Staple Paradise Pigeon T-Shirt in White, $28

Pigeons don’t get the admiring glances of exotic birds, or elicit the type of admiration that eagles, falcons and large birds. Common to almost every major city around the world, pigeons are the Rodney Dangerfields of the bird world. Familiarity not only breeds contempt in this case, but  often even worse – indifference.

Which is why we really love this tee. An ordinary bird, on the most ordinary kind of t-shirt, but something different that reminds you there can be a something worth admiring in the everyday things that don’t often draw a second look.

The moodboard for Michael Bastian’s Fall/Winter 2013 collection

Menswear often leans towards heritage and a designated color palette (black, gray, blue, brown or red in various levels of intensity), so it’s interesting to hear about the thought process that goes into a collection with the goal of pushing boundaries while maintaining wearability. While women’s fashion gets to exhibit creativity through colors, bold patterns and unusual fabrics, menswear has always been held to a more attainable standard.

“Let’s see how far we can keep pushing this American look without falling into the preppy trap. And you can go through this and say that the Fair Isle sweater is preppy, but we’re showing it in a different way.” – Menswear designer Michael Bastian to GQ

Of his most recent collection, which opened with a feathered vest, Bastian says “I still do that thing where if I wouldn’t wear it myself, even on my most confident day, it doesn’t go in the collection.”

Which all seems to be part of the designer’s push to continue pushing designs that are distinctly American (read: wearable, geared more towards the casual and active than buttoned up and perfectly polished), but not chained to heritage.

I’ve never been slim — I played offensive line in high school — but I’m no cow either. (I’m happily a “Russell Crowe” body type.) So I immediately went across the street, bought a tailor’s measuring tape, and trudged from shop to shop, trying on various brands’ casual dress pants. It took just two hours to tear my self-esteem to smithereens and raise some serious questions about what I later learned is called “vanity sizing.” {Esquire/The Style Blog}

This chart isn’t new, but with only one more holiday to go before many people collectively pledge to put down the fork and pick up a weight or two, it seemed an appropriate time to bring it back as a reminder that your goal size may be closer than you think. In some cases, as close as the nearest retailer offering a brand that fudges the numbers a bit (or a lot).

Some call it vanity sizing, but the vanity perspective says it’s just an opportunity to tackle other New Year’s resolutions.

Rapper Jay-Z is plastering Occupy Wall Street’s message onto a new line of T-shirts, to be released Friday under his Rocawear clothing label…

But here’s the thing: Rocawear isn’t going to share its wealth. A Rocawear spokesperson sent us a statement confirming there’s no plan to distribute any of the profits, which will surely pour in from shirt sales, to Occupy Wall Street. {Business Insider}

Image via Business Insider

99% problems, for sure. Here’s the thing: the Occupy movements aren’t really against capitalism, but rather the greed of certain businesses, and laws that don’t penalize companies who control large amounts of money the same way that people who control relatively minuscule amounts of money are penalized should they not handle their money properly.

And likely a few other things as well, but that seems to be the message in a nutshell. So it’s not so much that Jay-Z and Rocawear are making money on the shirts, which co-opt the message, but the fact that none of it goes to support the  movement itself seems to fall onto the whole greed side of things.

He once said “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man,” so we don’t knock the hustle in heading the company smart enough to capitalize on a trend, but as someone who’s now a pretty respected businessman, Jay-Z might find dividing the pie on this one to be a better business move.

Previously:

• Jay-Z “Partners” With Pharrell Williams, Owns Licensing for Billionaire Boys Club

GQ reports that Jay-Z’s Rocawear clothing label is the proud new owner of the licensing to manufacture and distribute Pharrell Williams’ Billionaire Boys Club clothing line, but Jay-Z says don’t call it a takeover.

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/S_C_/status/98817200789536768″]

Buying the rights to manufacture and sell a clothing line sounds like buying the label to us, but since details of the deal were vague, it’s possible that Williams still has a significant role in the label creatively, or even from a business perspective, and that Rocawear is simply providing extra financial backing.

There are a lot of details that could make a difference, but for both parties it seems like a win/win. We haven’t heard about Billionaire Boys Club struggling, but Jay-Z’s been able to successfully maintain the Rocawear streetwear label for some time, and that’s no small feat. As tough as it might be to keep pace with changing musical tastes and dominate the charts, it’s equally challenging for a streetwear label to keep its cool for an extended period of time.

In 2007, Iconix Brand Group acquired the rights to the label, netting Jay-Z $204 million. Under the terms of the deal, Jay-Z maintained his stake in the label and continued to oversee marketing, licensing and product development. In other words, he also has a pretty successful track record with fashion label acquisitions that keep the celebrity founders in place, in a significant role.

