Though these Patagonia 1973 logo Tees may look like they’ve actually been worn on a regular basis for nearly 40 years, they’re actually brand new for SS12 and despite the weathered, old-school peaks are made to the brand’s usual high (ethical) standards. Made in the USA from 100% organic ring-spun cotton with environmentally friendly screen print inks they’re a slimmer fit than usual and feature taped shoulder seams to stop any unwanted chaffing under your back-pack. Available here.

www.patagonia.com

Available at:  www.penfieldusa.com

As long time admirers of the tricky art of creating something jaw-droppingly beautiful out of functional structures we’re big fans of the man Philippe Starck describes as a “mystic in a country which is no longer mystic.” Legendary architect Tadao Ando is the only person to have won the four most prestigious prizes in his field namely the Pritzker, Carlsberg, Praemium Imperiale, and Kyoto Prizes. Combining traditional influences from his native Japan with the best aspects of Modernism, his unique style and vision lends itself to futuristic buildings made from a combination of good honest materials such as concrete, wood, water and natural light all to stunning effect.

His designs include award-winning private homes, churches, museums, apartment complexes, and cultural spaces throughout Japan, as well as in France, Italy, Spain, and the USA. This impressive new book from Taschen, created at the height of Ando’s illustrious career has been updated for 2012 and presents Ando’s his complete works to date.

www.taschen.com

It’s that time of year again. Time to dig around in your wardrobe for the summer stuff. Ok so we might not quite be in sunscreen territory just yet, but fail to prepare and prepare to fail and all that. Everyone has their trusty swimming shorts and maybe something more formal but there’s always room for something of a wild card, something from the left field. In this case, literally.

Of the Left Field NYC Angus shorts, it says here….

…dubbed the ”Angus Young Goes to Princeton” collection, the shorts are painstakingly crafted in the USA from a variety preppy-toned 100% organic cotton twills, and feature a chainstitched waistband, YKK zip-fly with Corozo button, and Japanese chambray pocket bags.

That’s us sold.

Get on them at:- http://store.leftfieldnyc.com/category/shorts

Originating on the Polo fields of Buenos Aires, with over 100 years of experience ‘under their belts’ Estribos are the people you go to when you want something colourful (and reliable) to keep your kecks up. Hand stitched and made from a sturdy, single piece of non-cracking stirrup leather, Estribos make belts in over sixty different patterns all using the ancient Guarda Pampas design first used by the Mapuche Indians 100s of years ago, believed to represent the peaks and troughs of the mighty Andes.

To be in with the chance of winning one of these fantastic belts all you have to do is choose a model you like from the Estribos website here  then email propermag@estribos.co.uk confirming your name and the model of belt wanted. A winner will be picked at random in approximately two weeks time, so good luck!

 www.estribos.co.uk 

www.facebook.com/estribosuk#

Given the strong military vibes emanating from impressive L.A. outerwear label Aether you’d be forgiven for thinking that the brains behind it were a couple of battle hardened, grizzly Green Berets. Though probably no strangers to working in war-zones (albeit dealing with orange agents rather than Agent Orange) the duo behind this new label served their time in the trenches of Hollywood rather than Hanoi. Both receiving critical acclaim as film producers on big-hitting Indy flicks such as ‘Requiem for a Dream’, ‘Waking Life’ and ‘A Scanner Darkly’. Launched in 2009 the guys were motivated to start the label through a combined love of snow sports and the constant frustration of not being able to find great looking gear that could aslo stand up to the high demands and rigours of the powdery mountains.

The Military jacket at first glance may look like the sort of thing Rambo might have picked up in an Army Surplus store for 20 bucks but on closer inspection there’s some serious hi-tec details going down. Its actually made using EtaProof® densely woven cotton originally developed for the immersion suits worn by Hurricane pilots during WWII. Which gives the fabric a natural comfortable feel of cotton whilst also making it completely waterproof and thermally insulating.

The classic Mackintosh style trench coat, the Stormy 2 uses heavy-duty fabric from one of the oldest mills in England to offer total protection from the elements. Not your typical trench, the Stormy 2 has uniquely designed articulating sleeves and back vent for increased flexibility and range of movement, which means you can now go snow-boarding without having to look like a member of Limp Bizkit.

