I am thrilled to announce that five8ths is the first menswear designer to be featured in the online boutique, Loop de Luxe!
Right now you will find five8ths pocket squares and the latest seven-fold
necktie--it is made of the same Italian linen as the dotted navy pocket square. Shirts should soon be up, including the soon-to-be-unveiled short-sleeved designs for spring. Right now you can save 20% with code LOVELDL.
I have admired a few of the other designers on Loop de Luxe for some time, especially fellow-cyclist and womenswear designer Jill Aiko Yee and jewelry designer Laura Lombardi, so am happy to be in great company.
And for those who haven't seen the five8ths website in a while, it has been updated over the past couple months with (hopefully) more clear information and a slightly sleeker design. Let me know if you find any glitches. Thanks!
Last week I finished a custom order for a brown twill Shacket, for a 6'9" tall man. I flipped the facings so the wrong side faces out--it would almost look normal worn inside-out! I hadn't made a sample of this version of the Shacket, so wasn't sure how it would turn out, but I really like it!
The Wirebrush shirt really needs to be seen in person to appreciate its subtle design details. So, I'll try my best to bring you to it with this meager blog post.
The medium weight Italian cotton twill fabric is double-sided. The light grey outside looks slightly brushed due to its texture, and the inside is darker grey with a delicate peach-fuzz soft pile. I won't blame you if you decide to forego the undershirt and go straight shirt-on-skin.
Although the fabric is typical of a dress shirt, the styling is borrowed from old-time work shirts. The rounded-bottom pocket and sleeve plackets are reinforced with stitching in the shape of an X. The top-stitching is slightly contrasting in color to the grey twill fabric.
The shirt has a classic dress-shirt front band, and a standard-spread collar, but the collar stand is squared off at center front.
One of the first people to order a Wirebrush shirt got it in the mail and wrote with enthusiasm, "...I plan to wear the hell out of it!" Mission accomplished.
Denzel and I met a few years ago when we were both working at Baltimore Montessori Public Charter school. In the years since we met, we've each forged new paths (in the spirit of Montessori, of course!). Mine, obviously, has been to pursue the path of a clothing designer and maker, and Denzel's has been to become a local, sustainable farmer in Baltimore. Denzel's farm is called Five Seeds Farm, as he now has five children (one of whom was in my class a few years ago!). He started with a plot that used to be one of the many boarded-up row-houses in the city, and now has expanded to include another farm just north of the city line. They are "reviving the idea that farming is essential, artistic and exciting." Five Seeds Farm offers a June-November CSA, and so Denzel and I decided to do a trade: a CSA share for custom shirts and a necktie.
Not to mention that he's multi-talented--great farmer, great model!
Here's Denzel rocking his Shacket in Pigtown, Baltimore:
This is his final fitting at my studio (those trapezius muscles don't drape themselves...), in farmer gear, picking out his custom shirts and tie:
This upcoming summer's Five Seeds Farm CSA share is available for purchase now until February 15th at a discounted rate, and I can say based on last-year's bounty, it's going to be good. Denzel's farm features a lot of specialty veggies, such as mizuna, sorrel, and oyster root, all of which I became adept at incorporating into whatever pot or pan was heating on the stove. We ate really well last summer, and almost didn't have to plan our meals, because we could throw greens, roots, and fruits into the skillet and then wrap them in rice-paper or crepes, or saute and serve over rice, and all was delicious with very little effort. Very fresh, sustainably-grown grub.
Just wanted to share some pictures of the food that we made from the veggies from the share last season. It was so much fun to be creative with each week's veggies.
Look how fun Denzel is! This is the friendly face you will see each Thursday if you sign up for his Five Seeds Farm CSA!
