nadsat » style

Rediscovering the Bean Blucher

Zachary — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 01:38:56 +0000

I received my LL Bean Blucher Mocs as a Christmas gift in 2006. They received a lot of wear at first but I always favored my boat shoes in the end. Since leaving my well worn and much loved boat shoes in a rental car on a recent vacation, I’ve rediscovered my Bean Bluchers. Like a good ball cap and so many other classic items, they only get better with age and wear.

The Bean Blucher Moc has been around for a long time and some still think its glory days have passed. The Trad along with many of the members at the AAAC Trad forum think this way. I don’t have the experience to comment on this, so perhaps they are right, but I feel like I enjoy the modern iteration for many of the same reasons the previous generation liked the original shoe. (It should be noted that I have never heard of any official changes to the shoe from LL Bean. This old shoe vs. new shoe debate is based on the memories of individuals and comparisons with vintage shoes from the 1980s).

It is casual and comfortable like the boat shoe and has enough history on its side to be considered a classic. The blucher excels in its versatility. I love the Sperry Authentic Original and could easily wear them everyday of the year (well maybe in Georgia, not Ohio) but despite the all season wear endorsed by the trad and preppy crowd, it is still a single minded piece of footwear. The blucher is best enjoyed without socks, but can be worn with socks and stretched to a business casual look. The boat shoe is sock free only in my mind.

The Bean Blucher Moc remains a classic piece of footwear that deserves more attention that it gets. Yes it has evolved some with the times, but I don’t think this degrades the appeal. I recommend you give it a try, it was even endorsed by GQ back in November of 2007. They can also be found on ACL’s list of recommend fall footwear. Mine will continue to get plenty of wear for the rest of the summer and into the fall.

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Prefab Homes

Zachary — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:48:30 +0000

Prefabs homes are nothing new. A prefab home is simply one that has the major components prefabricated ahead of time away from the build site and then finally assembly takes place on the actual home site. This has been around for a long time in the form of modular or manufactured homes. I remember growing up there was always one builder who had a manufactured home display at the North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh. These were typically marketed as a step up from a mobile home. On the other hand, the term “prefab” implies a more modern, stylish, green, and unfortunately more expensive home.

Low Impact Living recent posted about this on their blog. This particular post focuses on a new designer collection partnered with Dwell magazine. Prefab homes have often been criticized in the past for being bland, generic, ugly, or all of the above. The homes sponsored by Dwell, while not traditional, represent a much more stylistic, modern type of home. I think this is the direction that these sort of homes needs to move. Granted something cheaper the Dwell options would be nice.

The advantage to Prefab is a standardized design and mass production environment that leads to a lower price. In the current market the demand is not high enough and so the prices still have a lot of downward potential. Not all prefab homes are the same though and the possibilities exist to have a large amount of customization. An on-site build will always offer more customization, but I think the Dwell homes are a good example of the range of design available. As more architects and designers take on prefab homes, the prices will come down and more people will adopt them.

Efficiency is another trademark of the prefab homes. Most promise a greener home with more efficient materials. These homes should be cheaper to operate than a traditional home. Efficiency plus good design? I look forward to this type of home becoming more cost effective and widespread.

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Finally got a new watch

Zachary — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:33:59 +0000

After debating it for awhile, I finally have another watch. I like my old watch and will still wear it, but I had been eager to try out different watch bands and unfortunately my old Seiko won’t allow it. Luckily, Sandy got me a watch and an assortment of bands for my birthday last week.

The classic navy and gold is my favorite.

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TINKIN: Eames Lounge Chair

Zachary — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 01:10:18 +0000

The internet is a dangerous place. As I research for the new apartment, I’ve found plenty of things I never knew I needed. In looking at furniture, I find myself drawn to the classic Eames Lounge Chair in a way I never expected.

The plan is to part with most of our current furniture because 1) most of it won’t fit in our new, smaller apartment and 2) I’ve used most of this furniture for over 20 years, it’s time to part with the past and make my own furniture choices. Not to say that I don’t appreciate my parent’s taste. I think they have rather good taste in furniture. I’d really like to make my own choices though (more on this later).

Back to the chair, the piece pictured above is the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman designed by Charles and Ray Eames back in the mid 1950s. It has survived relatively unchanged and is today regarded as one of the highlights of mid-centure modern design. I think the key is the chair, while classified as modern, has a broad appeal. I would hardly consider myself a modernist, but for some reason I now desperately need this chair in my new living room.

There’s quite a bit of history on the chair. It is still produced by Herman Miller, there’s an extensive wikipedia entry, and even a book. There are a even a few pieces on YouTube featuring Mr. Eames himself.

To purchase an aunthentic chair one should be ready to shell out a couple thousand based on the options and where it is purchased. There are imitations out there, but in this case I think only an original will do.

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Things I never knew I needed

Zachary — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:20:41 +0000

A new series on Nadsat inspired by a thread on Style Forum, “Things I never knew I needed” (but now desperately need). The first installment, decorative bottles for bathroom items:

I like a neat bathroom even though I barely claim mine as such. A neat bathroom used to mean empty to me, nothing on the counter tops, but that that’s not how people live. If you are going to have things sitting out on your counter, why not make it look nice? I don’t want to have my giant bottle of mouthwash sitting out on the counter, but it is something I reach for everyday, so why not have nice, dedicated container? Asprin, cotton swabs, vitamins, etc… there are any number of things.

The jars above are from Design Within Reach and while there are almost certainly cheaper options out there, these are the first ones I noticed. The image here is a medicine cabinet from an early time before plastic bottles or a nice hotel where even the cotton swabs have their own leaded glass jar.

Excessive? Of course. Necessary? Absolutely not. Welcome to “Things I never knew I need.”

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