Review of the past few weeks

Over the last few weeks, we have had a few notable events for the "fashionable" celebrities to strut their stuff on national television. First, we had the Grammys. Oh yes, the Grammys. Where do I begin? I used to be the biggest fan of the Grammy awards, primarily because KanYe West always was up for something, and he had some killer performances, like this one with Daft Punk back in 2008:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4c98v_kanye-west-daft-punk-stronger-live_music#.USOqMI5c97E

Since then, I've been pretty disappointed with the Grammys because 1, KanYe hasn't performed, 2. Bad musicians win with their bad songs, and 3. not too many people know how to dress anymore. BAD STYLISTS. Let's get in to that.

First off let me just say, it was not ALL bad. There were some decent and even some sharp dressed artists on display at this years Grammys.

Obviously, Queen B killed it, as usual. Beyonce is a woman with curves, and she accentuates the shit out of her body. She also had a baby. Yeah. Let that sink in, ladies. 

Beyonce's partner in crime, Jay-z, also does it right. Now, this man is basically the God of rap. And at his age, he can pretty much do whatever he wants, and he apparently wants to win more Grammys with KanYe and rap about all the millions in their accounts. As far as his outfit, he did it proper. Black tux. White shirt. Black bow tie. Black shoes. CLASSIC.

Ah yes. Mr. "Suit & Tie shit". Well JT, you can definitely say that. Perfect fit, perfect class, with just the right amount of flair with the Michael Jackson style loafers and a large floppy bow tie. Pocket square shows that refined side of the suit and plays off the loafers. Not to mention the awesome side-part-combover swag. (I jacked this hairstyle btw)

Super-producer and part-time rapper Hit-Boy (you know him, guy behind "Ni**as In Paris and many more) was dressed rather sharp as well. Nice textured sport coat with a large lapel. Lovely purple loafers with tassels and matching bow tie. Sharp. Well put together. Understated, but still eye catchingly dashing. Well done, HB.

Have you ever seen such a perfect couple that isn't Jay-z and Beyonce?! Faith Hill and Tim McGraw have got to be what every caucasian couple strives to be. They are both old, but look amazing. Both are country stars, but look right out of the pages of Vogue. They just compliment each other. Maybe because they are just amazing people together that I am fawning over this picture, but for real, I want to be Tim McGraw. Can't go wrong with the all black everything 

That was the class of the well dressed. Lets get in to the "average and nothing special" outfits of the evening. 

In typical Skateboard P fashion, Pharrell Williams went with something classic but with a modern twist to it. A nice sharp fitting suit with some sort of velvety pattern, and a teal bow tie. I feel like its something that P was like, "well, I'm not really up for anything, so I'll just wear this I guess". A great outfit, but for someone so prolific and stylish, I was just expecting something more extravagant I suppose. (The woman he's with is his baby's momma Helen Lasichahn)

Sting, one of the legends of the music world, has half of a good look. The jacket, shirt, tie, scarf...all marvelously put together. However, the Shaun White-esque super skinny pants make him look like a giant great voiced lollipop. Too skinny of pants, man. 

LOL. Skrillex. I'm not even wasting my time...

My man John Mayer. Looks like he is going to a dinner party, not so much a 'biggest celebration of music artistry of the year' event. AND COMB YOUR GODDAMN HAIR. *John's mom's voice*

Olé! Mr. Chainz here thought he was going to a bull fight and not the Grammy Awards apparently. I understand, "you're diff'rent yeah you're diff'rent" but dress accordingly, not like you are in Spain being a matador. TRUUUUUUUUU

Rozay! Rick Ross always dresses well, especially since his new thing lately seems to be sporting suits all over the place. I just feel like the Boss could have worn something a little more flashy, seeing as he is a flashy man. But on the whole, not a bad look from Rozay. 

Drake man...GET TO A TAILOR AND FIX THOSE PANTS. 

Look at me now. I need to wear a solid white suit and shoes to show the world that I STILL LOVE ATTENTION. Good fitment, sharp looking suit. I just can't stand you, Chris Brown.

That pretty much recaps the winners and losers of the Grammy Awards for me. Nothing too crazy, but just about everything I expected from all the celebrities.

THERE WAS ALSO A KIMYE SIGHTING!

