High back chairs.

Been on the lookout now for a new chair to replace the contemporary blue leather recliner I've been abusing since college. Recently an apparently vital bolt has taken to falling out and dumping me on the floor--in the middle of Parks and Rec and a well-earned beer. The first midcentury modern piece that really did it for me was Eero Saarinen's womb chair, which is essentially a really comfortable armchair with most of the chair removed. Unfortunately, new womb chairs are in the same price range as new transmissions, and the likelihood of me needing the latter before the former is pretty high. A runner up is a well-upholstered diamond chair, another Knoll classic, deisgned by Harry Bertoia and slightly less ubiquitous in apartmenttherapy.com and Dwell spreads than Eames loungers (which ain't cheap, neither). More interesting is Bertoia's bird chair, which looks like a diamond chair with a mohawk. The advantage of buying a vintage diamond or bird chair vs. a womb chair is that the covers can be replaced for a few hundred dollars. A full reupholstery job on a used womb chair may be $1k or more. Keep in mind that when these things were first popular, everyone smoked.





Galaxie Modern in Lynchburg, Va. currently has in stock a bird chair with original upholstery, apparently in good shape, for $1200. That's less than half the price of a new chair and one-third the cost of a womb chair. I know, I know. I probably won't buy it.

Really wanted to find a video from High Back Chairs, a band that's probably accurately rated (as pretty good), but's notable for Jeff Nelson and Jim Spellman's participation. Couldn't though.

Desiderata—Garbstore parka.

The Garbstore (the clothing line, not the shop) could reasonably be criticized for being latecomers to this fall’s overwhelming heritage outdoors trend—in past seasons they’ve focused more on militaria and motorcycle styles—but designer/founder Ian Paley has been out front of enough clothing movements that it’s a dangerous criticism to make. The guy worked with Paul Smith on the R. Newbold line (which was resurrecting vintage inspirations a decade ago--well before I cared for damn sure), founded clever British streetwear line One True Saxon, and now runs the Garbstore’s clothing line and tastemaking shop in Portobello, London.

It’s always a shame when I can only see interesting stuff like Garbstore online or in magazines, so I was pleased to check out some of their stuff at For the Greater Good in DC. Keeping with Paley’s accessible streetwear sensibility, the stuff is vintage inspired but not as minimalist as a line like Engineered Garments or as bogged down by authenticity as other labels. The standout piece was a green parka (alright, I like parkas. I don’t even own one!) done in a tightly woven canvas from Japan (linen cotton blend, apparently) in a really catching shade of green. I’m tapped out on cash and closet space right now, but I wouldn’t mind owning this.




Don't know whether to blame VAT or shipping, but this jacket is $340 from For the Greater Good, but nearly $500 from Garbstore.