Record Specs

Last week we brought you Scott Urban, the Chicago-based sculptor and designer, and his spectacles of wood. This week Urban reinvents humble frames once again, using vinyl records to craft his Record Specs. Made from four layers of old LPs, Urban will also custom-make pairs—from your own collection natch.

Beautiful/Decay Tees: Aya Kato and Jonathan Nicol

Recently added to Beautiful/Decay's line of artist-designed tees, these two new shirts continue the brand's shirt-as-canvas approach. Australian artist Jonathan Nicol's "Conan Shirt" juxtaposes mythological icons, like vampire teeth, a woman wearing an eye patch and a skull, using a palette restricted to gray, yellow, black, and white. For Aya Kato's second Beautiful/Decay effort, the Japanese artist depicts two mermaids and their watery surroundings in …

Clarification: New Balance 574s

In response to a handful of emails about a post I wrote last week about the New Balance 574s, I thought I'd clarify a couple of points. I said that the company was started by an Englishman. 33 year old William J. Riley immigrated to the US from England, and later founded New Balance in Boston, Massachussetts at the start of the 20th Century. Depending …