A cattle drive from a motorcycle seat, eight years with a Tokyo tattoo master, skydives in Panama. Josh Sirlin on men's lifestyle and the life skills you only learn by going.

Craft, menswear, Style, travelJosh SirlinSeptember 30, 2026life skills for men, mens lifestyle, adventure, cattle drive, motorcycle trip, horitoshi, harris tweed chore coat, josh sirlin, black bear brandComment

The Fisherman Sweater: A True Story Better Than the Legend

The clan pattern legend is not true. What really happened is better. Josh Sirlin on the Aran sweater, why wool owns the cold, and a merino fisherman sweater knit in northern Japan.

Craft, Culture, Heritage, StyleJosh SirlinSeptember 27, 2026fisherman sweater, aran sweater history, cable knit sweater, merino wool sweater, winter fashion men, winter style, knit in japan, josh sirlin, black bear brandComment

The Engineer Stripe

A striped cloth that belonged to this company and to no one else, on a garment that is about a hundred and ten years old. Josh Sirlin on the archive, and on what is coming with TCB.

Craft, Heritage, Japan, JacketsJosh SirlinSeptember 23, 2026engineer stripe, hickory stripe, black bear brand history, vintage archive, 1917 catalog, tcb collaboration, seattle history, black bear brandComment

Twenty Hours of Thread

Four days of chain stitching, white cowhide sleeves, melton wool, and eight months of production. Josh Sirlin on the ART Edition varsity jacket, on display in Tokyo on October 2.

Craft, Craft & Materials, Culture, design, Heritage, jackets, JapanJosh SirlinSeptember 22, 2026varsity jacket, chain stitch varsity jacket, melton wool jacket, made in japan jacket, bespoke varsity, tokyo pop up, limited edition jacket, black bear brandComment

Woven at Home

The loom is pedalled like a bicycle, in the weaver's own house, on an island in the North Atlantic. Josh Sirlin on what hand woven actually means on a Harris Tweed.

Craft, Craft & Materials, Culture, Fabric, Fabric Guide, harris tweed, Heritage, JacketsJosh SirlinSeptember 21, 2026harris tweed, hand woven tweed, outer hebrides, hattersley loom, orb mark, treadle loom, wool jacket, black bear brandComment

One Pocket

The name is not a boast. It is a count. Josh Sirlin on the ONE Jean Jacket, on warp density, and on the years spent looking for denim worth cutting.

Denim, Jackets, materials, Craft, Heritage, CultureJosh SirlinSeptember 18, 2026jean jacket, denim jacket, selvedge jean jacket, one jean jacket, trucker jacket, made in japan denim, rope dyed, black bear brandComment

Midnight Glen, Wildflower, Moss Fire

Three new Harris Tweeds are woven for Black Bear Brand in Scotland every year, and Josh Sirlin makes three jackets from them. Here are this fall's three, starting with the Midnight Glen Tartan.

Craft, Craft & Materials, Fabric, harris tweed, Heritage, Jackets, made in usa, outerwearJosh SirlinSeptember 17, 2026harris tweed, midnight glen tartan, wildflower tartan, moss fire tartan, chore coat, zip coat, outer hebrides, made in seattle, black bear brandComment

The Roughout Commander Jacket

Roughout Horween horsehide with the raw side out, no lining, and vintage snaps. Josh Sirlin on the commander jacket, on roughout leather, and on the friends who have put real miles on theirs.

Why Wool Owns the Fall

Wool works wet, holds a shape for decades, and gets better looking as it goes. Josh Sirlin on the fall jacket, on tweed, and on the three that get woven for us each year in Scotland.

Craft & Materials, Craft, Culture, Fabric, Fabric Guide, harris tweed, JacketsJosh SirlinSeptember 9, 2026wool jacket, fall jacket, harris tweed, tweed jacket, mens outerwear, wool crimp warmth, autumn style, black bear brandComment

The Lining Nobody Sees

Cupro is made from the fuzz left on a cotton seed. Josh Sirlin on the quietest luxury in a coat and why ours is made in Japan.

Culture, Craft, Craft & Materials, Fabric Guide, Jackets, JapanJosh SirlinSeptember 7, 2026cupro lining, what is cupro, cuprammonium, coat lining fabric, japanese fabric, luxury details, black bear brandComment

The Engineer Stripe: A Cloth Brought Back From 1913

A hundred year old stripe, read off an original coverall and woven again in Okayama. Josh Sirlin on the Black Bear Brand engineer stripe and the vintage engineer pant and coat.

