The fridge is a very private part of the home. It's not that the number of onions in the drawer or the expiration date on a crusty bottle of hot sauce are marks of shame, but the food items we keep around provide a certain amount of personal narrative. A new photo series on Micropolis:NYC will take a look inside New Yorkers' fridges, and publish autobiographical profiles in the form of each subject explaining their life through food choices. Check out the first installment below.





Here's an excerpt from the profile about those 17-year-old bonito flakes:

"I have a jar of bonito flakes dipped in soy sauce. It’s been in my fridge for 17 years, since I came to the US. I use this is for making rice balls, but it’s never been changed or cleaned. I think it still has some essence of 1995. This is an important condiment to me. But I like to keep it. It never goes bad. It’s like a gem. It is impossible to go bad. You put the sauce in the middle of the rice ball and then wrap seaweed around it."

Follow Micropolis:NYC for future profiles.

Some of us like a contrast between urban grit and city chic, some well-worn infrastructure with our tony brownstones. We like seeing the logo of the local metropolitan transit authority on strange buildings tucked away between alleys and elevated trains. Then there are those of us more sensitive to preserving the "charm" of upscale city hoods or maintaining their historic aesthetic. It seems the transport authorities fall into the latter category in several instances, at least in the case of the fake townhouses exposed in New York, London, and Paris on messynessychic.com today, one of which is even cited in an Umberto Eco novel. All three were devised to hide air shafts for underground trains.

Know of any other fake townhouses? We'd like to hear from you.

It was a mob of manicured beards, Fair Isle sweaters, and leather boots at the recent Pop Up Flea V at NYC’s ROOT (Drive-in) in Chelsea. Hosted by A Continuous Lean’s Michael Williams and Randy Goldberg of Urban Daddy, the 3-day menswear event was the mecca for urban dudes who embrace a decidedly rustic wardrobe. Has the heritage trend given guys the liberty to upgrade their look in a down-to-earth way? We’ll let you decide. So, go ahead and pitch a tent. Here are a few highlights:

1. Man of the World: The fancy lifestyle mag’s booth sported a shiny black MG, fixies, and smaller goods like axes by Best Made Co. and Walnut Studios’ Leather Bicycle Can Cages, perfect for your PBR.
   
   
2. Gerber: No, not baby food… knives. A shit ton of knives displayed beneath a tent adorned by a huge boar head. And other potentially lethal goodies like hatchets. Winner: most creative booth.
   
   
3. Ursa Major: Sustainable skincare products made from natural ingredients that smell fantastic. Products like “Stellar Shave Cream” and “Fortifying Face Balm” kind of smell like... well, the woods. Not sweaty lumberjack woods, more rugged outdoorsman woods.
   
   
4. Billykirk: The leatherwork designs of brothers Chris and Kirk Bray is handcrafted by a group of Amish leather workers in Pennsylvania. Impeccably made satchels, belts, and more. Also? They’ve collaborated with J.Crew so you know their work is perfect. Because J.Crew just seems…perfect.
    
5. Levi’s Vintage Clothing: I know, it feels all branding voodoo with the addition of “Vintage Clothing”, but Levi’s pulled off some serious bad-ass magic with a large gallery exhibit of self-taught Brooklyn photographer Danny Lyon’s “The Bikeriders” featuring hand-painted leather moto jackets, books, pics, and archives. Photojournalism at its best. It was brilliant.