The Space vest though incredibly functional and robust is a proper lightweight body-warmer due to it’s PrimaLoft® insulation. Which makes for a decent base layer underneath lighter jackets or fleeces, as well as for dashing around town without getting all sweaty but still keeping the wind and rain out.

 www.aetherapparel.com

The stuff we post on this here website, and indeed the things we feature in our mag tends to be nice stuff with a nice story. When we were sent this video featuring Oliver Spencer it kind of struck a chord. A new Premium Lager by the name of Saint have put together a series of live events to celebrate contemporary craft and quality.

Where better to start than at the HQ of Oliver Spencer?

For more info, see:-

Though not available to buy until next autumn, those kindly Kings of the Wild frontier at Danner have allowed us a sneak peak at six outstanding pieces of their footwear from the forthcoming AW12 Stumptown collection.

Included in this bevy of boot-y beauties is the ‘Danner Light’ special edition (see above), one of two new designs made exclusively to celebrate their 80^th anniversary. Happy birthday Danner!

stumptown.danner.com

 For the entirety of the merry month of May Warehouse and Nigo’s vintage-inspired venture ‘HUMAN MADE’ has taken a short but very welcome residence in the form of a replica Cold Coffee store at London’s Dover Street Market.

And though you may have trouble getting a latte or a frapuccino out of these hand-made crates, you will be able to peruse and buy Human Made jackets, shirts, tees and trousers alongside some exclusive badges, notepads and stickers for those of you (and me) who like that kind of thing. Each piece being a direct reference to a coveted item from Nigo’s extensive collection of vintage clothing, one day I hope to have a good root around this semi-mythical collection but in the mean time I’ll be popping down to West London for a practice at Dover Street.

 Dover Street Market

17 – 18 Dover St

LONDON

W1S 4LT

www.humanmade.jp

Italian disco alert! To help celebrate the Proper site’s recent face-lift our good mates over at the frankly brilliant Mandon Store have very kindly offered us a cracking 30% discount on their Esemplare collection. Simply enter the code proper01 at the checkout and ‘hey presto!’ nearly a third off your quality Italian attire, how good is that?

www.themandonstore.com

Maybe we’re jumping the gun a bit here but we’ve already started getting rather giddy about Clarks Originals autumnal output. Not only are there loads of ace new/old models on the horizon they’re also celebrating forty years of the divine Desert Trek shoe with a heavily Jamaican influenced re-launch (including a pair of Trojan Treks). A poignant celebration for me personally given that not only would I find it very hard to exist without suede shoes or Jamaican music in my life but also because I too am about to celebrate forty fun-filled years on the planet. And though like the Desert Trek I may have a line of vertical stitches bi-secting my entire body sadly I haven’t managed to stay as fresh and attractive looking as this crepe soled beauty.

Given their long-running connections to the reggae scene and to help celebrate the ever popular Desert Trek reaching middle-age, Clarks Originals are teaming up with Trojan records and four renowned DJs and producers for the #ORIGINALSREMIXED campaign. The aforementioned quartet comprising of TOKiMONSTA (US), Mighty Crown (Japan), Riva Starr (Italy) and Toddla T (UK) will all be putting their own unique spin on the Trojan classic ‘Let your yeah be yeah’ by The Pioneers as well as featuring in a series of films from each of the producers’ home towns where we’ll get to see them at work and play. Keep you eyes peeled over the next few months as the Originals site will be posting regular updates and lots of other exciting news and downloads

And just in case you wanted to know how and why this long-lasting love affair between a Somerset Quaker’s shoes and Kingston’s baddest musicians came about there’s a fantastic looking book out this October all about this cool yet somewhat unusual pairing. Created by Al Fingers whose previous work includes must-have tomes on Camouflage for Maharishi and (also on a reggae tip) a compilation of Greensleeves album covers for Stüssy Deluxe. ‘Clarks in Jamaica’ features quotes and photos from some of reggae’s biggest characters (as well as Clarks themselves) all giving thanks and praise to these most iconic of shoes in a way that only residents of Jam Rock can. So keep checking the Clarks Originals sites for updates. 

www.clarksoriginals.com

Ciao ragazzi! To celebrate the fact that both us and our Bolognan buddies over at 12^thMan have updated our websites, we’re giving you the chance to win one of their ace SS12 Nova jackets in a rather stunning and very seasonal burnt orange colour (see above).

