The End

Our Tenue de Nîmes blog has changed to www.tenuedenimes.com - see you there!
(Image via The End)

Our new home

Today we celebrate a Tenue de Nîmes milestone. After months of hard work our new website is finally online.
The site includes our new blog (a daily update by the name of Journal de Nîmes) and a web-shop with most of the products we stock in our Amsterdam based store.
On top of that the website features all the past issues of our paper magazine Journal de Nîmes. As from today they can be read on the website too.
A huge thanks goes out to our web-director Kim, the people of Intervisual who built the site and to Riekele, Milou, Timo, Hanna, Olivier and to all the other people who have spilled blood, sweat and tears for this project.

We hope you will enjoy our new site. Have a great Christmas. Until soon, Menno, Rene and Joachim.


Please renew your RSS feeds, we're moving over to www.tenuedenimes.com, our new home.

Dressing the Man

This is something I would like to have for Christmas: Dressing The Man. All the basics a man needs to know or have in terms of fashion is available in this amazing book. Whether you look for the history behind the sports jacket, the brogue shoe or the pocket square, all the basics are presented in this book. Available online as from this Friday.

Quote

All life is an experiment.
The more experiments you make the better.

Ralph Waldo Emerson Journals, November 11, 1842. - Thank you Adriana.

Winter Treasures

We, Tenue de Nîmes and Anothersomething, shared our new Treasures in Blend Magazine. This time focusing on the harsh winter weather and all you need to survive. 1. Rocky Mountain Featherbed at our online store > tenuedenimes.com / 2. Icon 4x4, Cars built to resist. icon4x4.com / 3. Winter by Joachim Baan / 4. Nigel Cabourn's Fisherman beanie by our favorite designer. cabourn.com / 5. Best Made, Because they don’t make them like this anymore. bestmadeco.com / 6. 7. 8. Denim Demon. Project wear outs is the search for the ultimate denim wear out. denimdemon.se / 9. Country House Hideout, Welcome to the perfect country house hideout. countryhousehideout.co.uk / 10. Red Wing Gloves, Deerskin work gloves. redwingamsterdam.com / 11. Winter by Joachim Baan / 12. 13. Soulland, Nothing more romantic that a Soulland campaign. soulland.eu / 14. Gloverall Duffle coat, Men at work. gloverall.com

Mister Freedom - Californian

Today we got our hands on a new Mister Freedom piece: The Californian. The style is inspired by the 1950's and is characterized by its lovely Mister Freedom silhouette, 'M' embroidery on back pockets and a handmade original, debossed natural cowhide leather patch on right back pocket. To get you guys in the mood for this great piece of true Americana we thought it would be nice to share these worn-in shots by MF himself.

The jeans are intensively abused for about 5 months and as you can see they show a great wear out already. "...a quick cold soak for 10 minutes, hung dry and worn still damp. Four washing cycles during the five months period, cold water, very minimal soap, turned inside-out, no dryer." Who says treating your beloved jeans isn't like cooking a master meal?

Camouflage

Rene is a real (vintage) army fan. Whether it are jackets, watches, military cloths or camouflage patterns, he likes it all. After a a recent find at Lady Day vintage in Amsterdam he went online to determine where the jacket originated from. He found out that the parka we found was used by the Swiss army. On top of that he found some classic camouflage prints that have been used by different countries around the world. Have a look at our favorites below. Image above is: Swiss Alpenflage (Excuse us for the low resolution).

Chinese Tibet Occupation Camo

Danish M84 Fleck-tarn Camo. Pictures above and more camouflage images at HSM.

Monsters

Our buddy Nestor asked us to arrange a pair of these 'monsters' by Red Wing that he found the other day. Of course we agreed to take the challenge and hopefully our Japanese colleagues can help us out with this amazing pair of 8" Classic Round Toe in Oro Russet Portage.

Images and shoes through Three Wood.

Child labor

Have a look at these early 20th century images of child labor in the United States. I was really mixed up by this find of our friend Jonathan. The pictures are quite intense and I must admit that they are simply beautiful too. The shots show traditional work wear like cotton shirts with Dutch collars, high waist work overalls with suspenders and leather boots. All we like basically.

But on the other hand what we see is some very young blokes who should be playing with balls or reading books, not work under sometimes horrifying circumstances. Luckily for us Western people, this image is something from a century ago and it is not daily business anymore. Unfortunately child labor still is business as usual in a lot poor third world countries. Something we should all try to fight against, especially in fashion.

Image source: Acidcow.

Foretaste

Tenue de Nîmes denim by MOOS

During our two year anniversary celebration we received a very special package by our friend Koen, owner at MOOS Tailored Basics. He gave Joachim, Rene and me our first hand-made, tailored pair of denim based on our personal shapes, sizes and desires.

It is the first pair of tailored jeans we ever possessed, based on our individual requirements. Although Koen made the jeans similar in terms of denim and detailing his efforts resulted in three totally different shapes and many sleepless nights.


