http://www.unrefinery.com unrefinery.com is a style, design, and technology filter for gents. en-US Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 CDT Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 CDT http://www.zerodefectdesign.com/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification HP 2133 Mini-Note and love its bright and sharp screen, surprisingly comfortable keyboard, and subtle details like the blue LEDs and beautiful pewter finish. It's really something what $600 can get you these days.]]> Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 CDT obsolescence, it is now being championed by former Richard Nixon water-carrier Ben Stein: "When I was a lad and a younger man, men wore these to show they did not work with picks and shovels and pitchforks."
Sounds like somebody needs a nice hot cup of Shut The F**k Up.]]> Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:00:00 CDT The Grid, a handly list of links to each designer's collection at top online retailers, along with a rating of the selection and value you'll find at each. We'll update it periodically, so let us know if we overlooked your favourite brand or retailer.]]> Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 CDT "7 Diamonds / Juicy Couture Disease". Who's buying this crap? There can't be THAT many people working at G4 TV, can there?]]> Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00:00 CDT Justin F. asks: "How do Hugo Boss suits fit compared to Banana Republic's?"
Answer: As you probably noticed, we love Hugo Boss like a fat kid loves cake. One of the big reasons is that their suits (like the "Rossellini" 3-button shown here) almost perfectly execute the modern ideal: very fitted, slim without being uncomfortable, flattering, and of course extremely well made. BR's are a more or less contemporary cut but not as trim and not as well rendered... and as previously mentioned, their quality will be hit or miss.]]> Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:00:00 CDT Amy K. writes: "Could you guys help us women pick clothes as well? Sometimes we'd like a man's opinion, but I was just on Magnificent Bastard, and they told some poor dame going to her 20th reunion at an 'upscale establishment' to wear cheap blue jeans and a white t-shirt!" Answer: We're big fans of MB, but when they're wrong, they're really wrong. That said, we probably wouldn't fare much better in this area. You gotta know your limits.]]> Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:00:00 CDT Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:00:00 CDT 1. Design the most plain, non-descript, unimaginative item of clothing you can.
2. Offer it in the safest, most predictable colours possible.
3. Charge $165 for it.
4. Rinse and repeat.
C'mon, guys, take a chance and do something interesting for once. No guts, no glory.]]> Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:00:00 CDT lightweight cotton blazers, here are a couple more good ones. On the left: Gap Khaki Blazer, $88. Right: Martin + Osa Military Blazer, $138. Both nice, but in this case, you get what you pay for; the Gap one is fairly standard issue and the M+O considerably more stylish. Don't let the fact that Martin + Osa is a division of American Eagle throw you off; despite the dubious lineage, their products are surprisingly devoid of suck.]]> Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:00:00 CDT want those green, energy-efficient CFLs to be great. And we also want to date supermodels, but in either case, let's be f**king realistic. Despite new phosphor formulations that are supposed to give them a colour temperature comparable to regular incandescent lamps, the truth remains that at best a CF bulb will give you a feeble, sickly glow, and most likely will end its life with an ugly explosion that sprays mercury around your house. Maybe they'll improve down the line, but these things are not yet ready for prime time and we should all just admit it.]]> Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:00:00 CDT Azure magazine. Canada's very own contemporary design, art and architecture magazine lies somewhere between Dwell and Metropolis in terms of focus. Each issue is beautifully laid out and delivers a good solid dose of ideas for building and designing your own place. Quite possibly the only good thing to ever come out of Toronto!]]> Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 CDT size 6 or size 8 labels on items they know full well to be size 10, hoping the potential purchaser will feel such joy at fitting into a smaller size that she'll buy the item. We've heard that this is to some degree a necessary correction, a gradual readjustment of the size scale as the global market is skewed by the increasing average size of North Americans and the influx of tiny women from emerging Asian economies with newfound buying power. Check our site's tagline for our response to that.

While it's a bit of a nuisance for a woman to not know what size to buy, the sizing for their clothes is at least somewhat arbitrary. This isn't the case for men, as so many of our sizes are supposed to be measurements. If your neck is 16", you wear a 16 shirt. Waist is 34", you wear a 34 pant. But we've seen a steady inflation of sizes for menswear, and we demand an explanation for this f**kery. We spoke to salesmen at some top shops in search of enlightenment.

Our man at Hugo Boss, wearing a 38 suit coat when he used to wear a 40 or even 42, feels there's some merit to the changing body shape theory. "A lot of these suits are cut for a more athletic build," he tells us. "The shoulder-to-chest proportion for a 38 guy is different from what it used to be."

At Lord & Taylor we were presented with a theory for pant sizes: Contemporary trousers are lower-rise than in previous years, so considering where the garment sits, we're really talking about a hip rather than waist measurement. Seems reasonable given your average spare tire. But we aren't ruling out a vast conspiracy to (a) rake in extra shipping fees by increasing the number of online orders we have to return and/or exchange, and (b) lure us into the shops where salesmen can pounce on us, as we become wary of trusting online orders at all, figuring we have to try everything on in person to be safe.

Nobody asked us, but in any case, we're against it.]]> Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 CDT Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:00 CDT spring-summer collection to Barack Obama, whom she calls "the man of the moment". We didn't see anything that Obama (or we) would wear in the new Versace show—and he's doing fine with his trademark Zegna suits—but find her advice for the campaign trail generally sound: "I would get rid of the tie and jazz up the shirt." Barack does however get a waiver on the no-tie rule, under clause (e), as he is running for President of the United States.]]> Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:00:00 CDT Krejci makes luggage out of recycled tire innertubes and felt. They offer a few different products across three collections, but our favourite is this TVAR messenger bag, complete with markings and the kind of real distressing only hard miles on European highways can provide. Kind of difficult to find in North America; the best source we came across is Greener Grass in Houston. ]]> Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:00:00 CDT