A Continuous Lean

The best part of having ACL is the ability to work with brands I love to make things I want to wear. Today is another chapter in that journey, and I’m happy to report that the good things keep coming with my friends at Rivay. Our latest: The Highland Field Shirt. I can legitimately wear anything Rivay designs (something I can’t say for many brands), but the shirting really stands out to me. I have an 8-year-old Rivay button-down that’s a trusted friend —threadbare and beloved.

Most years I compile a gift guide for Father’s Day. The way this seems to work is the link is either passed to a loved one or just used as a personal shopping exploration. No matter how it’s used, I’m happy to make suggestions since I love this stuff. This weekend, we shared 34+ gifts on The Material Review and at least 30 more for the golfers among us at The Old Ghosts. There are also several archival gift guides from this newsletter 2025, 2024 and 2022.

Welcome to SIGNALS, a collection of thoughts on style, life and links from around the internet. It’s almost time for everyone to shut things down for one day and then move from their computer to their iPad. Just kidding. Wishing everyone the best for a festive rest of December. I plan to continue publishing as I have many stories from the year I’m hoping to share and this stuff is fun for me. Ok, let’s get into it. You might remember my trip to Japan in September.

The great part of collaborating with Rivay is the fact that we can make very specific yet utilitarian things that can be worn almost daily. We can spend months perfecting one piece together so it perfectly fills a need. Today, we are excited to release our latest collaboration — the Drop Off Jacket. This might look like a thing you’ve seen before, but to us it’s totally unique. It has the comfort of a shirt but with the rigidity that you feel when wearing a sportcoat.

Hello from Austin, Texas. I’m here with my friends at Rivay for a photoshoot with Lioness star and certified dad-hero Dave Annable for our new collab, which is dropping next week. Last night we went to a Japanese-inspired listening room bar (and they warned us every 15 mins exactly when we needed to leave), but they played Sade, so it was all good. Then after dinner we took a robo-Uber to listen to Jazz at the Elephant Room, which was delightful.

There’s been a lot of Rivay in my everyday rotation, and I’ve recently noticed just how often I reach for the brand. The one thing I was looking for that wasn’t in the line was a chore coat — a foundational piece in my closet. I thought Rivay might want to team up to create one, incorporating all the attention to detail that makes the brand so great. With that inspiration, we’ve created what we believe is the perfect chore coat, in an excellent shade of Rivay Racing Green.

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In the early days of ACL, I met Matt and Carrie Eddmenson, the husband and wife founders of Imogene + Willie when I went to Nashville for the first time. They were building an amazing denim-centric brand focused on making things in the USA. It was all very much in my zone, and it’s no surprise that I fell in love with this brand and its shop on 12th Avenue South. One would think the best place to open would be East Nashville—the emerging, cool kid zone, but that’s not where Matt and Carrie did.

Welcome to the 2024 ACL Gift Guide. It’s great to have you here for pretty much all of the holiday buying intel I could dream up. There may be gift ideas for your loved ones here. Or perhaps just something for you? Either way I’m happy to put this together and hope it helps. Feel free to pass this along to a loved one as a little gift-idea head start. Or just dig-in for your own selfish desires! I can’t believe this is all happening so early. God help us. Happy Holidays you filthy animals.

Here we go, my list of things to buy for men who are very particular about things! Everything here is chosen with quality and timelessness in mind. Hope this list proves helpful. Campbell’s of Beauly Land Rover Jumper — This doesn’t need to be explained. Campell’s is one of the great shops and these wool sweaters are just fantastic. Oak Street Bootmakers Trench Oxford — These shoes are highly versatile without trying too hard to operate in the fashion zone.