Brand Profile | Raleigh Denim + Workshop

Hailing from the birthplace of American denim, North Carolina, Raleigh denim was founded and designed by husband and wife, Victor and Sarah Lytvinenko, in 2007. 

(photo courtesy of Raleigh Denim)

Determined to create the perfect jean, the duo worked with residents who had worked in the last Levi Strauss factory to learn older craftsmanship techniques while incorporating modern detailing.  They remade machines from the 1920's for authenticity, making each pair by hand using White Oak Cone denim in Raleigh, North Carolina.  Their first line debuted in 2008 and were selected to join the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

(photo courtesy of Raleigh Denim)

Although they have had great success, their manufacturing team remains small. Each piece is numbered and signed by the "jeansmith" that made them, which makes them truly one of a kind.  

Back to school!

Show us your student or teacher ID and receive 20% off all full priced items for the month of September!

Let 'er Buck!

This weekend marks the 104th year of the famous Pendleton Roundup.  Back in 1910, the rodeo shut down the town drawing over 7,000 spectators. Flash forward to now and it's one of the largest rodeos in the world with 50,000+ people riding in.

In honor of our men's buyer being born and raised in Pendleton, OR, the ladies of the lounge are packing their bags and heading West... errrr, technically East, to embark on the festivities.

See what has inspired them below and as the old saying goes LET'ER BUCK!

 For the dudes: LVC 1970's Western shirt, Pendleton Let'er Buck cologne, Stanley flask, LVC 1947 501 jeans, vintage blanket.

For the lasses: Primecut palomino cross body, Izola "Put hair on your chest" flask, Current/Elliot "Perfect Shirt", H by Hudson Riley boots, Made & Crafted empire high waist jeans. 

Follow the ladies on their rodeo adventure this weekend on Instagram at @lizardloungepdx!

Currently Channeling | The Sandlot

Baseball, denim, throwback tees, and sneakers, these are a few of our favorite things. So when we got the Shwood Canby Slugger set and PF Flyers in stock, we instantly were inspired to recreate the look seen in The Sandlot (not so coincidentally one of our favorite movies). 

Shwood's Canby Slugger Select set

In honor of 130 years of baseball, Shwood teamed up with Louisville Slugger to celebrate American craftsmanship's involvement in the sport. Only 200 sets were handmade, using USA grown ash wood that was harvested in New York. The glasses feature the iconic paint dipped detail Slugger uses for their bats on each of the legs. Each box contains a baseball card, glasses case, the Canby Sluggers, and half of a bat (the other half was used to make said sunnies).

PF Flyers

As you may remember, these All-American classics were the essential component for Benny "The Jet" when he saves the Babe Ruth ball from the notorious junk yard dog. Don't remember? Check out the scene below!

"You're killing me smalls!"

On Charlie: Shwood Canby Slugger Select set, LVC 1950's sports tee, Naked and Famous Dirty Fade jeans, PF Flyers The Sandlot shoes.

On Ashley: Fetch Eyewear Felix glasses, LVC 1950's sports tee, Naked and Famous The Straight jean, PF Flyers Center Hi shoes.

"Heroes get remembered but legends never die, follow your heart kid, and you'll never go wrong."

Meet the Makers | Father's Day

Join us this TODAY from 12-4pm for our Father's Day trunk show featuring Portland based brands One Man Made, Otter Wax, and Harding & Wilson.

We will be serving complimentary old fashion's poured by special guest mixologist, Arsenio Torres.

One Man Made: A fairly new brand to the fine leather good's scene, OMM is a one man operation focusing on minimalistic design using high quality leather sourced from the US. 

http://onemanmade.com/

Otter Wax: An all natural fabric care, leather care, and apothecary line produced by hand. Chris, the brains and hands behind the brand, will be on site today giving product demonstrations!

http://www.otterwax.com/

Harding & Wilson: Inspired by turn of the century style and NW influences, H&W has shown us that bow ties are not just for black tie affairs and quirky algebra teachers, but instead, are for everyone. acceptable for everyday wear.  From concept to production, each tie is handmade in Portland.

http://www.hardingandwilson.com/

Don't forget! Tomorrow is Father's Day.

