1. Dress the part
It’s easy to scrounge up clothes for the wintry woodsman look, what with Uniqlo being awash with regular fit selvedge jeans ($49.90) and flannel and microfleece plaid shirts ($29.90-49.90).
2. Get a pair of boots
No further evidence is needed that lumbersexuality is infiltrating Singapore than the new Timberland Footwear Plus Store, which carries hundreds of designs, does customization and promises frequent collaborations. The current collab is with New York brand Black Scale. Clearly these boots weren’t made for walkin’ by for pure style.
3. —or two or three
Also newish is Red Wing Shoes. The American heritage brand boasts about its genuine cattle-hide, triple-stitched boots. They also happen to look badass. And the brick-walled, wooden shelf-lined outlet is part retail shop, part museum. Boots start at $388.
4. Grow a beard. Keep it clean.
But remember, you’re not going for Appalachian hillbilly. Enlist a grooming service that walks the line between HDB barber uncle and imported English posh. We suggest The Panic Room. The clientele is a parade of would-be lumbersexuals, and they carry a cornucopia of grooming supplies from earthy Beard brand Beard Oil ($35) to Modern Pirate Bay Rum Shave Soap ($20). Beard trims start from $15.
5. Eat grilled meat
Burnt Ends is a bit too fancy for a true lumberjack, but for a city-slicking lumbersexual, it’s perfect. This 18-seater, barbecue-focused restaurant—which won Best New Restaurant in our recent Readers’ Choice Awards—gets you close to the rugged life without actually getting your pomaded beard all smoky. It cooks up dishes like pulled pork sandwiches ($20) and woodsy options like rabbit liver and hazelnut ($22) The best part? Bearded chef David Pynt looks the part, too! See our interview with him below.
6. Sip spirits from a once oppressed region
Elsewhere, Sugarhall does an all-American grill concept, with a rock n’ roll playlist, stacked wooden crates behind the bar and classic manly fare like thick-cut pork chops ($28) and grass-fed rib-eye steak ($48). There are over 50 bottles of rum, favorite spirit of lumbersexual forefather Ernest Hemingway, from Plantation Grande Reserve 5 ($16 per jigger/$180 per bottle) to Samaroli Jamaica 1999 ($31 per jigger/$340 per bottle).
7. Or just the brew of Midwestern farmers
Or drink good ol’ beer, and do it in the quieter quarters of Novena. Brand new beer bar Nickeldime looks like a vintage American diner and has 15 rotating taps of seasonal craft beers from breweries like Stone, Anderson Valley, Lost Coast and Buxton Brewing. You can get a flight of four (not very lumbersexy) for $25 and a takeaway growler (more like it) for $30. The food fits the scene, too, with dishes like stout meatballs with barbecue glaze ($15) and ale snapper fish and chips ($16).
8. Or any other kind of farmer really
You’ll want to put on some flannel and do a square dance at The Beast, a three-story bourbon specialist inspired by Southern American watering holes and barns. There are over 30 bourbons to pick from, including the more unusual Willet Pot Still Reserve ($16/glass) from Kentucky and St. George Breaking and Entering ($14/glass) from California. Finger-licking Southern snacks like wings ($12) dominate.
9. Make your own furniture
Just kidding. You’re not a lumberjack, only a lumbersexual. Just buy furniture that other people have made with their own bare hands. The Rocking Chair is the brainchild of husband and wife team Pearl Leong and Jay Sim. They source original vintage pieces from the UK and either restore or upcycle them into statement pieces with loud paint accents. See our interview with Jay Sim, below.
10. Seriously, learn to make something
The General Co is a great place for lumbersexuals to stock up on locally crafted accessories like leather bags and wallets. But they also do regular workshops on leather craft for would-be crafters. The Academy of Fashion Professions is also holding leather workshops at Keepers, held on various days through Dec 19. For an introduction to basic woodworking, sign up for the Simply Pallet Class. You’ll get to make a name card holder and play with a mitre saw. So rugged!
11. Oh, and grow something, too
We’ve written about urban farming collective Edible Garden City before, but in January they’re starting a pop-up school in a shophouse off Rowell Road for urbanites, with courses on soil testing, garden design and permaculture. See our interview with Edible Gardens founder Bjorn Low, below.
Q&A The Real Deal
Three men who don’t just dress the part.
The Farmer: Bjorn Low, Edible Garden City
How did you acquire the skills needed to be an urban farmer?
I worked for a year on different organic farms in the UK through the WOOFing program. Then I went to agriculture school. I did a lot of animal work, which isn’t really applicable in Singapore. But I started to fall in love with cows. Then I came back to Singapore. It took me three years to understand the local environmental factors.
There are class connotations for going back to farming. Was it tough?
There’s that school of thought that farming is dirty work. But when my family saw that I was serious, they tried to find out more. Globally there is a shift—people moving from the city to start farms. And in Singapore, I met a lot of displaced farmers who were farmers in the 60s but were forced out of their farms and became truck drivers. They come and volunteer and reminisce.
The Grill Master: Dave Pynt, Burnt Ends
What prompted to have such a huge beard?
We were travelling with a few guys in South America and they sort of all had short hair and beards. My girlfriend said, “You’d look good like that as well.” And then she backflipped. She was hoping for a maintained short beard, and I liked it going wild like Ned Kelly.
Grilling has traditionally had manly connotations. What drew you to it?
We’ve always had a wood barbecue where we lived. Then I worked at Asador Etxebarri, arguably the best barbecue restaurant in the world. The process of cooking with wood is something I find satisfying. It’s more complicated than turning the gas on and off. But another thing about grilling: one of our best grillers is a Singaporean girl.
The Woodworker: Jay Sim, The Rocking Chair
How did you come to acquire woodworking skills?
My grandfather was a carpenter and I used to tinker around the workshop as a child. But to be honest, most of my current knowledge comes from trial and error, and information from books and the Internet. There is an old retired carpenter who runs a workshop beside our shop who also teaches me from time to time.
These skills are disappearing. What drew you to this kind of work?
I was looking for vintage pieces of furniture for our new home. Everything seemed too expensive or reproductions of actual vintage pieces. I started hunting for discarded furniture in refuse centers and was surprised by the kind of things people throw out. I worked on a few pieces, and found it weirdly therapeutic. We have been living with an out of with the old and in with the new mentality. Times are changing, and I believe that there is a far larger appreciation of vintage things and preserving a piece of history.
