You Need My Advice!

So I'm sure there are many people out there who really need some help with their wardrobe. If you have any questions specific, general, dumb or not, I will answer them to the best of my ability. You can leave it as a comment or it you'd like to email me at kuro.noir12[at]gmail[dot]com and ill see what I can do :D

I'M IN TEEN VOGUE!!!

So a few months ago I was invited to a the grand opening of the new Guess? location on Walnut street in Philadelphia hosted by teen Vogue. It was a fabulous event, cater waiters, paparazzi, red carpet, the whole nine. There was a photographer there taking pictures of many of the attendees who modeled the merchandise in the store. We put together looks on the spot from clothes hanging in the store and were photographed. The best looks are now featured on the teen Vogue website and guess what... I MADE IT! (well duh). I'm the one on the left and my boyfriend is on the right. I put both of the looks together. To be honest that was no easy task. I don't really care for the fit of most of the clothes at Guess? they are a little to loose and hang off me in all the wrong places, but I managed to find a look that suited both myself and my boyfriend very well. I'm a little mad though because the best part of both of outfits ( these fabulous boots I found) are mostly cut off in the picture. But otherwise we look AMAZING no? Let me know what you think. I was feeling kind of rugged as opposed to the outfit that I wore to the party which was a little on the dandy side.

Faux Pas and How to Fix Them:

1.
-Cargo shorts: please can these just go away! Who told you that you look good cause that's clearly not a good friend...


Flat front shorts that come above the knee in a SOLID color or classic print (no plaid).








2.

-Socks with sandals: Unless you ride the short bus.

Skip socks in the summer and if you must cover your toes wear moccasins or canvas shoes.






3.
-VPL: Men and women please wear appropriate undergarments!
Invest in a thong or two ladies and gentlemen fear not the no show brief!












4.
- Matchy matchy dressing: Look I'm an apple!/ Rainbow dressing: you know who you are. save that rainbow socks for Pride.

Coordinated dressing is key, nothing needs to be the same color as long as you keep in mind the families of colors.. warm, cool, bright, neutral, pastel, and also keep in mind prints (you can mix those sometimes too but don't go OTT)






5.
-Muffin tops/ whale tail: You disgust me, cover that mess up!

Ladies, those aforementioned thongs you need to invest in, keep them BELOW your waist line. And about that waist line, make sure your pants aren't squishing your fat over it.






6.
-Carpenter jeans: Do you really need a loop for a hammer on your jeans? Really?

Everyone in the whole world should own a pair of super dark wash straight or skinny leg jeans ( I own about 4) they are the only jeans you will ever need, I promise. Please try to avoid lighter washes as they make you look fat...







7.
-Too many trends (the Label Whore): there is no reason to wear the LV logo head to toe unless you are getting paid to.

Wearing designer is great! but don't be a walking advertisment, it makes you look trashy and poor. Try the Louis Vuitton bag in a simple black with the label on the inside, you look less tacky. And do I really need to know where you got your tee shirt from, wearing 'Armani Exchange' all over your chest makes you look desperate. Also for you ultra trendy folks, please remember you roots. Look in your closet. If you have all crazy unique vintage pieces and no white button down.. you have a problem. If when you heard that mimosa is the official color for 2009 you went out and bought mimosa pants to match the 14 mimosa shirts you likely already own... you have a VERY SERIOUS PROBLEM... Pick one trend and make it you own if you must. Right now for instance I'm into super wide leg pants, but that doesn't I have a closet full of Hammer pants!




8.
-Tee shirt and jeans... everyday!: Please mix it up! you wore that yesterday!


Yesterday I wore tweed dress pants, black pointy toes dress shoes, a green button down, a black sweater vest, and a cool silver sparkly tie (sounds weird, looks cool). The day before that I wore a black and white gingham check shirt orange tie, black waistcoat, dark wash straight leg denim a belt with the Sistine ceiling printed on it, and brown pointy toe shoes. The day before that I wore a white v neck shirt from American Apparel, a super long black button down cardigan, dark denim, and calf high tan slouchy boots. Are you sensing a pattern.. try not to wear the same old look over and over and over because then it becomes clear that you are not trying at all. That is what we call a rut.


DESIGNER OF THE DAY:

Michael Bastian: Michael Bastian is probably my favorite designer of menswear. His style is effortless, timeless, and classic. At times a bit dandy, but always appropriate and masculine. He combines casual and formal wear in a way that makes both seem elevated to something else entirely. He is a skilled tailor and truly makes some fabulous suits.

