Just about every clothing store on the planet tends to go on sale after Christmas, but only the really bold wait till the 7th of January to announce their sale (technically, many items did go on sale on December 26th, we just didn't announce it). Without much further adieu, our SALE is on!

There are a number of returning favorites to the sale: Bills Khakis Limited Edition pants, sportshirts, and outerwear, Agave Denimsmith knits, a few Martin Dingman shoes & belts, and some Ike Behar casual shirts.

Some newcomers include our entire assortment of Fairway & Greene golf apparel, Peter Millar outerwear and some sweaters & vests, some random cigar accessories and leather goods, and select Jan Leslie cufflinks.

If you've participated in our sale before, you know that the discounts will increase over time -- we're starting at 30% off -- but our inventory is very shallow so the availability of items disappears quickly. Wait at your own risk. 

For those in the Bay Area, the San Francisco store does have a number of items that just didn't make it to the website in time, including a dozen styles of Ike Behar shirts, a few Peter Millar sweaters & vests, and some other miscellaneous items worth contemplating. Stop on by. 

Happy Hunting!

With the Obama Administration recently loosening travel restrictions to Cuba, the timing could not be better for the arrival of Ike Behar's new Havana Collection. 

The Ike Behar story begins in pre-revolutionary Cuba where Ike, the youngest of three brothers, learned the fine art of custom-tailoring at the shop owned by his father, Samuel Behar. At the age of 20, Ike, with fifty dollars in his wallet, left Havana, Cuba for New York City to pursuit the American Dream.  He took his first job on a trial basis, offering a custom shirt-maker his services for free in order to prove his skills.  By the end of the week, the shirt-maker was so impressed  that he paid him his wages and offered him a permanent position. Eventually, Ike bought the company and, over the next decade continued to perfect his craft with his patented shirt-making innovations.

In 1970, a young tie-maker named Ralph Lauren, interested in expanding his business in men's apparel, approached Ike Behar. Impressed by the quality and care of Ike's workmanship, Ralph Lauren wanted Ike to make shirts for the Ralph Lauren line.  In 1982, as more American companies, including Polo, turned to overseas manufacturing, the Ike Behar/ Ralph Lauren affiliation came to an end.  

The Havana32 Collection is an homage to the inimitable style of 1930's Cuba. The collection includes the Bogart, which is a Guayabera-like white, linen shirt, the short-sleeve, linen Victor, the Ernesto which is similar and available in White, Cream (pictured), and a beautiful Blue, the Alberto in Chocolate Brown or Navy Blue with small white polka dots, and the banded collar Enrique. Each shirt comes in Ike Behar's black gift box.

In honor of the nation's 44th President, we have picked ourselves up, dusted ourselves off, and increased the savings on seasonal Fall merchandise from 35% to 44%. That's a savings of almost 45%!

Save 44% on selected Fall items from Bills Khakis, Ike Behar, Martin Dingman, Agave Denimsmith, and much more. Great outerwear pieces, matte alligator small leathergoods, Supima cotton henleys, casual sportshirts, belts for denim, shoes, and lots of casual pants are all ready to ship.

Quantities are very limited, but in times like these, it's safe to say that if you find something in your size, the President would approve of your contribution to the engine of commerce.

 

It's that time of year that still makes absolutely no sense to me: retailers put Fall & Winter merchandise (overcoats, scarves, gloves, cords, woolens, etc.) on sale to make room for the imminent arrival of Spring goods (shorts, short-sleeved shirts, madras, linen, seersucker, etc.). Yet the weather just about everywhere suggests that now would be the best time to have lots of cold-weather gear as half the country or more is snowed in. 

Nevertheless, it is with much fanfare (this blog post and an email to follow on Monday representing substantial fanfare) that we announce our semi-annual, Post-Holiday, Pre-Spring sale on seasonal merchandise. Items on sale include tasty clothing like Bills Khakis Limited Edition, Ike Behar casual shirts and ultra-soft Agave knits, accessories like a select group of discontinued Bill Lavin belts and Martin Dingman wallets (Ambrose & Matte Alligator only), and a few deals here in there in Wine & Spirits and Leisure.

