Put This On

I love pretty much everything Archival Clothing makes, and this is no exception. It’s just a waxed cotton baseball cap. Well-executed, high standards, simple, wearable, reasonably priced. Another home run.

How epically gorgeous is this new duffel from Archival Clothing? Double waxed twill bottom? Give me a break.

When I was in San Francisco the other day, I was riding the BART train to my mom’s house. Somewhere around the 16th & Mission statement, this couple started looking at me.

“Why are these people mad dogging me?” I thought. I was tempted to get up in their face, but instead, I tried to avoid eye contact. 18 years as a City kid taught me to avoid those kinds of confrontations unless absolutely necessary.

We got to my mom’s stop, 24th Street, and it turned out to be their stop, too.

I was behind them, and I noticed the woman was carrying an Archival Clothing musette.

“Oh.” I thought, a little embarassed. “They were probably just wondering if I was the Put This On guy.” The demographic to whom I am a public figure is narrow, but it definitely includes people carrying Archival Clothing bags. Felt kinda bad about that.

ANYWAY…

Our pals at Archival Clothing make beautiful, high-quality bags and clothes in simple, utilitarian designs. They’re a little expensive, but only because they’re made right, not because they’re taking a crazy designer mark-up. They’re having an odds-and-ends sale to ease their move into a new space, so if you’re in Oregon, you should definitely stop by May 18th. It’s at 445 Lincoln Street in Eugene, and will run from noon to seven. You might score a great deal. Or accidentally pick a fight.

For a few years, I used an old nylon zipper bag for my toiletries. When I say old, I mean that truthfully - this number was from the late 60s, and had crazy psychedelic designs on it. When that bit the dust, I grabbed a simple zip bag from Muji, but I wanted something more than plastic.

After a lot of fruitless searching for something suitable at a reasonable price, I ended up grabbing a Jack Spade waxwear dopp kit from Gilt. It was a bit more expensive than I’d like, and I’d have preferred it didn’t have a big Jack Spade logo patch on it, but it’s very good looking and has served me well. (By the way: if you’re looking for simple, mid-priced, solid-quality accessories, you can do worse than Jack Spade on Gilt. Good selection, usually, and nice products.)

If Archival Clothing had been offering this Archival Dopp Kit back then, I probably would have bought one for myself. The team there always works hard to remove unnecessary BS from their designs and to get every detail right. The result is a beautiful form and exceptional function. Sixty bucks isn’t a pittance, but frankly it’s cheap for something made exactly right. That’s how Archival do it.

(And they just put out a cool-ass duffel bag, too.)

Abandoned Republic: a blog dedicated to pre-GAP Banana Republic.

(via Archival Clothing)

Banana Republic was originally a surplus vendor, then started to make reproduction surplus goods, then original designs. They were purchased by GAP in the early 80s (both were Bay Area-based) and transformed over the course of ten or fifteen years into the metrosexual mecca they are today.

Whether you’re already a fan of early BR or not, the book they put out in 1986 is a great read.

Here’s a lovely new product. Our friends at Rising Sun Denim, who we profiled in our first episode, have placed this beautiful outdoor vest in the store of our pals at Archival Clothing. It’s expensive - $225 - but as you saw in our first episode, it’s made by hand, so there’s a reason for the price. It’s also an interesting fabric - indigo-dyed canvas duck. I’m a big fan of canvas duck, a heavy canvas used for work clothes, and so’s Mike Hodis, the empresario of Rising Sun. A beautiful, (sorta) practical piece.

A roundup of camera accessories at Archival Clothing.

These shawl cardigans that our people at Archival Clothing just put out are just beautiful. Spectacular. Golden. Made right, and made in the USA. And a bargain at $180.

This one’s for the bike nerds: archival cycling on Archival Clothing.

It is currently taking all my self control to prevent myself from buying this beautiful web belt from Archival Clothing.  It’s $24!  Gimme a break.