New Penny Loafers From August Special, My Experience At Kamakura Shirts In San Francisco, Becoming The Goldilocks Of Menswear, and more
Weekly Roundup #135
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I. NEW PENNY LOAFERS FROM ONE OF MY FAVORITE SHOE BRANDS
August Special is one of my favorite shoe brands—not only for the excellent quality and craftsmanship of their products, but also for the wonderful person behind the brand: Mr. Joseph Pollard.
When he and I first connected, I asked if he ever had plans for a penny loafer—I even included that in my original write-up almost a year ago, when I first started catching on to the brand.
Now, they’re here! And I couldn’t be more excited to write about them.
I saw a prototype in October last year in New York while Joseph was showcasing all of his shoe models at the Permanent Style pop-up. I was geeking out hard when I first saw them, and have been waiting patiently ever since.
I wear my pair of the Augie Type-S loafers in Black Suede, which Joseph graciously gifted me last year, all of the time. They’ve become my go-to whenever I’m visiting San Francisco for a special event, hanging with my pals at Tailors’ Keep, or selling clothes at Patina Studies.
The new Augie Type-GS-Penny comes in three options (all Goodyear-welted): Black Calf, Espresso Suede, and Cubano Suede.
They cost $675 and begin shipping next week on August 5.
My favorite is the Espresso Suede (image above). I might end up buying the Cubano Suede as I already have a pair of brown loafers and need something in the Snuff Suede realm.
They look absolutely beautiful—congrats on the launch, Joseph!
Source & Imagery: augustspecial.com
II. MY EXPERIENCE STOPPING BY THE KAMAKURA SALON IN SAN FRANCISCO
Kamakura Shirts is a Japanese brand many of you know about. It’s become even more well-known after the success of the book Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style, written by W. David Marx (which you should read if you haven’t already!).
When I visited Japan back in 2024, I stopped by one of their locations in Shibuya, which had a full lineup of the VINTAGE IVY products that I’d heard a bunch of good things about.
The quality of the shirts was amazing—just as good as my vintage Brooks Brothers OCBDs. The only caveat was that the fit felt a little off in certain places, like the sleeve length, body length, and the lack of an additional front button at the bottom of the placket.
I haven’t stopped thinking about that shirt, and when I learned about a new Kamakura Order Salon that was opening in San Francisco, I immediately booked an appointment to learn more.
I had my appointment this week, and it went great—they had a bunch of different sizes of the VINTAGE IVY shirts to try on, which I then customized with all of the minor adjustments I mentioned above. I ordered the white Oxford-cloth button-down shirt, and depending on how it all works out, I plan to order two more in black corduroy and chambray.
The appointment itself was fast and efficient.
Junko Tsuchida, from the New York location, was amazing. She helped me understand all of the different adjustment options, recommended a few fabrics that she herself wears, and introduced me to the Kamakura Classics line that I was totally unaware of.
She shared that it’s a line dedicated to the US market, offering suits, sport coats, trousers, shirts (of course), and more. Everything is made in Japan. The price points were very reasonable for the quality. I tried on a few things and had to size up, as I usually do with other made-in-Japan brands. I’m very excited to see how they continue to offer more products for that line going forward. She also mentioned they’d be adding MTO versions in the near future as well.
If you’d like to learn more about their MTO and MTM programs, my friend Dimitriy shared a bunch of great details here in the comments section of one of my previous posts.
I ended up paying $220 for one shirt, and $25 for shipping. After tax, it came out closer to $260. If you order two shirts, the shipping is waived. No additional duties are due upon its arrival, which is great. I’ll report back once it arrives in the next 3 to 4 weeks!
Source & Imagery: kamakurashirts.com
III. FINDING THE PERFECT PAIR OF SANDALS HAS TURNED ME INTO THE MENSWEAR VERSION OF GOLDILOCKS
I’ve been going back and forth, buying and returning, trying on and missing out, and literally going in circles all summer long, trying to find the perfect pair of black, thong-style sandals.
It sounds so silly, I know.
But there’s this constant feeling inside of me that I can’t quite describe.
I have the exact visual in mind for what I want. And usually, I’m unsuccessful in actually finding that thing. It’s not just for sandals. Sometimes I end up waiting years until one day, that ideal version of the thing I want is finally actualized.
It sounds dramatic, but I try to buy things for the long haul, and if I don’t love it from day one, it usually won’t last more than 24 hours in my closet. If you couldn’t already tell, I’m very, very particular when it comes to anything clothing-related.
While you may not be in the same boat as me, and rather not spend your life debating between all of the various sandals available on the market (happy for you, honestly), I still wanted to share a quick update of my sandal search that’s essentially turned me into the goldilocks of menswear.
I’ve tried three pairs so far.
