The Fall Basics: In the Hood

It's been a grey and rainy afternoon in New York and with Labor Day having come and gone, it's generally around this time that I start wrapping my head around Fall's impending arrival en force.
Don't get me wrong; I love Fall. The change in climate, the turning of the leaves, brisk mornings, brisker evenings are all things in New York(and just about anywhere else)that make the city new again. Trade the madras for flannel. Let the beard grow back in. Take the a/c outta the window.
And it's in this frame of mind that I present a brief sampling of one of my favorite garments: the hooded jacket.

On the Subject of: The Backpack.

Bags are carried, backpacks are worn. And not since slinging around the classic LL Bean book bag, writing on it and generally beating the crap out of it as a grade schooler, have a worn a backpack. As a bike rider, I have carried a number of various messenger bags, my ZO and ReLoad(who incidentally offer a nice waxed canvas backpack)being two greats. Off the bike, I've stuck mostly to Filson totes and the like. And there's been no shortage of shine given to all the various "manly" totes here over the years. But the idea of the simple, classic backpack or rucksack has been growing on me as of late. During the mountaineering equipment boom in the 70's, seems every hippie(no offense to hippies.I love you lefty pinkos. wink.)had a sewing machine and a dream, producing their own variations of the classic rucksack. 30 years later, vintage rucksacks can be found at most any flea market or thrift store. While I'm not up in the Gunks, scaling the Trapps all too often(i.e. never), leaving the house can sometimes feel like an adventure in its own right and in this spirit, I did a little digging and came up with a short list of a few of the best out there today.