Varon Bonicos’s documentary “A Man’s Story”, following the trials and tribulations of tailor-to-the-stars and leading light in men’s fashion Ozwald Boateng, hits UK cinemas this Friday March 9th.
14 years in the making, the film follows Boateng’s day-to-day life from around the time of his 1998 divorce from first wife Pascale, up to his triumphant London Fashion Week 2010 closing show.
Littered with star studded talking heads like Jamie Foxx, Spike Lee, Richard Branson, and old big ears himself, Prince Charles, it offers a rare insight into one of fashion’s most dynamic and exciting personalities.
Tasselled loafers have been on our radar for yonks now, and this summer saw deck shoes really break into mainstream menswear but are we ready for a hybrid?
ASOS seem to think so with their fringe tie deck shoe, it has all the retro casual of a deck shoe with the dandy addition of a tassel. As if that wasn’t enough it also features a kiltie, we are big fans of the little fringed tab! What do you think? Take our poll and let us know!
Having just returned from a sunny holiday I’ve been thinking about ways to cover up in the evenings, when the temperature inevitably gets a little chilly but when a jacket seems a bit stifling. I’ve recently spotted fashion leaders Joe Casely-Hayford in a long chunky cardigan and Charlie Porter in a very fetching grey wool poncho, both great options for beating the chill factor whilst still proclaiming a bit of summer informality. Alternatively there’s the shawl.
The pashmina is a ubiquitous accessory for women, probably to its detriment, but hasn’t been accepted as a popular garment choice for men – yet. Scouring the web for pashmina alternatives, I came across these beautiful hand woven alpaca shawls and scarves. A bit hippy, yes but both models here actually look really elegant and the shawls would create a great contrast in an urban setting. See what you can find locally in terms of hand-made ethnic wraps, shawls and scarves if you’re traveling somewhere interesting this summer. You’re likely to turn things up in places from Morocco to South America and whatever it is has got to be more interesting than a nylon jacket.
Summer footwear for men is tough, flip flops are too Antipodean surfer, don’t even think about action sandals or jesus trainers and slides (those slip on leather sandals) just have too many linen-trousered boyband connotations.
Retro 100% leather sandals seem one of the most acceptable ways forward, we featured a selection of woven shoes and sandals recently and Seb namechecked an awesome APC pair in his summer picks. KG’s Soulac Sur Mer (such an evocative name!) sandals are a great warm tan colour which should improve any pasty foot which goes into it! Only £60 from Liberty they look like they’ll last for a few summers to come, both in terms of wear and style.
Ville, snapped by the Hel Looks team, has a stylish, easygoing look we love. A pair of skinny jeans and white hi-tops make up quite a basic outfit, but the addition of a pastel knit scarf gives the ensemble a feminine slant and is perfect for spring.
The grey trench adds to the delicate feel and the slouchy shape contrasts nicely with the slim silhouette.
It’s not in production yet but we like this t-shirt, a lot. Made for men of a hairy persuasion it features a clever cutout to make a features of your chestwig. The creators, Ironic Sans want to feature a range of hirsute celebs including Harpo Marx, and Bob Dylan, although I think they should hold off from making any trousers!
Spotting the familiar face of Yu Masui on NYT’s site brought back some good memories. We snapped Masui last year out and about at Graduate Fashion Week (right) in a great Balenciaga neckpiece and cropped trousers. Elizabeth Spiridakis (aka White Lightning), talking up her holy trinity of boy-fash crushes interviewed the Japanese fashion writer who said this about borrowing from womenswear:
“Clothes are getting more and more borderless, like the new YSL unisex collection. Women’s wear always takes ideas from men’s wear, so why can’t men’s get influence from women’s? Anyway, the biggest reason is men’s wear is more boring than women’s wear!!”
Doesn’t Fiddy scrub up well? From coke dealer to primped popstar I guess it doesn’t come as that much of a surprise to learn that 50 Cent is planning to release a range of cosmetics for men. Jean Paul Gaultier’s heralded the acceptance of male cosmetics into the mainstream, (and also a hilarious video or two courtesy of Stuart and Sean) and now Curtis James Jackson III is joining the bandwagon.
The line will include moisturiser, night cream and health supplements, a source close to the rapper said “50 prides himself on having a ripped body… he’s on a health kick and barely touches alcohol”.
