Read - Raymond Carver

Running into my old high school English teacher a couple of days ago by chance and talking to her about the importance of the American short story made me think about Raymond Carver. When I got home some hours later I looked him up on the Internet and discovered, that on that very day it would have been his 74th birthday. I couldn't let this coincidence pass, so I decided to recommend some reading. I love his work, like I love the works of numerous other writers, but something makes him stand out to me. He has a way of telling stories, that you'll enjoy reading and if you get the same experience as I did, they'll leave a lasting imprint.

And you can get his collected works for pennies - almost literally. Head over to Amazon and pick up the short stories first and if you like it, pick up the collected poems too.

Something About Sunglasses and Wes Anderson

I've got one pair of sunglasses, that I wear all the time during the summer, however they are a deadstock model from Anglo American Optical, which means if I loose them, then I'll probably never see another pair like them. Quite a scary thought. Therefore I'm always keeping a lookout for other alternatives. Of course there are plenty of good classics, that would make do, but I'd really like to find something really special in case I'd have to be without my beloved shades.

Some days ago I came across these Shuron sunglasses on Oi Polloi and I'm pretty sure, that they'd make a great substitute. They are a bit harder to pull off, than the typical "Wayfarer"-varieties, that you see all over the place and from the looks of it, It'll be another masterpiece.

Shuron makes great glasses and great sunglasses and they've been doing so since 1865. They've made them for the common man (their Ronsir model was a huge favourite during the 50s and 60s) and for the American army, so you know, you're getting a quality product. Furthermore production is still based in the US and the price is great. What more can you ask for?

What makes me want them is also the fact, that they remind me of the sunglasses worn by the character Richie Tenenbaum (played by Luke Wilson) in one of my favourite movies, "The Royal Tenenbaums" by Wes Anderson. Wes Anderson is probably my favourite living film director and if you haven't seen his films, then I suggest you do so straight away. His latest movie "Moonrise Kingdom" is out in theatres now or will be soon.

The sunglasses worn by Richie Tenenbaum however were made by the French company Vuarnet, which was a preppy favourite back in the 80's. As far as I know, the model is a deadstock model and I haven't been able to find them in retail, but they do pop up on eBay sometimes.

Joseph Dixon Edge Bevellers

I thought, that this blog would be about clothing mostly, but it has turned out to be about leatherworking tools. Please bear with me.

If you work with leather you'll definitely have come across Tandy. Tandy is a major corporation, that sells leather, tools and whatever you may need, but almost never of a good quality. They have killed off the competition and basically they control the market. You can get every tool you need to get started, but at some point when you feel, that your skills are improving, you'll start getting a bit annoyed by the inferior tools. This is basically the point, where I am now. I feel the need to exchange some of my older, starter tools with some new better tools.

There are very few good makers of leatherworking tools left - especially in Europe. Vergez Blanchard of France is one, Joseph Dixon of England is another.

I decided to go for Dixon, when I needed new edge bevellers, and I haven't been disappointed so far. An edge beveller or edge shaver is a tool, that you use to chamfer the edge of a piece a leather before you start treating the edges further.

Dixon tools are still made in England and the company has been around since 1843. The recipe seems to be the same; Good materials, steel, brass and wood. Simple.

Dixon makes two different kinds of edge shavers and they come in sizes from 1-8. I went for 2 and 3 of both kinds because they're often the ones, that you'll be reaching for the most. I wouldn't mind getting the rest of the bunch though.

This is a flat edge shaver, which is the type you see the most nowadays and it's great for smaller accessories.

This is the rounded edge shave is very similar to the flat edge shave, but as you can see, it's concave and will cut of slightly more leather and round the leather a bit more. This is used for belts mostly.

Restoration and Modification of An Old Stitching Clam

Some time ago I managed to rescue an old sewing clam, which was being used as display in an suburban clothing store. A sewing clam, you ask, is something you use, when you sew leather by hand. The clam sits between your legs and holds the object for you, so you can use both hands freely for sewing. 

The condition of the clam was rather good, but it still needed a bit of restoration. However the length wasn't ideal for the way I sew leather, as I rarely use an awl for making holes, when I sew. Therefore I needed to modify it slightly by making it shorter, so it would sit in front of me. Therefore I brought it with me to my parent's place, as my dad has more tools and much more experience with woodwork, than I have.

This is how the sewing clam looked before it. It was quite hard for me to alter this old piece of genuine craftsmanship, but I wouldn't be using as much, as I will now. So I felt like, I had to do it in order to bring it back to use and back to life.

First we sanded it down. 

The length was shortened. Nerve wrecking procedure.

Then we drilled some holes in order to add a screw, that would secure the jaws without causing leg fatigue.

I gave it some shellac in order make it a bit harder - although the wood was extremely hard and dry.

After the shellac had dried I glued on some leather at the tip of the jaws. This was added so the object, that you're holding, doesn't get scratched.

Lastly a hinge were attached, so it can still be used the way it was intended.

The final result.

