All Sizes Do Not Fit One

Meet Thom Browne ... fashion designer/anarchist. I say anarchist because what he is doing to fashion is not innovative by any means in my book. It is an overthrow of the most basic ideas of style. And the fashion community is eating it up. His suits have even attracted the attention of "The Bible." Yes, y'all ... GQ has now featured him in their latest issue. Not only did I find his suits featured as a hot new item, His suit even appeared in a section of the magazine where they photograph everyday people walking around. So, there is at least one person in the world who walked down the street in this ill-fitted suit with no socks. What is wrong with this picture?

I am all for revolutionizing style, and creating new and interesting looks. But this is a suit that in no way fits a man's body. High-hemmed pants, tightly-tailored jackets. You're spending thousands of dollars to look like you grew and extra foot or so overnight. Remember the movie "Big"? This is what it looks like summarized in clothing. I don't get it.

Is this what we've come to now? The only way to be creative in fashion is to look as tacky and unpolished as you can possibly manage. It is one thing to play with gender roles in clothes, it is quite another to cram yourself into a Steve Urkel's pants.

I will compliment his choices as far as the overall look. If you look at some of his clothes that have hit the runway, they are very creative, and I love the overall look. I would certainly find his suits more appealing if they just fit the body better.

This look with the half-cut jacket is very good. That is artistic and creative: the pants become the rest of the suit jacket. That is something worth parading on runway. But Pee Wee Herman cuts for clothing? Shouldn't be vogue. And yet, the fashion world eats it up. I guess fashion has been so deadly safe for years to the point where anything shocking is gold, even if it's the wrong kind of shocking.

Well, welcome to Thom Browne's high-hemmed suits. They have gone from catwalk to sidewalk. I just hope they stay off my block.

Here's to style. Cheers!

The Best Suit You Can Afford: A Birthday Suit!

I was talking to Courtenay the other day, and she brought up an old memory from law school that inspired me for this blog. Courtenay, Nnena, and I teamed up for a calendar to raise money for a student organization. We went with more fashionable photos, with lots of skin. It looked great. Courtenay brought up the idea of turning it into a business rather than practicing law. That's not an entirely bad idea. The "Birthday Suit," as it is often called, is far more photographed these days than clothing. Do we all recall the Abercrombie & Fitch catalog? Was there ever an actual article of clothing on anybody in that catalog? I don't remember.

So, the question of the day is this: has fashion lessened the old adage "Less is more" to the point where naked or near-naked is what's selling the clothes? I'm starting to think so. Editorials are more about skin now. It stands out so much more sometimes. And, let's be honest, it's just nice looking at an undressed beautiful body isn't it?

I am seriously rolling around the idea of a calendar business. Some skin here, some fun there, some money everywhere. It could work. I could even use the photos as attention grabbers for an image consulting business. Wouldn't you want to know more about a company advertised by hot nakedness? lol

I have seen some great photos taken ... very artistic, and barely any clothing involved. But, it's still high fashion photography. I could get down with a business revolving around looking good, and talking people out of their clothes. Not a bad life at all.

To be serious for a moment, the human body is a thing of beauty all by itself. Man or woman. So often people don't appreciate their own au naturale appearance. We cover up everything we don't like about our bodies with clothing. That's not the point of clothes people! The point of clothes is to enhance what you already have. Let's not use it to hide what we don't like. We should feel sexy naked and sexier clothed.

Try an exercise I like to do daily. After you get out of the shower, and dry off, take a look at yourself. Yes ... butt-booty naked. Just take a look. From head to toe. I want you to find something on your body that you usually overlook and compliment it. I don't care if it's a kneecap, a fold, a nook, or a cranny ... just compliment it. Do that daily. Rather than criticize what you don't like, turn it into a positive. And for each body part, think about what clothes you want to wear for the day to make that part look or feel sexy to you. Believe me, there are certain parts of your body that no one will see in your clothes, but that part will feel sexy to you in that outfit. If it doesn't, it's the wrong outfit, or you need a new wardrobe. Now that's a new spin on "less is more." The less you criticize your body, the more confidence you'll have in it, and the better you'll feel about yourself.

