Time is not on my side.

Wow. So maintaining a blog isn't my strong point, is it? Things have been busy in my neck of the woods so I'll start with a brief update into the life of Michael and The Cut of the Jib:

• Taking sewing lessons from Jackie @ The Black Market. It's going well and she's an amazing teacher. Plus everyone else there is way rad so it's a fun time when I go.

• Working on pieces for Pink Slip's grand opening. I'm pretty happy with the way they're turning out. I'll post some pics when they're done. (I also have to model these at the show, so that'll be interesting)

• Been working with two fantastic designers/dudes on some design. We work under the name Static Quo (website to come). It's been a great creative outlet and Matt and Jeremy are both badass in design and all around being great guys.

• Looking into restoring a "classic" car. (something in my price range of course). Doing the footwork on that now.

• Designing a line of bowties/pocket squares to hopefully carry in some shops around town.

So yeah. Those are the big things going on in life right now. It's a fairly exciting time for me with the making of moves towards something big. My goal is to now set aside at least 30 minutes a day for this blog and keep it updated like I'd like. Goals. I need to make more of 'em and stick to them.

Things to come...

So I've been doing a lot of soul searching lately and pondering on what I want to do with my life what I want to be. I've always been "artistic" and "creative", and I always wanted to pursue a career as an artist when I was young. So I did. I went to art school, got my degree and found myself a job. I love design. I love designing. It's fun and a gives me a great feeling when I create something. But I've come to realize that I will never be a great designer. I will always be "good enough". I want to do more than good enough. Thus, the soul searching. After much pondering, I realized that my largest passion (besides my love of music), is fashion and style. I've always been drawn to it... even when I wasn't a 100% sure what to do. It's what led me to my Gadzooks job in high school and to start reading fashion magazines in college. I feel I'm at a point in my life where I have my own sense of style and what it is. So after realizing all this, I sat. I sat and I sketched to see if I could translate my sense of style. These sketches here are what came of that session. I am very proud of them. They give me hope. They give me sense of where I should go with my life, my passion, my art. So I am sharing them with you, my friends; my readers. I feel this is the start of something for me. I feel this is something I can be great at. So without further ado, the sketches of what will hopefully someday soon be the first line of The Cut of the Jib. Please feel free to post any critique you'd like. I am open to all forms of criticism; be it constructive or not. Oh, and the inspiration/theme behind this line is "disproportional elegance".

Style Icon: James Bond

Yes. James Bond. A fictional character is this months Style Icon (for those of you that need it, you can picture Daniel Craig. Eff that Pierce Brosnan Bond. He was a joke. Nothing against PB, He's just no Bond). Fictional character or not, James Bond has copious amounts of style (side note: copious is such a great word). I present the newest movies in the Bond franchise as Exhibits A and B. Obviously Daniel Craig is by far the most stylish (not to mention badassest) Bond of them all. For Quantum of Solace, Tom Ford was the exclusive tailor for the movie. I remember reading a quote that they went through something like 40 bespoke suits during filming. Brings a tear to my eye. Also, in the latest films, Bond wears several pairs of John Lobb shoes (you may recall these from my first "desires" post.) OH! How can I forget? Bond also rocks Persol. And you all know how I feel about Persol. Bond's style has always been casual cool, sophisticated/classy and first-class. The man is always dressed for the occasion; whatever it may be. Bond's sense of style originated in the Ian Fleming books but was brought to life in the movies. If I strive to be like any one person style-wise; modern day Bond would be that person. Except for the Omega watches. I like my watches a little classier/dressier.

Interweb friends and their writings of things

I've made a new internet friend everyone! Meet Dustin and his radass new blog. Not only does his blog have the coolest blog name ever, I love the concept and can't wait to see more. Everyone pop on over and check it out.

Style Icon: February: Yves Saint Laurent

When I was a young man, my style was a little...lacking. Being from "small town" Nebraska, I didn't get a lot of exposure to style. Shoot, when I moved here in late 1994, the skater/grunge scene hadn't even hit yet (after being the "it" thing in SoCal for a couple of years already). My interest in clothing/fashion sparked early; however, with limited access to style, I fell into the baggy shirts and even baggier jeans trend. It makes me cringe to think of some of the stuff I wore back then (ie. oversized silk shirts? FAIL). I worked in a Gadzooks if that gives you a better idea of my "style".

When I ventured out on my own and went to college, style was more readily available. I started reading GQ and made gradual changes in my personal style. T-shirts and tennis shoes switched to button downs and casual dress shoes. However, the fit was still baggy. I was 6' tall, weighed 120 lbs and was wearing larges and 34 x 34 pants. Swimming in a sea of fabric.

I started dating a girl who was up on fashion and I remember she went on a trip and brought me back a present; a beautiful Yves Saint Laurent dress shirt. It was a 15" neck and 32/33 arm length. I remember thinking, there's no way I'm gonna like this. Then, after trying it on, I was transformed. Slim fitting. Clean, beautiful lines. Sleeves that didn't bunch. I didn't look and feel like I was wearing a trash bag. It felt good. Scratch that; it felt great. I remember that being the turning point in my style. I'd always admired high end fashion but never wanted to duplicate it in my style. Yves Saint Laurent changed that for me. To this day, he is my favorite designer and I acquire anything I can afford (which generally is vintage thrift finds). I have his sense of style and craftsmanship to thank for helping me find my sense of style.

STYLE ICON: Persol

PS: The Cloon is a big fan of Persol and one thing you'll learn about me through this site is I'm a big fan of The Cloon.

Music me all over.

Most who know me know that besides fashion, another large love of mine is music. In all shapes and forms, I love music. So I wanted to do a post regarding both music and fashion. I read today about a limited edition Reebok shoe collaborated with DJ Shadow and it made me think of the other artist inspired/collaboration pieces I've seen in the past. So I tracked down my favorites to share with you here. (As shown: Peter Saville for DC T-shirt, Peter Saville for DC Hoodie, New Balance Joy Division sneakers, DJ Shadow Reeboks, Underworld | Tomato for Adidas (Which are super rad as they glow in the dark), Kurt Cobain Chuck Taylors for Converse).

*I would kill for the Joy Division New Balance's (apparently they're just a prototype at this point).