Winter does bad things to your face, central heating dries it out, icy cold chaps it and makes it sensitive and all that blowing your nose hasn’t helped.
Now is the time to moisturise but don’t even bother unless your skin is clean, a simple unfragranced face wash and lots of lukewarm water should do the trick. Shaving will exfoliate the beard area of the skin, but try some gentle rubbing with a damp facecloth to your nose and forehead to allow the skin to absorb your moisturiser. Any questions? Post them on our Facebook Blog Networks page!
Mark Turner Kiss and Makeup’s favourite metrosexual gives his verdict on the Moosehead range
Spending most of my supermarket time between the ‘save 3p on sticky, dented, own-brand, multipack cans of diet coke’ section and perusing what’s new in the 2 for 1 section, I’ve never been enticed into buying any Moose Head products (plus I go to Tesco and they’re at Sainsbury’s). So when someone thrust a handful of these my way I thought I would add my two cents worth.
The 3 products I’ve mainly been using are the Mellow Deo Spray, £2.49, Look Buff Face Scrub, £3.99 and Moose-Turising Face Hydrator, £4.99. My initial thoughts were the body spray and moisturiser are distinctly average. They do what they are supposed to do, no more no less with no fuss or excitement. The mellow spray has a flat, boring scent and the moisturiser is a standard, vitamin enriched, slightly greasy affair.
The face scrub is so good however, it has rapidly been promoted to the honourable position of face scrub most suitable for hangovers.
Do you have thousands of pounds or dollars burning a hole in your pocket? Do you also feel it is time for a complete wardrobe change? But do you have no clue about what’s hot or not in the fast paced world of fashion? Well then it’s your lucky day because those bloody helpful chaps over at men.style.com have gotten “14 of menswear’s top tastemakers [to] name their favourite pieces of the season”. As if this wasn’t enough I’m here on hand naming my top 3 picks from the list, so click through on the jump to see how badly I lack any imagination.
First London Fashion Week, now Anna Wintour (pictured left, at the Sex and the City première) is causing ripples of excitment with the announcement that she will attend Milan Men’s Fashion Week.
Wintour will be attending the shows with Men’s Vogue editor Jay Fielden and the rest of the editorial team.
Carrying on the Vogue love-fest Vogue Italia are throwing a party for La Wintour. The party is being hosted by Vogue Italia editor Franca Sozzani and will celebrate the US edition’s 40th birthday.
So I realise that this is the second time we ( fine, I) have looked at Hayden Christensen on a magazine cover over a relatively short time period but surely a young male celebrity who has every reason to be guarded with the use of his image but agrees to be on the cover of a men’s (non-dirty) magazine in only its second issue deserves to mentioned in our blog? Now better looking blog I might mention.
That and the fact that this issue contains interviews with Alexander McQueen, Editorials with Catherine McNeil, Sean Opry, Camilla Akrans and a whole feature shot underwater. Honestly, am I the only one supressing their child-like excitement here?
Like tax and death, scent is one of life’s fickle promises. I have just returned from a trip to New York and I couldn’t help but notice how great everyone smelt (not in some strange Charlie’s Angels hair-sniffer way.) In the returning yellow cab to JFK, my week in the Big Apple flashed before my eyes as a flurry of smiling sales associates and the now dog-eared sample cards currently resonating through my conscience (and bedroom!) Whether you have a Grenouille like nose or are suspiciously blind to the sweet smell of- well smell, ‘cologne’ (or ‘scent’) is something that you need to be firmly acquainted with. The men’s fragrance market (and the cosmetics market in general) seems to be growing at the moment and there is an unbelievably wide range of scents from all the biggest designers. No longer does a few looks in a women’s show represent our male input in the industry but instead we are welcoming the right for men to truly express themselves through fashion and fragrance.
The following list is a collection of the sweetest scents on the market right now (in no particular order.)
This jacket is a perfect piece for the season transition that so often leaves us men looking like idiots when we get caught in the mid-month sunshine wearing a winter coat, scarf, jeans and a pair of flip-flops. Primarily a jacket, but thin and simple enough to be worn as a shirt, this jacket by Yves Saint Laurent is just too fantastically useful not to be in your wardrobe. With typical YSL subtleties such as the inner collar stripe detail and unusually few number of buttons, spend the cash and feel free to thank me when you become an all-weather style maven.
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