The gruesome twosome was seen at the Los Angeles TopShop opening together. KanYe was sporting a Philip Lim floral pattern shirt as well as his famous leather pants, with a pair of Balenciaga multi-material sneakers on his feet. Typical Ye style. Nothing too crazy, but for someone who said "all over print shirts are done" is seeming pretty hypocritical. 

And then we had the biggest joke in the history of sports and fashion ever. NBA ALL STAR WEEKEND IN HOUSTON, TEXAS! 

This is a showing of the pseudo-fashionable athletes and relevant rappers get together to flaunt their awful outfits and extravagantly priced gear to the masses while basically playing a game of HORSE and doing a few dunks. 

EDDIE MURPHY LIVES!!! Nope, that's just Drizzy Drake wearing a pair of red leather En Noir sweatpants... looking like a clown. Leather is a huge trend right now, primarily thanks to KanYe West. Just because its a "trend" does not mean that you know how to do it, or can pull it off. Drake, does not.

Bron Bron is on something man. Yeah, you are clearly the most dominant player in the league, dropping 20+ points per game and just absolutely shattering defenses. But off the court, you are WHACK. Leather pants. Leather sleeves. Black heart pin...dude, are you trying to tell us something? Your outfit looks forced. You look uncomfortable. And its really just...not a good look. And WHY ARE YOU WEARING SUNGLASSES INSIDE AN ARENA?! 

Kevin Durant was dressed decently. Black pants, Black Givenchy stars and beads tee, and a black fedora. It's something that annoys me though. EVERY NBA player feels the need to dress "nerdy chic" with fedoras, glasses with no lenses, etc etc. You can't ALL have the same style. C'mon man.

Russell Westbrook sporting a Louis Vuitton x Stephen Sprouse button up shirt and some cream colored pants. Solid outfit, but the only reason anyone likes the Sprouse collection is because it SCREAMS "HEY THIS SHIRT WAS WICKED EXPENSIVE!". Kinda gaudy, but I kinda like it. 

My favorite baller of all time Kobe Bryant was seen sporting a lot of Givenchy, seen here wearing the Mason Givenchy t shirt and the airplane print modal scarf. Decent outfit from KB but i just don't like Givenchy that much. He pulls it off well though, seeing how you can't really tell what either of the Givenchy items are unless well, you follow Givenchy. 

Westbrook wore this monstrosity as he coached the NBA celebrity game. Camo pants, brown camel hair blazer, shirt n tie...and the Tokyo Jordan 5's. WTF WAS HE THINKING? This is a clown outfit. Not a good look. Not groundbreaking "style". Not anything to even salvage as "cool". Tsk tsk, Mr. Westbrook.

See what I mean? The NBA ASG brings out the worst of the worst from a lot of people. I could blog for days about how poorly the players as well as the more notable fans were dressed. But what do I know? Fashion is subjective. Style is just an opinion. 

Tailored with Trainers

If you've seen any issue of GQ, Details, or any other men's style publications, you have probably noticed that they all have infatuations with wearing sneakers with tailored suits. Some conventional style connoisseurs will say you are dressing down the suit and that you look very juvenile, and are having trouble committing to maturity (can't say I don't have that problem). Other, more modern gentlemen of style will say that you are killing two birds with one stone. You are shaking the very roots of fashion and questioning it's black and white ways, and that you are also being utilitarian in the sense that you are wearing your gym kicks to work because you walked from home, or what have you. I believe there is a time and place where it is ok to wear your trainers with a suit, but nothing in my eyes will ever beat a nice suit and a classy pair of monkstraps. Either way, sneakers with suits is the sure fire trend and I'm going to show you some ways that it has been popping up lately.

The gentlemen in this picture are wearing pretty similar outfits, a slightly different from the mundane colored suit, solid colored shirt, and a pair of kicks. Pretty solid fit's on both of their suits, the taper on their trousers are just right, especially with the cuff on the powder blue pants. The sneakers add that mix of casual style with the refined look of the suit to balance it out pretty well. As you can see, these guys look as if they are just out and about walking around town, not necessarily hosting an event or going to a dressier occasion. I feel the sneakers here work just fine.

