2014: A Year in Review

Top 3 Favorite Albums

3. Bleachers - Strange Desire

Bringing the ’80s back one synth track at a time. Standout track: Reckless Love

2. Taylor Swift - 1989

Also bringing the ’80s back another synth track at a time. Standout track: Bad Blood

1. Beck - Morning Phase

Trust me. Pop this one in first thing every Monday morning. Standout track: Blue Moon

Top 3 Favorite Movies

3. Interstellar

Yes, this one just might be Nolan's M. Night moment, but I've thought about it everyday since seeing it. Standout features: CASE, KIPP, and TARS

2. The Lego Movie

Mind melding the Lego, Batman and Star Wars geeks in us all. Standout moment: Spaceship, Spaceship, Spaceship!!!

1. Live. Die. Repeat.: Edge of Tomorrow

Shoulda been called Live. Die. Repeat. from day one; it's the most underrated movie of the year. Standout feature: Emily Blunt wielding a helicopter blade sword.

Top 3 Favorite TV Shows

3. Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee

Seinfeld. Fine autos. Cool restaurants. Yes. Yes. And yes. Standout episode: Sarah Jessica Parker

2. Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Consistently bringing comedic heat to the heat! Standout episode: Stakeout

1. Gracepoint

This outta nowhere 'merican remake of a British show makes me wanna have more miniseries marathons. Standout performance: David Tennant as Detective Emmett Carver

Top 3 Favorite Cars

3. BMW i8

Easily the most exciting car to come along in decades. Welcome to the future. Standout feature: i is the new ///M

2. BMW ///M235i

This was so close to my number one pick, it’s not even funny. Standout feature: It’s a drift mob monster.

1. Volkswagen GTI

Sheesh. Wolfsburg nailed it. Standout feature: No other five seater under $30K on the planet has this perfect balance of fun, style, economy and character.

Top 3 Favorite Designs

3. Poler - The Rolltop

So digging the aesthetic of the classic rolltop backpack. Standout colorway: Holiday Yellow

2. Quell & Co. - The Spool Dock

My phone always seems to have juice now. Standout feature: Industrial grade felt FTW.

1. Canopy.co

If only Amazon’s main interface was nearly as cool as its curated cousin’s. Standout feature: Sweet little iOS app.

And a new category this year since officially making the leap to Madison Avenue...

Top 3 Favorite Ads

3. Land Rover - The Vanishing Game

Never thought an ad would be the trigger to make me want to start reading again. Standout feature: Multimedia awesomeness.

2. Honda - The Other Side

This is really hard for me to say, but this guy could give Jason Statham a run for his money. Standout feature: Cinema-grade production design.

1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Official Teaser

I don’t care how many blades that lightsaber has, I started choking up the moment I saw the Falcon doing those maneuvers. Standout feature: Impossible to choose just one.

Holiday Haul

Got some fun items for Christmas this year. Starting in the top left: Poler's Holiday Rolltop pack, Gap's Chunky Fair Isle scarf, neff's Daily Beanie, Field Notes' County Fair collection: Utah, Palomino's Blackwing Pearl pencil, and J.Crew + Nike Waffle Racer sneakers. So yeah, I'm a happy camper.

Castle Greyscale Moodboard

A couple of these images ended up right next to each other in my feeds recently and I thought that a groovy grey moodboard was definitely in order. Not too full of holiday cheer per se, but hope you enjoy anyway!

Suits and Sneakers: 5 Rules of the Road

I recently moved to NYC and see an almost daily trend of guys wearing sneakers with suits!?! From time to time, it actually looks kinda cool. But more often than not, it's a billowy business suit with goofy, technical-looking cross trainers that I wouldn't even wear with jeans let alone slacks.

Here are five basic rules of the road I've observed for pairing sneakers with suits in a way that actually works.

1) Tailored Suit
You gotta start off with the right sorta suit. A suit and sneakers doesn't just work with any cut. From what I can tell, it really has to be a very tailored jacket with form-fitting, cuffed pants. It also can't just be a standard dark, flat-colored business suit. Kicks go best with lighter, textured fabrics.

Men's Style Pro nails the look.

2) Classic Sneakers
Your grubby gym shoes are not gonna cut it. The best way to pull this look off is to stick to the classics. Vintage, retro, or reissued running shoes are the safest bet. Classic skate sneaks or indoor soccer shoes work too.

