Westerns...

I have been watching a lot of westerns. There characters and outfits are amazing. The panoramas almost make me wish I lived in Utah. I love the motifs of strongmen taking on the world by themselves and chasing the sunset into the unknown. The scores are also bitchen. Pretty much you can't go wrong.

I think that we will see a recurrence in the popularity of westerns as a backlash against modern problems such as excessive consumerism, urbanism, and constant electronic tethering.

Sergio Leone's films are simply amazing and his close work with the composer Ennio Morricone make the films even better.

Here are some classic tidbits mixed in with some modern renditions of the genre to wet your appetite.

Filson Wool Jackets: Might as Well Have the Best

I first stumbled across Filson at the Portland Outdoor Store in Portland Oregon (i will write something about this store soon). Filson is a classic outdoor outfitter based in Seattle Washington that makes pieces that could be worked into any modern wardrobe. The tag line, "Might as well have the best" sets the precedent for their cloths. I have an Alaskan Guide Shirt, pictured above that I swear by.

The first frosts of the Maine winter prompted me to start hunting for a winter jacket and I immediately turned to the Filson website. These classic jackets will endure the tests of time and trends and although they aren't cheap, your paying for quality not hype. For a heavy jacket, I like the Wool Parker. Made of 24 oz Mackinaw wool, these jackets will absorb up to 30% of its weight in water before feeling moist and the long, finger length sleaves will provide ample insulation in the cold winters. The jacket comes in Charcoal and Red/Black. I am leaning towards the Charcoal, pictured here, because it can be worn with my outfits and will age better than the louder Red/Black.
For a light jacket, I like the Wool Cape Coat made of 21 oz Mackinaw virgin wool. Like with the Wool Parker, the Cape Coat will absorb up to 30% of its weight, or 12 oz, of water before feeling moist or damp. The coat comes in grey and navy, both will look good with any outfit but i am leaning towards the grey.
Expect to hear more about Filson as people catch onto their amazing clothes.

Shredbook 2.0

We just launched a new version of shredbook.com. We realized that our social networking features weren't really adding value and that the mandatory sign in and registration was a barrier of users to ad content. The new site is designed to make it as easy as possible for users to ad content. We also wanted to include more rich media on the splash page with the hopes of offering first time users a better idea of what the site is about. We went with a more neutral color scheme to make the whole experience less caustic. We removed the adsense ads because they weren't generating much revenue and looked out of place. As traffic increases we hope to partner with brands such as Oakley or volcom and infuse these advertisements in the layout of the site.

I am really happy with how the redesign went and am proud of shredbook.

H&M Comme Des Garcons

Here is the Comme Des Carcons line for H&M. It will be interesting to see how this line sells. I am curious how H&M approached CDG about this line and how the pie is divided.