Here is Mr. Suit-and-Tie-Shit, Justin Timberlake. Now, he is a singer/songwriter/producer/actor/dancer/entertainer/jackofalltrades/GOD so he is going to be an exception. When on stage, you can wear pretty much whatever you want. Hell, KanYe wears leather leggings and kilts. A$AP Rocky wears women's dresses. Now this is not as extreme as the aforementioned, but its still a pretty different look. White sneakers none the less. Anyone can put on a pair of Adidas Shelltoes but with a suit, it takes a different type of guy. With an outfit like this, there are some serious attitude, confidence, and swagger requirements.

 Ok, you are thinking to yourself, 'When the hell am i going to be in a khaki suit on a yacht?". Even if you aren't a billionaire playboy philanthropist enjoying a day on the water, you can still wear your lightweight suit like this to the office in the summer. Yes, you still have to dress up even when the weather heats up. As seen here, this gentleman has a pair of casual lace up sneakers with no socks. This is such a polished look, and the sneakers are subtle enough that it makes everything look like it goes. The aesthetics of the outfit are on point. The sneakers you would wear with a suit should not overpower the suit itself. So, no big swooshes, no reflective 3M material patches, and no high octane colors. Did I contradict everything from the first picture? Yes, but different styles and different occasion. The Nike trainers in the first pic are worn in an office environment, and sure it is ok if you are working in a hip, modern but casual work space, but if you are walking into Charles Schwab offices, you probably shouldn't look like you ran from the gym to make it into work. As easy as it is to do right, it is just as easy to do the sneakers with a suit look wrong. As follows...

Dwayne Wade, one of the most stylish men of the NBA. Here, we have him in a pair of Black Cement Air Jordan III's with his grey sharkskin suit. What I gather from the image is that the event is not too, too formal due to him not wearing a tie, having an opened button shirt and a scarf. The sneakers look a little too out of place for me here because he is already dressed pretty casually, he really just could have done a dark denim, dressy-ish blazer, unbuttoned sport shirt and scarf, and had gotten away with it. This is one of those cases that the sneakers do make it seem like it's an immature look, that he was disengaged with being in attendance at the event to begin with, and that he doesn't really care how his image was represented at the time. Obviously we all know D.Wade is a sharp dresser. This was just a faux-pas. It happens to the best of em. Life goes on...

All in all, I feel like if you are going to do the sneakers and suit look, stay away from looking like Turtle from Entourage when he wore kicks on the red carpet. If you feel the need to wear something lighter and more sporty with a suit, check out the Cole Haan Lunargrand's. Nike's collaboration with CH adds a lunarlon sole to a wingtip shoe giving it that pop of color and sporty style on a more traditional dress shoe. They also make them in a plethora of colors.

Sneakers and suits. The blend of street and office. Trend and Traditional. Just the perfect balance of youthful spunk with the proper gentlemanly aesthetic of a finely tailored suit. Fashion is subjective, and to each their own.

"Fashions fade, style is eternal."

-Yves Saint Laurent 

Street style

Streetwear.
Street wear is a distinctive style of fashion not to be confused with hip hop fashion.^[1] Its roots are in skateboarding and the "skatewear" of the 1980s.^[2] It was later adopted as an urban fashion in Japan before growing to an international business.^[2] An important element to the style is vintage or vintage-style sneakers.^[3]
(quoted from wikipedia)

When I am not in a suit, I guess you would classify my main style as 'streetwear'. Even as I write this, what I am wearing is pretty much all streetwear brands. I've been really into the Japanese lifestyle since longer than I can remember. I've also been in to fashion for just as long. When I first saw the aesthetic of these underground brands from America popping up in Japan, I was astonished and amazed. I saw the mixture of American grunge mixed with Japanese sensibility with materials very reminiscent of military uniforms and the such. It was a fresh image to me. Graphic t's, screenprinted hoodies and jeans with slimmer cuts when the only thing anyone was wearing was some denim you could fit 2 other people in. The more I liked the style, the more and more brands popped up, doing the same thing but doing it differently. Today most of the brands involved in the aesthetic are somewhat watered down and just putting out crap just for the sake of putting out stuff, but there are still brands that were out when I was first getting into this fashion shit and they keep going strong. Today, streetwear is pretty much a watered down genre. It's a style built up with a lot of hype and not a lot of reasoning for it. But even though there are the clowns that want to dress like what they see the entertainers wearing and all that, there are the people that do it correctly.