The Bespoke Dudes get it right.

3) Cool Socks or No Socks at All
Pair your sneakers with some fancy, colorful socks or better yet, just go sockless. (Wear hide-a-socks if you must.) Do not pull out your white tubes or black dress socks… even if they have gold toes.

4) Additional Accessories
Adding sneaks to a suit brings an overall sportiness to your look. Compliment that sporty vibe with the right kind of accessories, whether it’s a hat, scarf, or matching iPad sleeve (above)—let people know you’re on the go.

And of course J.Crew and Nick Wooster both know what's up.

5) Own It
By wearing sneakers with your suit, you’re entering into a brave new world of men’s fashion where relatively few have trodden. Follow these rules but most importantly, be confident. Wear them with a sly smile and jet around in some serious street style.

There’s a dude on my train platform who wears a checkered pair of classic Vans slip-ons almost every morning. And thanks to his heather grey tailored suits, the right accouterments, and that just-gonna-own-it attitude... he pulls the whole look off flawlessly.

So give a suit and sneaks a shot, just stick to the rules so you don’t end up lookin’ like these guys.

State Bicycle Offroad Division

Excited about State Bicycle's new Offroad Division. I'm thinking about one of these beasts. We'll see.

The Life Aquatic Moodboard

So last week, I strolled into work sporting my classic Steve Zissou Halloween costume. It wasn't the first time I rocked it and it won't be the last. It's my all-time favorite movie and its style is timeless. In fact, it got me thinking. Since Wes Anderson is the definitive OH (original hipster)... does The Life Aquatic's aesthetic still work today?

I combed through Pinterest and Tumblr and stumbled on this handful of images. And in my opinion, not only does its look work along with today's vibes... this movie very well may have inspired the tone that's permeating plenty of people's pins.

Tighter Than Tight

I stumbled on this immaculately renovated, tighter than tight example of a BMW 3.0 and seriously can't stop looking at it. I'm just blown away by the hot chocolate paint job, updated deep-dish radial spoke rims from an E39 5-series, and gorgeous photography by Davey G. Johnson. Enjoy!

Danner = Awesome + Authentic

Man, Danner is a brand that just gets it and does it right. I was super stoked to be wearing their boots today when I saw a piece of branded content like this. Their commitment to replicating the magic of a classic product and then capturing that process just inspires me.

The reissue of their Mountain Light Cascade for Reese Witherspoon in her upcoming flick Wild is dead-on cool. Here's to wishing other brands had just as much get-it factor as Danner does. Thanks for the heads Upto12.

PS: Also watch for the #SockAndSandals appearance!

World Series Moodboard

Thanks to a challenge from Upto12 and Mrs. Kyality's hometown love for the SF Giants, I'm commemorating their World Series run with a new moodboard. Enjoy!

More Socks, More Sandals

Teva continues to crank out some great branded content around the thing haters love to hate on... #SocksAndSandals. And according to their lead stylist, Kira Sheppard, this combo isn't just for the granola types anymore. She makes a definite point to drop the term "urban" more that once.

Autumn Moodboard

I've been toying with the idea of curating more specific little moodboards lately and was inspired to create one that feels a little autumn-themed. So here are a few images I've recently sprinkled through my Pinterest and Tumblr feeds... all brought together in one place. Just click the image to enlarge. Hopefully you dig!

A Pair of British Beauts

Wow. The past two films from the folks at Petrolicious have been fantastic. They've each featured a vehicle I've spent a ton of time studying, dreaming about and even drawing... like ever since high school.



Both classics, Minis and Land Rovers share some inherent traits that go far beyond their common British roots. Both were born from the concept of function over form, yet are inexplicably attractive—attractive in the sense that you're just drawn to them... to their pure simplicity.

This singular, purpose-driven approach to both vehicles makes them each fairly limited in what they're capable of, but almost infinitely unlimited in the adventures you can achieve within that one area they're for which they're built.

You can't watch these guys either power through a corner or crawl up a dune and not want to be behind those wheels. Both are incredibly intoxicating in their own way. I would scramble at the chance to own either of these British beauts in an instant. Watch these shorts and enjoy the rides.

Red, White and Brumos

Looks like the folks at the classic race team/Porsche tuner Brumos invited the Urban Outlaw himself to run around in their nicely modded 2012 911. The car is decades newer than anything he owns personally, but due to its stellar red, white and blue color scheme... for me Magnus Walker seems right at home with this one. 

