Today the S&S blog is undergoing a “friendly takeover” by BLACKBIRD SPYPLANE DOT COM — a rare and precious newsletter about style & culture that improves the life of everyone who encounters it.

“Wow,” you’re saying to yourself, "Blackbird Spyplane sounds incredible and I need to subscribe — BUT *who* and *what*, exactly, is it?”

My name’s Jonah, I do the newsletter with my partner, Erin, and experts agree that we are the no. 1 source across all media for “unbeatable recon” on dope-under-the-radar joints…

We write about cool, unique things & the people who love them, interviewing a range of guests along the way, from Jerry Seinfeld to André 3000, Emily Bode to Online Ceramics…

AND we’ve befriended the DISCERNING HOMIES at Standard & Strange (where we’ve been copping treasures for years) who invited us to swing by the store the other day, throw together some BIG FITS … and then muster big “model boi” energy for Neil’s EXPERTLY WIELDED CAMERA.

So let’s get 2 it…

These Kaptain Sunshine pants have officially ended the pants death-spiral I felt TRAPPED IN — they’re sturdy yet super soft, generously proportioned without nearing cartoonishness … You can read about the RARE JAPANESE-CRAFTED FABRIC SCIENCE BEHIND THEM at over here if u want to demystify them.

I REFUSED TO REMOVE THEM for a few more fits, like the one above, where I threw on a WILD coral mockneck from Beijing’s MotivMFG and CLOAKED MY DOGS in a pair of murdered-out, kiln-baked Moonstar All-Weather sneakers (which remind me of the Tim Burton Batmobile cocooning itself??)

Motiv is an intriguing brand we learned about thru Standard & Strange… Neil suggested I take a look at their Corduroy Hunting Jacket above, and one glance confirmed that this was, indeed, a HEAVYWEIGHT GENTLEMANLY SLAPPER, with a crazy luxe “handfeel” and elegant heftiness to it … I wore it over a loopwheeled crewneck from Warehouse, crucially tucked into the KS Gurkhas because a) their waistband is too sick to obscure and b) it’s “TUCK YOUR TOPS” 2020 as far as I’m concerned…

I was feeling these Italian-made 1st PAT-RN Roger Trousers in Brown Needlecord… I tend to prefer a wider-wale cord but these are seductive beauties with the exact pleated, roomy fit I’ve been looking for these days… They also have fatigue-style back pockets that complement The Real McCoys alpaca-lined N1 deck vest, which is WAY MORE LIGHTWEIGHT than the *authentic* N1 deck jacket I finagled from my dad years ago.

Last stop of the day?? It was time to check in with U&I Grocery, down the block from the S&S Oakland Mothership, while wearing a pair of slimmer-fitting fatigue pants from orSlow — another Japanese brand whose stuff we consistently f**k with. (The paint-spattered iMac tee is another eBay find… the fishing vest is Visvim & the fleece comes from Okayama’s Cottle).
 
At Blackbird Spyplane our “unbeatable recon” transcends categories, so we were curious to learn about contemporary advancements in PRE-MIXED MODELO CHELADA technology… We copped a tall-boy, let Neil SOAR OFF HANDSOMELY on his motorbike & headed back to Spyplane H.Q. to research this beverage!