WAYWT: 6/3/2011

Dickies Jacket
Converse Shirt
Strike Gold Jeans
Vans Shoes
Mr. & Mrs. Self Edge Super Limited Wedding Edition YoYo.

Out With The Old, In With The New.

No worries folks, this blog isn’t gonna turn into a blog about hairspray and blowouts. Unfortunately, I’m gonna be here for a while! Well, at least till the second Rapture or pomade isn’t cool anymore. JUST KIDDING!

One thing every person has, is a pair of canvas sneakers. Whether it’s a pair of Vans, Converse, hell, even the Polo canvas sneaks I wanted back in 5th grade! Whatever the brand, everyone has had a pair, and wore that pair to hell. It’s just one of many staples in classic Americana.

When Vans started picking back up in the cool market back in the mid 2000s, you were able to find them at places that never had em before! Streetwear aka “lifestyle” stores were calling in for their special, selective accounts, kids banging out $$$ to order em from all over, and now you can’t turn your head any which direction and not see someone in a pair of Vans!

But for me, there was one pair that stood out the most. Aside from all the crazy cool fabrics and materials they started using, which of course, appealed to me like crazy, there was one pair that I knew I just had to have.  While it’s not hard to argue that a plain black-white/single toned colored pair of Authentics are the best around, these pairs, just had me.

There were two pairs: One was black & white two toned, the other, all black with the white mid sole. Just the cleanest pairs of Vans I’ve ever seen! And they had the design of a shoe I’ve wanted since the 6th grade… WINGTIPS! Man… I’ll tell ya… The trouble I went through to look for a pair of wingtips in my size, back in the 6th grade…  Guess what, I NEVER GOT EM!

Unfortunately, this pair of Vans was hard to get. EVERYONE WANTED EM! Everyone had their jaws on the ground when they heard that these were coming out. It was gonna be one hell of a hunt to get em! And hunting is exactly what people did! They drove all over the Bay Area to find em! Lots of people missed out on their pairs, as did I.

One morning, I got a call from a buddy who was at a Nordstrom Rack. He woke me up to tell me that he spotted em! I told him to get whatever size was closest to mine, and buy em! Had to wait a few, very anxious hours, but you know what? The wait was worth it, I finally had my wingtips! They were a size big, weren’t the two toned versions, but do you really think that stopped me?

This was back in around… 2006? 2007? I don’t remember when exactly. But since those years, Vans has put out a shit ton of wing tipped Eras. But none appealed to me the way the simple black & white ones did. Looked a few, passed on all of em. Until this one fateful Memorial Day…

Of all places to be at, we were at the mall. My lady wanted to look for some stuff and I do enjoy a good afternoon of people watching. Who doesn’t? Walked over to one last store and lo and behold, a pair of black & white wing tipped Eras! It wasn’t much of a debate, whether or not I was gonna get them or not.

Headed over to the worlds smallest ATM.

I’m not the tallest fella around, at 6’2″. But man, this was one tiny ass ATM machine! Look at it!

After I got my cash money, back up to the store, bought those bitches like a hooker and we were good to go!

In all of its heavenly glory…

You can tell already, that the “leather” is super soft. Not in a good way, but in the “oh yeah, cheap ass leather,” kind of way.

Now, for my original pair…

Clearly, these shoes have been through hell and back. Definitely not rain shoes anymore, as the holes in the heel make my socks waterlogged! Definitely not a fun feeling!

The design is different, if you hadn’t noticed…

The front is bigger, reaches further back than the original release. The perforation is further up as well, as well as being uneven along the stitching. But I can’t complain though, as I know I’ll never see a brand new pair of the first release, in my size, so why the hell not?

You can bet your sweet asses that the mid soles on these are gonna be darker than the originals! Definitely gonna wear these guys to the ground!

And as the title suggests, out with the old, in with the new. They won’t be thrown out, but will definitely be retired. Being a size too big and stinkin’ like pigs feet, they can be left out of rotation for a while…  But as it were with all old, tore up Vans, it’s hard to just toss em out, as they’ve grown so much character! They had their time with me, and I with them. I think it’s safe to say I can let these bad boys rest for a while!

WAYWT: 9/21/2010

“This hair ain’t movin my dude!”

Quoted from Pauly D, on Jersey Shore. Yea… This show is pretty entertaining… Do not deny it.

Anyways.

With VLV XIV coming up, (7 long months!!!) I gotta have my hair looking good. So I’ve been stressing over a “cocktail” that’ll hold my hair just right, in that Las Vegas heat. These past couple of weeks, have been good days to try out new mixes, since it’s been KILLER. Sorry, The Bay Area is just not used to 80+ degree weather… Especially consecutively…

A few mixes, have failed completely. Some actually managed to melt, and slowly drip towards my forehead. Not a good look. Some just didn’t hold my hair in the right places. And others were just soo bad, I had to wash my hair out before I left. 

Luckily, I have a decent amount of pomades. They will hold me off during the Winters cold, and the Summers heat. Different pomades and cocktails for different seasons! Don’t look at me like I’m crazy. Same goes for other cosmetic products, lotions, soaps, etc…

There are many factors I look for, when trying to find a perfect match, when mixing pomades.

