1982 HIGH SCHOOL FASHION, SAN FRANCISCO

The SF Chronicle has been running a great series of photos taken in 1982 of various Bay Area high school kids and the fashions they wore. My favorite of the 3-part series, called The Big Event, documents kids from Lincoln High in the Sunset District of San Francisco. It's all Derby jackets, Pee-Chee folders, and Nike Cortez sneakers...what goes around comes around! Peter Hartlaub, the pop culture critic at the Chronicle, has put this project together using photos that originally ran the in the 1982 paper by photographer Gary Fong. Read about the project and see more pics HERE.

All pics and comments below taken directly from SFGate.

Sept. 17, 1982: Lincoln High's hardest patiently wait for Metallica to form and release an album. Out of the three schools profiled in 1982, Lincoln was definitely the most badass. Derby jackets FTW.

You know it's 1982 in an SF public school, when you see a guy use an entire bottle of Wite Out to write ''LOCAL 69 MUFFDIVE'' on his skateboard. Hoping he's an attorney now, and his son is reading this.

Lincoln High students created a special message for the Chronicle in the dirty windows of the school: ''F--- The World.'' And there's a couple making out in front of the ''the'' window. I miss high school.

According to my journalistic research, this photo was taken on the Monday after Van Halen arrived at the Cow Palace during the "Hide Your Sheep" tour. The guy on the far right still thinks he's there.

This photo is a pretty complete 1982 SF fashion checklist: Feathered hair, Gap shopping bag, headband, giant comb in the back pocket, 16-year-old smoking while on school property ...

These gentleman are dressed so similarly, you'd think Lincoln High had a school uniform. I count two Izod polo shirts and one Britannia. Also, note the crispness of the jeans. An iron was involved.

I'm seeing a lingering ''Off the Wall''-era Michael Jackson influence here, especially with the girl on the far left. This is our first Pee-Chee folder sighting of this gallery. Drink!

Make sure to check out the other schools in the 3-part series because they are equally amazing...I couldn't decide which to post because I love them all!

 McAteer High School

Tamalpais High School

BOXER BAG

Love the idea of this "boxer bag" by Levi's Vintage, available at Unionmade.

BARBOUR - A SHORT FILM

If you love outerwear as much as me, be sure to check out this short film showing the construction and repair of Barbour jackets!

THE VICTORIAN CLOSET

All photos below are from my visit to The Victorian Closet in the tiny gold-rush town of Amador City, CA. This store is full of the most beautiful laces, clothing, textiles, and accessories, some originating as far back as the Civil War era. Sally Knudson's collection of vintage and metallic laces had me nearly in tears - this shop is a must-see for anyone with an interest in Victorian textiles.

DANGER DOG

My search for non-lame "Beware of Dog"signs turned up one gem: the NEPAL DOG website, which showcases and sells free-trade Himalayan folk art, mainly custom "danger dog" portraits hand-painted by artists in Nepal. You can read more about the project, started by Michelle Page of Santa Monica HERE. I love how quirky these portraits are and you can pick from a plethora of breeds. There's also paintings for horses, birds, goats and other animals. So weird and awesome! I'll add a portrait sign to my list of things I want to make next...

HANNIBAL BAG

Wow wow wow...might be the best accessory I've seen in a while - Hannibal Lecter head bag designed by a Ukrainian label Bob Basset in collaboration with Pure boutique. Vanessa Jackman photo.

PENDELTON FALL

A few pics from The Portland Collection's Fall 2012 collection. I like this color pallet a lot.

BLUE JACKET

Blue Acne jacket from Vanessa Jackman's blog. Love that smack-you-in-the-face color.

SILVER & BLACK

Jacket inspiration from Garance Doré.

GIRL CRUSH - ARIELE ALASKO

I first read about Ariel Alasko on the The Makers, and instantly fell for her. She makes the coolest wood things in her Brooklyn shop including furniture, cheeseboards, and cabinets. Most of her materials are scavenged from old barns, gutted houses, and picked up on road trips. She can make or fix anything and I'm in love with her craft and life! Is that creepy? Read her blog HERE to find out more about all the awesome projects she's been working on.

SASS & BIDE SS12

I love this whole collection for its crazy colors and mixed materials but most of all for the amazing neon accessories - especially that spike bag!
Sass & Bide has a very cool blog chronicling their inspiration, you can check it out HERE.

LEATHER GLOVES

One more project I really don't have time for right now but have always wanted to tackle - making a pair of leather gloves. I love how the pattern looks cut out. The gloves are carefully sewn from so many little pieces you probably never considered that have funny old names like "one pair of tranks, one pair of thumbs, four whole fourchettes, four half fourchettes, two gussets, and six quirks" (from wiki). Image below from Leathercraft Vol.2 from Mike Redwood's site. Below photos are from WARP AND WOOF - I love the construction pictures on this blog and you will understand even more if you read Japanese!If you really want to nerd out, you can read the complete history of gloves and glovemaking on Mike Redwood's site HERE.