But not only the eye for each individual body makes a pair of MOOS jeans such a remarkable object. His hardly matched addiction to detail is just unbelievable. Have a look at the way Koen treated the hem for instance (below). And do not miss the fact that finally, we found somebody who does not make the inseam look like a part of the jeans that was made by an amateur.

Did we share with you already that he bakes every single waistband button himself?

And what about the blue piping inside the belt loops, and the way the coin pocket is folded so it unveils a little part of the selvage?

Let's just say this guy outshines in every detail. And let's face it: It is just great to have your personal pair dated and stamped with your initials, isn't it? Have a look at some of Koen's 'making of' shots in his Amsterdam based atelier at our Flickr. We hope we can show you our first wear out shots soon.

Danish Tattooing

Joachim bought this amazing Danish tattoo book in Stockholm Monday. The book is written by photographer Jon Norstrøm and it show a great history of Dansih tattoo life since 1895.

De book shows a great selection of pictures that date back to the early 20th century. I would have sworn the image shown was Hannibal Lector (Anthony Hopkins) if I would not have known it is a Danish tattoo fan from the sixties.

The book also provides a selection of legendary tattoo accessories as used by various Danish tattoo artists and shop owners. More info and images at Needlebuzz thanks to Riekele.

Charlie Brown

This classic 60's and 70's Charlie Brown jacket by Woolrich is one of the exclusive styles the brand produced for its 180th anniversary. Only 180 hand numbered jackets were made from a special archive wool with selvage details. The cuffs and collar are lined with real chamois suede and the interior of the jacket is lined with a cashmere blend pile. For the real collectors a vest and ditto head are available to make the outfit complete.

John Lennon

Today Tenue de Nîmes honors John Lennon who was murdered thirty years ago on December 8th 1980. The image shows the timeless style icon as we like it, in denim. Image: Everette Collection.

Rugger

This Monday were invited by Christopher Bastin, head designer of Gant Rugger to come to their head office in Stockholm, Sweden. He wanted to show his new ideas for their winter 2011 collection. The Gant office is located in Nacka Strand, a lovely part of Stockholm near the Baltic Sea. Caught by its wintery atmosphere we saw a glimpse of the new Gant Rugger collection. The main inspiration of the 2011 designs was a 1960's Rode Island School of Design year book that Christopher bought online for only a few euro's.

The entire collection is an oath to the days that Gant was the most popular shirt company of the USA. Christopher shared some remarkable anecdotes with us like the fact that Gant was the founder of the 'locker loop' on the back of classic sports shirts. Or the 'Fag Tag' as athletes liked to call it back in the days.

No branding is allowed since the Gant Rugger collection is all about garments, classic silhouettes and ditto fabrics. Instead, the Rugger shirts are branded with a traditional Union stamp with the remarkable 'G' sign added to it.
The images above are taken by Joachim at the special collection presentation by Gant on Monday where we were literally able to walk through the Gant world for the first time.

Stockholm day 1

Today we were fortunate enough to be invited to Stockholm for the official launch of the Gant Rugger collection for winter 2011. After a very early flight we wandered around the snowy city during the morning and visited some of our favorite shops in town like Byredo, Jus and PUB. In the afternoon we saw a glimpse of the new Gant Rugger collection. More about this special sneak peak later this week. Tomorrow we will go South to Sördermalm where we will check out stores like Acne, Nitty Gritty, Our Legacy and Sivletto. God kväll to everybody!

Sinterklaas

Today we celebrate 'Sinterklaas' in the Netherlands, basically a Dutch version of your beloved Santa. This tradition dates back to the 13th century and is all about rewarding the kids who behaved during a year. The myth tells us that naughty children were taken with Sinterklaas on his boat to his residence in Spain. Luckily for me Rene and I were allowed to stay after the holy man replenished his bag of presents at the shop and we took this picture with his black 'Pieten'.

Vintage Blazer

Nike released another great Blazer recently as part of their Vintage line. We are glad to stock a limited amount of these kicks in wine red and peach.

Tenue de Nîmes x London Undercover

Tenue de Nîmes has joined creative forces with Umbrella brand London Undercover to produce a special denim Umbrella. This striking accessory represents both brands perfectly: combining an established classic with a modern touch. The umbrella itself is made with an industrial strength traditional frame of natural beech woodwork which guides your eye to beautifully detailed artwork on the inside, made by Japanese illustrator Hiyoko Imai. The cotton flower illustration not only tells a story about denim, but also echoes the decorative nature of ancient parasols, which were often embellished with lavish, floral designs. It's this attention to detail and perspective, combined with the modern element of denim that makes this such a truly special piece.
Made in France, home of denim and the waterproof umbrella, the accessory is available to buy through London Undercover & Tenue De Nîmes from Monday 29th November.



Specially for this collaboration Hiyoko Imai made a short video to explain the concept of indigo rain and the main character in her design: Mr. de Nîmes.

Andy's place

Fashion and interior photographer Todd Selby made some amazing portraits of people and their 'places'. Browsing through his website I found out he photographed our hero Andy Spade and his wife Kate Spade on our birthday (November 21st). The book "The Selby Is In Your Place" (Hardcover) is for sale at Tenue de Nîmes. Photography: Todd Selby. More here.