Wednesday 30 April 2008
Hyeres, Hyeres, Hyeres
Sunday 27 April 2008
Off the cuff
If you're interested, they're available at Oye Modern... which tells us that "re:vision brings old school cameras into an entirely new focus". There's no reason for me telling you this other than because I love a good pun.
Saturday 26 April 2008
Awesome or awful?
Bonus Saturday links:
- Beard alphabet! Slightly hard to read, but quite fun. I would be very tempted to try and photograph something along these lines.
- A great post on Androgyny by Giancinephile
- Some very lovely menswear over at Style Bubble
- Oh, and I wasn't joking before about Style Salvage-related entries to the Diesel Wall competition. Get to it. I want to see Fred Astaire dancing with Joe Strummer plastered all over the Urbis before the year is out.
(I'm hoping you're getting a taste now of the hundreds of links I bombard Steve with on a daily basis... and these don't even include the kitten related links)
Thursday 24 April 2008
Short attention span
1. Print Liberation t shirts
I've not really been a fan of logo or t shirts with clever writing on them of late, probably after overkill on my part in my youth. That said, I really like the ones over at Print Liberation. I see this t shirt in particular as perfect Sunday gear, proving especially useful when the Sunday evening blues set in. I would be very tempted to wear the 'My boss is an asshole' tee one dress down day and see what happens...
If you're not tempted by their words, you can even custom order one that says whatever you want. Style Salvage t shirt anyone?
2. Flud Turntable watch
I know it's a bit gimmicky, but I'm a sucker. I never really got my head around those watches that cost more than cars, and at $70, the price seems about right. Found here.
3. Bontanika hooded coat
I saw this over at Brandish (it's environmentally friendly, as is the whole brand if you're interested in that sort of thing). I mostly love it because it's almost the exact same pattern as a coat I had when I was about 8 or so... and 12 coats is never enough, is it? You can buy it here, if you can handle Japanese.
4. Not for purchasing, just for... oddness
I'm slightly entranced by this. Not sure if it's genius or blasphemy.
EDIT: I get the feeling I'm going to be listening to this on repeat in the next month.
Wednesday 23 April 2008
Shopping like a man?
4. Hold until the market falls
- wait for sales? Hell yes! I am unashamedly cheap. I wait until the price is right for me, then wait a couple of weeks more and then buy it.Tuesday 22 April 2008
Shoes snapping shoes
Monday 21 April 2008
It's been a while since we had reason left to smile
Aviator sunglasses with dark grey translucent acetate frame and dark grey graduated lens 3 Views Available. 100% Hard Plastic. Price £50.
My shopping list reads as follows:
SHIB Bag (today I've found out that the prices for this vary depending on the choice of lining), Spring Suit (not yet found) and the above sunglasses. That is it. See how I've managed to control my consumerism!
Now all we need is some sunshine... The BBC weather report informs me that I might have a few more days to wait yet. I am just eager to start singing along to some classic Super Furry Animals...
"In honesty, it's been a while, since we had reason left to smile...hello sunshine...come into my life"
List Update - The sunglasses have been bought, using a £20 gift voucher given to me by EJ (she doesn't deal in money but she uses the old currency, instead of the usual animal though this time she gave me the voucher). Thanks EJ!
Sunday 20 April 2008
Smartening up
I have noticed a number of stores opening up their own bespoke (and made to measure) outlets. Start London has recently opened a new men's made to measure store. I am ashamed to admit that I've not ventured down there yet but it caters specifically to tailored suiting, shirts and the customary accompanying accessories (think bespoke ties and handcrafted cufflinks), the shop is located on 40 Rivington Street and I will venture in the coming weeks.
Smarten up in this mid grey wool suit from Start London. The three piece suit comes with a one button single breasted jacket featuring classic lapels, a breast pocket and two envelope pockets on either hip, a pair of trousers with adjustable waist tab, belt loops and zip closure as well as a button up waist coat with silk back. The suit is as luxurious as they come, lined entirely in silk. My suit fund is coming along nicely and as soon as I invest it, I will let you know.
