Accessorize or Die.
February 7, 2010 5:41 PM
- GQ Style has been featuring some of the best trends for Spring. These include brightly colored watches, patterned pocket squares, bright ties, and more. They were adding to the list just about daily, but I don't know when the list is complete. Started last week so may be already. Something I love about men's fashion is how simple it really can be. You get your basic set of staples - dress shirts, slacks, shoes, blazers (in varying shades and varying degrees of fancy), and then you can make any number of outfits given your accessories. And the accessories are often more affordable and easier to grow a collection than the larger pieces.

I suppose it can be the same with women's fashion. But from what I've seen, the clothing can cost as much as the accessory when women are more often than not limited to varities of jewelry.

Plus this slide show turned me on to The Tie Bar. 2.5" ties and bowties for $15/each. In actual attractive styles and colors. I'm going to buy some tonight I think!

- I've needed glasses since sixth grade and have worn them since sophomore year of high school. Which means we are actually at a 10 year anniversary right now. Me and my specs. I'm pretty proud to wear glasses. I know I've said before that I wouldn't feel comfortable without them perched on my face, much less be able to see. They are such an extension of my style (and given the trends, of others' styles too). My current pair, a nice horn-rimmed small rectangle frame, may be my favorite pair ever. I expect my Rx is balancing out too and if so, that means I can start using my health insurance to amass a collection of various frames and styles.

Having glasses does have a few drawbacks. For me, namely, that I can't just willy nilly wear sunglasses. Though you may remember my joy last summer when I bought my first pair of prescription sunglasses. It became cumbersome to carry them with me, though; and if I remembered to it was a hassle to switch back and forth. So my sunglasses live in the car mostly where really they are most valuable. That experience did teach me that I can pretty much put lenses in any frames I want which is helpful for all of the times I find $10 fake glasses and can get $75 lenses made.

Anywho. Ritchey once again delivers a great post about exactly this. One's relationship to their glasses and limited eyesight:

And anyway, as far as handicaps go, in this day and age I'd say this is the most manageable one. Still, to be so supremely handicapped should always give one pause. All the glasses-wearers of the world think sometimes to themselves of fires and cataclysms, of midnight rapes, and how helpless they would be.

Vanity Affair
February 1, 2010 10:29 PM

noglasses.jpg

neckshave.jpg

sideshave.jpg

I bought a tripod last month for two reasons: to take night shots and to take self-portraits. Done and done.

Overdue Interest
January 31, 2010 4:36 PM

Growing up I often read biographies of different authors and scholars (real and fictional) who invariably wore either wire-rimmed glasses or horn-rimmed spectacles. I paid little attention other than to fix an image of either thin or thick frames. And moved on.

It wasn't until the past year or so when I realized how long I've missed out on horn material. Last year I went in to order new glasses and after a lifetime of black frames, spiced it up and came out with some horn rims. Now they rank right at the top of my favorite pair of glasses I've worn. Since then if I see an accessory or artifact made from horn it certainly attracts my attention.

Such as these spice spoons from Shastra. Do I need spice spoons? Now I do. spice spoons.jpg

Kaufmann Mercantile is a nifty site which features historical information on everyday items. A recent post examined how soap came into common use. Posts before that took a look at transistor radios, army grade canvas bags, butcher blocks, flip clocks, etc etc. This one takes a look at how horn spoons are ideal for caviar and soft-poached eggs.

Long Roads Home
January 28, 2010 11:04 PM

I've been meaning to update in forever, but have had either nothing of note to say or time to say it. In the last month I've really become a fan of GQ's online fashion advice (though what some dude said in what I think was an opinion piece about Beth Ditto was totally monstrous)(and I've been telling everyone about being a fan, so it's old news by now really). I've also tried to read and write but have done too little of both. I decided winter '09/'10 is the winter of my first affair with Dostoevsky and it's turning out to be a book I like when I read it - but not one that makes me want to pick it up once I put it down. Just another 450 pages of that and then I think we're going places.

