This Happens Every Year When Baseball Season is Finished

I've been waiting for these scarves for, say, seven months.  We ordered them waaay back in February and I've had to sit on my hands since then.  Lucky for us, they've arrived at exactly the right time as meteorological fall has conveniently lined up with Gregorian Calendar fall.  To those holding out (I saw a remarkable number people in shorts or tiny little dresses this weekend), give it up - Autumn won.  It always does.

While Altea now makes a fairly full compliment of garments, their primary focus has always been scarves and ties, both of which we stock.  The most endearing thing, however, is that they tend to present things in that Italian way that could kind of be confused with East Coast Prep - trade a pocket square and add a crest and BAM! Welcome to New Haven.  If you don't understand what I mean, ask to take a peek at their lookbook upon the next visit.  Curiously, their website is also a hybrid of Italian and American.  The broken English makes for a delightful read.

Top photo Wool Scarves L to R: $65, $65, $115, $75

Middle photo Silk/Modal blend Scarves $115, Wool Scarf $115

Bottom Photo Cashmere Blend Scarves $145

Famous People Can Be Friends On Your Coffee Table

There is something about famous friends from different walks of life that intruiges me.  Do they talk about the office or their respective industries?  The perks and/or troubles of being of being famous.  Maybe just general fame?  Do they have seperate dinner parties where one must be of a certain celebrity to garner an invitation? And most importantly do they get introduced to like people in classic American lit, as in "This is Gore Vidal, the Writer."  This book will likely not answer any of those questions, but I still like it.

Gore Vidal: Snapshots in History's Glare $40

A Primer on Hats

Previously upon describing a particular piece of headwear that was recieved in the store, I used the phrase 'Jacques Cousteau panache' which, much to my delight, prompted positive responses from more than one person!  Seeing as the store is now choc full of winter hats and as that tends to be a relatively important thing in the upper midwest, I figured it would be good to give a rundown a few of the other hats in the store.  In the spirit of the previous post, all are expressed in terms of Famous Person Flamboyance (most of which are neither accurate nor true).  It should also be noted that this list excludes trooper styles, partly because I haven't watched Fargo in a while but mostly because we've only got one style right now and when photographed it looked more like a fluffy ball.  Soon though...

The aforementioned Jacques Cousteau panache
cashmere watch cap $90

Frank Sinatra swagger
felt c-crown fedora $35

Gene Hackman verve (in The French Connection)
felt porkpie $35

Gene Hackman verve (in The Royal Tenenbaums)
leather trimmed wool/cashmere driving cap $125

Brad Pitt je ne sais quoi
cashmere driving cap $155

Angus Young moxie
leather trimmed corded wool newsboy cap $95

Seymor Cassel dash (in Rushmore)
wool driving cap $95

Jason Schwartzman, umm... authenticity (in Rushmore)
wool beret $10

Fidel Castro brio (if he was Irish)
tweed military cap $40

Friedrich von Trapp panache (literally)
felt fedora w/ feather detail $35

Michael Kelso gusto
knit cap $25

Princeton Graduate and Swedish Professional Baseball Player Christian Staehely's, umm, sense of functional irony (in a good way)
wool baseball cap w/ earflaps and quilted lining $95

The King of Sweden Wears These

Or so I would assume, as they're made by our newest vendor: Wigens.  Now, a little bird told me that Wigens are the official hatter of the King of Sweden (though I'm having a little trouble verifying that) so one could surmise that when one wears Wigens it is akin to fraternizing with royalty.  More on these soon.

Rabbit Fur Gloves $95 Cap $95

Yes, Please

Multi Colored Lizard Skin Wallets? Check.
Gator Wallets? Check.
Our favorite Torino Leather Wallets, which happen to be the best selling ones in the store because they're really affordable and well made? Aaaand MATE!

Ringmark Lizard Wallets $245 for special edition colors, other Torino Wallets from $35

Things We Like #3

I've been excited for this hat for a while. Last year while combing through different product lines, one of the things we really wanted for the store was a cashmere watch cap, preferably retailing for less than $100. We found a really great line of mostly knit caps that just so happened to have the sought after hat.

Come December, I can see myself not removing this hat for great lengths of time. Its easy to think of occasions where one would wear this - slouching around the house, hung-over bloody marys, waiting outside of Al's breakfast and accidently running over some six year olds on the sledding hill are all things that this hat obviously pairs well with - however I think there is a certain Jacques Cousteau panache that comes from being appropriately dressed except for that little knit hat. It’s the kind of inconspicuous luxury item that we're fans of at mp3.

That being said, we've got quite a few hats from Coal ranging from practical to kitschy, and they've already made quite a splash with the staffers here.

Jameson Cashmere hat $90, other Coal hats from $25

Ira Glass Would Hate This (because he hates irony and wears thick glasses)

We just got telescopes in the store and of course we had to test them out.  What was the furthest away that we decided to focus on? The security camera on the side of the federal reserve building. Take that big brother.

Telescopes $165-$225

One of these things is not like the others...

These are the new printed materials that have arrived in the store in the last week.