As I’m sure you already know 12^th Man is an independent studio that combines traditional high quality Italian tailoring alongside cutting edge, technical textiles and dyes to create strictly limited and beautifully made sports and military inspired garments.

All you have to do is comment below telling us what type/style of jacket you’re wearing today and what you’ve got in your pockets. Don’t forget to put what size jacket you’ll need if you do win too. The winner will be picked in a couple of weeks, so get commenting on this article to be in with a chance!

www.12thman.it

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED, WELL DONE TO DAN SCHOFIELD!

Good. That gives us time to talk about this Sherlock jacket instead. Take a look out of the window. It’s proper April weather isn’t it. Showered up. In such circumstances, this jacket is your friend.

Legendary Italian trainer creators Diadora are set to launch four exclusive new styles, available from 27th April 2012 at Size? Stores across the country.

The ‘Cross 70’ is an old school number with suede detailing that will be released in White/Hunter, Carmine Red/White, Classic Navy/Carmine and Royal/White colour ways. First designed in 1975 as a multipurpose outdoor training shoe, the current design has not strayed much from its predecessor and this style led sneaker is classically inspired by the brand’s wealth of heritage and design excellence.

The ‘Tokyo’ is a vintage inspired trainer with leather logo detailing that will be released in, Beige Tannin/Coffee Bean, Castle Rock/Royal, Royal/White and Black/White colour ways. First released in 1982, this trainer not only proves that the brand’s unparalleled reputation has been based on innovative and original design; it also shows that they are still producing key trends in an ever evolving market place.

Our old mate the ‘B.Elite’ is needs no introduction, the iconic low-top trainer  will be released in White/Tibetan Red and White/Classic Navy colour ways. Arguably Diadora’s most iconic piece of footwear, the B. Elite launched in 1978 and has become a heritage classic and a time-honoured performance trainer whether running around Centre court or the away end.

Our personal favourite the ‘Heroes’ is a stylish, running, low-top trainer that not only looks a step ahead of the rest, but will keep you there. Originally released in 1985 as the Seb Impact, the trainers improve the balance and posture of the wearer. The low profile designed sneaker is available in Castle Rock/Yellow Croms/Dark Red and White/Dark Navy/Dark Red colour ways. The ‘Heroes’ trainer combines Diadora’s design excellence with their ability to constantly create iconic classic footwear.

Diadora is the most important Italian sports brand. For over 60 years it has developed and marketed products for competitive and non-competitive sports and leisure activities. Renowned for technical excellence, classic Italian style and high quality products, Diadora has become a leading sports lifestyle brand bridging the gap between performance-based and trend-led training footwear.

www.size.co.uk

The inaugural Proper Party, with full on top table Balearic DJs is in the area. And soon. It takes place on 26th May in a dead slick location, in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, an area so achingly hip it needs a replacement. A hip replacement. See?  In fact speaking of hip replacements, one of us is going to be 40 soon, so we’d better have a party whilst he’s still alive.

To get an idea what to expect, right click and save this link. Or click on it, that’ll probably work too. Thanks to Scott at Back and Forth for helping us share the wealth.

http://www.back-and-forth.net/audio/Trans%20Vesuvian.mp3

And once you’ve been suitably impressed,  get on the tickets here. Not many left now.

Bowthorpe:“The central idea is very simple: Build a boat from a city’s waste, take it to the source of the city’s river – the river without which the city would not exist – and row the boat back.”

The film follows a man as he makes a boat from New York City’s waste, the detritus of a modern megalopolis, and takes it to the source of the Hudson River high in the Adirondack Mountains, at Lake Tear of the Clouds.