Carrying around the past
Saturday 19 April 2008
Designer Musings
Away from the inspirations of designers, there are certainly iconic figures which exude an influence on my own aesthetics and sartorial choices. Fred Astaire and Cecil Beaton have shown me the way in terms of creative elegance (although I've not yet grown in to this, I aspire to be one day). I would love to say that a male family member has inspired me but only in the sense of 'not wanting to dress like that' although I do like my Grandad's collection of cravats! In terms of modern day icons, my tastes change too frequently and I am more inspired more by images on the Sartorialist or the pages of Fantastic Man or Monocle (I'm particularly liking the style of architects shown within this magazine - when I grow up I don't want to be an astronaut, I want to be a architect) than on the red carpet or silver screen.
Tuesday 15 April 2008
What say we settle this on the runway...?
Tom Ford stylishly relaxing
Which one of these two heavywights are you standing behind? I'm going to be like Switzerland on this one and perch myself on the fence as you lot fight it out....
Monday 14 April 2008
Colourful Collaboration
Sunday 13 April 2008
Dear Topman
Why do you hate men?
Silk Pocket Dress by Boutique
You then have TWELVE other different designers who have created ranges for you, five of which specialise in just shoes. SHOES! Let's see what you offer the men...
Carolyn Massey Funnel Shirt
Four designers for your LENS range. It was five about a month ago, but Nueue seemed to disappear without a word. There are currently 19 pieces available altogether. NINETEEN! No shoes, no accessories.
Now don't get me wrong. The men that I know are grateful for this range... when they can get it. Yes, it's available online, but most people like to try stuff on first. And if you want to try on, you'd damn well better live in London. I'm sure you'll tell me that it is stocked in stores other than your Oxford Street flagship store, but if/when it is, it's a bugger to find. I have previously just stumbled across odd pieces from the range, tucked away among other clothes in random sizes with absolutely no signage whatsoever. What is the problem here? Don't tell me that it's floorspace as you devote half your shop to bloody jeans. Are you not proud of the range?
Sort it out Topman!
EJ
Oh not much gets you this riled up! Unfortunately, this isn't just the case with Topman we have seen it across the High Street and also online. Menswear is the poor cousin of womenswear...Unfortunately, women just spend more money on clothes, not only that but a greater percentage of women are interested in fashion and style...we are in the minority still despite the continued growth of the menswear market. Topman has taken many strong, definite strides forward in recent years but it will take some time for the store to reflect the changing attitudes towards menswear. I agree that they need to do more than they currently are though. I have been the victim (on a number of occasions) where I have seen an item within the Lens collaborations, only to see the item sold out in my size (small to medium)..the just don't stock enough and i am one of the few who have the items available in my local store (the flagship store)! I hope that within my lifetime, the floorspace is divided equally between menswear and womenswear...I'm having a Martin Luther King moment..."I have a dream..." What are our readers experiences, how do our readers from abroad fare in stores...?
Friday 11 April 2008
Yvan beware!
It seemed to be more party than launch (though there were loads of people drawing on the walls of the shop which was pretty cool... I had to stop myself pulling out the felt tip pens when I got home), which gave ample opportunity for me to get a few pics of the (disgustingly) young and trendy people. I felt hideously old and uncool in comparison; must watch more Skins. I should warn you though, I've still not got the hang of my camera yet.
I think this bloke may have been my favourite person there. He was busy drawing on the wall when I asked to take his photo, fervently expressing my love for his quiff. He had some quite excellent glasses (as did quite a few people, actually. Almost enough to make me consider wearing glasses again)
Just brilliant. I think I scared him a little though. UPDATE: This man's work can be found on his Flickr page here. Turns out I have taken pictures of his work before. It's a small, er, Manchester after all.
I had to get a snap of this bloke (who was lovely by the way) as not only is he rocking the slightly unbuttoned white shirt but he's also sporting a rather nice beard. Turns out he was another one of the artists (see below)
This photo does not do this guy's quiff justice. I was stalking around after him for about half the night until I cornered him on the stairs.