I'll leave it to you to choose the odd man out, though there is probably more than one answer.

Clockwise from Top Left $10, $10.99, $9.95, $7.99

Kind of an Odd Product Assortment When You Think About It

We've got our latest Pierre Belvedere order in the store.  I won't go in to detail, but it's safe to say that we made getting this order in significantly harder than we needed to.  Thankfully, it was worth the wait because now we have some really spiffy and downright affordable fountain pens.  I know we've been accused of being a bit too fancy at the store sometimes, but fountain pens are pretty darn cool.  Actually, the reason I started using a fountain pen was because of the decidedly unfancy movie There Will Be Blood.  There is a scene where Daniel Plainview is signing some deeds with a very worn down fountain pen and it makes this really awesome scratching noise.  Fortunately for you, these are actually nice and there isn't much scratching.  Unfanciness begat Fanciness.

We also recieved some new leather goods, including a portfolio cover that our dear Eduardo has been waiting for so patiently, new leather coasters and a spiffy little shopping list journal.

Pen $35

Kind of like a fall preview...

...but not really.  It's as close as you're going to get from me.

Truth be told its really just the list of orders we placed at the Vegas shows last week.  Its neither exclusive to fall nor complete. I will call attention to the lower right corner.  Yep. Thats right.

Property Of... at MartinPatrick3

I would like to think that as an accessory store, we at martinpatrick3 know a good bag when we see it.  The problem is that there are a lot of really good bags out there.  As in, too many lines where we see them and say, "This is perfect!" only to find another exceptionally similar line in the next row of vendor booths.  The general indication that a line of bags is one for our store is one that is unique enough to not have itself replicated in three different places on the trade show floor.  One of the brands we've found that fits those criteria is Property Of...

Now, you may be thinking Canvas Bags?  For Fall? Surely you jest!  I can assure you, these canvas bags are not of the feathery light summer variety.  The tight sturdy weave of the canvas is compounded by the waxcloth treatment - not too oily, but enough to provide some protection from elements and the other things in your trunk.  Most of the bags also have a leather base.  Not just little decorative patches mind you - big heavy, so thick it doesn't roll up very well leather bases.  These bags just feel like they were designed for more than one can possibly use them for.  They have a throw-it-in-the-back-of-the-truck feel that really can't be appreciated until you have a pressing need to not worry about your bag.  Property Of... are up for an adventure, it's just up to you to decide what that will be.

Shown $295, bags $245-$295, wallets $75-$125

Endorsement and Defense of Poseurdom

I went to public school. Always have, from Bryant Elementary in Ann Arbor to the University of Minnesota. So public were these institutions that my high-school was known simply by an acronym: SPASH (that’s Stevens Point Area Senior High for those of you keeping score). We didn't have a dress code. The instructors didn't wear tweed. The building was constructed in 1973. Looking back, it feels a little hollow. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed every school I've gone to, but something tells me I would look back more fondly if the word Academy was included in the school's title and a the staff employed a headmaster instead of a principal. Yesirree, I have private school envy. Maybe it's because I love uniforms, but accordingly I'm in favor of pretty much everything that could possibly have a repp stripe emblazoned on it. That’s why I'm really excited about our new line of wearable goods from Smart Turnout.

Now, plenty of brands have nifty little fake repp stripes (in which case rep just means repeating and not representing), but Smart Turnout is the real deal.  Their primary business is producing cufflinks and other striped and crested goods for the finest schools and government institutions in the United Kingdom.  Lately however, they've started selling their wares to the masses of people that would like people to assume they went to Eton.  Like, for example, me.

In particular, the cufflinks are an impressive harkening back to the days when cufflinks were linked and not toggled.  While the enamel doesn't have the benefit of a guilloche, the gold settings have remarkably fine cutouts to more than make up for the flat texture.  And just in case anyone is worried about being called out for wearing the insignia of a private school he didn't actually attend, we've selected crests only from British schools under the assumption that most Midwesterners won't be able to tell the difference.

Watchbands $25, Braces (that means suspenders in British) $85, cufflinks $75

Some Very Light Reading

I'm very pleased to announce that we now have a very tiny selection of magazines. By very tiny, I mean two titles, but that is more a reflection of the fact that we wont have very many monthly publications. More monthly, quarterly and biannual titles are forthcoming, however two that we already have are the UK versions of GQ and Esquire. While you can buy the American copies while waiting in line at the grocery store, the UK ink requires a bit more searching. While I wont tell you which other magazines we'll be getting specifically, you can count on them generally being manly lifestyle type magazines, ranging from stylish but heady fopo rags to stylish and not-so-heady, em... smut, pretty much. Best part: they're currently 20% off - Just like everything else in the store (till August 23rd).
And, yes Nature Group guys, there is considerably more skin in the British mags.

$10.99 for GQ and $7.99 for Esquire.

