JON CARAMANICA GOES SHOPPING: Unlikely Thug Edition

In today's Thursday Styles, Critical Shopper Jon Caramanica appears to have been in an oddly poetic mood while writing about Williamsburg's Kinfolk, framing his review with extened thoughts on the evolution of an aging thug.

A thug ages. Slows down. Softens. Begins to look both ways when crossing the street. Walks a little more slowly around older people. Looks babies in the eye, and smiles.

And it goes on from there. Maybe he was a little drunk. Who can say?

We aren't really sure if our shopper was referring to himself (which seems kind of unlikely) or the owners of Kinfolk, who, while burly and tattooed, may not or may not particularly appreciate being identified as any sort of thug, former or otherwise, in The New York Times. It is, after all, kind of a strong word with all sorts of potentially inappropriate implications. Ultimately, we really don't know who this mythical thug is supposed to be, especially since the archetypal Williamsburg male is more of a skinny hipster. Anyway, the store doesn't sound all that thuggish at all what with the $1,100 biker jackets and the Maharishi trench coats and the nautical striped shirts. It sounds like a store pitched to the guy who has been studying his menswear blogs and is ready to share what he has learned with the like-minded, which is perfectly fine, even appealing without all the ex-thuggishness.

Critical Shopper: Catering to the Refined Ruffian By Jon Caramanica (NYTimes)
Kinfolk 94 Wythe Avenue at N. 11th Street, Williamsburg