Yet more awesome glasses... and can you believe I didn't properly clock the guy on the left's tash until after I took the photo?
Rejuvenated by a simple white shirt
Talk of white shirts make me want to go home and pick up Issue 5 of Fantastic Man (which contained 'The White Shirt' - eight white shirts and what makes them such refined pieces of understated design) and made me re-read a piece of my own posts where I pleaded that white shirts are certainly worth celebrating and deserve much more than their, at times, dull image allows them. Unfortunately I am at work at the moment and off home in Kent for the weekend (which means only a dial up connection and although i like the dialing tone I don't like the pace of it) so there are no images to support this post but I'm sure EJ will find some great ones for you to enjoy.
As promised...
Our man Picasso sporting a more casual white shirt and looking amazing as always.
The quite spectacular Jonathan Rhys Meyers modelling for Versace a couple of years back. If there's a man that has repeatedly proven how good a white shirt can look, it's JRM.
Why stop at a white shirt? Why not white everything. It's possible that only Cecil Beaton could pull this one off so well though. Apologies for the dodgy image quality on this one.
Wednesday 9 April 2008
Sod it
I shall be Morrissey.
I kid of course. I cannot do without accessories and bright colours. But, for today at least, I'm practising my whithering looks. Who are you channelling today?
Discovered by Madame Curie
Whilst I make up my mind about them, I thought would do some research on all things radioactive. Would Radioactive Man wear them? I think not. I then found at there is a Radioactive Man in The Simpsons...god bless Wikipedia and the fountain of knowledge that it is. Ok, enough thinking (time wasting) my conclusion about these jeans is that they could be cool but they are far too expensive for me. If you didn't understand the title of this post, it is a lyric from the Kraftwerk song 'Radioactivity'.
Sunday 6 April 2008
Eyebrows like frozen fire
If I wasn't convinced of the wonder of the beard, after checking out the Poseidon photoshoot by Nathaniel Goldberg, I'm postively preaching to the world the word of full blown facial hair. I fear that the photoshoot may have had some dark mystical effect over me, however, as it has almost convinced me that men can look brilliant in a kaftan.
Two other quick Sunday links for you:
Ten rules of style by Michael Bastian via The Fashion Spot. Point 8 is my favourite.
A rather nice 1930s collegiate letter sweater which brings to mind Andre 3000's style (top item, stock number 30SW). At $98 it's probably cheaper that Andre's own range of clothes will be.
I feel so guilty that I've not responded to this post until now. Firstly, the Goldberg shot shown above makes me feel inadequate as a man, I have to echo Thomas there. I'm not so sure about men being able to rock kaftans but beards they certainly can look brilliant with. We are definitely championing beards a little too much in recent weeks...especially as my growth can never be classed as a beard which emasculates me further!
In terms of Bastian's rule, number 8 needs to be present on this blog, so here it is - "If guys step back and are just honest about what they think looks good on them, it’s really hard to lose. You can spot guys who take on personas that are not theirs" - it is pretty much the only style commandment required. I am certainly agreeing with rule number 10, a suit has become so appealing to me in recent months (since my work wear has become even more relaxed). Infact, I have two types of suits on my wish list, a really great relaxed Spring/Summer suit, I am thinking light navy or grey, and a well tailored black suit which will make other men dribble!
The joy of lists
Now onto James McAvoy, I like the Atonement actor a great deal but he should not be anywhere near the top 50 best dressed men solely because of the cover he did for W. I could go on and on in this fashion but I will try and keep this short...
4th best dressed man in Britain...I'm packing my bag and heading anywhere else...
The Royal Family also find themselves surprisingly well represented, with Princes Philip, Charles, Harry and Michael of Kent all making the list, which was voted for by a panel of international judges including Tom Ford, Giorgio Armani and Naomi Campbell. Conservative leader David Cameron made the top ten, while Gordon Brown fell (or climbed, depending on how you look at it) to third worst-dressed. Can the Conservativeness of this publication being any more subtle?
