Impossibly cool article this month in Town & Country on the visceral thrill of foraging on the New Jersey Audubon Society’s preserved acreage. The article presents the foraging trend as an ancient passtime that caters fully to both gastronomes and environmental conservationists. The foraging trend is of course by no means new, but this refined take is a far cry from the hipster-eating-weeds version of the recently popular urban foraging movement (the article actually recommends against foraging in compromised soil from parking lots and such— that and New York City has outlawed foraging in public parks). 

Restaurants such as Daniel NYC in Manhattan and Forage LA cater to the posh forager crowd with their mostly-foraged menus. High end general stores such as Brook Farm General Store in Williamsburg cater to the nouveau forager with their high end pruning sheers and gathering adirondack baskets, “perfect for foraging in the forest”. And even more agriculturally-oriented magazines like Wilder are getting more attention recently in the blogosphere. It seems like the cleaned-up foraging excursion is exactly the kind of “wild” Gen Ys can get behind.

Great article in the New York Times today surrounding the plight of the modern man in formalwear and a few how-tos to get it right in time for the Oscars this weekend. (Jake Gyllenhaal apparently always has the perfect fit, while Brad Pitt doesn’t.) In the interview, designer Tom Ford weighed in on the history of men’s formalwear in the United States, the importance of keeping to its strict tradition, while a few other tuxedo designers were more lenient in terms of color and fit. This was a perfectly timed article, with high-society elegance back on the rise in both men’s and women’s wear for Ys (Downton Abbey, anyone?). All were rent-a-tux phobic and required the perfect bow tie. Gentlemen, ready your cumberbunds!

 Prada just released their Spring/ Summer 2012 campaign video last week, and much to our delight it is all hot rods and Sleigh Bells. The spot seems perfectly timed for the return of Mad Men sixties glamour, the long awaited series premier is almost within reach. Already accepted as the shoe of the season, Prada’s flame-thrower heels deserved no less of a campaign, and will contrast nicely with this season’s palette for pastels.

I’m not sure if anyone else has noticed this… but Town & Country is cool again. Really, actually, cool. Hats off to Jay Fielden, who after only one year as editor in chief, has refined, and re-defined the magazine’s la belle vie ethos into a sharply current, tongue-in-cheek beacon of lifestyle literature (think Simon Doonan to Barney’s). This month, for example, features a center story on the monstrously popular show Downton Abbey (Restoration Drama), a piece on a warehouse lot of rare vintage roadsters in South Central LA, and a collection of perfectly on point Style Spy collages (the below follows the evolving resortwear trend in a showcase of raffia used in the Spring 2012 collections of Tom Ford, and Tory Burch), and a perfect showcase on the current pajama as day and evening wear, entitled Sleep No More (a nod to the Punchdrunk Macbeth revival in Manhattan this past fall).

Instead of turning to another celebrity designer collaboration for the the winter, H&M has partnered with costume designer Trish Summerville for a Girl With the Dragon Tattoo inspired collection. Tying into the already pervasive goth and 90’s grunge trends, everyone come December will be able to dress like their favorite badass Lisbeth Salander. The film will follow with its release on December 21st.