More of a partnership than a buyout, if you will.

Dilligaf is suing because they claim that Sorrentino failed to show up for photo shoots, didn’t wear the brand in public, and signed deals with similar clothing labels, violating his contract with them. {Gawker} Apparently he really didn’t give a… and no one at Dilligaf noticed that the Situation is probably the Jersey Shore member who actually spends the least amount of time wearing a shirt to begin with. While we don’t often find ourselves on the same sartorial page as the Jersey Shore crew, is it possible that the Situation actually encountered a clothing line that was too tacky for even his tastes?

It does seem Sorrentino is attempting to go in a more stylish direction, even if it gives weight to Dilligaf’s claims that Sorrentino was working with other clothing companies.

Gawker is reporting that a formal wear company called FLOW Formal has signed Sorrentino to a six-figure deal that will see Situation branded tuxedos, dress shirts and men’s formal accessories hitting stores in February of 2012. Perhaps we can expect blinged out cumberbands and bow-ties, or shirts designed to perfectly compliment an orange skin tone.

Or, with any luck, maybe around May 2012 we’ll once again be writing about how none of these things actually made it onto store shelves.

The things people come up with to make men’s clothing more interesting never fails to amaze. Maybe you’ve already got your pair of SUBS garter/suspenders, but want an extra bit of assurance in case your pants sag just a little too low. Enter JeanPants underwear. {Racked}

Available in medium or large, the $61 pair of underwear comes to you courtesy of the Japan Trend Shop. This has to be Japan’s official response to that massive donation of Crocs. Well played, Japan.

Here’s how the cotton and polyurethane shorts are being marketed:

“The tight and chic JeanPants from local clothes brand CUW are pert, durable and oozing zeitgeist appeal. Although likely to be more popular with men the designers also say women are welcome to enjoy the style too. For sure, the ‘worn’ denim look is all the rage in Tokyo at the moment, and this underwear adds innovation to that trend by transposing jeans fashion to your briefs.”

While the shorts are intended for men, CUW (the brand behind this product) claims that they’re suitable for ladies as well. Obviously, they’re trying to tap into the market of guys who were lining up for the ex-girlfriend jeans. Somehow, the fact that these are unisex doesn’t make them any more appealing to us, but if you’re Tobias Funke or one of the dozens who were waiting for these, your underwear pleas have not fallen on deaf ears.

This has LBJ written all over it

In addition to the video being amusing, we bring up Johnson’s preferences because as we were looking through Vivienne Westwood’s collection of drop crotch pants for Fall 2011 we couldn’t help but think that if Johnson were still around these are exactly the type of trouser he’d go for.

In her show notes, Westwood envisions the designs as part of a royal wedding ensemble. How to put this delicately: we think Prince William might have a slightly different preference, but somewhere at the heights of power some man is looking at those outfits and thinking “yes!”

Unfortunately the one that first comes to mind is deceased, but there have to be at least a few more out there who look for the same qualities in a pair of trousers.

Taking a page from brands like Burberry and Ralph Lauren, Ermenegildo Zegna will make their upcoming fashion show 3D.

James Lima, who was a visual consultant on 3D box office behemoth “Avatar,” will be in charge of the show which will combine a live performance with projected images of models and a 360-degree background. {Thread NY}

The men’s fashion brand isn’t the first to explore 3D technology as a means of making runway shows more interactive, but previous applications have usually come during women’s shows. With many brands looking to menswear for growth, tying fashion in with tech is a smart move though. It’s a move that will probably be necessary if brands hope to draw a larger group of potential shoppers into men’s fashion.

Z Zegna Spring 2011 images via Homme Times

Browsing through the store, where production ready designs are put up for pre-order or sale, we came across this hooded jacket by Silas Bahr. Or, exhibit A in why Garmz just may be able to make the crowdsourced fashion model happen.

It may not be the next Tik Tok + Lunatik (read: million dollar project), but the hoodie/asymmetrical front jacket combination strikes a rare balance between comfort, functionality and design. Even Jimmy Choo and Ugg couldn’t figure out the design portion of that equation, so it’s no small feat.

“It always had been a wish of mine to have something between a sweater or hoodie and a jacket. I like the classy style of a jacket but the comfortableness of a sweater. I do not like to look too formal but not too casual either. So I mixed it all up.” – Silas Bahr on his inspiration for the hooded jacket

We like the idea that there’s a place where a student who was “not very interested in fashion design before” can find the support to go from concept to clothing. Mix it up.

Hooded Jacket by Silas Bahr – €76/approx. $100 at Garmz