Confidence in the best look on anyone.

Here's to style. Cheers!

Give and Take: How Sharing Ideas Can Help Your Style

Like many of you out there I keep a Facebook page. It is loaded with law school friends, college friends, high school friends, hometown friends, and so on. It's collection of people I've come across in my life. It's where I can share my ideas, and receive new ones, all in a centralized location.

A few days back, I posted an interesting Note about shunning those with different ideas than you. Several people provided their input, and today it struck me about how that discussion relates to fashion. In an ideal world, we enjoy different viewpoints, ideologies, and tastes coming together, and through the sharing of our individualism with other people, we come to understanding. We each grow as a better person, and that would eventually spread through the world. Well, that's the ideal. Why not bring that same growth to your wardrobe?

Have you ever thought about being around people with different styles than you? Is there someone in your clique that loves the rocker look? How about a preppy? Someone who always dresses too sexy? Someone classic? Someone "All-American?" What do you all think about the clothes each other wears? Do you like them, love them, envy them, hate them? Have you ever tried to take that friend's style, and work it into your own?

Let's try a little experiment. Think about the people in your life and what they wear. Now, think about why they wear certain clothes or accessories. Can you take their ideas of what's fashionable, and weave it into your own looks? How about an example ...

Take a person who is a Gap, Old Navy, all the way. Say she has a goth friend, a Vogue, trendy friend, and a sexy scantily dressed friend. Goths love dark clothing and makeup, and a lot of metal accessories. A Vogue girl is bit French, European prêt-à-porter. And of course the sexy friend tries to show a lot more skin. So what can the Gap take away from these friends? How about this:

I personally love a nice oversized, gaudy ring. This Vampiress ring works nice with the following look that combines a bit of the other friends:

What do you know, Gap has some European inspired clothes. This dress is quite trendy these days, and it has that Gap conservative, cover a lot up, design with the sexy show some skin flair. But, because the Gap girl is a conservative dresser, she can wear the stocking or leggings so that she doesn't feel too exposed with skin. Pair it all up with a chunky shoe like the ones above (I said chunky, not ugly...there's a difference), and you've got a look. And for those of you a little more daring with Goth, go for a dark shade of fingernail polish ... even black. I wouldn't go for black lipstick, but a deep shade, and a strong smokey eye could work. It's a bit daring, but it combines the best of all the looks into one finished, fabulous look. In fact, your friends should have some of those pieces for their own looks, so you all could swap pieces, and combine. There is fashionable goth, so don't give me that line.

What do you think? And all you had to do was open your mind to the possibility of someone else's ideas ... funny how easy and beneficial that is to do.

As I have said before fashion is a reflection of society. Don't you want your society to be a mesh of all things and, from the collective, achieve greatness? It can only be done by an open sharing of ideas, and a respect for the differences you have. I'm not saying embrace the differences, but work with them. Respect is something greater than tolerance. If I can do it with clothes, it can be done with people. A lesson not to let this country turn into GAP people, huh?

Here's to style. Cheers!

The Color Purple

"I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it." — Shug Avery

Well, for the fall fashion season, the designers have taken Shug's advice and made sure that everyone notices the color purple. Traditionally, the fall season is a time for subdued colors. This is a time for rust-colored orange, browns, yellows, reds. Colors that blend in with the autumn scenery. Well, for fall 2008, we don't blend, we stand out and overpower. Welcome to a new day.

New York fashion designers have shifted from the usual dull autumn hues, and opted for more bright, exciting colors. What's the No. 1 must have color for fall? Purple. A deep, rich royal purple jewel tone. This the "It" color on the fall runways. It's bold, exciting, vibrant, and breaks the norm for the season. I love it.

But the designers didn't stop there. Jewel tones are all over the place in a variety of bold colors. I'm much more fond of blue, but that's just me. So, get out there and pick up a few pieces and mix it up. This year is not about muted shades. You want to stand out.