MONARCH MIGRATION

So glad the Chic Muse took a break from fashion to visit the butterfly sanctuary at Chincua Mountain in Mexico and share these pics. I've seen monarchs at Natural Bridges in Santa Cruz and it's pretty hard to convey through photos what an incredible sight it is.
All photos from CHICMUSE.

UNIONMADE LOVE

Oooohhhh boy. Have not had jacket love like this in a long time. UNIONMADE collaborated with Golden Bear Sportswear, a family-owned San Francisco company since 1922, originally know for their longshorman jackets, to create the styles below. They are pretty much perfect in my opinion - simple, sexless, and straightforward. Even better, they are quite affordable. Just hire me already...geez! You can shop the whole collection HERE.

HARRIS TWEED PART 2 - FABRIC

Here is our Harris Tweed trip!
To get to Isle of Lewis, we boarded a big car ferry at Uig on the Isle of Skye.

Skye is lush and green with little cottages dotting the hillside - very picturesque.

Fishing nets on the docks.

The cars are packed into the ferry like sardines, and the people board the upper decks of the ship.

Travel companions KC & Jojo. Of course there is a bar on board, so whisky is mandatory to keep warm. Look at their hair - see how windy it is? And cold.

Several hours later, we arrive on the Isle of Lewis and Harris, which is home to the Callanish Standing Stones - one of the oldest and largest megalithic structures in Europe erected somewhere around 2000BC.We went to Stornoway, in search of some Harris Tweed, and there we found Ronnie Mackenzie's shop, which is pretty much the goldmine. Here's an old loom in the garden out front.The Harris Tweed orb.The shop is dark, dusty, and crammed full of every kind of tweed you can imagine.Dyed wool yarns used to make tweed.Bobbins with yarn - these are attached to the loom when the fabric is woven.Maps of the Outer Hebrides where Harris Tweed is made.

Here is Ronnie showing us all the different breeds of sheep used to make Harris Tweed.

Guide showing where the best wool comes from on a sheep skin.

Totally insane catalog from the 1930's containing swatches of various tweeds.

Every tweed ever produced is archived in books like this.

Ronnie is pretty much the coolest guy ever. He's got so much knowledge about tweed and is an all around character and awesome dude.

Newer books with samples of tweeds created for various designers.Harris Tweed hats, you've probably seen many an old man walking down the street in one of these.Rolls and rolls and rolls of fabric everywhere.More swatches of custom fabrics for customers.

Harris Tweed has produced many of Ralph Lauren's wools over the years.

Harris Tweed is protected by an act of Parliament - only tweed that has been woven in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland can be stamped with the Harris Tweed Orb of authentication once it's been inspected.

I picked up this amazing book, which details the production of Harris Tweed and contains stunning photos of island life and the manufacturing process.Ronnie gave me official Harris labels to sew into the garments I make, since they are officially Harris Tweed, of course.After a totally overwhelming several hours in the shop with Ronnie learning about all kinds of cool stuff, this is what I actually walked away with:Several meters (enough to make a jacket or coat) of each tweed. I really wanted to buy everything in the store, but let's be realistic. I will do a Part 3 eventually showing what I made with some of the tweed. This will not come for a long time, as I have to plan thoroughly before I cut into any of this precious fabric!Below are some collaborations I like between various fashion brands with Harris Tweed. Left to Right: Nigel Cabourn, Scott NYC, Topman.Beauty & Youth United Arrows from A Continuous Lean. Love that all-gray jacket with contrast pockets.Levis x Harris TweedA Bathing Ape x Harris Tweed

What am I going to make? I don't know! But I can't wait!

BOREAS KNITWEAR, ISLE OF LEWIS, SCOTLAND

I found these amazing hand-knit sweaters by Boreas Knitwear in the back of a fabric store on the Isle of Lewis. I searched the internet for any info about the company only to learn it's closed. Which means I passed up a really incredible dead stock collection of sweaters I'll never be able to find again. I'm just at a point where I'm trying not to accumulate "stuff" no matter how amazing it is. If I was a store owner, I would have snatched these up in a second, but I didn't. Damn it.

I love the bold color composition of these sweaters, and each must weight 10lbs or more. I was boiling as soon as I tried one on, attesting to the fact that they are truly island sweaters made to battle even the harshest wind and chill. I wonder how much longer they will sit stuffed into the back of that store.

1924 BRITISH EXPEDITION TO MT EVEREST

Goddamn, look how tough these guy are in their Harris Tweed Jackets and scarves. That must have been a rough trip.Photo from John Noel Photographic Collection

VISVIM "ORION" COAT

I really love these Harris Tweed x Gortex coats by the Japanese label VISVIM. These are perfect for fall - easy styling, cut in great wool fabric, and nicely finished with natural leather trim and buttons. I'll be making something along these lines soon. See more HERE.

UNDERCOVER PUFFERS

More totally radical jackets from Japanese label UNDERCOVER - always mixing and matching various elements into a cool mishmash of combos. Here we have some sleeping bag puffer vests with leather motorcycle jacket sleeves.

MORE LACE

More lace and metallic inspiration...Isabel Marant SS12. Photo HERE.