Spring will bring a colorful cornucopia of new products and new brands. Expect the usual suspects: Bills Khakis Limited Edition (if ever there was a time to buy shorts, it will be this Spring from Bills), Agave knits, Ike Behar casual and their new "Havana Collection", and the return of seasonal fashion from Fairway & Greene. Brand new classifications will come from Peter Millar, and new brands like Artificial Flavor will make their debut.

Happy hunting!

Over the weekend, the Economist profiled President-Elect Obama's nominee for Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner. You might assume we liked the article because of this passage: "The current treasury secretary, Hank Paulson, is reworking the $700 billion bail-out plan on the fly" (emphasis ours), but that statement, for reasons that should be obvious, doesn't make us optimistic. Actually, this was the section that caught my eye:

Mr Geithner looks a lot younger than his 47 years (though not as young as he did before the crisis began). He skateboards and snowboards and exudes a sort of hipster-wonkiness, using “way” as a synonym for “very” as in “way consequential” and occasionally underlining his point with the word “fuck”. In temperament he seems similar to Mr Obama: he is suspicious of ideology, questions received wisdom, likes a competition of ideas and is keenly aware of how uncertain the world is.

In our Shop by Lifestyle section, we've had a "Hipster" lifestyle. Some have construed this to mean that we think we have stuff that would appeal to the anti-establishment, trucker hat-wearing, Pabst Blue Ribbon-drinking, vinyl record-collecting, dripping-with-irony "hipsters". That was never our intended audience.

In our worldview, "Hipster" refers to a psychographic profile for a gentleman that appreciates the finer things in life, but eschews many of the traditional rules of fashion or etiquette in order to create a style all his own. Our hipster might be a 40 year old guy who chooses to wear Agave jeans, Michael Toschi SUV2s, an Ike Behar casual shirt, and a vintage watch (for irony). This is a stark contrast to the Old School gentleman that wears a conservative suit, shirt & tie to work, or the Professor who wears a V-neck sweater over a sport shirt with cords and loafers.

From publicly available photos, Geithner's wardrobe is what I would consider an Old School/Wall Street fusion, but we bet he's in jeans & a t-shirt on weekends. If the Economist can refer to a Secretary of the U.S. Treasury as a "hipster", we're in good company.

I recognize that I care about clothing more than most men, and I certainly take some heat for that. The time I spent in the most traditional of men's stores in the most liberal of college towns (Berkeley), taught me to appreciate the details that result in one shirt retailing for $95 and another for $195. That appreciation is a reason my closet is filled with dress shirts from past experiments that included Robert Talbott, Eton, Borelli, Brioni, Kiton, and Ike Behar. Some have worked out better than others.

The weakness of the dollar has helped focus my energies of late. Back when I was buying the Italian brands, a shirt was going for about $295. Today, the same shirt is selling for over $400, much of that directly a result of the strength of the Euro, not any breakthroughs in quality. Into that void of the high quality $300 dress shirt comes Ike Behar with a brand new line called "TAILORED".

The Tailored line is made exclusively in the USA of the finest Sea Island Cottons from the West Indies. The shirts are uniquely detailed with Australian Mother of Pearl buttons, hand-sewn labels, a matching pocket square, an attachable pocket, and a pinless, wrinkle-free fold. Having worn and washed my first shirt, I can safely say it is my new favorite. Aside from the fit, which I find less full than some Ike Behar dress shirts, the roll of the collar is the most elegant I have seen on a shirt yet. It just may be the best dress shirt made in America.

We will be stocking the shirts in a basic White, Blue, and Pink for the website as well as our new store in downtown San Francisco. We will also take special orders via the website and over the phone soon.