The ones from Kiwi Sandals ended up being too large, and the sole was a bit thicker than I’d prefer. The quality was excellent. They have a thinner-soled version, but they look a little too thin for my taste.
The sandals from Todd Snyder were beautiful and the most dressy version I’ve tried. My wife liked them the best. I tried true-to-size, and then sized up, but even then, they were fairly stiff and weren’t very comfortable.
I then went the other direction and bought a pair from Bedrock Sandals, which were the most comfortable, but also a very different vibe than what I was originally going for. I also had to size up two sizes (from 12 to 14), which felt odd.
So, I’ve been searching online again, trying to find a pair before the summer ends, and before all of the larger sizes sell out. These are the four I’m considering now:
I have a feeling my search is going to end soon, mostly due to size availability and timing. I’m trying not to buy all of them at once, so that’s taken me even more time to try on and evaluate. I’ll continue reporting back. Let me know if you have any other recs in the comments section below—it would be greatly appreciated!
Source & Imagery: ugg.com, frescobolcarioca.com, vince.com, & ancient-greek-sandals.com
IV. RECENT PICKUP I’M EXCITED TO WEAR THE REST OF SUMMER
Ralph Lauren is a brand I talk about A LOT. Maybe a little too much.
I’ve been slowly buying a few more pieces directly from the brand versus Nordstrom Rack, which is where I’ve found some amazing deals like the ones I mentioned a few months back.
I finally lost the motivation (and time!) to spend my weekends driving all over the Bay Area to different Nordstrom Rack locations, so I’ve been keeping a closer eye on what’s available on ralphlauren.com and seeing if anything good goes on sale.
I recently bought this double-pocket, classic fit, linen-silk-cotton blend workshirt in Indigo. I bought a size Large, and it was a bit smaller than another “classic fit” shirt I have in the same size, so I ended up buying the Extra-Large. It has a much better drape, and I feel more comfortable in it, so I’m happy I was able to snag it before it went out of stock.
I’ve been debating if I should buy the Cafe Tan color as well, but I’m not too sure it would look good with my skin tone.
It’s still on sale at the moment, although most sizes are starting to sell out online for each color. If you’re not seeing your size, it’s worth giving their customer service department a call to see if there’s any stock left in stores.
Despite the fabric composition, the shirt itself is surprisingly hefty.
I’ve been wearing it by itself, as we’re hitting peak summer weather right now, but I think it’ll also look nice when worn as an overshirt, with either a tank top or t-shirt underneath, when it starts to cool down later on this year.
I’ll be posting pics of me wearing this shirt over on Instagram, so be sure to follow along over there as well!
Source & Imagery: ralphlauren.com
V. ICONIC MENSWEAR MOVIE REMAKE COMING OUT NEXT YEAR
The Thomas Crown Affair is an upcoming remake of the 1968 film, originally starring Steve McQueen, which is one of the most referenced movies in classic menswear.
The two fits that stuck with me from the original movie were the double-pocket, orange button-up shirt with navy shorts and the navy cap with the oatmeal fisherman sweater, light gray pants, and a cigar. Both are worn while driving around in an orange dune buggy at separate points in the film.
I’ll say the Steve McQueen version wasn’t too exciting, and overall, I wasn’t impressed with the plot.
I’ve never seen the 1999 remake with Pierce Brosnan, so I don’t have any insight into whether it was any good or not, or if there were any notable fits from the movie. I’ll try to watch it before this new movie comes out.
This newer remake starring Michael B. Jordan looks exciting and action-packed. It looks more like a James Bond movie, rather than a typical heist story or catching a thief in the act type of movie.
There also seems to be plenty of black-tie moments, as well as some “quite luxury” clothes in the more casual scenes. Seriously, though, anything looks good on Michael B. Jordan. He still looks like he’s in peak Creed fighting shape.
The sickest detail from the trailer is that it’s filmed for IMAX. Ryan Coogler (filmmaker, director) did the same for Sinners, which also starred Michael B. Jordan, so it’s cool to see their shared love for the filming style.
This movie is also directed by Michael B. Jordan, his second time at the helm. It comes out next year on March 5. I’m excited to watch this in theaters, hopefully in IMAX.
Source & Imagery: amazon.com
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P.S. For all of my Johnny Tsunami fans out there! “Hee-hee!”
re: the Thomas Crown Affair, the 1999 remake can be firmly filed under 'Decent Watch'.
There is an interesting menswear angle about it too: because he was still playing Bond, Brosnan had a strict contract forbidding him from wearing a full tuxedo in any other movie. To get around it for the ball scene, they put him in a midnight blue dinner suit with an unbuttoned collar and a draped, untied white bow tie.
Very 90s-billionaire-core.