(photos courtesy of designers' websites)

LIZARD LOUNGE WAREHOUSE SALE

For directions, here's a link to Google Maps!

Meet The Makers | Primecut & Upper Metal Class

Brand Profile | The West Is Dead

Occasionally we come across a brand whose story is just as compelling as the clothing they produce. One of our newest brands, The West Is Dead, is the perfect example of that.

The Story

The company was started in Montana by two friends Kaelen McCrane and Will Cheng.  Both having an admiration for American heritage and a desire to revive the dwindling tradition of craftsmanship, they teamed up and started The West Is Dead.  Knowing they wanted to produce everything in the United States, they emptied their savings and headed west for Los Angeles. Since neither had experience in manufacturing or the fashion industry (with the exception of an outdoor retailer both used to work at), they relied solely on ambition and perseverance to get the line out there. After showing at their first trade show they received stellar feed back and moved forward with the line. Today, McCrane and Cheng have kept the company small in order to serve high-quality, hand made clothing to their customers making sure every detail is just right.  

The Clothing
Each piece is hand made in LA using high quality, raw materials with an emphasis on structure, function, style, and quality. 

Partnerships

Besides from making beautifully constructed garments in the US, another big goal of the brand is to collaborate with different foundations to help preserve and protect the American West.  For their first partnership, they teamed up with the Intertribal Buffalo Foundation.

The Intertribal Buffalo Council (ITBC) is a non-profit organization comprised of 57 American Indian nations and 15,000+ head of buffalo. The mission of ITBC is to coordinate and assist American Indian tribes in helping return the buffalo to their native land.

So as you can see, we are extremely excited The West Is Dead is now available at the lounge!

For more information follow the West Is Dead on: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

(Photos courtesy of thewestisdead.com)

American Psycho x Denham

It's no secret we kind of have a "thing" for denim. Some may call us "denim heads" (although we prefer connoisseurs), but just because we take our denim seriously doesn't mean we do the same for ourselves. So, when we saw the guys over at Denham filmed a parody on the movie American Psycho combining two of our favorite things, denim and coffee, we were instantly intrigued.

Bravo guys, bravo.

Now if you'll excuse us, we have to go return some videotapes.

Artist of the Month | Arielle Adkin's

With a New Year brings new art and this month we are featuring Portland artist Arielle Adkin's Blue Print series.

Inspired by "natures ability to thrive in a man made world", each series evolves around society's struggles to incorporate man, hand, and nature made made elements into our lives.

For more information on Adkin's, visit distillart.com

Staff Picks | Brittany

Meet Brittany, our badass sales associate hailing from Southern California. This babe has style so effortlessly cool you could almost hate her if you didn't love her so much.  She skates, she surfs, she sails and never takes herself too seriously.  Did we mention she has an adorable pup named Bernard? Get to know Miss Britt a little better and see what she's into this season.

When you aren't working at Lizard Lounge, what do you do?

I study Film at PSU.

What is your favorite movie?

The Wedding Singer.

What is your favorite book?

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.

What is the last album you listened to?

Queen - Sheer Heart Attack.

In Portland, what is your favorite restaurant?

Sapphire Hotel.

Venue?

Mississippi Studios.

Hang out spot?

Landmark Saloon!

*Landmark's Jalapeno Bacon Cheese Dip is a cheese lover's dream

What are some of your fall essentials?

Anything mustard color and a waxed jacket.

What are your current Lizard Lounge obsessions?

Horny Toad - Wellfleet Shirt ($72)

J Brand - Mid-Rise Skinny in Skylar ($210)

Revere jewelry (Price varies)

Richer and Poorer - Dreamer socks ($12)

Wolverine - Arc boot ($300)

Stop in the store to see all this great product in person and say hello to Brittany!

Railcar Fine Goods X Lizard Lounge

Manufactured in Arcadia, California, Railcar Fine Goods hand makes each garment using both American Cone Mills and Japanese denim. While they typically specialize in men's and women's jeans, they are expanding their creativity and craftsmanship into what is now officially called Deuce 600 Jacket.  