Wanting - Birkenstock Zurich

With summer right around the corner I find myself looking for a new pair of Birkenstock. Some may not like them, but I'm so hopelessly infatuated by the Japanese aesthetics, that I wear them on all occasions (I'm of course exaggerating). But they go with everything and I'll even go as far as saying, that you can wear these with socks. The quality is good and of course, they are made in Germany and comfy as hell.

I normally go for the Boston model, but this time I'll be buying the Zurich. The "double monkstrap" of sandals.

Unfortunately, I can't get my hands on this Japanese edition.

Or even these customised ones by HTC Company - again, out of Japan. But I could of course have a go at it myself. But I won't.

Topo Designs - Daypack

My quest for a backpack came to an temporary end some weeks ago, when I finally purchased the daypack from Topo Designs. I have long been wanting to buy a backpack because a tote gets hard to carry, if you stuff it, and messenger bags can cause some fatigue, if you don't switch shoulders every now and then. The reason for me choosing Topo is quite simple; they're affordable (or rather cheap, actually), they're sturdy and they look good. But they aren't super good, which is why my search is only temporarily over because I will get another and better backpack, once I have the money and come across the perfect backpack. However I have to say, that you would have a hard time of finding a better product at the price. So this is true value for money.

I field tested the bag, when I went back home for six days, which I'll tell you more about a little later. Here is how it looks, when it is stuffed to maximum capacity.

It's much bigger, than it appears. It has a volume of 22.4 L.

The leather quality could be a bit better, but still it's a very nice detail.

Though I'm usually not too fond of YKK zippers, these are great. They run smoothly and easily.

The camo pattern is quite en mode right now. But I love it despite all the hype.

The hardware is all metal and the webbing seems sturdy. In a perfect world it would have been cotton webbing, however many companies used the same type of webbing in the heyday of hiking back in the 60s and 70s.

What you can't see from these pictures, is that the inside is very thoughtfully put together. It has a space for your laptop and some good pockets, which makes it easy to arrange all of your stuff.

For around $100 plus shipping you can get a well-made (in the US) bag that will last a long time. I think, that's great and Topo deserve every bit of praise.

And it so happens to be, that they just released a short video featuring the very sympathetic owners.

Sewing Machine Porn - Featuring Roy Slaper

Dear God, please give me a workspace like the one Roy has.



I've featured Roy here before, and it doesn't seem like his machines have become less cool, since we last heard of him.

The Gentry Man - The Book

I can't exactly remember, when or how I cam across Gentry Magazine, but I think it was through some Japanese designer. For some time I was thinking about becoming a collector of it. Mostly due to the fact, that the magazine was short lived and only 22 editions were made, but I never really got the collection started and only purchased one edition, which was in poor condition and it got lost while moving at some point. But it was without a doubt a great magazine.

Gentry Magazine was aimed at a upscale market and it covered subjects like fine dining, art, graphic design, history and of course fashion or rather style. It was a quarterly magazine and came with a pricetag of $2 each - making it $8 a year, which was quite a hefty price considering, that it only existed in the 50s and never made it into the 60s. What made the magazine stand out was probably the way the magazine was put together. No expenses were saved using first grade paper, embossing, fold out pages and of course the use of fabric swatches.

The reason for me covering the history of Gentry Magazine is that a book titled "The Gentry Man: A Guide for the Civilized Male" featuring best of Gentry Magazine has just been released in the US and will soon be released in the UK and EU. I've pre-ordered mine through Amazon and it was very reasonably priced, so I suggest, that you all order the book and then you can start collecting the magazines one by one afterwards. That's what I'm planning on doing.

A New Friend - Sergei Sviatchenko

Today I had the absolute pleasure of meeting a man, who I have admired tremendously through the project Close Up and Private. I've mentioned it before and I've even made a post with some pictures, that he took just for this humble blog - you can see them here. Today however we let the Internet be Internet and we met in Person in my backyard to discuss an impending project, and just to have a talk and a cup of coffee.

I was a bit nervous or rather excited about meeting this man, whom I had idolized for his impeccable taste, style and general view on fashion. Here he was in my backyard because he wanted to meet me and talk about, what I do. So I gave him a tour of my small workshop and tried to introduce him to, where I want things to go with After the Denim and my crafts. We also spent some hours talking about other - future - projects, The Doors and ties.

After the initial greetings and small talk Sergei cleared his throat and told me about an Ukrainian custom of thanking someone for being an inspiration or for doing something good and shortly hereafter he handed me a small, rectangular, white box with the words "Close Up and Private - Look" engraved on it. I opened the box and discovered the most beautiful tie wrapped in white silk paper.

This tie was commissioned by Sergei himself and cut and sewn here in Denmark. It's constructed of a very nice silk twill, it's backed with some very nice grosgrain (which my poor pictures don't show) and most importantly the width is just perfect - especially for a four in hand knot.

This amazing present came out of the blue and of course I wasn't prepared at all. Had I known about this, I would have made something out of leather for him, but instead I tried to return the favour by letting Sergei pick from my many vintage ties, which hardly came close to this tie. However I'll come prepared for our next meeting.

So Sergei, thank you very much. The tie is perfect.