I’m late to the game, but if you haven’t donated to Movember, I’d ask you to consider donating to my team at The Bedford. Take the jump to see a photo of what I look like today.

AFTER

Because I had to shave for something mid-month, I got a late start with Movember, but I really wanted to do it, particularly given this was the first year I had a story to tell.

It’s not much of a story, but earlier in 2011, I had a small scare. I felt something out of the ordinary, I went and got it checked. My doc said, “Yep. Let’s get you checked out.”

While it ended up being nothing, and while you may be saying to yourself, “That wasn’t much of a story,” put yourself in my shoes. For the 48-or-so hours waiting for the results, I stewed, wondering what I would do differently if the tests came back and I was going to have to undergo some kind of treatment.

Would I have hugged longer? Would I have run farther? Would I have tried harder?

Yes.

If you can, please make a donation. If you can’t, please tell someone about Movember who might not know.

Put the Hair in Awareness.

Thank you,
Max Wastler

Miss Mitchell, thank you for sending the Jessum Crow stickers! Your talents as an artist never cease.

Folks, the Vermont Foodbank needs your help. Buy a sticker.

Those familiar with Christine’s site, N’East Style, have come to expect a couple things: classic style and good quality. And like once great Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens, Christine always brings the heat. Whether she is sharing her latest canvas bag discovery or working to build the branding and logo for a certain upstart sporting goods store, her talents know no bounds.

Those of you lucky enough to attend Dose Market this weekend, be sure to track me down. I’ll have a handful of the Jeezum Crow stickers on hand. Happy to supply where possible.

Christine, thanks for continuing to support All Plaidout. Keep up the great work! You got that N’East Style.

I am posting this on All Plaidout as an ALL POINTS BULLETIN. We would love your help sharing this video with whomever you can, by any means possible. We are looking for investors and networks to fund future episodes. If you feel comfortable hosting this on your blog, your facebook page, your Tumblr, or your Twitter we would be so thankful. And if you know someone who would be interested in such a project, please share with them as well.

Longtime fans of the blog know I love a good factory visit. In May, Joe Gannon and I took a trip to Tennessee. While there, we shot video at Pointer Brand, Imogene + Willie, and at Billy Moore’s house. It was all done with the hope we’d come away with some kind of TV pilot.

The show is called Made Right Here. It’s our desire to not only show how it’s made, not only where it’s made, but to also show the people who make it. We want to tell their stories. We also asked them to show Joe and I how to make one of their signature items. We made six pairs of carpenter jeans at Pointer. We made a chambray western shirt at Imogene + Willie, and we made belts and buckles with Billy Moore.

I say we made… really, we tried and failed to make all these things. This is part of the story, too. These people are craftspeople who’ve dedicated their lives to mastering a skill, a skill that is really tough to do.

We have been sharing this with people to whom we’re connected in television for the last month or so, and we’ve received some positive feedback. One criticism is that we need to shorten the trailer to about two minutes (It’s sitting pretty at just under seven minutes right now).

Joe and I owe an endless amount of thanks to the wonderful people we met at Pointer Brand, Imogene + Willie, and of course the inimitable Billy Moore. We also must thank our team, Mr. Here Productions’ Matt Springer and Rick Page. Without their impetus, their hard work, and their abilities as producers and directors, this would still just be an unfulfilled dream.

Mr. James Wilson of Secret Forts, one of my earliest supporters and the deepest fount of inspiration, was kind enough to ask me to contribute again to his round up of great stuff for fall: The Fall Three. I feel so lucky to have been included in the group.

Thanks to James, and thanks to Nathan Michael for the photo, Ken Hunemeder of Goose Island for the beer photo.

Also, a note for James’ many devotees: he moved! He now resides, quite comfortably at  – www.secretforts.com. Update your feeds, links, and readers.

On the front page of today’s Wall Street Journal, the A-Hed is devoted to the current, dressed-down trend among the Republican candidates. With quotes referencing Mr. Peanut, the Brawny Paper Towel Guy, and Texas Toast, you can imagine my thrill to have been included in the conversation.

Special thanks to the Journal’s Elizabeth Williamson for getting in touch and to Esquire’s Kurt Soller for providing me with the platform to be noticed.

Pick up today’s Journal and share the story with your friends and loved ones.

The Dose Market ladies put together this lovely video with Middle Mind Project.

Two weekends ago, in an article written by Eater Chicago’s Ari Bendersky, they were featured in the Travel section of the New York Times.

Dose rides again this Sunday, the 25th of September. I’m excited to try on the wristwatch commissioned by Harry Truman currently for sale at Division St. Watch Company, check out the new fall wares from my favorite shop in town, Penelope’s, and eat some smoked salmon and peanut brittle… potentially at the same time.

Oh and look for Dose to get a lot more dude-friendly, particularly in the soft goods department come October 16th when a certain sporting goods store will be making its Chicago debut, and it’s my understanding they may be surrounded by some of their closest friends in the retail business.

Until then, read my previous write-up of the market, and let me know if you’re heading to Dose this weekend. I’ll be there in plaid.

