The most bizarre thing about the GTO is that it was never supposed to exist. “No high performance cars” was a mandate that came straight from the highest bosses of GM. But in 1964 the GTO was born. By many it’s considered the first true muscle car. GM took an intermediate size frame instead of a full-size lines as their competition did and could therefore mark it for a budget price. The option package was called GTO, which copied ferrari’s GTO (Gran Tourismo Omologato )model. For us the ’66 model is the nicest one they ever made!

In Cotton is a beautiful photo essay by photographer Kathleen Robbins about the the changing landscape and vanishing livelihood of Mississippi cotton farmers. A handful of people who remain where their great-grandparents once settled down. Each spring, they weigh the odds and walk the land, recognizing every turnrow and low point and subtle rise over a thousand or two thousand or even eleven thousand acres. And, once again, as their parents and grandparents and great-grandparents did, they will buy the seed and the fertilizer and service the tractors and the combines and hire the cropdusters and begin the daily prayers for more rain or no rain and sunshine and cool nights and no tropical storms in September and no frost in early October.

For 35 years, Edwin Japan have worked on improving efficiency, quality, construction and washing methods by studying and engineering machinery used in the denim manufacturing process.
It is impossible to improve what one makes without spending the time everyday to master what one does, turning ones profession into a craft. The denim technicians at Edwin are true craftsmen, as their commitment and attention to the product is unquestionably what makes the Edwin product stand out from the mass of denim available within the market today. Whilst this remains ‘production’, the working philosophy remains closer to a greatly more efficient and productive Artisanal method.

Elvis Presley helped to bring the bad boy image to mainstream 50’s America.  With Rock ‘n Roll as the soundtrack for a new generation and denim as the ‘uniform of nonconformity’ for the young. When Elvis suggestively swayed his hips in his jeans, denim became sexual. Like for example in the movie ’ Loving You‘ where the King portrays a truck driver who becomes a rock ‘n roll star. And is a true walking publicity for Levi’s: 507 Big E Jacket and 501 Big E jeans. To us Blue Christmas means sleigh bells in the air and denim everywhere.

One of our favorite jacket is the original Pea Coat which is a dark blue double breasted jacket made from 850 g wool. The right pocket usually has a small pocket sewn inside for storing coins. The name ” Pea Coat ” comes from the Dutch word Pij Jekker, in which Pij referred to a twilled blue cloth with a nap on one side. The term ” Pea Coat ” was first used in 1723, when it became a cold weather uniform in the Dutch and British Royal Navy. The US. Navy adopted them in 1881.

One of our favorite movies is Escape From Alcatraz (1979: Director, Don Siegel), staring style icon Clint Eastwood as Frank Morris. In this movie you see some classics a man should have in his wardrobe such as a Beanie, white T-shirt, Chambray shirt, Pea Coat and a Chino. I can tell you that these inmates were dressed tip top in prison!

As real Apple fans we are moved by  the loss of Steve Jobs and we are going to miss his creativity and inspiration. One of our favorite quotes is: “ I’m as proud of what we don’t do as I am of what we do.”

The Hakama is a traditional Japanese clothing, best known as a piece of samurai clothing or as  a part of uniform worn by Japanese martial arts like Aikido or Kendo.The Hakama was worn by samurai so that the opponent was not able to see the footwork. The Hakama has seven pleats which are a representation of the seven virtues of Bushido ( The way of the samurai). Today only black belts are required to wear a hakama( Aikido). Once you earned to wear the hakama, you must learn how to fold it. The original hakama is made from cotton and hand dyed in natural indigo. As a denim purist and Aikido student, i just can’t wait to earn my hakama.

Isaac Merritt Singer ( October 27, 1811- July 23, 1875) did not invented the sewing machine, but he improved it. Many had patented sewing machines before Singer, but the machines were either impractical or inefficient. Isaac Singer invested $40 and a few day’s work and came up with a new approach to sewing, a needle that moved up and down.In fact he developed a machine so sophisticated that it had all the basics features found on sewing machines today. Isaac Singer started making machines in 1851. We are proud to say that we work with a vintage Singer sewing machine in our shop.

Jack Arnold Weil ( March 28, 1901 – August 13, 2008) better known as Jack A. , or as Papa Jack was the founder of Rockmount Ranch Wear  based in Denver, Colorado. Back in the 1940s, Jack A had realized that the cowboy shirt could be something more than a simple product. While visiting  San Francisco, he saw a Chinese tailor making shirts with snaps instead of buttons. Jack knew enough about the technology of snaps to see that the Chinese tailor used the gloves snaps that wouldn’t hold up to the stresses that a cowboy shirt undergoes working at the Ranch, but the idea wouldn’t let him sleep at night. In 1946 he introduced the first western shirt with snaps and the famous saw-tooth pocket. The snaps fasteners have a break away function to let loose if the shirt got caught and hold more permanently than buttons. Rockmount shirts have been worn by countless celebrities and musicians like Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Ronald Reagan, Eric Clapton and Slash.