My favorite examples of streetwear, and the people that do it right, are mainly the creators of some of the biggest brands in the genre. For example, Pharrell Williams.

Not only is he the creator of Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream clothing, he is also one the sharpest dressed men in the world in my opinion. Skateboard P is the perfect mix of rebellious biker meets skateboard punk meets world famous rapper meets refined super-producer swag. 

Even super casual, it's super put together.

When I met P at Fashion Week in NYC, he was wearing this outfit. He also had a drug-rug type sweater on, but it just looked right. Confidence is the best accessory and damn does this dude wear it well. After all, we are talking about a man that rocks Chanel...and Bape fishing lures. 

Now if you think street style is just jeans and a t shirt, you are wrong. A good 75% of the people you ask about streetwear, the first thing they say to describe it would probably be "t shirts". But that is where the other guy in the above pictures comes in. KanYe West.

Yeezy. 

If you are asking why most of these pictures are of Ye with his old girl Amber Rose and not his new baby momma Kim K, it is because 1. he dressed better when he was with Am and 2. I do not like Kim. But back to KanYe. Here is a man that has had his ups and downs with the public's opinions on him *insert KanYe shrug* but has always been dressed to the 9's. He is one of those guys that can go from dressing uber preppy, like College Dropout and Late Registration Ye...

(back when they thought pink polo's would hurt the Roc)

...to Givenchy swagging, kilt wearing, leather megging Watch The Throne KanYe. 

We are talking a dude that has his OWN NIKE SNEAKER. Let me say that again. HE HAS 2 OF HIS OWN NIKE SNEAKERS!!!! HE IS NOT AN ATHLETE!!!!!! THE ONLY NON-ATHLETE TO HAVE HIS OWN NIKE SHOE!!!!!!!! 

Behold the Nike Air Yeezy (left) and Nike Air Yeezy 2 NRG (right).

Ok, sorry. I'll put my KanYe love aside.

Back to style. Here is another one of my idols. Nigo, the creator of A Bathing Ape, or Bape. 

(Nigo, shown above with his kick-ass toy collection just goes to show you that men don't grow up, we just learn to handle ourselves in public better.)

The Bape Shark hoodie under a olive drab bomber jacket. Seriously, all this outfit is made up of is a pair of jeans, a t shirt, a hoodie, and a jacket. Let's see anyone else make such a basic outfit look so sharp. 

To me, streetwear is more than just an urbanized graphic shirt, jeans, pair of sneakers, and a hoodie. Anyone can put those on and look like an average Joe. It's the mixing and matching and details and subtle things that make it work. Crazy camo patterns with military clothing, or varsity styled lettering on a biker's denim jacket mixed with vintage pins and buttons from rock bands. Colors, patterns, textures, cuts, and aesthetics. All different than what you see all the time. That's what streetwear means to me. It's that individualistic twist to everyday wear. 

These guys are my inspiration for any and all things streetwear. Nigo, Pharrell, and KanYe. 

Looks From Around the Web

I just wanted to show off some of the best (and worst) looks I've seen around the Internet, be in twitter, Instagram, or on other blogs. I will explain in detail why I like or why I hate the outfit. Hopefully my critiques help you understand my style.

I love this fit. Everything just flows so perfectly. Paisley pocket square. Polka dot tie. Pinstriped shirt. Boom. The 3 P's of men's furnishings, and all executed to perfection. Then we have the textures. Grey wool blazer. Black vest. Light colored shirt with contrast banker's collar. This gent knows how to dress, and wears it well. 

This is a GQ employee. Dude is wearing LEATHER PANTS! Looking at this picture, you would never be like "Wow those are leather pants..." because he pulls them off. For those of you that know me, I want leather pants so ridiculously bad. Unfortunately, I do not have the big $$ to buy Balmain or in this case, the En Noir leather sweatpants as seen above. I love leather. The fit is awesome, and they aren't hypebeasted out. For those of you that do not know what that means, I'm referring to the people that only think leather pants are cool because of the following. 

KanYe West. Leather pants. Leather kilt. Givenchy t shirt. Nike Yeezy 2's. This outfit on anyone would look miserable yet he can do it because he is an entertainer. Most people in leather pants or kilts look foolish (or Scottish). But everyone wants to be KanYe so they think dressing like that will get them on his level. If only...