And, to help you out with what to buy -- now that you know the colors you need -- here are a few of the style trends for fall:

1. Tailored blouses tucked into high-waisted pants or skirts

2. The layered look

3. Jackets are longer this season

4. Long trench coat

5. Flashy jewelry -- the big, gaudy, chunky kind that draws attention to your face. (Don't overdo this trend. Mix subtle pieces with larger pieces. Take a look at Women's Wear Daily for examples of the chunky jewelry. Just remember that you should only have a piece or two that are bold. The rest should serve as a background.)

6. Belts are bigger

7. An oversize, patent leather purse

Any of these styles can incorporate the new colors. But never do all trends together. That is just tacky. Be sure to mix the old with the new, the flashy with the subtle, and so on.

Here's to style. Cheers!

Pink Posse? Think Pu**y

The Pink shirt ... the most tragic piece of fashion to ever come off the lines at any sweat shop in Honduras. I mean these kids work for $0.45 a hour, can't they at least be proud of what they're making? Why, oh why did this color have to show up for a grown man?

As many of you know, I have a serious grievance against any grown man wearing pink. Actually, I would say after 13 (when boys and girls start actually start developing serious differences....namely hair growth) a male should no longer have feminine colors in his wardrobe like this. Pink, light yellow, light purple, general pastels and Easter colors....NO NO NO!

I understand that manhood is being redefined, and softer man is coming to life. But seriously guys, do you have to be so soft you move into limp-wristedly flaccid? Yeah....I said it. I had to make up a whole new word to describe this crap. And it's not just this shade of pink that must go....all shades (salmon, whatever you call it to convince yourself you aren't wearing pink). I have heard everyone try to justify a man wearing this color. Let it go. That dog just ain't gonna hunt folks.

People ... get it together. Let us find other shades of color in our wardrobe. Even the hottest man will not make this look good. Because really, when you see a hot guy in a pink shirt, are you saying he looks good in that shirt, or that he just looks good, OR that he would look good without that pink shirt on ... he should take that off? Yeah I thought so.

I am taking a stand on this like I took a stand on flip-flops. This isn't fashion. It isn't style. It's just plain tragic. I will not condone pink on a grown man. I will not Sam I am. At the end of the day it looks like Japanese baby doll fashion. And if any of you have seen that, you will understand why I target pink wearers. It's no different in my eyes. It's okay when you're young and don't know any better. But at a certain age, you let childish things go. The problem with our society now is that we are holding onto it. 30 and 40 year old men still play video games. They still go to clubs to pick up "chicks" or "hot girls." It's a reflection of how pathetic and juvenile men have become. They continue to be Peter Pan...forever a child. Their clothes even reflect it. Where are men? Throw down your pink shirts, join the grown-up world. Maybe if we're all lucky, the other childish things men continue to do in older ages will fall behind too.

Every once in a while I relate a fashion concept to societal norms. Bare with me. Eventually you'll find that clothing reflects society. And in some cases, dictates it. Take a look back at history and you'll see it for yourself. So, bare with me when my commentary dives into a societal piece.

A toast: to leaving behind childish ways. Starting with pink shirts. I'll definitely drink to that.

Here's to style. Cheers!

It's Time for Time

Word on the street is that watches may be the new "It" item in fashion.

"Salvatore Ferragamo, Valentino, Versace, and Roberto Cavalli have all introduced pricey new watches in the past two years, and brands like Dior and Chanel are expanding their watch divisions. "

Time pieces have been a neglected area of a person's look. You walk around and you see people wearing the latest trends, and it gets blindsided by a rubber watch that was clearly bought as an impulse buy at the registers of Wal-Mart or Target. You might as well be wearing a calculator watch, or one of those tacky hip hop, multicolored watches that are way too pricey to be that ugly.

If you flip through your latest fashion magazines, you will find a lot more editorials for watches. And as you have read above, the major fashion houses are even jumping on the watch bandwagon. So, this blog is gonna give you my top picks for watches, tips on when to wear them, and tips on which watches go with what style. Trust me when I say a watch isn't a constant accessory. I have two, and you don't always see me wearing either one of them. There are times when you can just leave it at home. You have a cell phone, don't you? You will always know what time it is. But if you are the type to need to wear a watch....here's how to do it with style.

