Thoreau once said, “A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.”
Figuring out how clothes should fit is one thing; figuring out whether they suit your personality and character is something else entirely. That part requires a lot of self-discovery, honesty, and time.
[As it is with all—discovery, honesty, and time.]
Source: Put This On
Mallory Myths – Gear Timezone:
Their layers of wool, silk and cotton was lighter than modern clothing and extremely comfortable to wear
Mallory’s boot was the lightest ever used on Everest.The 1924 Everesters were lightweight specialists who understood their clothing better than most modern climbers
The complete set of garments was field tested on Everest, by Graham Hoyland, the great nephew of Howard Somervell, in April 2006. He confirmed that the replicated garments indeed formed a sophisticated, effective and comfortable clothing system which ‘was perfectly adequate for a summit bid’. Graham Hoyland, Everest, April 2006
[Unsurprising considering that we’ve all “rediscovered” wool and silk in the last few years, and who doesn’t love cotton? You just have to be more careful about getting them wet. Cotton, because it takes a long time to dry, wool because it absorbs so much water that it weighs a ton until it dries, and loses it’s shape along the way. etc. But still, awesome.]
Kempt – The Official Coat of Antarctica: And as gentlemen with an abiding interest in warm coats and extreme temperatures, we felt honor-bound to track down exactly where they get them…
[Brrr. Here…]
Made of wonderfully soft organic cotton knit, the Limited Edition Fall Peloton scarf is a colorful way for me to celebrate fall cycling even when I’m not on my bike. There’s a special message printed on the fold, and is the first in a series of special editions from VividExcellence.
If you want one (and you know you do) you can send mail to “daniel.berlinger+scarf.sample” at gmail dot com. If there’s enough interest a run will be produced, so tell your friends.
If a run is to be produced, I will contact you with pricing information, and you will have the opportunity to place an order.
If nothing else, I’m lovin’ it.
Rapidly changing weather makes for tough clothing choices. Layers as a concept is fine, but making that work in urban, suburban, on bike, off bike, in and out of stores kinda a deal can be harder. A few thoughts on that.
Being perfectly comfortable all the time with the range of weather we’ve been experiencing is difficult. If you want to simplify what you’re carrying, change your expectations. Be prepared to be cold or hot some of the time and it all gets easier. Do figure out how hot or cold you’re willing to be, and layer accordingly, but if you’re determined not to carry clothes, it’s hard to cover the range from 36F to 72F, both indoors and out, on bike and off, without some sort of compromise. If you can, please let me know what clothes allowed you to do that.
A great piece for me is a light sweater with a standing collar (1/4 zip). It keeps me warm, rarely gets too hot in an conditioned office or light breeze while keeping me from getting cold and clammy feeling. I have one from North Face (it has a nice fleece lining on the collar) I bought on clearance at EMS on club day (who doesn’t like a double discount) but any brand will do… just make sure it’s light.
But even as I play chess with the weather I try to simplify other aspects of my life through the continuing search for products that work in more than one setting (thus allowing me to have fewer or less, which in turns reduces my option anxiety). In the shoes that are comfortable in numerous settings category I’ve inducted Dansko clogs.
“It began with a uniquely designed and patented Danish clog, discovered by company founders Mandy Cabot and Peter Kjellerup, in a tiny shop in Denmark in the late 1980s. This husband and wife team, then professional horse trainers, flipped over their discovery of “the perfect barn shoe,” and, quite literally, put them through two years of “acid-testing.” Mandy and Peter found these shoes to be extraordinarily comfortable, virtually indestructible, and attractive enough to wear almost anywhere. They were the only shoes they ever wore. Mandy and Peter secured the exclusive rights to the stapled clog product line from Denmark, and “Dansko, Inc.” was up and running in 1991.”
Nice story eh? Anyway, they’re plenty comfortable and can easily fit into work, casual, and chores situations. Casual biking only please (atmo).
