By Richie Frieman
This may sound disappointing to my fellow Mid Atlantic or Northeasterners, but I haven’t been camping (or even roughed it in the great outdoors) since I spent summers at Camp Airy over 15 years ago. Aside from having to roast a marshmallow on a stick with 20 other campers that were more fascinated with stuffing their faces with s’mores than taking in nature … that was about as “rough” as I got. So I have to admit, I am hardly an outdoors man… but damn do I like to pretend I am. There’s just something about this time of year that has always made it my favorite season – when I see the weather dip below 60, it gives me chills – literally and metaphorically. And when it’s time to dress for the weather, there is no other line that screams autumn and winter outdoors than the American classic that is L.L. Bean.
Founded in 1912 by avid hunter and fisherman Leon Leonwood Bean (there’s the L.L.), L.L. Bean gained popularity as a catalog based business in Greenwood, Maine. Since then, L.L. Bean has become a symbol of classic Amerciana; it’s apple pie, the American flag, family and the holidays all wrapped into one comforting fleece coat and flannel shirt – both of which I’ve been rockin’ since elementary school. In fact, everyone at PensEyeView.com has had the L.L. Bean backpack with our initials on it sometime in our lives (I’d even argue that most people reading this article have as well). Over the years, as my style evolved and my own personality took shape, I continually found myself giddy when I received my L.L. Bean catalog in the mail every month. Right now, I’m eyeing up the new peacoat!
L.L. Bean Director of Design, Lynette Kirk says, “The company was built on integrity, ingenuity and innovation almost a century ago with the introduction of the Bean boot. Today we still build great product with the same founding principles.” This season they continued their line of high quality and durable attire that you can wear hiking or to an evening out. L.L. Bean has a new designer for the men’s team in Owen Kelly who has a keen eye for the classic look with a twist. This season, Kelly and his design team spent countless days and nights revisiting the archives of L.L. Bean’s customers favorites to reinvent a line that as Kirk says is pure “Confidence. Confidence in what they are wearing and confidence that L.L.Bean has built the best quality and features into the product while keeping you, our customer in mind.”
Kirk’s recommendations for this season scale the personalities of every man “from the mountain to Main Street” including the cashmere waffle sweater – that Kirk encourages us all to try, promising we’ll be back for more. Another one of her recommendations the Katahdin Iron Work Pant; a great fit with an amazing wash perfect for cool autumn mornings. Follow that up by a relaxing evening with the Rugby robe and the Bean’s Grand Lake Bison moccasin.
So, whether you are a true outdoorsman or… well, me – the guy that loves the outdoors to bike, run and hike in but can’t start a fire with a box of matches and a gallon of liter fluid, check out what L.L. Bean has for this time of year. After all, with almost 100 years of fine tuning American style, you have to admit L.L.Bean is truly timeless.
