On a sweltering afternoon early last month, Adam Newman, a 25-year-old Park Slope comedian who works for CollegeHumor.com, made a life-changing decision: He took scissors to a pair of brown corduroy pants and fashioned them into shorts.

“It’s getting hot and I’ve made up my mind. This summer, I’m wearing shorts!” Mr. Newman blogged recently. “I’ve always been an exclusively-pants guy, but I’m ready for change. No more sweating under the jeans at the park, I’m letting it breathe this year!”  read more »

Mr. Newman is not alone. A growing number of style-conscious men are becoming more comfortable with the idea of showing some leg during the hot summer months.]]> http://www.observer.com/2008/style/you-don-t-look-shorts#comments Style Barneys Devendra Banhart Ed Westwick Graydon Carter Sean Avery Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:41:22 -0400 Joe Pompeo 71462 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/2008/retail-wrap

Despite the truckloads of statistics floating around lately indicating that U.S. consumer confidence is plummeting (not to mention the millions of tax rebate checks in the mail), the city’s retailers seem convinced that New Yorkers will continue to shop, recession or not.

Monday brought a flood of new retail news, some of it reflective of the economic slump and some less so.  read more »

Best Supporting Actress winner Tilda Swinton nuked the fashion competition at the recent Oscars. With her 70’s Bowie hair—remember the cover of Low, the brilliant 1977 album?—and her black velvet Lanvin one-sleeved toga, La Swinton made all those other gals in their fussy bustier glamour gowns look like a bunch of Republican drears on their way to a constipated night out at the local country club.

Finally, courtesy of La Swinton, we got to see a bit of real individual style at the Oscars.  read more »

This morning at around eight o’clock, Barneys flung open its doors to welcome stylish spendthrifts—reportedly over 100 of them—who had lined up to make like locusts at the store’s warehouse sale. Our morning coffee must have been spiked with too much sanity, because we weren’t there to report on the dumpling-line doppelganger. But a New York fashion reporter was, and they got some good stuff … for free!

If the curious magnitude of the sale was ever in question, the two girls from Long Island, who apparently boarded a 5:30 a.m. train to the city, can probably speak to its import. Or perhaps the woman wearing “a big furry hood” who got in line at six a.m. could put in her two-cents on the matter. That is, unless she needed to put them toward a $200 pair of Christian Louboutins.  read more »

Eco Windows on Madison.  read more »

So that scoop earlier this week about Barneys Co-op and Apple negotiating in Williamsburg for their first Brooklyn outlets? Turns out it's more rumor right now than fact. Retail in the outer-b's rolls that way sometimes.

The Brooklyn Paper investigated the New York Post's earlier story (we got the skinny via Racked). The Post said the retailers were in negotiations to move into retail space in the new Edge condo.

The broker handling such decisions for the Edge told The Brooklyn Paper that such decisions for the condo are "a little premature." Also, he would neither confirm nor deny the negotiations with Apple and Barneys.