When I was in Dubai over Christmas I bought more silk than I knew what to do with (along with a few other things).
I didn't have any specific plans to buy it, but there was so much of it in Dubai and it all looked so amazing I bought it knowing that eventually I would find something(s) that I wanted or ideas of what to do with it. I've had a few little things made with it, but I just got a suit jacket that I had made and I love it! I had the jacket made and lined with the silk inside, I had trouble deciding between the dark red and dark green but decided on the dark green.
As soon as I got I saw it I was so happy with it -- especially because I got a matching pocket square I think it just looks fantastic - I'd really like to get a few more made in different colours. I don't usually wear formal clothes, partly because I don't have frequent chances to. I do sometimes and I think if I have more clothes like this I'll look for more oppourtunities to wear more formal clothes.
I love how it's fairly neutral, but has such a great touch on the inside, and the matching pocket square just makes it.
I've just noticed that I've got quite a few visits from people searching for 'plastic wayfarers' on Google.
Fortunately the top two results that Google brings up (have I mentioned, I love google) are both me! The first one is just my article, that I have published as an article on Zimbio (which is a place to... post articles... just in case you didn't know). It's the exact same as the post you can see on my blog, which is here if you haven't read it. I just found a website that tells you things about your website - I was actually surprised to see this:
I'm definitely not an expert with these technical terms, but it would seem to suggest that I've had 66354 visitors (with 249 so far today). I'm not entirely sure what the 'Online' one means. I have no clue what the numbers under Seo Code are. But that's okay, I'm not bothered.
I'm just glad that any poor soul who is searching for plastic wayfarers will have access to the truth! That they are horrible. So thank you google for directing people along the path of truth and enlightenment. Perhaps I should also begin spreading the word on crocs, grey socks, Guess, free T-shirts obtained from events, beanies with pom-poms and jeans with no back pockets on people who's waist is larger than 28." Evil, ugly, awful, terrible, and a blight upon this world all of them!
I just saw these boots in the Holt Renfrew catalogue today and they actually made me drool a little.
I instantly fell in love with them, I do already have a few (5) pairs of boots, and I could definitely picture myself with these ones. I don't normally like Gucci either, but I'm going to make an exception and rethink that right now.
They have them in brown or black -- I think I'd go for the brown ones, but they both look amazing. They'd look good with jeans overtop, but would also be great with jeans tucked in too.
The only thing I don't really like about them is the heel. It doesn't really have one and I prefer a boot with a good heel. I wouldn't mind it without though for me because I'm already about 6'2" so I don't really need the extra height (I just think a big thick heel on a boot is sexier).
That being said, I'd still kill for a pair of those boots.
New York Fashion week is starting next week and shortly after that London, Milan and Paris will be starting their unparalleled weeks of publicity, glamour and money. All of the most high profile, most exclusive designers will show off their latest collections to a world audience. I love seeing all the new collections, planning out what I want to buy and how I want to look in the upcoming season.
So where am I looking in these fashion weeks? Cities? Designers?
In the opposite direction.
I was just reading in Dazed & Confused about this year's Caribbean fashion week, and it got me doing a bit of research. I saw some really fantastic stuff and it looked like so much fun! (Caribbean Fashion Week website). The selection of menswear wasn't the best, and most of it wasn't really my style, it got me looking into other, lesser well known fashion weeks.
Lahore Fashion week (Pakistan) will be November 4-8
Singapore Fashion week should also be in early November.
From now on I'm definitely going to focus more on some of the lower profile fashion weeks. As much as I go crazy for Vivienne Westwood and Dior and Alexander McQueen I also love finding new and interesting designers that I never knew about before - trying them and realizing they look fantastic. I like to mix styles and try new things when it comes to clothes so I'm going to be watching the Caribbean, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Shaghai (and Tokyo, obviously). These cities should get more international publicity, the world's creativity isn't locked up in Paris, London and New York.
I hear about the same designers being brilliant every year in those cities and it's starting to get a bit tired. I still want to know, but I'm going to look for things that are completely new to me as well. And anyway, I'm tired of all this 'giving food/charity' to developing nations. The best way to help a developing nation to develop is to become more invested in their economy - to recognize that the country has something to offerer and buy it! Supporting those creative industries will fuel more innovation and industry within the country and promote a more equitable international relationship.
So it's settled. a solution to world poverty, is international shopping!
For the last couple months I've been looking for good hairspray in Canada (see previous hairspray post) That problem has been solved - I've found a fairly good one that works. It's not as good as getting the massive bottles from Boots, but that's okay.
I found one that seemed perfect, just by the description and the name so (riskily) tried it out with an entire look. I wanted to combine a few things. One aspect, was this Robots in Disguise picture:
I really like the dark eyes/blue triangle with the fringe almost down to the eyes. I like the ultra-straight fringe with really big parts. I wanted to do big hair, but make my hair look like this:
The combination (and the hairspray worked even better than I expected...
There's alot of new fashion trends that I enjoy getting into and trying out - sometimes disposable fashion is fun because you only have a few months to try it out and by the time you realize it looks awful, it's already gone out of style so you can throw it out. There are some retro trends that I avoid like a retrovirus.
