Menswear Innovator: Then AND Now
Here is a trivia question for the garment history buffs out there:
Q. Name the company that first treat wool gabardine to be water repellant.
A. It was Sanyo, a Japanese clothier with a history dating to the 1940s. Sanyo Shokai extended the business by opening New York in 1978 to reach a North American audience.
In some places, fall seems to be taking a pass and winter feels like it is just around the corner. It may seem a little premature according to the calendar, but my woolens are already unpacked and it is time to think about overcoats. If you are looking to buy new so that you don’t ruin your antique or vintage overcoat in the wind and snow, the Sanyo Fashion House is making some very well made and luxurious mens wool coats.
In fact, not only was the company a trailblazer in the beginning, but it is continuing to make innovations. The buttons on the coats are affixed by a special state of the art sewing machine that simulates the back and forth sewing movement of something sewn. It is certainly more stable, but might even fool you into believing no machine was involved. They also have a special windbreaker interlining, at left, that is usually only reserved for police winter uniforms. It retains heat as well as protects against the elements.
On their site, their coats are available for purchase, or you can find a local retailer to see them in person.
Capture Your Point of View (Literally!)
A lot of ghost hunting, myth debunking, stalagtite stalking, and slam dunking documentary shows these days feature a fashion accessory adventurers during the midcentury didn’t have at their disposal: helmut cam. It was once a thing relegated to novelty and comedy because the apparatus would have to be so big you wouldn’t be able to hold your head up for long. I wondered if they get them from some spy store or they are constructed especially for the tv shows or production companies. In my production days, we certainly had to make a lot of different things.
I was very interested to learn that there are entire website devoted to selling helmut cameras for a variety of uses. I sure wish that the technology had been there when we were “making movies” as kids. There were times when something that happened was so funny, I wish my brain had a “tape recorder” function. A point of view camera would have what I had envisioned but didn’t know it would come out in the realm of real life instead of science fiction movies.
For example of what they can do, one of the most popular models is the Vholdr camera. It is small and comes with a mount and is geared towards face paced action, such as downhill skiing. There are lasers that help you see what the camera is capturing in its range of vision and how it is framing the action up. They also sell Vholdr Memory Cards for them as well. I was a little surprised, though the answer is so obvious, that the technology would be based on memory cards just like any other digital camera is.
Take a look at Helmet Camera Central. You will be amazed at what’s out there.
Boxing In, Boxing Up
Just an idle thought…and this may be just a rhetorical question.
Some psychologists say that the desire to have many little boxes is an outward sign of compartmentalizing one’s life and one’s relationships. In otherwords, if one struggles to force one’s life into neat little stackable boxes seperated by inlaid lids and cocooned by ring bags, than one can certainly do it with their knick knacks and their accessories! Or is that vice versa? The outward decor is the sign of a deranged mind.
But….Can’t a box just be a box? Heck, even the most freewheeling folks need to put their stuff SOMEWHERE. (Unless the point is that their “stuff” is freewheeling, too, and should be allowed to fall where it pleases anywhere at any time).
So…is a valet box or trinket box just a box or does it have a more Freudian meaning? What does it say about you if you happen to collect boxes?
Uncategorized | Comment (0)Extreme Rudeness
When I was in high school (here we go, another story from “the way things were”) we each had to volunteer for a local political campaign. We could pick any candidate we wanted to, and most of us worked for the candidates who were running for a seat in the state senate. We called people leading up to the election just simply as a courtesy call reminding them to go to the polls and vote. State senate is just something that is not paid as much heed as races for US Senators.
I really don’t mind if a person calls me to remind me to vote. What I do mind is all of the canned, prerecorded political messages that come down the pipe. I counted ten yesterday from various races telling me why I should or shouldn’t vote for judges and representatives. Sometimes, the message talked about several candidates in one message. Most prerecorded messages hang up if they get your answering machine or voicemail, but these just clogged up the machine to the point that it runneth over. No one else could possibly leave a message. What if there was a real emergency and someone was trying to get through?
Political messages are exempt from the “Do Not Call” list. Privacy Council is lauchng a petition against “Robocalling.” In otherwords, the political exemption had neighbor to neighbor interaction in mind, not armies of automatic dialers and recordings. Add your name to the petition if you are interested. Privacy Council also offers to take your name and number off major mailing lists for a $9.00 donation.
A Night At the Museum
When I was in grade school, we spent the night at the natural history museum. It was great fun. We walked around with flashlights in the dark among the mammoths and dropped our sleeping bags on the slick floor of the ice age exhibit. I distinctly remember at that age still being a little afraid or repulsed by the headhunting tribe exhibits with the shrunken heads, but I digress.
The Guggenheim is opening its anyplacewhatever exhibit. As a part of it, there is a bed and bureau on rotating discs that you can actually stay overnight in. You will receive breakfast in bed, but must check out by eight thirty in the morning, lest the museum visitors see you or get a hint of your presence. Oddly enough, the room is booked for the entire rest of 2008. Rates are $299 to $550 a night to be “part of the exhibit.”
There is no minibar, and no other food is allowed in the exhibit, so make sure you have dinner and get yourself all set for the night before turning in.
For more info: Rotating Hotel Room
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