This Rachel Comey Wickham shoe in the cognac and blue colorway is available now and exclusive to Barneys stores. The suede cognac color works well against most looks and should finish up your outfit appropriately.

Blackbird brings an affordable look to your wrist with a small collection of Simon Carter watches. The WT 1600 caught my eye. “This stainless steel round cased model features a 5 ATM interior frame and black dial with red and white details and arabic numerals, glow-in-the-dark hands, and a date window. Its durable leather band and slim modern proportions make it a staple for any casual look.”

More looks at the Simon Carter WT 1600 Watch after the click.

Having thrilled readers with the story of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie earlier in the week, it seems appropriate to introduced another British food with Protected Geographical Indication Status. Grimsby, a seaport town in Lincolnshire, has a long and celebrated tradition of fish smoking. Recognized by the EU only recently, the techniques and heritage of local fish smoking now enjoy the same designation as Champagne and Royal Jersey Potatoes.

What makes their curing process different? While the majority of smoked fish today comes out of mechanical kilns, folks in Grimsby retain the traditional method of curing fish over the smouldering embers of burning wood chips. Firms  like Alfred Enderby produce smoked fish correctly, their towering chimneys producing cod, haddock, and salmon with a perfect balance of color and flavor. Additionally, we should note that Grimsby’s favorable geographic position allowed a cottage industry of fish smoking to develop – never forget the importance of location when asking “how come they do that there?”

Selectism would like to applaud the town of Grimsby for its dedication to heritage food production.

WWD reports in with news that the Martin Margiela is stepping down as head of the Margiela house. Furthermore, WWD reports that “the Paris-based fashion house that bears his name confirmed Tuesday that no successor would be named, leaving a team to carry on the legacy of a designer so avant-garde he never showed his face to his fashion-obsessed public.” (photo: hrkhzk@flickr)

Studying American decorative arts as a graduate student introduced me to the wonderful world of archives. In that sphere, inventory records and account books reveal a wealth of information about pricing structures and client bases. Fashion, too, provides a similar opportunity to dig into company histories through archival records. The surge of heritage based lines opening the potential of proper historic digging in creating new products.

Chris Olberding has the enviable position of working with the Gitman archives. Not surprisingly, this material forms the basis for Gitman Vintage. Given my interests, it should also not surprise that I wanted to pick Olberding’s brain about the riches of Gitman. What follows is a discussion about how the archive informs his work and inspires his own interest in the garment trade.

Here’s the second look from our Oki-Ni takeover. Regular readers will know we’re quite the fans of mashing together brands that wouldn’t usually be put together. So in this section we’ve got Nom, Lou Dalton, The Hill-Side and Alexander McQueen all in one look. And it works (if we say so ourselves). Take a leap to see the full shot and product details.

Here’s a look at Lanvin’s SS10 trainers. The collection is much reduced from last season, with only three styles in total. As you’d expect, they don’t skimp on the materials. Calfskin and grosgrain ribbon (just so you know, crosgrain ribbon is a heavily ribbed ribbon made from silk) feature on all the trainers here. Take a look at the rest of the collection after the leap.

Here’s another sale piece from Opening Ceremony. We’re in two minds about early sales. On one hand – cheaper clothes! On the other – it devalues the brand if you’re seen as going on sale all the time. Having said that, cheaper clothes are cheaper clothes and this Norsea Industries sweater is now a (relative) bargain. We’re on the fence about the anchor design, but it does look good in these pics. (Opening Ceremony)

Take a look at detailed shots after the leap.

01. Busted by Colombo, or, the Impediments of Style

“In the mid-sixties I worked as a press rep for CBS-TV in New York. Though low on a steep vertical hierarchy, I felt I had the kind of dream job I’d seen in movies like The Hucksters and Sabrina — an office (windowless) in the CBS building on Sixth Avenue, a good salary at a time when a floor through apartment on a nice street in Greenwich Village cost me $125 a month, and a charge account at Brooks Brothers that I worked like a farmer works good black loam.” (designobserver)

02. Display

“Display is a curated collection of important graphic design books, periodicals, advertisements and ephemera organized, designed and maintained by Kind Company, an independent web and print design office in Brooklyn, New York.” (ianc)

03. SpaceShipTwo by Virgin Galactic (above)

“In California yesterday, space tourism company Virgin Galactic unveiled a craft designed to carry passengers on short flights into space. Called SpaceShipTwo, the craft is expected to begin flights for passengers in 2011.” (dezeen)

04. George Orwell’s Motorcycles

“In the waning days of the Vincent Motorcycle Co, 1955 to be exact, the producers of the film adaptation of George Orwell’s classic ‘1984′ utilized the services of the Vincent Owner’s Club to provide a chilling mobile Thought Police force, filming their nearly-new Vincents in a bombed-out area behind Guildhall, London. The photograph above is from the September 1, 1955 issue of The Motor Cycle, which has a small feature on the motorcycles in the film.” (vintagent)

Newsom gets involved with the Dom house once again a “greener” package and label for the champagne bottler. “For the fourth time, the House Dom Pérignon teamed to the designer Marc Newson to create a case of journey which allows the amateurs of champagne to preserve in the good temperature their bottles, wherever that they are. The result is ‘Black Box,’ a black case that resists the wear and tear of transport an keeps Dom pérignon perfectly chilled, even the hottest destination. will be available as of now in France (200€) ans as of January 2010 in selected markets across th world.” (viacomit)