One of the things I always try and avoid is anything that looks cheap and tacky. I've been noticing far to many plastic wayfarers - especially in bright colours.
The last person to look good in wayfarers was JFK. And he was shot just for wearing them. So why try to bring them back, and make them even worse by making them bright colours. I like bright colours, but not when it makes it look like a toy from McDonald's.
Here's an example, and it proves my point: Katy Perry's cover art for her single "Ur So Gay."
They just look ridiculous - and that's the point of the picture! She's just giving a silly look and wearing ridiculous sunglasses - she's not even wearing and clothes. BECAUSE NOTHING GOES WITH THEM. This is not the kind of style you want to emulate! It's like those ridiculous venetian blind sunglasses that Kanye West started wearing (I won't even go into that and I won't post a picture). Okay, maybe you think they look cool on an album cover (if you think so you're a bit delusional) but with the concept, it makes it interesting. THEY ARE NOT COOL IN REAL LIFE! They really do look like they were bought at a discount supermarket or came with a burger.
Unless the intended style is looking like a child.
If you really feel the need to go for something a bit quirkier, and move away from the big, shiny, uber-reflective glasses, go for something like this:
I've been living back in Canada for over a month now, but I still can't get my head out of Britain.
As music goes, I have been listening to pretty much British artists exclusively (although with the od bit of American pop if I like it. I like some of the stuff that has charted there, but some of them I really can't stand - like Duffy, she's fine I guess.
One of my favourite bands from the UK is Robots in Disguise -- it's shameless electropop, but it's got a bit of an edge that I really like, this song "Turn It Up." I've listened to it countless times and I still could listen to it so many more times. I think I partly like it because it brings back memories, but I really like the lyrics and just the sound of it too. Whenever I hear the heavy breaths at the beginning, I always feel like I should do it too (and I frequently do, depending on where I am).
I've been getting really into Hadouken! over the last few weeks though -- I can't decide whether I like their videos though. The songs are great to listen to in the car though. It takes me about ten times of listening to actually get/understand the lyrics, but I like that. I'm alright with the accent, but it just goes by so fast it takes a few times to register, but I get so caught up in listening that the rest of the world kind of shuts down.
I really get like that whenever I find a new artist/album/song that I love - I can get so into it and just listen, the entire thing can completely turn my mood around and no matter what the mood or sound is, it makes me feel really energized and motivated. Even the most depressing song or style can still make me feel great. It's like if there's any energy in the song at all, even if it's negative, it turns into a positive thing.
I'm not sure if I'd actually say that Brit fashion is my obsession, but more the style. It's so different than North American style, especially for guys. It seems to be a bit more rough and edgy and more rock and roll versus being more polished almost to the point of artificiality. I used to really like dressing to try to be flawless, but it's more fun to TRY to look a bit rough.
I will admit, that since the beginning of 2008 I have become a shameless hairspray user. Mostly for nights out, but sometimes just for regular fun times. When I was living in Britain I was just buying massive Boots brand bottles, they worked SO well, and were £1.something for a massive bottle.
It worked amazingly well, and would hold my hair up in any direction for most of the night/morning - whatever angle I could backcomb my hair into, this hairspray would keep it there. So my life was complete and all was well in my world.
As you can probably tell, I had fun with it -- lots of fun! And I really loved it, I got some weird looks, and some impressed looks, but it looked fantastic.
Now that I'm back in Canada I can't find anything that works well though! I've started with expensive ones -- I normally use almost all Aveda products for hair, so I started by trying Aveda hairspray, which was an unparalleled failure; I tried Paul Mitchell, which was a little better, but still fairly useless. I'd rather use cheap hairspray if it work anyway, since that kind of hair takes so much (good thing there's no CFCs in hairspray anymore!). I've tried a few different kinds, and I can't find anything that works like I want it to!
I hate having to find a new type of product, because every one that I buy and don't finish seems like a failure - then I feel compelled to use it (but only use rarely, if it's crap); I usually end up just trying to give it away.
I always go through various shopping sprees when I'm in different moods/months.
Sometimes I like to love necklaces or cuffs or shoes.
T-shirts -- when I can't think of anything else to buy, I frequently end up spending hundreds of $/€/£ on T-shirts that are particularly fantastic.
There is something about luggage though - I have an entire black croc skin luggage set, which is fantastic (and good for any occassion) but buying more luggage always seems practical). I have flown over 50,000km in the last year, and been a ridiculous amount of places between the west coast of North America and the Middle East. So luggage always seems like something I need (even though it accumulates just like anything else).
Suitcases folds up nicely in itself though, like Russian dolls. I have so many suitcases inside other ones that when you consider how many I really have, the amount of room that they take seems insignificant. I can't even count how many cosmetic bags I have (I know this, because I just tried to count in my head, and couldn't). I'm still not sure I have enough though, because I have no doubt that I have enough cosmetics to fill them all.
I have different colours (and different animal skins though) to match whatever I'm feeling like when I'm leaving the county - whether it's for a week or a year.
I have this firm belief that it's really not possible to have enough luggage though. When packing, it's always nice to have as much selection in bags as clothes. The only thing worse than realizing 'I have nothing to wear' is 'I have nothing to pack this in!'
Stumble It!