He rows the boat back to NYC, through wilderness, countryside, farms, towns and industry, all of which rely on the mighty river that flows past, all of which are threads of the river’s story. The filmmakers have gathered an impressive list of collaborators: Scottish band Mogwai are writing an original soundtrack for the film, their first since Zidane; A 21st Century Portrait, and award-winning interactive director Ben Tricklebank (Arcade Fire’s The Wilderness Downtown) will be creating an online experience to complement the films’s release.

Crook and Bowthorpe are making the film with support from crowd-funding website Kickstarter, where funding for the film is found from a large group of people investing a small amount each in return for exclusive rewards from the film.
The campaign starts Tuesday 10th April and runs for 45 days.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hrp/hudson-river-project-0/

Crook:“We want to stay true to the core idea of the film – to do this we’ll share what its about and raise the funds we need through crowd-funding. There are so many people already behind the idea, wanting to see it happen, that it just seemed to make sense. Kickstarter is the biggest crowd-funding platform out there and gives us the best chance of reaching our goal.”

http://www.hudsonriverproject.com

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hrp/hudson-river-project-0/

http://www.antonycrook.com

http://www.jamesbowthorpe.com

To be honest with you I have zero interest in the much-discussed Mad-Men series, despite being fascinated by the rise of Western consumerism and the American dream it just doesn’t float my boat. I’m sure it’s brilliant but if I want to see misogynistic Alpha males chain-smoking and knocking back whisky, I’ll go and see my dad.

Though these two incredible volumes from Taschen clearly bare the ‘Mad-men’ moniker in order to draw in the legions of fans of the show, though it doesn’t matter a jot if you’ve never seen the multi-award winning, nicotine flavoured drama. As both books takes the reader on a cosmic and capitalistic journey through the fifties and sixties; a time when cars looked like fairground rides, LSD Technicolors permeated pretty much everything from phones to Vodka bottles, women were still being gloriously objectified, holidays in pre-apartheid Africa were still actually an option and anybody modelling a shirt just had to wear an eye-patch.

From post-war baby booming through to radical draft-burning, there has yet to be a more dramatic period of time in America’s history and it’s all captured here in the most pragmatic and honest art-form there is i.e. advertising. These striking images are all beautifully packaged together in an impressively large two book box-set (one for each decade) that Don Draper himself (who?) would be proud to have adorning his Eames coffee table.

One of the (many) things I love about Taschen is that they could charge a ridiculous fee for a book as impressive and as brimming with info and imagery as this. But rather than do that, they’ve priced it at a very reasonable £34.99 for both books. Meaning you’d be a mad man (or woman) not to get yourself a copy.

BUY IT HERE!

www.taschen.com

As you may know we’re currently going a bit nutty about all things outdoors with a certain quirky je-ne-sais-quoi about them. This cracking parka being a classic example of something that has definitely got our ‘hikerdelia’ radar beeping loudly. Made by the HR boys exclusively for French shop Centre Commercial, it features all the usual attention to detail and subtle military touches that we’ve now come to expect from one of the UK’s most exciting labels. C’est magnifique et hikerdelique non?

Buy one ici/here

Now (clothing suggestions aside) far be it from us to tell you to smarten the-hell-up but if you do fancy spring-cleaning your sprightly/spotty physique then there really is no finer range of male grooming products than Elemis. Full of invigorating ingredients like spearmint, marjoram, nettles (yes nettles) and Marine phytoplankton their Sharp Shower gel and Energising Skin Scrub should both be part of you daily spring, sprucing schedule. You’ll thank us when you heroically emerge from your steamy shower chrysalis having cast aside your wintery grime and become a triumphant, gleaming, butterfly amongst men. Albeit a rock-hard butterfly that is proper nails and just because he looks great that doesn’t mean he can’t knock you spark out with one of his colourful wings, alright???

Get kitted out here: http://www.timetospa.co.uk/default.aspx

Now the sun is out and the wardrobe needs a bit of refreshing, why not save a few quid by giving your beloved old jeans a bit of a remix? Speaking of which, when it comes to denim, we’re constantly being asked where is the best place to get a pair of jeans altered or mended.

www.thedenimdoctor.co.uk