Adolesco.

Adolesco - sich eingestehen, noch nicht erwachsen zu sein.

Wine Tasting at Motta Azienda Agraria

I took these photos at a wine tasting at the Motta Azienda Agraria which I enjoyed during my trip to Tuscany in March/April.

On the little azienda, La Tartaruga, the Motta family produces a small selection of the finest red and white wines (their flagship is the Morellino di Scansano Riserva), grappa and two sorts of olive oil (dolce and picante). 

During the tasting Signore Motta told about the details of the different wines and his wife prepared corresponding snacks as paté di fagiano, ricotta fresca, prosciutto and salame. 

Taken from an old (1994) Barbour catalogue this picture pretty much sums everything up that comes to my mind when I am thinking about Barbour.

Taken from an old (1994) Barbour catalogue this picture pretty much sums everything up that comes to my mind when I am thinking about Barbour.

(Source: oldfishingphotos, via thornproof)

Most aesthetic Barbour rewaxing video plus Cabin Porn plus Wanted Lifestyle. Never let it be said that rain sucks in general. 

Bespoke gloves project Since I found these gloves on tumblr I frequented many shops in Vienna and - during my recent trip to Tuscany - in Siena but sadly my search ended without result.  So slowly but surely I made up my mind to assign a glovemaker to get my very own pair of bespoke gloves made of suede Peccary leather (back) and dark brown deerskin (palm) with cashmere lining and three handsewn ornamental seams on the back. After some research I found the German glove maker Steffen Buschendorf and was surprised about the prices. I consider 60 to 80€ for a pair of bespoke gloves as very affordable.  Now as a first step Mr. Buschendorf will send me some leather samples (to select from the available brown deerskins for the palm) and ask his suppliers about the Peccary leather shown in the picture as he does not have it in store.  I will report on the process.

Bespoke gloves project

Since I found these gloves on tumblr I frequented many shops in Vienna and - during my recent trip to Tuscany - in Siena but sadly my search ended without result. 

So slowly but surely I made up my mind to assign a glovemaker to get my very own pair of bespoke gloves made of suede Peccary leather (back) and dark brown deerskin (palm) with cashmere lining and three handsewn ornamental seams on the back.

After some research I found the German glove maker Steffen Buschendorf and was surprised about the prices. I consider 60 to 80€ for a pair of bespoke gloves as very affordable. 

Now as a first step Mr. Buschendorf will send me some leather samples (to select from the available brown deerskins for the palm) and ask his suppliers about the Peccary leather shown in the picture as he does not have it in store. 

I will report on the process.

(via thefashionisto)

Yesterday QOTSA played a studio gig for a Belgian radio show - and they had two new, so-far unheard songs on their playlist: I Sat By The Ocean & If I Had A Tail. 

And both of the new songs reveal a completely new and very interesting sound. Only three weeks left till the release!

Gino Venturini - Viennese Bespoke Shirts Part III: The Shirt

Yesterday the waiting came to an end as I received the eagerly-awaited text message from Gino Venturini: My shirt is finished. So today I picked it up in the shop - nothing more, nothing less. And I am very happy with the result. Along with the shirt I got some differently sized pieces of the fabric so if the shirt eventually needs to be repaired there will be no colour variation.

Now is the time to make pictures speak - I tried to photograph every detail of the shirt. 

All in all I am very satisfied with my first bespoke shirt and it won’t be the last one I ordered at Venturini. 

Made Bakery Rome

Some weeks ago on my way back from Tuscany to Vienna I spent some hours in Rome where I visited the Made Bakery in the Via dei Coronari 25 - fortunately it turned out to be a cupcake and cookie paradise between the Tiber and Piazza Navona.

“Located around half a mile from the tip of Lower Manhattan, Govenors Island – originally the ‘island of nuts’ – used to be a military base. […] The island is set to be redeveloped and will soon become a public park – personally, I think it would make a great farm, generating food for New Yorkers and educating city kids on farming and conservation.” 

“Located around half a mile from the tip of Lower Manhattan, Govenors Island – originally the ‘island of nuts’ – used to be a military base. […] The island is set to be redeveloped and will soon become a public park – personally, I think it would make a great farm, generating food for New Yorkers and educating city kids on farming and conservation.” 

(Source: newyork)

Today I had a very pleasant and enjoyable meeting with two members of the German Stilmagazin: Grimod de la Reyniere - whose style is very impressive and inspiring to me - and Historicus.

In the Café Landtmann we enjoyed some Wiener Melanges and delicious Viennese cake specialties. 

Gino Venturini - Viennese Bespoke Shirts II: The Fitting

By now the process of my first bespoke shirt continued - the fitting and the selection of the shirt’s details is dated back some days already. 

As during my first visit I was served immediately after entering the shop. Since there was another customer in the fitting room I took a look at the fabrics again and after a hard deciding process I chose a light blue poplin which will be suitable for both summer and winter.

Shortly after an employee invited me to enter the fitting room to (finally) try on the sample shirt. It was made of a simple white fabric and did not contain a collar or buttons - so the employee fixed the button border and the cuffs with pins.

I noticed the perfect fit at once - actually the shirt fitted like a glove. Especially the shoulders showed me the huge advantage of bespoke tailoring: The shirt perfectly adapts to the neck and shoulder section and of course the whole upper part of the body in general.

The following step was getting to know the shirt a bit better by moving and stretching my arms. If the shirt would have been to narrow this is the way I would have noticed. But in my case everything was to my greatest pleasure and so finally Mr. Venturini joined the fitting procedure. I guess his challenge is to tease out the last 0.1% of the already almost perfect shirt. 

I noticed that the sleeves were a tiny bit too long - and actually Mr. Venturini’s first reaction was his recommendation of shortening the sleeves about 1cm.  The shirt will also be tightened around the trouser waistband (so it will fit perfectly when tucked in).

Last but not least I defined the details of the shirt:

  • one-buttoned barrel cuff, rounded
  • button on sleeve, not covered
  • simple button border, not stitched
  • moderately spread collar (Venturini’s name for it: “Napoli”)
  • thin mother-of-pearl buttons
  • dark blue initials

All in all it was a very pleasing second “appointment”* and my positive impression of the first visit at Venturini was more than confirmed.

Now I am very excited about the result - I expect it to be finished by the end of the week at the latest - needless to say I will present it here.

*Unfortunately I could not take any pictures (as actually promised) as the visit was very spontaneous. But I will definitely post pictures of the finished shirt - and if the result is as positive as I think this will not be the last shirt I ordered at Venturini.