Based off the traditional Type 2 jacket, the Deuce 006 is constructed using triple chain stitching for durability and Japanese over-dyed black and over indigo blue on slubby yarn.  Over time, the over-dyed black will fade allowing the indigo to emerge creating a shadow effect. The result? A beautiful jacket that will last you for years.

(Photo courtesy of RailcarFineGoods.com)

On October 5th from 12-4pm, stop by Lizard Lounge for the official release party of the Deuce 006 Jacket.  Not only will we have complimentary Roy Rogers, but the fellas have a chance to win a pair of jeans. The good news doesn't end there either! Ladies, we will also have women's styles for you to try on.  The best part? Try them on, upload and take @lizardloungepdx and @railcarfinegoods to Instagram for a shot at winning an Lizard Lounge gift card.

So come hang out and meet the man behind it all, enjoy drinks, denim and have a good time!

Naked and Famous

We have some exciting news for our lady customers...

We are now carrying Naked and Famous denim!

The Canada based company is known for their innovative and sometimes unconventional approach towards denim (if you've ever heard of scratch and sniff denim, this is that brand).  Using only rare Japanese fabric, they combine the methods of old techniques with modern fits. 

One thing we love about the brand is their dedication to quality rather than celebrity endorsements and product placements. Because of this, their prices are affordable, not to mention they feel fantastic.

The following are available now:

Our BIGGEST sale yet is going on NOW!

Style in the Pearl

Last month, we were asked to participate in Style in the Pearl, a fashion show curated by different boutiques in the Pearl District here in Portland, OR.  Unable to make it? Check out the video below!

  Style In the Pearl from item-b on Vimeo.

Behind-the-Scenes with Shwood

Ever wonder what it takes to make a pair Shwood sunglasses? Well thanks to Hypebeast, you are now able to get a special look at the craftsmanship that goes into each style everyone is STILL talking about.

The Maak Soap Tour

One of the perks of working for Lizard Lounge and the Horny Toad company are the unique opportunities presented to the employees.  In this case, sales associates Megan and Brooke were rewarded the experience to tour the Maak Soap Lab and even make their personalized fragrance 

Here is their story told by Megan with photographs by Brooke:

"At Por que no, I drank a horchata with rum, Kelsie had a classic margarita, and Brooke had a jamaica margarita. Brooke said "Food is one of my favorite things to photograph!" We ate too much... a mess of tacos, salads with pumpkin seeds and beans, while old doo wop tunes were playing and a little black and white dog whined outside. It was perfect summer weather, breezy and in the 80s.

Lizard Lounge's women's buyer and merchandiser: Kelsie Morrow (a.k.a fish taco/vintage connoisseur)

Maak is pronounced 'make,' and means 'create' in Dutch. We spent the afternoon making a bar of soap with Anoria Gilbert, who moved to Portland in 2009 with Taylor Ahlmark from Arizona and started Maak Soap. The couple learned to make soap through a lot of experimentation. "We had a lot of dirty friends that let us test on them!" says Anoria. Their soaps are now carried in many stores throughout the west coast as well as England, and will soon be found in New York and Japan too! Anoria says they market particularly toward men and the essential oils they use are less floral than a lot of soaps.

Our first step is making cold-processed soap was to choose our fragrances. After sniffing various bottles from a shelf, we decided on lavender, fir needle, and peppermint for our bar of soap. Next we looked on as Anoria heated up water and lye, a natural powder made from wood ash necessary for the chemical reaction resulting in soap. In another container, she combined and heated a mixture of coconut and olive oils, necessary to keep the lye from burning the skin. When the two mixtures reached the same temperature, 110 degrees, we mixed them together until they reached trace, or the consistency of cake batter. Then we added the fragrant essential oils and botanicals and poured the batter into a rectangular mold.

Then the curing process began, which takes about a month. The waiting period is essential so the soap can harden, and so the chemical processes can finish and prevent the user from being burned by lye!

Anoria was kind enough to give us some funky soap end cuts to tide us over until our bar is finished.
Thanks to Anoria, Maak Soap, and everyone at Beam & Anchor!"