I will stick to writing my own lists and will be miffed by other peoples....so let's start our own list...recommendations welcome...this is a democratic blog after all.
Is it bad that I've not actually heard of a lot of people on their list? I can't understand how David Beckham can be one of the best dressed men in Britain largely because he doesn't really live here any more. It seems odd that at number one they have someone who dresses so classically, while at number two they have someone who dresses out of a manic 8 year old girl's dressing up box (sorry, in the past year for some reason I've grown to really dislike Noel Fielding).
It's funny though, as much as I love lists, I don't really have a list of stylish men in my head, just particular outfits, films, photographs and moods in a gigantic collage in my memory. I guess for me that's a large part of what this blog's about, trying to pin it all down. Still, I'd love to know who's our readers' number one, or if indeed they have anyone specifically in mind.
Saturday 5 April 2008
Picture postcard: keeping it simple
A lovely looking gent courtesy of Stylesightings for you today. My obsession with wardrobe_remix has been upped the past couple of days since your post on the subject. Something I've noticed though is that more quietly stylish outfits (no bright colours or outlandish shapes) such as the one above don't get commented on as much as others. I suppose this is why I felt like lauding this picture today. I very much hope that this sort of outfit is this chap's standard attire: not showy, not over the top and with an excellent bag. Of course I don't want everyone to dress like this all the time, but if more people did, you wouldn't hear me complaining.
Note to self: bright white trainers aren't always the enemy.
EJ
Well, I have to agree with you that more men should dress like this. It is simple which should attract the attention of most and the look is pretty universal yet stylish. The bag is the perfect 'busy day' bag.
Thursday 3 April 2008
Shoes like Opal Fruits
More info here.
Wednesday 2 April 2008
wardrobe_remix needs you!
There is a lack of men within the group so I urge you to start sending in your pics. If you are worried about the comments don't be, everyone is so nice...in fact they might be a little too nice, lulling me into a false sense of security and then bam, they become so bitchy I run away from my laptop one day in tears, never to venture online again. If you aren't aware of wardrobe remix - briefly it is an online 'DIY fashion community' created by Tricia in 2005, if you are aware of it, why aren't you on it?
I personally like trawling the pool of images (there are currently over 34,000) because I'm a aesthete and enjoy the variety on there, a nice mix of handmade/modified, vintage buys, high street and designer...I just wish that there were more men on there and then it would be become a great resource for inspiration for the blog. The community is so much more interesting than the exactitudes project (an ongoing exploration of the so called striking dress codes of various social groups, and the way clothing and fashion can be used to both fit into and stand-out from the crowd) which I recently saw at Selfridges but I will soon be amassing a favourites portfolio containing a similar volume of images!
Channeling his inner 1950's dad/1960's French assassin Mr Wong above is an inspiration. I seriously need to smarten up my act and most importantly invest in a few hats...I do not possess a single smart hat and this is a fact I will change very soon. In fact I think I've found the perfect one at Hurwendeki but decided against buying it just yet because I now have a clothes budget in place and I'm actually sticking to it pretty well...Anyway, enough of my consumer habit...as I said, this is a serious post, I want to see more guys sign up to wardrobe remix, so start taking lots of pics. I have to admit that I'm not the most regular of contributors to the w_r community because...well I can be a little lazy and uninspired but I am beginning to get the desire to attack my wardrobe and drawers with gusto and start taking more photos to post and I urge you to do the same.
Tuesday 1 April 2008
Dunks Boogie Woogie
To me these are perfect for Summer...I normally shy away from trainers with more than two colourways but the use of multiple colors here does not detract from the overall cohesive simplicity of the dunk design (that we all know and love) in fact I think the primary colours enhance the simplicity of the shoe.
I will leave you with a quote from Hannah Hoch on Mondrian "Everything in his life was reasoned or calculated. He was a compulsive neurotic and could never bear to see anything disordered or untidy. He seemed to suffer acutely, for instance, if a table had not been laid with perfect symmetry" (I sometimes wish I was like this....)