Man, that thing is just a stunning piece of machinery. It's just interesting to me how this paint job turns what's normally your run-of-the-mill looking 911 into a total classic. Seriously, just look at it!

Jaguar F-TYPE Coupé Chase Car

I've always had a soft spot for European chase cars from the pro cycling world, especially the hot little sports wagons that often get fitted with numerous framesets and wheels. But the already stunning Jaguar F-TYPE Coupé has just been turned into even more of a rare beauty for the Team Sky racers.


And the sound of this thing... amazing.

DENNY: The Ultimate Urban Utility Bike

I'm very inspired by this, yes I'm gonna say it, innovative bicycle design. DENNY is one of those rare whips that feels fresh and not compromised really in any way. Enjoy!

Socks + Sandals = Fun Fashion

A few months ago, I got ambitious one day and whipped out a solid combo of Teva Originals and some rag wool socks. Despite it not being nearly as egregious as oh say white tube socks and Birkenstocks, it nevertheless has had an extremely polarizing effect on both friends and family. Some have mocked me endlessly for perpetrating such an appalling fashion faux pas. While others have full-on told me that they're also going the way of the Teva.

I decided to trace back the route that led me to believe that the sandal and the sock can live together in fashion harmony. As far as I can tell, this current look got its start when retro Oregon- and Colorado-based campvibes brands like Poler and Topo started making gear about two years ago, specifically bags with that classic early ‘90s motif.

I noticed that not long after these brands started doing their thing, the styles I wore in high school began making their way back into my closet. It’s this combo of denim/chambray, hiking boots and fleece/rag wool sweaters, with random pops of color mixed in. 

I started a Pinboard called campvibes not long after that, dedicated to this look and stumbled on a Tumblr curated by a Japanese blogger called Miatagod. It was packed full of these amazingly colorful, East-meets-West images of camping-inspired clothes including sandals with socks. I love scrolling through this cleverly curated collection cuz all of the sudden, it made fashion feel fun.

At just about this same, Teva reintroduced their line of Originals with colors and patterns that’d feel right at home along side this fun look and feel I’ve been geeking out on. Here’s a peek at their lookbook vid that rounds out this vibe.



It certainly doesn’t feel to me like this is just a fad. I see a longer term trend that continues to blend comfort and style, as do others. It’s a trend that infuses fun into fashion and celebrates a form that falls out of function.

When the image of me sporting my Teva Originals plus socks was originally posted, it got its fair share of both flack and fandom. One fan in particular was the social media team @Smartwool. They also instantly recognized the long term trend at play here and decided they were in.

Our own Mr. @kyality stepping up his shoe game with a @teva wool sock combo. What do you think folks? #tevaoriginals pic.twitter.com/CoYZkMTNJF

— Struck (@struck) April 4, 2014

@struck @kyality @teva Think you need to step up your #sock game if you're going to blast your toes. That's just me though.

— Smartwool (@Smartwool) April 4, 2014

@smartwool Hook a brother up! CC: @struck @teva

— Kyle Snarr (@kyality) April 5, 2014

@kyality @struck @Teva direct me your email and we can connect, aka, hook it up.

— Smartwool (@Smartwool) April 5, 2014

Then this happened...

@kyality @teva Now we got the sock game where it needs to be. #socks #fanlove
— Smartwool (@Smartwool) May 1, 2014

VSCO vs. OMFGCO

Time for a stroll down inspiration alley. Loving this video interview by Visual Supply Co. with the creative directors at Official Mfg. Co.

Yes, lotsa super Portlandia branding and graphic design going on in this piece, but man... it gets me excited to go eat at Olympic Provisions and Clyde Common again... or at least their Brooklyn equivalents.

Magnus Walker's Outlaw Fever

Holy moly. The Urban Outlaw, Magnus Walker, just keeps the hits coming with his latest flick: Outlaw Fever. He's now designing his own custom rims and testing them in downtown LA in the middle of the night and it's simply exhilarating.

So I'm going to go ahead and make a little prediction. Obviously rims have been dramatically increased in size over the last decade or so. 18+ inch monsters with ultra low profile tires have certainly been en vogue. Well, I think thanks to Magnus we're going to start seeing this trend go the other direction. His rims start as small as 15 inches, wrapped in some serious meat.

Mark. My. Words.