Craft, Fabric, Heritage, Japan, Japan & Culture, materialsJosh SirlinSeptember 6, 2026engineer stripe, tcb jeans, okayama japan, vintage black bear brand, engineer pant, hajime inoueComment

The Western Jacket, and the Chicago Tannery That Makes the Leather

Five generations of tanners on the Chicago River, and a jacket cut in Seattle. Josh Sirlin on horsehide, the rough-out finish, and a very limited run of the westerns.

Craft, Craft & Materials, Culture, Heritage, leather, made in usa, JacketsJosh SirlinSeptember 5, 2026horween leather, horsehide jacket, western leather jacket, rough out leather, made in usa leather jacket, black bear brand leatherComment

The Color Goes In Before the Yarn

A plain Harris Tweed is never one color. Josh Sirlin on fibre dyeing, blending to a recipe, and why the cloth changes as the light moves.

harris tweed, Style & Heritage, Heritage, Fabric Guide, CraftJosh SirlinSeptember 3, 2026harris tweed colors, fibre dyed wool, dyed in the wool, harris tweed jacket, scottish wool, outer hebrides, black bear brandComment

Melton Is a Town in Leicestershire

The warmest cloth in the closet is named for an English market town. Josh Sirlin on fulling, napping, shearing, and why melton stops wind.

Craft, Heritage, jacketsJosh SirlinSeptember 2, 2026melton wool, what is melton wool, fulled wool, wool coat fabric, winter coat wool, melton mowbray, black bear brandComment

The Parts of a Shirt Nobody Names

Yoke, placket, gauntlet, gusset, interlining. Josh Sirlin on the vocabulary of a shirt, and on which of those parts actually tell you what you are holding.

Craft, Craft & Materials, Culture, Fabric Guide, HeritageJosh SirlinAugust 31, 2026parts of a shirt, split yoke, placket, gauntlet button, gusset, collar interlining, shirt construction, mens shirts, black bear brandComment

Denim Country

The wild west was loud, and the cloth that went through all of it was blue. Josh Sirlin on the jean jacket, the Cowboy Jeans, the people he rides with, and the looms in Okayama.

Craft, Craft & Materials, denim, Denim, fabric guide, Japan, Japan & Culture, materialsJosh SirlinAugust 21, 2026wild west, denim, one jean jacket, cowboy jeans, selvedge denim, okayama, japanese denim, indigo, black bear brandComment

The 7/8 Sleeve

A three quarter sleeve stops at the wrong place on a man's arm. Josh Sirlin on the sleeve length he designed instead, and why an inch decides everything.

Craft, Culture, shirts, Style & Heritage, t-shirt, TeesJosh SirlinAugust 20, 20267/8 sleeve, three quarter sleeve, sleeve length guide, mens proportion, pocket shirt, slub cotton, mens style, black bear brandComment

How the White T-Shirt Became the Uniform

It cost 24 cents in the Sears catalog and it took two films to make it famous. Josh Sirlin on how a plain white tee went from the bottom of a sea bag to the top of the world.

Craft, Tees, Style & Heritage, Style, HeritageJosh SirlinAugust 17, 2026white t shirt history, plain white tee, t shirt history, marlon brando t shirt, james dean white tee, us navy undershirt 1913, made in usa t shirt, black bear brand, t-shirtComment

Why Jeans Fade Where They Do

Whiskers, honeycombs, atari, train tracks. Josh Sirlin on the vocabulary of a worn pair of jeans, and on the dye decisions made years before you ever put them on.

Craft, Craft & Materials, Denim, Fabric, Japan & CultureJosh SirlinAugust 15, 2026denim fades, whiskers, honeycombs, atari, train tracks, raw denim, rope dyeing, ring dyed indigo, selvedge denim, black bear brandComment

The Color That Killed People

Green was the hardest color in the world to make, and then it was the deadliest. Josh Sirlin on arsenic, Victorian dye houses, and what a real green still costs.

Craft, corduroy, Culture, Fabric, fabric guide, materials, StyleJosh SirlinAugust 8, 2026scheeles green, arsenic green, paris green, history of green dye, victorian fashion, natural dye, garment dye, old money green, black bear brandComment