Just In From The Desk of Our Favorite Emmy Award Winning Jewler

I've always wanted to have a moonlighting profession. If someone asks me about my profession at a party I really always want to say, "Oh I'm a retailer, but I moonlight as bartender/player of an obscure rock instrument/shortstop for the St. Paul Saints/art thief/assassin/advisor of foreign policy for a small island nation." Sadly I'm none of those things, nor would I really want any of those jobs, unless being an art thief is what Vincent Cassel leads me to believe it is. Either way none of those professions are really doing the general public any good, unlike the delightful Robyne Robinson. Ms. Robinson is a jewellery designer who moonlights as the best darn news anchor in the Twin Cities* and she has the Emmys to prove it. I'm not really sure if she would describe herself that way, but I don't really think she'll jump in to correct me either.

Robyne has been the sole proprietor for the jewellery brand Rox for the last few years, but is just starting to ramp up her men's business. Part of that incline is the announcement of her first men's retailer: you guessed it, MartinPatrick3. That's right. Nowhere else ('cept online, but whatever). The collection is an amalgam of pendants, chains and stones from her travels, resulting in a group of patinaed yet colorful bracelets and necklaces. The fact the each one is absolutely unique is just an added bonus.


*I'm going to put weatherpersons in a separate category for this one. If I were to include meteorologists then Sven Sundgaard would win hands down. You see, Sven lists his favorite sport as Ski Jumping and while I had the opportunity to ski jump as a child, I didn't. Not having a promising ski jumping career is the greatest regret of my childhood.

$45-250

Back in the Saddle

After a raucous weekend at the store the whole crew is a bit bleary eyed but back in the saddle none the less. For those of you that missed out, I still have some cupcakes in the refrigerator and if you ask nicely I might let you have one.

Even in the midst of our big anniversary sale, we've got some new things to let everyone know about. Most of them will be hidden for a few weeks yet, but one that is very exciting is the new fragrance from the F/P Homme collection. Creatively titled Numero 003, a follow up to the equally ambitious Numero 001 and Numero 002, the fragrance is marine in nature and slightly woody and carries an adventurous feeling that makes me think of rocky seasides.

There is one aspect about fragrances that I think is remarkably overlooked. You can talk about base notes and silage all you want, but for me a well designed bottle is very important. I wont mention any particular styles, but bottles with hinges or triggers or funny shapes tend to annoy me. I want a bottle that is a big simple shape and has a thick heavy sham. The bottle should spray, not spritz. It should be gripped with a fist, not precariously fumbled in the tips of fingers. Above all, it should feel manly. The F/P Homme bottle is all that and really is the best looking bottle we've got, despite its remarkably affordable cost. On top of everything else, it is included in our store-wide sale (20% off through August 23rd)!

$25 for 30ml, $45 for 100 ml

I'll take Buster Keaton over Charlie Chaplin, but that's because I like porkpie hats.

And speaking of depression era dandies, we received a pretty fantastic new jewellery line in the store this week. The collection, named Nikolai Rose for an amalgam of the founders' elders, was designed with men like the actors above in mind. Whether the line makes you think of foppish prohibitioners or of grunge proper, the rings, key chains and necklaces feature nicks dings and a health dose of patina. The coolest piece however, is a little pin that could be used to either hold one's tie on his shirt or to call attention to his lapel conveniently shaped like a housefly. And conveniently, you can purchase it with or without yellow diamond eyes.

$35 to $ 145

And don't the cows just love it!

One thing we've noticed here is that with the great saturation of standard layout horizontal laptop and messenger bags, there has been a pretty decent demand for a cool vertical style bag that maintains a high volume. Previously, all of our vertical bags had been of the light traveling minimalist variety, but I think we now have an alternative. This week we just got in a cool new bag from mp3 stalwarts Malcolm Fontier. It is an updated version of their lighter Entertainer bag, with a new compartment on the back, a cool wallet detail under the flap and a linen canvas lining (so your documents don't get sweaty). It still retains all the standard Fontier features like coated canvas body construction, multi-position magnetic closure and overall vegan-ness (that leather trim? not real). We also received some of their wallets in new colorways in extremely supple vegan leather.$245

I'm not sure why we didn't get this in sooner...

The great irony today is that recently I very severely sunburned the tops of my ears. This happened because I thought it was too hot to wear my cotton summer hat and several weeks ago I lost my only straw hat. So of course, what do I unpack today? These very cool bao C-crown hats that are really light. As you can see, they are minimally adorned so as to look appropriate at Canterbury downs or a small tropical island accessible only by those nifty planes with industrial floaties (or more likely, in your backyard with brats on the grill).



$35

Nothing says Happy 3rd of July like beer paraphernalia.

At mp3 we'd like to think that we're a mostly classy bunch, but that may be at odds with putting on a cowboy hat and one of these babies to hit up the Taste of Minnesota. Now before you go ahead and choose your favorite cheap hipster beer to slap on your favorite belt, consider the interesting sub-genres of beer related belt buckle wearer you could be putting yourself in.

This particular trio says something like "I really love Guided by Voices and the 400 Bar."

And this set says, "I used to live in Wisconsin, but now Minnesota."

And finally this set says, "I consume these beers following my Tea and Finger Sandwiches, while Lawn Bowling."

Or maybe nobody will think about these that much and I'm taking this too seriously.

$20 each plus belt ($25-$95)