The Discerning Brute: fashion, food & etiquette for the ethically handsome man

King Spring

These baby-blue ‘Spillers’ by Rachael Comey are great for sock-less spring days walking your rescued mutt to the park. Also check Simple‘s organic cotton and recycled car-tire ‘Tuba Sneaker’ for the next bamboo skateboarding session.

The Spring 09 Engineered Garments collection is almost entirely made of cotton, and now designer David Suzuki is beginning to feature Organic Cotton Madras Plaid, like the suits below, and this spring scarf (available at Barney’s). It takes a special kind of man to pull this off, but we think you can do it.

Paul Smith has also offered up his share of organic cotton button-downs and blazers. Known for quirky patters and unexpected pops of color – Paul’s liberated prep would look smashing in the houndstooth organic blazer and the pink, slim ‘woody creek’ shirt. You’ll find small cuffs and collars on Paul Smith shirts, something to look for in avoiding that dated, sleazy 70′s look.

Not to be left out, BOSS has been exploring some organics with this ‘Cadu’ blazer and ‘Zeppo’ jacket. We were wondering what that weird sustainability claim on the website was for – so far, these two are the only explanation I can find. Someone should send them that toxic leather tanning memo…

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TheDiscerningBrute, April 14th 2009 | Tags: boss, canvas shoes, David Suzuki, engineered garments, organic button-down, organic madras, paul smith, rachael comey, recycled care tire sole, simple, vegan vegetarian
Posted in fashion, green, organic, sex, Shoes, social responsibility, trend report, Uncategorized, vegan, vegetarian

Getting All Huffy & Shoes by the Gram

1. Getting All Huffy About It:

Photograph by Phillip Toledano – Vanity Fair ‘Green Issue’ 2008

Right before Earth Day, Todd Paglia, Executive Director of Forest Ethics, a forest protection organization, blogged about the hypocricies of Vanity Fair and other copycat magazines’ so-called ‘green’ issues in the Huffington Post. Vanity Fair is printed on paper from clearcut forests. None of its 12 issues per year are ‘green.’ In his editor’s letter, Graydon Carter laments the lack of stage time some of our largest looming challenges — global warming, the true costs of the US’s energy-ineptitude — have received in our current presidential race. While he goes on to say that those topics get their due in the subsequent pages, he conveniently neglects to mention another problem: the fact that every year, the magazine industry destroys an area the size of Rocky Mountain National Park — at an average of one tree per second — to print its 12 billion magazines. Read more…

Want an easy way to help protect endangered forests? Petition for a “Do Not Mail” Registry.

2. Gram Shoes

I wish these were organic, but at least they’re not leather! These hot shoes are as sophisticated as they are bad-ass. I spoke to their super-friendly and helpful US agent (BRNDNU, also associated with Good Society) to find out about their labor policies and ecological footprint. I was informed over the telephone that Gram is made in China by a Japanese owned and staffed factory. They are paid living wages, so no sweatshops. The fabrics are from England, and the design headquarters are in Sweden. Their new range is entirely nylon & denim, but in the past they’ve used leather, suede, and lambskin. Buy them at Mauve.