I have a couple of pieces like Chrome’s Shins that have a bit of padding to make biking more comfy without the “it works on the bike but not off” effect of regular bibs or shorts. But because it’s built into the clothes, if the look ain’t right (I can’t really wear knickers at work) then they’re not a choice. Providing more options, I’m really enjoying Rapha’s new merino boxers. Merino is a true wonder material, the Cyfac pad 
is useful on the bike but not overwhelming off, and for those trips to park where TheKid™ is on, then off the bike, in, then out of the trailer, playing on the bars and then onto the next thing, they’re a great option making the riding more comfy and hanging out off the bike more casual and less technical. Rapha warns to order down one size, I’d say for sure.
Now I know what you’re thinking… Aren’t they a bit warm? I’ll have to keep you posted. So far? Nope. They do sport light mesh panels on the sides which helps them breath. They have flatlocked stitching so the seams won’t chafe, and they do have a fly if you find that helpful. And no… I’ll not be modeling them (count yourself lucky).
[Seriously? You need to ask me if something from Rapha is expensive? In this case, moderately so if you consider what you pay for cycling shorts, significantly so depending on what you pay for underwear.]
Not that it affects any improvement on the layering or performance issues, but a cool T is just that. Johan Bruyneel is branching out from his role as one of the most successful cycling team managers to a purveyor of shmatas. Pave is cool though, so I sport this in good fun. Watch out for the women’s sizing, they run small, order up one.
In the tech category, Rails 2.3, Redis, and the Engine Yard Cloud. offerings have got to top the list of things that improved our ability to deliver products and simplified solutions for us. Github also tops my list of services that have become a way of life. The tech world spins quickly though. Curious to see what’s next. In all cases though, it’s not the tech or the code but the people. All these projects or companies have seriously dedicated people working on them. *That* is what makes these things go. Rock on people.
There might be a few more… time will tell.
I’m not sure where I came across Outlier, but I thought it was cool that couple guys in Brooklyn, were creating clothes for the tween space between on bike and off. It’s hard to make things work in both environments, it takes serious effort. I also dug that they were having the clothes made in NYC. I have some family connection to the “Shmata” trade, and I’m all for local sourcing and direct trade.
Occasionally they experiment with stuff publicly and make a few of an item. I think the first piece I grabbed was the Workwear Hoodie. The durable Workwear fabric ( Schoeller Dry Skin Extreme + Nanosphere) has worn extremely well. I haven’t taken any spills in it (thankfully) but it puts up with everything my rambuctious 4 year old can throw at it… Cookie and cracker crumbs, water, chocolate, miscellaneous dirt from goodness knows where have all rolled off. The fabric exterior is a canvas like nylon, and the inside a softish fleece that is warm and comfortable against the skin. It dries fast too, although it takes a lot to get it wet. The cut is clean and a bit smaller than is generally found in American brands. If you want to wear it with sweaters underneath order up. I find myself wearing this piece a lot as a spring/autumn jacket, and a layer through the winter. The helmet sized hood makes it a great piece to pair with a hoodless jacket. The Patagonia Nano Puff I recently started to wear leaps to mind. Awesome stuff.
The next couple of pieces I ordered together. The Nailhead Cap and the Empire Merino Tee. I’ll go ahead and quote directly: “Nailhead is one of our favorite worsted wools around. Its subtle pinprick pattern gives it an incredible depth of texture, and as a fine suiting fabric it tends to be made from the softest and longest wool fibers available. That makes it one of the best performance fabrics in the world, but you’d never know since it tends to be used in expensive men’s suits and nothing but.” I can tell you that the cap is comfy, looks good whether I’m dressed down (as I usually am) in jeans and a sweater, or dressed up in a long wool coat. I’ve worn it every day since I got it. As with almost all hats, I could use a version where the crown to ear depth is shorter… but it’s close, close.