– If it gives me enough hold. Hold is very important.
– If it melts. You don’t want pomade on your skin. It clogs your pores and feels weird.
– If it gives me that sheen. Shine is very important, when you’re getting greasy. A real greaser pompadour looks greasy. Not flat in shine and height!
– If it weighs down my pomp. Too much product will weigh your hair down, and not give you the desired volume.
– Slick-a-bility. I like to be able to slick my hair, without losing any volume, sheen, or hold.

When I compare my pomades for the hold factor, not too many have that great of a hold on their own. Murray’s, DAX, and High Life have the best hold. Murray’s and Dax are my favorite of the 3 all around, but High Life, being a wax, does have a pretty good hold. I have yet to really try and make a cocktail using High Life as a main substance, so maybe there is some hope for this stuff…

Melting will definitely be an issue in Vegas. During the week, my Murray’s/Sweet Georgia Brown cocktail melted. It still had a nice look, but I lost a considerable amount of volume in my pomp, during those days. So I unless I plan on staying in doors all day in Vegas, that option is out. Maybe at night, will this mix do me some good. Along with some Long Islands…

Sweet Georgia Brown (water based) and Royal Crown (hair dressing) have the most sheen. But they break up the hold of my other pomades, just way too much. Especially during the day, you HAVE to have sheen. At night, it’s a little more acceptable to lose that. Especially if you’ve been drinking that night. Plus, it’s night time. All those neon lights will shine your pomp.

As I’ve said, too much pomade will weigh you down. So unless you make your mixes very very meticulously, you’ll end up having too much product in your hair.

Today I started off light. A finger tip of Murray’s as a base coat. For me, Murray’s is a good base coat, simply because of it’s hold. Then I did the usual Sweet Georgia Brown mix. Putting Sweet Georgia Brown over the Murray’s breaks up Murray’s slightly, giving you not as strong of a hold, as you would with Murray’s on its own. I didn’t want to put a light coat of Murray’s on top, because it just weighed my hair down way too much, in earlier experiments. So I opted for some DAX. And it was a good choice.

It didn’t cover up SGB’s sheen, since DAX on it’s own, has a pretty amazing sheen. It’s light enough to be a top coat, and had decent enough strength to be used on its own. And today was a good day to put this cocktail to the test. Not only was it hot outside, it was also really windy. On my walk, I got hit with winds coming from all angles.

When I finally got behind a restroom mirror, I dreaded what I was about to see…

NOT TOO SHABBY!

The only thing I had to really “fix” was the sides. A quick slicking of the sides and ducktail, and I was good to go. Nothing really moved. and that was a good thing! I think I found my mix, for Viva Las Vegas 14!

But with a few more different pomades on the way, the’re will be more cocktails to be mixed. So stay tuned.

But, until then…

Pomp hard, stay greasy.

(should this be my new punchline? Does it work? Maybe I should stick with “I’m Ron Burgandy. You stay classy San Diego!”)

ROCKABILLY FEVER!!!

I know Rockabilly has been around, and has hit high end fashion and what not… It’s made subtle appearances in movies and TV shows… But as of late, it’s really been hitting mainstream, everything…

Just the other day, walking through the mall to head to the Apple Store, my girlfriend noticed a HUGE pomp… The store GUESS had a major “greaser” styled model with a big fluffy pompadour.

Guess is the most rockabilly store out there!

Don’t mind my friend, he doesn’t understand “Watch out, I’m taking a picture.”
The mannequins were styled with “chambray,” plaid prints and leather jackets. Never been a fan of GUESS, so I ddn’t want to stand infront of this place taking pictures.

Rockabilly is also at corporate STARBUCKS! Every now and then, I’d take a look at the “cool new” cds Starbucks have. Hey, sometimes they have something catchy! But today we noticed something that pertains to this here blog.

EDDIE COCHRAN! Not really, it was just him three times on the cover of “LET’S GO! That Rockabilly Rhythm” Even though they had him on the cover, he wasn’t listed on the front sticker!

LET’s GO!

Not a bad mix of artists, I suppose… Johnny Cash, Elvis, Carl Perkins, The Everly Brothers, and obviously, Eddie Cochran, just to name a few.

I already have most of the songs on my iPhone, so there was no need to have this CD. But, if you want to get your taste of good ol 1950s-1960s Rock & Roll, this wouldn’t be a bad place to start.

I, personally prefer this era of rockabilly, as opposed to rockabilly of today. But if it’s good music I could tap my toes to, then why not?

Here, I leave you all with Carl Perkins – Rockabilly Fever.

Rockabilly Hob Nob at Self Edge NY

The other day, Kiya sent me an instant message with a video link. Link was a clip from the Rockabilly Hob Nob event he threw at his New York Self Edge location. The other one being right here in San Francisco. Bet no one realizes I was THE first person to work there… Don’t deny the truth!!! But that’s besides the point.

Why hasn’t he thrown one here in SF??? Beats the hell out of me. I can only imagine how much bigger the Rockabilly scene is here, compared to NY. But then again, I haven’t had the luxury to fly out to NY. So I can’t say… Either way, YOU NEED TO THROW ONE HERE!

Here is the clip.

Self Edge & Wild Records Present: The Lower East Side Rockabilly Hob Nob from Self Edge on Vimeo.

The best part of the clip, is when he says “I have a lot of PBR and Moonshine inside, let’s fuckin drink this shit!”

Straight to the point…

Here are some flicks.
Photo credit: joelz via Superfuture

Omar and the Stringpoppers

Omar and the Stringpoppers

Also:

Check out VintageVandalizm for a first person write up about the event.