By Michael Nolledo
Two things to keep in mind when traveling abroad: don’t drink the water, and don’t lose your passport. Fortunately, there are preventative measures that can be taken, like stocking up on bottled H2O, and getting yourself one of these Travel Wallets from Corter Leather. Intelligently designed to keep you organized, the wallets feature a main slot for your passport, another for your travel documents and two more for credit cards. Read More
Ya’ll know what it is. Another month is coming to a close, and that means it’s time for another set of jaw-droppingly awesome #menswear illustrations from Christine Mitchell of N’East Style. Click through to see the latest batch. Read More
What’s on sale RIGHT NOW.
As you regular readers already know, we’re big, big fans of Corter Leather around here. We also really like sales. So, when the two get put together, it’s a very exciting time us (and hopefully you too). These Waxed Totes are made by Mr. Heins in his Boston workshop out of mid-weight waxed canvas and veg-tanned leather. Read More
Eric Heins, aka Corter Leather, is an easy guy to like. Affable, unassuming, and as down to earth as they come, he’s one of those people you just can’t help rooting for. That he’s also insanely talented doesn’t hurt either. Over the last three years, Heins – a self-taught designer, maker and company owner – has grown his one time bedroom-based business into a full-on, and highly respected, brand. And yet, despite his myriad achievements, he remains just as approachable as he ever was.
Welcome to the 2012 Well Spent Holiday Gift Guide. Like the 40 Under $40 guide from last year, and the 25 Under $25 guide from the year before that, the following is a collection of goods that are not only affordable and US / first-world made, but also offer some utility, and will last. Hopefully it’ll help you cross a few people off your shopping list. Here’s to a healthy and sane holiday season.
Part four of the 2012 Well Spent Holiday Gift Guide. Have at it.
Photos by Nathan Michael
Thinking back on this past Saturday’s NorthernGRADE Chicago pop-up, I can’t help but feel overwhelmed with gratitude. Gratitude to the vendors for participating in it. Gratitude to the bloggers and publications that helped promote it. And, above all, gratitude to every person that came to be a part of it. I’ve always liked NorthernGRADE more than the other menswear events because of how laid back it is. It’s an easy place to strike up a conversation with a stranger, and actually enjoy it. And I think that carried through in Chicago. It seemed like everyone was having a pretty good time. I know I was. A few of the many people and products that made the day what it was are after the jump. Hat tip to Nathan Michael for the photos.
For as long as there’s been a NorthernGRADE, I’ve been a fan of it. Launched back in 2010 by Pierrepont Hicks and J.W. Hulme, the Minnesota-based event has grown from an intimate gathering of American-made-o-philes to a full-on menswear mecca. And now, it’s coming to Chicago. I’ve had the great privilege and pleasure of working directly with PPH to co-produce the Chicago premiere of the pop-up, and if I do say so myself, it’s shaping up to be quite an event.
Hooray and hurrah, it’s time for another installment of N’East Illustrated. The supremely delightful Christine Mitchell of N’East Style has turned in yet another incredible batch of #menswear images. Check them out after the jump. Previous sets can be viewed here. Read More
Ace leathersmith, and all around awesome dude Eric Heins, aka Corter Leather, has just unveiled the latest addition to his highly covetable range of handcrafted goods: bags. The new Double Bottom Weekend Totes are made on a vintage industrial Singer sewing machine out of mid-weight waxed canvas and veg-tanned leather. Read More
What’s on sale RIGHT NOW.
Want 20% off leather goods from Boston’s Corter Leather? Of course you do! This weekend, Corter founder, and all around awesome dude, Eric Heins is offering 20% off his entire collection of handcrafted wallets, belts, bracelets, journal covers, guitar picks, etc. to all Well Spent readers. Simply enter code WellSpent at checkout to get the discount. Read More
A new e-commerce site launched a few weeks ago, and it’s called Woven Society. In their own words, Woven “believe[s] you can make smart purchasing decisions instead of reacting to the latest trend, [and that] a product should last as long as you want it to.” Clearly, concepts I can get behind. Anyway, the founders of the site asked me to curate a sale for them. Read More
Eric Heins, the ever affable and crazy-talented maker behind Corter Leather, recently sent over one of the label’s new Slim Utility Belts, and I gotta tell ya, it is fan-effing-tastic. Hand cut from 14 oz. vegetable-tanned leather, and finished with nickle-plated metal hardware, the belt is as sturdy as it is beautiful (that is to say, very).
The moderately and (very) immoderately priced goods that I’d rather spend it on this month.
“I make stuff for people like me.”
I didn’t know quite what to expect as I made my way to the home of Eric Heins, the 23 year old wunderkind behind Corter Leather. I knew he was young, that he worked out of his bedroom, and that he had, over the latter half of the past year, established himself as the menswear blogeratti leathersmith of choice. And that was pretty much it. Upon entering his apartment, an airy duplex in a shoddy Victorian three-flat, I was greeted by one of his two hairless cats. “My roommate said there was no way she’d ever let a cat in the apartment, unless it was hairless. She didn’t know I was friends with a breeder,” he tells me with a smile. The cat pressed itself into my leg. I’d arrived.
