Jag har intervjuat Andrew Romano som är journalist på Newsweek och som även driver den personliga bildbloggen Convenger+Kester. Andrew bor i Brooklyn och arbetar som senior writer på Newsweek. Mellan oktober 2007 till november 2008 reste Andrew runt i hasorna på presidentvalskampanjerna och levererade 4-5 inlägg om dagen på Newsweeks kampanjblogg Stumper. Bloggen kom att bli Newsweeks mest besökta blogg under 2008 och den innehöll bland annat en post om varför Obama kom att bli så populär bland unga amerikaner och en analys av Ron Pauls "long tail" kandidatur.
Jag hade äran att guida Andrew lite under sitt besök i Stockholm tidigare i somras och det känns nu jättekul att han vill dela med sig lite av sina upplevelser.





Andrew Romano, Newsweek

What are you blogging about most right now?

Since I’m a reporter for Newsweek magazine by day, my blog—or, more accurately, my Tumblr--has always been a place to do what I can’t really do at work: that is, cover non-mainstream design, fashion, food and culture—all the stuff I’m interested in—WITHOUT writing an entire article every time I stumble upon something that piques my interest. So it’s always been a quick, loose collage of things that somehow convey my “style,” whatever that means: a Fair Isle tie by Beams, a horseshoe sandwich from Springfield, Ill., a handmade Christmas card by Kay Sage. As it happens, I’ve been focusing more recently on graphic design and furniture. I have no background in either of these things, but I found that as I was preparing to move into and decorate a new apartment in Brooklyn over the summer, the whole process of seeking out and posting images of chairs and textiles and book covers that struck a chord helped me refine my taste, broaden my horizons and ultimately learn a lot. I’m particularly obsessed with Paul McCobb furniture, Alvin Lustig book covers, Martz lamps and Heath ceramics at the moment.

You visited Stockholm earlier this year. What did you think of our capitol and what did you do?
It was amazing—even if it was unseasonably cold and rainy for our first three days in town. We loved Stockholm. Herr Judit might be the best men’s vintage store I’ve ever been to; I’d trade Nitty Gritty, where I bought these great Atkinson’s prep-school ties, for any boutique in New York. We picked up a pair of lamps at the beautiful Brandstationen shop down the road, and ogled the pricier stuff at Wigerdals Värld. We even got to see Nick Cave, Fever Ray and El Perro del Mar perform at Where the Action Is. The most important thing, however, was our trip to Oaxen, the island/restaurant about an hour outside of Stockholm, where, after the best meal of our lives, I proposed to my girlfriend of seven years. Good thing she said yes. Staying overnight on a boat in the middle of nowhere would’ve been rather unpleasant otherwise.

 

What do you know about Swedish fashion? Do you have any personal favorite brands?
I know a bit about Swedish fashion, mainly because it’s pretty widely covered here in New York. Opening Ceremony chose Sweden as its featured country a few years back and they’ve carried Swedish brands ever since; Acne and Dunderdon and few other labels now have dedicated shops in the city. The thing I like about Swedish men’s fashion, or at the least the brands that resonate with me, is how “unflashy” much of it is—how it tends to aspire to an ideal of functionality rather than decoration, or artiness, or conceptualism, or whatever else fashion typically aspires to. In that way, it’s a lot like American fashion at the moment. Labels like Our Legacy are really smart and wearable, and that’s what I value in clothing: garments that focus on fit and quality and then blend in and become elements of your style rather than forcing their style on you. Which is why it makes sense, I guess, that Patrik Ervell—Swedish-born, American-bred—is the men’s designer I admire most.

 

I'm not very fond of the way the Swedish Prime Minster dresses but President Obama on the other hand looks great. What do you say, is President Obama the best dressed US President? Do you have any personal favorites from over the years?

Obama has the advantage of being tall and thin and handsome, so he inevitably looks better in clothes than, say, Richard Nixon. But I don’t think he has particularly exceptional personal style. I mean, have you ever seen him dressed for the weekend? He looks like a typical suburban dad: faded high-rise jeans that are slightly too short, a pair of white tennis sneakers, a tucked-in polo shirt, wonky sunglasses. What Obama does have is a very smart and stylish wife, and a fine tailor (Hart Schaffner Marx of Chicago). I’m going to bet that she’s the one making sure his suits fit him so well. But no… not the best ever. Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush (J.Press!) were all far more interested in clothing than Obama, to name a few recent examples.

If you have to summarize the fashion year of 2009 in three short bullet-points. What would they be?

1. The Aura of Authenticity: Men gravitated toward garments that, if not actually authentic, at least projected an aura of authenticity. Sneakers have to be made by a long-standing sneaker brand (Tretorn, Spring Court). Shirts have to be constructed by a generations-old shirtmaker (Gitman Bros.) and likewise for jackets (Barbour, Belstaff). Et cetera. This can translate into the much-discussed “Americana” look or not; I wrote an article on the subject for Newsweek earlier this year [http://www.newsweek.com/id/182573]. But the bottom line is that men who spend all day working with MacBooks are now taking comfort in clothing with a heritage—clothing that seems to exist for a reason and adheres to a masculine ideal (function) rather than a feminine one (frill). That’s why you’re seeing all these collaborations between mainstream or high-fashion labels and classic manufacturers: Quoddy at J.Crew, Pendleton at Opening Ceremony. They want to bask in this aura of authenticity. As long as it doesn’t become a costume [http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/12/fashion/12CODES.html], I’m all for it. Quality isn’t a passing fad.
2. The Men’s Style Blogosphere: You know what I’m talking about: A Continuous Lean, Secret Forts, Inventory, Jake Davis, etc.—that semi-incestuous ecosystem of stylish guys posting about stuff they like. This was their year, which is great in my book. While all the blogging and reblogging and linking tends to encourage group-think—Red Wings are hot! Now it’s 60/40 parkas!—the good thing about the MSB is that it’s constantly exposing guys who may not live in Williamsburg or Sodermalm to good style. In high school, I was interested in clothing. But at the time (suburban New Jersey, 1996-2000) it was basically impossible to learn about or acquire anything other than local mall brands—unless, of course, you were a hard-core fashionista, which required more interest than I had. Now, thanks to the blogs, a kid in Nebraska can slobber over the latest Our Legacy collection at the same time as a hipster in Williamsburg. And he can know that he’s part of a larger community of cool guys who like what he likes. Which helps when the jocks are calling him “gay” for wearing a cardigan, or whatever.
3. Good Shoes: It’s no longer cool to wear sneakers with a suit. This was the year that guys grew up and learned that beautiful, well-made shoes—the kind their grandfathers wore—are essential. Wing tips, oxfords, suede chukkas, saddle shoes, the works. Even J.Crew is stocking Aldens these days. Can’t beat that.

Finally, what do you wish Santa will bring you for Christmas?

A reissued L.L. Bean Norwegian sweater (sorry Sweden!). A pair of Quoddy boat shoe/penny loafer hybrids. Some of the new slim ties from Brooks Brothers. A Patrik Ervell club collar buttondown shirt. A vintage Marantz receiver. Bobby Fuller’s “I Fought the Law” LP on vinyl. And some Josef Frank pillows—because I stupidly failed to buy them when I was at Svensk Tenn in Stockholm. I’m pretty certain Santa isn’t going to be this generous with me, though, so if anyone wants to help out, please--feel free.