About Town: Twin Cities Menswear

on Wednesday, May 2, 2012

I am very happy to introduce a new feature on my blog in this, my 100th post! My honey and I have a lot of adventures and I figured it was about time we shared them with you! We will be highlighting places we've gone, what we've worn, things we've bought and, of course, food we've eaten! We hope it will give you a little glimpse into our journeys in this fine state of Minnesota (and wherever else we trek to!). We hope you enjoy this new feature- look for more installations every other week...ish. Love it? Hate it? Think it could be better? Tweet me.


About Town: Twin Cities Menswear



"Oh my gosh. We have NO plans today...what should we do?" A rare conundrum for us, so we took to Twitter Saturday morning to investigate. Not far into my feed I noticed a menswear pop-up shopping event at Russell + Hazel featuring Pierrepont Hicks, Faribault Woolen Mill and Martin Patrick3 and the decision was instantly made. We ventured out to Edina and were absolutely blown away by what we found.



Russell + Hazel is a design studio & shop with delightful paper goods, home accessories and organizers that would make Martha squeal. My man picked up a tie and bowtie from Pierrepont Hicks as I chatted with Mrs. P Hicks herself, Katherine McMillan. We left the shop, portfolio giveaways in hand, feeling ultimately satisfied with our experience. Thus began our weekend of menswear shopping. That being said the weather was ultimately dismal and keeping our energy and inspiration up was a challenge. With a few choice stops we managed to carry right on through...with a few naps in between. 



Martin Patrick3 is the king of menswear shops in Minneapolis- with pretty much anything you could want and a few things you didn't know you needed (pearl collar stays). We browsed around for quite some time- the shopping experience in itself was pleasant and there was so much to see. ID/Inside Design is attached and it was an irresistible detour to check out the modern furniture, Pantone mugs and Jonathon Adler statuettes. The mister ended up unexpectedly picking up a pair of glasses frames with bamboo arms. Even more unexpected? The choice of three different cases on the way out. An overall stellar experience.

Then we decided to do something crazy. We went to St. Paul. I’ll be upfront here- I'm a tiny cranky monster when I'm hungry, so we decided to hit up the famous WA Frost for a little lunch before continuing to shop. A perfectly delightful experience to say the least. Our server, Lori was the perfect combination of personable, silly and attentive and recommended the Belgian on tap- a St Bernardus Tripel, which ended up on both of our faves lists for Belgians. I drank one and a half (my limit) Earl Grey-Pomegranate Tonics, which were not as sweet as you might fear and provided a surprising and welcome journey for my palate- transitioning through at least a few tastes before finishing. I ate a Gem Lettuce Salad and a side of fries (what diet?) and the mister had a Cuban Panini which he also loved.  It gave us the boozy, delicious fuel to head down the street to another local menswear classic, BlackBlue.



Oh BlackBlue, you are such a lovely spot.  The place was, as always, set up beautifully and had a fresh stock of items including a few women's pieces! Satchel, whose smiling face I remember chatting with at SnowGrade, greeted us at the door happily and upon being asked how he was, replied (quite genuinely I suspect) that he was "livin the dream". We didn't pick anything up this time, but that's not to say there isn't a panoply of excellent options.


4 comments

you two are so cute! and you looks adorbs in that photo at the top :)

by lisa*marie*derenne on May 2, 2012 at 1:55 PM . #

Thanks Lis! :)

by Unknown on May 2, 2012 at 3:46 PM . #

I love this! Besides your super cute pics, (and cute map), Martin Patrick 3 is beyond awesome, and Satchel is a super stellar guy.

by Anonymous on May 2, 2012 at 7:12 PM . #

Thanks Nic! Loving your posts about all of your HK adventures as well :) We miss ya!

by Unknown on May 4, 2012 at 2:11 PM . #

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