The photosets above are posts from @TeamVic aka Victor Cruz, WR of the New York Giants. Now here is a wealthy and physically fit gentleman that wants to dress sharp. In the first picture, you see Victor wearing a Marcelo Burlon t shirt, which in my opinion is awesome because MB is becoming huge and I like that he is aware of designers on the up and up. I don't like that MB's design is too similar to anything and everything coming out of the Givenchy house. Can't blame him, I mean, Riccardo Tisci is killing everything lately. I think his affiliation with Ye and Jay-z (designed the cover for Watch The Throne as well as the concert shirts for the tour) and a plethora of other celebrities wearing his oversized vivid patterned prints. Overall, the first picture set gets a 3/10 from me. Anyone with money can buy expensive clothes. Style is subjective but in my eyes, it just seems forced with Victor. The second picture we have Cruz wearing a Givenchy longsleeve, dark overdyed twill pants, and a pair of red Nike's. Givenchy is just too played out for me to give it my seal of approval. The pants are whatever. Nothing crazy. The Nike's just ruin the outfit for me. I don't understand why people do things like this. You are wearing a $500 shirt. Why are you wearing sneakers you shoot hoops in? You are probably not going to work up a sweat or hit the gym in Givenchy. I like mixing the worlds of high fashion, streetwear, and other venues of style together, but mixing luxe and lounge just seems so forced to me. Money can buy you clothes, but you can't buy style. 

I'm going to find more outfits around the internet and post them more frequently to critique and offer my views. This was just the first installment. Let me know what you think! 

Suit Style for EVERYONE

Whether you have to dress up for work everyday in a suit and tie, wear one occasionally when you have your clients or boss coming to town, or just every now and then out to a nice dinner, you should definitely know how to wear one. You may think that if you put it on and it isn't tight, that it fits you. You are wrong. Clothes are meant to accent your body style. You may think that you don't exactly have the best body to show off under those clothes. Suits are great because it does not matter if you are built like a pro athlete, skinny as a stick, or a little on the larger side. Anyone and everyone can look amazing in properly tailored suiting, as exampled below.

Justin Timberlake is shown here wearing a slim fitting 3 piece suit. Note the pocket square, knit tie, tie clip, and that the cuffs are showing. This is the epitome of suit style. Professional. Classy. Refined. Edgy. Sharp. 

Not everyone is built like Justin Timberlake. But everyone can at least attempt to dress as sharp. So you go out and buy a suit that you like. Be it $200 or $2,000, you need it tailored. A good tailor can make your inexpensive suit look like a top of the line bespoke one, and will make your $2k suit look like it is worth every penny. One way or the other, tailoring can turn this guy (above) into this guy (below). 

So you are on the leaner side. You are in shape. You lift weights. You run. And you don't need to wear a suit to work. Ok, well guess what? Now it's date night. You're taking her out to a lovely dinner at that fancy place you've only heard good things about. Time to suit up. 

Kobe Bryant is seen here in a precisely tailored grey suit. The grey suit is basically the male version of the LBD (little black dress). Date night? Check. Meeting with clients? Check. Holiday party? Check. The grey suit is your go-to, fail-safe, any occasion suit. As far as the fit, in case you are unfamiliar with Kobe's stature...

He's not small. 

If you are on the slimmer and slender side of things, suits are going to be a little more difficult for you. There will be a lot of tailoring required but that's also part of the beauty of suiting. You get an outfit that is tailored to YOU. There are many different brands and fits of suiting, ranging from classic and relaxed fits to the ultra slim 'don't exhale' cuts. Finding your best fit is the hard part, but any decent clothing retailer should be able to guide you on the right path to suiting nirvana. 

Slim. Without looking like a strong wind gust can take you away. Clean and elegant with that sharp fit to make it edgy and express your attitude. Ewan Mcgregor shows you how it's done. Notice the shape of the jacket. A good tailor will fit you for that V shape which adds structure to your stance and gives you a nice silhouette. 

Suits are not as difficult as they may seem. I definitely suggest that every man own at least 2 suits, just for those situations when more than likely, you will need to be dressed up. We live in a casual world, but it never hurts to be dressed to the 9's. Remember, you can never be "over-dressed".