I added the Empire T because Merino is darn comfortable. I love all the clothes I have that use this wonderful stuff, and the execution here is spot on. Yeah, in the end it’s an expensive T-Shirt, but it is one that you can wear as a base layer, or not. It’ll keep you cool and warm. It’ll do all that even if it gets wet… and it *doesn’t* become as odiferous as new fangled technical materials seem to. Wool is the original, and as far as I’m concerned most super, fabric. Properly chosen and tailored it’s perfect whether in a favorite houndstooth lightweight pant, a Filson Mackinaw jacket, or this excellent shirt. I only wish I could afford a passle of them.
I’d love to try some of the pants they’ve made, but I really need to try on pants since I have short legs, and prefer a short rise, especially on the bike. Maybe if I beg, Abe & Tyler will send me some…
Anyway, go check out there stuff. Designed and manufactured here in New York City with amazing fabric and materials. While they put out a “hipster” vibe, it’s not required. The designs are flexible enough to apply to us plain ole’ workin’ dads and our bikes.
Some mornings require Stormy Kromer. The pics don’t tell the quality story. They started out as a cap company because ‘ol Stormy got tired of his hats flyin’ away. The best products always seem to start this way. As usual, picked up on clearance. I’m not avant when it comes to clothes. Matched today with the “Bat Out Of Hell T” from Twin Six, which sadly you can’t get. (A limited edition). You can’t really see it in the product shot, but it’s leaves beneath the bicycles wheels that turn into bats. a beautiful touch. Yeah, I look like autumn today, but then it was 37F when I walked out the door this morning…can you blame me? I thought not.
Comfy sneaks with lots of grip. Keeps my ankles protected for those times when I begin to believe I can huck a bike off of anything, or when I just stumble over myself. Picked them up on clearance a couple years back and have no regrets. Looking particularly hip in this case with the Panache Cycling houndtooth socks.
Next up are my Piloti shoes. they don’t seem to make this model anymore, which explains why they were also on clearance. About three years into the wearing, they’re great shoes for a Sunday, or end of the week commute because they’re designed for driving, and work reasonably well on a bike (A stiffer sole would help on the bike, but would probably lose some of the sensitivity that makes them work so well when driving). The round heel cup and extended edging make for comfortable driving, even if you get into a bit of heel and toe work, but there’s enough cush to make errands, shopping, and other weekend activities a pleasure.
Don’t be fooled, Piloti makes serious race shoes if you’re part of the horsepower set, and they’re well made touring shoes look is well designed for the Concours folks. But I find that for a day in and out of the car, or longer trips they’re an excellent choice. The fit and finish on these is excellent and the more luxurious versions can easily hide in an office where no one will know that in your head you’re taking the off camber on your favorite twisty mountain road.
On this day, they’re paired with Rapha merino wool socks (the black with the pink accent.) Nice.
For years I’ve been documenting my commutes, usually around the change of seasons. Today it once again struck me to take some snaps, but since I hadn’t given it a moments thought all I had was a phone. Still, as the saying goes, the best camera is the one you have with you…
The drive starts in darkness this time of year, the sun rises as I go, and the day has begun when I get into the City. I do not recommend taking pictures while driving… but I’ve developed quite a few techniques for making this work, which I will not discuss.
And now the continuation of the Houndstooth Chronicles™. Here is a scarf I found for seven dollars that continues the journey. Casually wrapped around my neck this morning, it’s a great transition piece, keeping the drafts out in the cool mornings, yet easily adjusted and removed.
For reference, Wikipedia defines houndstooth thusly: “Houndstooth checks originated in woven wool cloth of the Scottish Lowlands, but are now used in many other materials. The traditional houndstooth check is made with alternating bands of four dark and four light threads in both warp and weft woven in a simple 2:2 twill, two over – two under the warp, advancing one thread each pass.”
I don’t see the hound in all this, but I do love the constraint of the pattern applied in so many different ways. It is that tension that makes design so exciting to me. Another favorite? Herringbone. We’ll be getting to that soon…
Lastly, a shout out to the guys at Outlier. I’ve been meaning to write something about their designs which I’ve been wearing for a while now, both on and off the bike. A full write up of the pieces I’ve worn soon…
turnings :: daniel berlinger 