Dose Market
at the River East Arts Center
435 East Illinois Street
Chicago, IL
60611

Aaron Britt asked me to write a short piece about Americana-inspired interiors for the October issue of Dwell. The piece is entitled “Ain’t That America,” a tribute to John Mellencamp’s “Pink Houses.”  Accompanying the piece are photos and tidbits about several cool things still made in America. Other highlights in the issue, which is devoted entirely to things Made in America, include a profile of Jack White’s Rolling Records Store, the Cricket Trailer, and a nice write-up about the Finn Lofts, a new building in Wichita, Kansas. Fittingly, I was born just outside of Wichita.

I’ve come to be known for writing about things made right here at home, and I was thrilled to have the chance to write about it for a publication that’s come to be known as the bellwether in all things pertaining to design. Special thanks to Aaron and everyone at Dwell for the unique opportunity to write about something I love for a publication I’ve loved.

Do me a favor: please go to your local bookstore or newsstand and buy two or three copies of the October issue of Dwell. Let’s make it a best-seller.

“Nobody likes the whites, but we’re going to Cuba in August.” – Lt. Sam Weinberg, A Few Good Men

Kurt Soller, Style Editor at Esquire’s The Style Blog, invited me to debate one of the more pressing issues of our time, whether to wear white after Labor Day.

My dueling partner, an equal foil, was one of the inspirations for All Plaidout, Mr. John Tinseth of The Trad.

Thanks John for the conversation, and thank you, Kurt, for the opportunity.

For all the Blogger Showdowns, visit The Style Blog.

When I think about Al Capone, I imagine he looked after all these backroom hideouts, secret underground passageways, and speakeasies beneath every street in Chicago.

The Altmans are the Al Capones of men’s footwear. Under their postage-stamp-sized shoe store in Chicago’s Loop, for the last 30 years, in something like 20 rooms, they have amassed over 20,000 pairs of deadstock, vintage shoes.

I first learned of this crazy place from Jessica Herman, after Dana Altman wrote to clue her into this incredible find, and immediately, my mind raced like it did the day Joe Gannon and I took a wrong turn and ended up in the attic of Nashville Sporting Goods.

Electric Blue Lizard from my favorite cowboy boot maker, Tony Lama.

“My sister invited me to have lunch down here,” Dana told Jess and me when we visited a few weeks ago. “And I was like, ‘What is all this?’”

Quoddy Moccasins, Made in Lewiston, Maine, USA.

With selections from All Plaidout favorites like Alden and Quoddy, and hundreds, possibly thousands of other brands, there’s something for everyone, man or woman. Though the shoes were made for men, there are a considerable number of really great-looking shoes in smaller sizes (Ladies, who among you doesn’t want a pair of vintage Aldens?).

Dorado by Converse

The rooms are organized by a series of numbers, written on the wall next to each door. The numbers all have meaning for which the Altman sisters’ father wrote a legend. Next to one number, for example, he scrawled the letters “H/S” for “handsewns.”

Racquet Oxford from Sperry Top-Sider, Made in Naugatuck, Connecticut, USA

Each room has rows of metal shelves, stacked floor to ceiling with musty, dusty, old boxes, the glue and cardboard separating, and in many cases the glue and insole separating. That isn’t to say there aren’t absolutely pristine finds. I was able to find a pair of Clark’s Desert Boots, in sand suede, in my size. I was told they are from the seventies, before Clark’s moved production from England to Ireland (and eventually to Vietnam and all parts of the globe) I could have walked up the stairs and out the door with those puppies on my feet, if only I could have justified their $200 price tag. The Altmans know what they have, and they’re asking top dollar for it.

Jimmy Connors by Converse. Note the glue.

They began by selling several pair on eBay, allowing friends to come to the store (Dana mentioned something of a Japanese buyer), but knowing the shoe store’s extremely unique story makes for a great shopping experience and finding they were unable to fetch realistic amounts for these rare birds, they closed shop on eBay. They have begun to invite any and all comers to experience shopping in Chicago’s underground. Dana’s referring to the vault as “Altman’s Legacy.”

These tasseled Weejuns from G.H. Bass were my favorite find in the vault. It’s only too bad they were sold to an eBay customer, and they were not my size.

It’s my hope you’re all able to experience this once-in-a-lifetime shopping experience.

For more on the vault, read the piece in Time Out Chicago.
For more photos of my visit, see Flickr.

Altman’s Shoes
120 W Monroe St
Chicago, Illinois
(312) 332-0667

During Market Week in New York, Cause and Effect’s Billy Moore caused something of a scene while shooting photos for his look book.

Imagine the loud clang of Billy’s ball peen against the manhole cover.

He’s used to hammering horsehide against the large boulders of the Little Pigeon River, but I can imagine wailing away at some copper plating on the cobblestone streets of New York is not a far off sensation.

Look book photographer, Joe Gannon, crouches to get the shot just so, as Mr. Moore goes to town on some metal.

To read more about Billy Moore and his magnificent leather and metal accessories, see my previous post. To learn how you can get your hands on Cause and Effect’s full line, contact Billy directly: billy(dot)causeandeffect(at)gmail(dot)com.

Special thanks to Rob Babigian, Fran Ferger, and Joe Gannon for the behind-the-scenes footage of Mr. Moore in action.