My piece from a few weeks back for ABC Univision on the Presidential debate and what the candidates were telling us with their clothing…Spoiler alert: I predict the winner of the “gangbanger vote”

My piece for ABC Univision on the VP debate and what the candidates were telling us with their clothing…in which I compare Paul Ryan to Thom Browne F/W 2012…Please check it out!

Gaziano & Girling “Rothschild” MTO in Vintage Cherry

Perfect for navy suits (shown with Minnis Fresco trousers by NSM)

Gaziano & Girling “Rotschild” MTO in Vintage Cherry

Pictures by Steven @Leffot

I ordered these with no burnishing on the toe & heel - I’ll be polishing them with black, cherry, and clear, hoping to get the effect on my own over time.

day-glo (Taken with Instagram)

Belgian (Taken with Instagram)

Drake’s (Taken with Instagram)

Just commissioned a fully-bespoke Italian BMT at Subway - full post with pics to come later

Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Number One”

As great as it is to look at well-loved and well-worn clothing - faded and torn raw denim; frayed shirt cuffs and collars; discolored oxford cloth; scuffed, scratched, darkened, and cracked leather - the single piece that best and most beautifully represents lived-through “patina” in my opinion is Stevie Ray Vaughan’s 1962/1963 “Number One” or “First Wife” Fender Stratocaster.

What was once a sunburst-colored guitar when Stevie Ray traded another Strat in for it at a shop the early ’70s would end up a beaten, scratched, stripped piece of wood by the time SRV passed away 20 years and many performances later. Like a decades-old pair of John Lobbs going through re-soles, welt replacements, and patch-ups, this guitar went through endless re-frets, pickguard changes, pickup re-wires, and even a neck replacement for a few years. Stevie once decided the right-hand vibrato bar got in his way, so he simply ripped out the entire piece and replaced it with a left-hand one, leaving a visible hole right in the middle of the guitar that would later be filled up with results that could best be described as “poor” - yet still so great.

Over the years I’ve spent hours scouring the web for close ups of the guitar, I love looking at the chipped body, revealing the missing chunks of wood; the rubbed-off paint, where the first layers show bright yellow paint, or even natural alder; the scratches on the back from his belt-buckles, from standing on the guitar during shows, and beating it down when the urge arose. I’ve read that at the spot where SRV’s pick would swipe the surface of the guitar when he strummed it, a gash an inch and a half deep was dug right through the protective finish, the paint, and the wood of the body itself. By the time Stevie passed, the guitar was on its last legs - so worn, it couldn’t even support one more changing of the frets. To me, it’s as much of a masterpiece as the music that was created (and the genre that was revived) on it.

As much as I’ll always love looking at beautifully destroyed articles of clothing (1, 2) and shoes (1, 2) - when it comes to well-loved and well-worn, “patina,” this guitar will always be it.

Napolisumisura Navy Suit in Minnis Fresco

Solaro - or SoRaro @guidowongolini - with Mina (Taken with Instagram)

on cordovan NATO band by @leffot (Taken with instagram)