MEN:

My top picks for watches are the kind that are so simple looking that they stand out when you look at them versus flashy. The Lange 1 by A. Lange & Söhne is a nice piece. It's simple, yet very sleek, fresh ... certainly vogue. This is the kind of watch that can be worn in business, and in pleasure. It is a very grey color...so be on the lookout for what you pair it with. A nice navy, black, or grey suit can be nice. And those colors are not bad at all for a business casual look either. Now if you're a brown shoes kind of guy, you can go with Breguet. Apparently Napoleon Bonaparte was once a client of this watch company (Established in 1775). The model 5327BA is a nice brown leather band and gold watch. It would compliment any uptown style that you can wear brown leather shoes with. Now if go completely casual and trendy....the Cartier Roadster is a great little find. This a sleek, and yet playful watch.

Very casual. outside of businesswear, this could polish any look...even shabby chic. Let's be honest, if you aren't wearing something that most can't afford, how will they ever know you're better than them? Oh, and if you are like me and you wear rings, or necklaces, or even wrist cuffs....no watch. Even men can overaccessorize. Unless you are in a band...keep the accessories to only two. A ring and watch, a cuff and necklace, etc. no cuff with a watch....EVER.

WOMEN:

For women, the styles choices are a bit different, so rather than tell you exactly what to buy, I will have to explain what to look for in a watch. For a business suit, you want something simple, small, and almost undetectable on your wrist. Try not to wear something with a link wristband. Leather bands are your friends with a suit. For a more business casual look, or your uptown wears, try a link band watch.Or for a more posh look, try a larger face watch...maybe jeweled a bit. And really only recommend a bracelet style watch with a below the knee skirt, or long pants (palazzo -esque pants..something with room...very Katherine Hepburn). It's much classier, and adds that appropriate feminine touch. There is no formal wear....NONE...that I can recommend a watch for ladies. NONE. Let it go. If you're in formal wear, your watch for the night should be on your date's wrist. You're not Cinderella...you don't need to be that aware of time in that situation. A good tip for finding these styles is DKNY. They have an assortment across the spectrum of watches to fit your needs. And DKNY is much more affordbale than Chanel, which would be my haute choice.

Now I know these choices are quite expensive. Remember that you can always find similar styles for a lesser price if they are out of your range. The point of this is for you to better understand what looks good and what doesn't. Just because it's A style, doesn't mean it is THE style.

Here's to style. Cheers!

Victor / Victoria: Fall 2008 Menswear

IT HAS FINALLY HAPPENED. It started with CK One, the unisex fragrance. Then, with the American embrace of Euro club fashions, we entered a land where men could share clothes with their woman. We let metrosexuality take over. It has all come down to the final assimilation of masculinity into the feminine world.

Welcome to the newest in men's fashion -- women's fashion transposed onto men. Check out the Fall 2008 Menwear Magazine. You will find a wonderful article on the latest fall wears for men. These lovely pieces include a beautifully detailed Versace shearling and leather coat, cashmere scarves, rug-embroidered hoods that resemble a woman's wrap, and a Prada Trench with a very a neckline that is only suited to show off a woman's cleavage.

I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised by it. Then again, the whole point of a collection is to shock a bit. This year, the hottest trend in women's fashion is Menswear. Women are wearing menswear-inspired fashions. What's good for the goose is good for the gander, right? So, here we are. Men are wearing Womenswear.

This season, Fendi has even sent their men out on the runway with purses and clutches. Fashion has gone to the women. And I actually like it. Don't think I'm crazy. I don't like the pieces that have been created, but I do think it's time to move in this direction. There are some things in Womenswear that I have wanted to see translated to menswear. Let's take a little looksie, shall we?

Do you love it? I do. I'm not a fan of the fur so much. But I can live it. The overall message is that fashion can cross genders. Gender really is an illusion most times. It should be with clothes. I am certainly enjoying the new lines.

Many of you will probably say the new styles have gone too far. For shame! Embrace these looks. You don not have to repeat them exactly. But don't be afraid that something looks "too girly" for you to wear. A strong man can pull this off flawlessly. Are you man enough to fem it up? I say we toast to the success of the gender-bending menswear, and hope it continues to the look I've envisioned for years.

Here's to style. Cheers!