For Bastian's latest collection, "he had in mind Sam Elliott and Parker Stevenson from a 1976 movie called The Lifeguard (male hotties from the seventies being something of a specialty). That translated to plenty of the sporty shorts (bathing suits, even—Bastian said he sells a lot of them) you'd associate with guys like that. At the other end of the spectrum, Bastian offered his signature freewheeling take on eveningwear: shawl-collared pink jacket, blue tux shirt, pale gray pinstriped pants. And in between, standouts included a zippered Fair Isle cardigan, a suede safari jacket, and another jacket in a crisp white seersucker paired with pink cutoffs. That's the kind of easy casual/formal combo at which Bastian excels (the kind that may see him filling Ralph Lauren's shoes somewhere down the line). Still, one wondered whether the edit around his elected theme was perhaps a little too tight to fully broadcast his talent to anyone who hasn't yet been converted. But for novices, there were always all those racks of clothes to drift through deliriously."

Tips Volume 2: Meet the PARENTS

It’s the holidays and you know what that means, time to meet the parents. You know, when your boyfriends parents invite you to come to church with them or your girlfriends parents invite you to Thanksgiving dinner. You’re already nervous enough as it is, the last thing you need to worry about is what to wear. You don’t want to offend them, but at the same time you don’t want to seem boring and not show your personality. Two friends of mine actually approached me today with these problems. The first one had these things to work with.

- Plum colored tailored velveteen blazer

- Dark skinny jeans

She was going to attend church with her boyfriend and her family. She herself doesn’t regularly attend church but wanted to make sure she didn’t look like a heathen. She wanted to be covered up but still feel comfortable. This was a fairly easy problem to solve since we were already working with a very good statement piece and a great staple piece. Now of course I would ordinarily have told her to just skip anything under the blazer, but church is hardly the place to have all your cleavage hanging out so the quick decision was to go with a simple camisole underneath. The reason we didn’t go for anything more interesting was the simple reason that she was meeting the family and personality in your outfit is good but you want to make a good impression you a person and not have your clothes doing all the talking for you. The next question was what color. Instinct told me that she should wear white, however as soon as we began to discuss footwear that immediately became out of the question. When I asked her what she owned in the way of a simple pump she told me black and brown. Neither of those shoes would have done her justice with just a white cami underneath. I immediately gravitated towards the brown shoes just because black seems a little too work wear for that occasion. Then back to the question of what colored camisole came back. We decided against anything with a print on it as being too much and instead settled for a middle tan color. Nothing she was wearing was distracting from the most important thing (her) and everything was beautifully simple and chic.

The second friend came to me with a lower pressure situation. She was just going to be meeting the parents briefly, but she was still concerned with her appearance. She was at a loss and had nothing to work with. I told her that she had no need to over think it, in fact she really didn’t need to do any thinking at all. I told her to wear jeans, flats a tee shirt and some cute light feminine jewelry. Nothing complicated or too fashion-y, just dress as you usually would.

Overall the best advice I can give is that when meeting the parents, don’t try too hard. The best thing is to just be you (unless you are a slob). Make sure you’re clean and neat looking, don’t do a whole lot of layers or big statement jewelry. You are the one that is going to impress, not your clothes so try not to say too much with your look and let your sparkling personality shine!

Tips Volume 1: Things I CAN’T Live Without

TOP TEN essential items for every mans closet.

- White v- neck tee shirt from American Apparel. The perfect tee shirt! Great for building tons of looks

- A pale blue and a white button down dress shirt. Spread collar and barrel cuffs. Easy to wear and goes with every tie in the universe (I mean that too)
- Black waistcoat. Takes any thing from casual to chic instantly.

- Dark wash straight leg jeans. Will never go out of style and goes with everything.
- Black wool suit. Two buttons, notch lapels, trendy embellishments or tailoring, simple, classic, chic.
- Gray wool trousers. Flat front, when you want to mix things up.

- Deconstructed cotton blazer. Another great layering piece with a similar function as the waistcoat.
- Black overcoat or tan trench coat. Because you look like a grown up.
- Black button up cardigan.

And 2 pairs of shoes…

- Black leather loafers. Wooden soles, pointy toe, DON’T SKIMP ON PRICE!
- Simple gray or brown sneakers. Nothing with high tops or crazy embellishments. Comfort is the primary objective.

Whew! That was harder than I thought! Paring my wardrobe down to 12 things was like deciding between what child to keep alive! You may or may not find this list helpful depending on your lifestyle but for most men who are looking to build a stylish wardrobe, this is a great place to start. When I was just starting building a wardrobe for myself I quickly learned that classic pieces (not trendy ones) are the best place to start. I personally started with a few tee shirts from American Apparel, a black waistcoat and dark jeans both from H&M. I didn’t spend a lot of money but those are pieces that I still wear now even though they are kind of old and not the best quality (except for the AA tees). My mistakes started when I was over eager to get really fashion-y things and had nothing to wear them with. What good is an over sized cable knit shawl neck double breasted cardigan if you don’t even have a good pair of skinny jeans to wear it with? Start with the basics and the fashion part will evolve as you continue shopping.

RUNWAY OF THE DAY: Givenchy S/S 2009