People ask me what life is like because people are interested. Only problem is I'm not terribly interested and so I have nothing to report. (Note: this is not me being emo or trying to mask being emo with being "realistic". I've been waking up grateful for the past two weeks because while there are things I see myself improving, I'm damn lucky to be where I am.)

While we're recommending things
December 27, 2009 11:21 PM

Reading Julianne Shepherd's list of Top 25 Most Played Songs in her iPod in 2009 reminds me entirely of why I love her. I haven't heard 90% of the songs or artists, but I'm incredibly entertained nonetheless.

Megan Fox in NYT Magazine; Men's Fashion

If you go to the homepage of the NYT Magazine right now, and scroll down a bit, you'll find a video interviewing Megan Fox for about 6 minutes. I couldn't find a way to direct link to the video or to embed it, but in it she once again proves that she's not just a pretty face. Between her pretty logical and mathematically sound reasoning on why she's usually the Mean Girl and her comments on comic books (long a haven for nerds), Megan Fox is someone I'll continue to keep my eye on.

Though I do take umbrage with the cat lady comments. Ah, so be it.

Additionally, I've been really bathing in menswear fashion photos lately. I found a few blogs thanks to this article from the NYT that Steve linked me to. And via those blogs I've started learning designers and finding other places to look at and read about men's fashion. It's a world that keeps reeling me in. May I recommend:

  • A Continuous Lean: Probably the best of the bunch I found, but it's focus on Made in America is a little off putting to me. Not because I don't believe in American quality, or the benefits of keeping your money local, but because I don't think it's fair to ignore the ingenuity and quality coming out of other countries.
  • Fine and Dandy Shop: My other new favorite and a little more personable than ACL. It's recent interview with A New York Dandy's John Wellington turned me onto V Man magazine. Which I hope to pick up a copy of this week while on vacation.
  • Kauffmann Mercantile: Found this via ACL and while it's less fashion and more gear, definitely an interesting blog to follow if you're interested in the history of good quality products and design (often times also common place).
  • Glenn O'Brien: O'Brien is GQ's Style Guy and was recently interviewed by ACL. (Through which I found out about designer Thom Browne, not to be confused with another designer I'm a fan of, Tom Ford.) Anyway - O'Brien's advice seems pretty well grounded and his discussions of style are entertaining as much as they are informative. He also writes for The GQ Eye feature.
  • NYT Sunday Styles: Finally there's the Sunday Styles section of the NYT. I remember a few years ago when Steve and I sat around ogling their annual (I think) publication focused purely on men's fashion. Now I've bookmarked it and will check it every week.

But how we move from A to B, it can't be up to me
December 2, 2009 7:48 PM

I went to sleep last night whispering this song to myself and woke up singing it in the shower:

and for you i keep my legs apart and forget about my tainted heart

If you like that then check this one out. A less ethereal, but no less favorite of mine by the same artist (who is Lykke Li, btw).

There's a lack of color here.

A few months ago I wrote this post about the book Ongoing Moment by Geoff Dyer. To quickly recap, the book took a look at documentary photography roots in America, comparing styles/subjects from the F.S.A. photography program to later photographers. As such, a good deal of time was spent looking at photos that are synonymous these days with The Depression.

Today I came across a New York Times series about the same period. The seven-part series will examine accusations of fakery and fraud in the photos commissioned by Roosevelt's New Deal. If you're interested in this pretty fascinating period of history, I recommend taking a look.

"The Case of the Inappropriate Alarm Clock" Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

And a link to the full series, listed most recent to least recent. If you're really intrigued you can just bookmark that page and check it for updates.

I'll try to remember to update this entry as more parts are published. You may need to sign up for a NYT account to read - they are free, no spam, and thus I recommend having one.

O Pioneers
October 13, 2009 10:06 PM

I have a copy of Leaves of Grass on my shelf but have never read it. I probably should. Because every time I do hear/read snippets that are always attributed to Whitman or that book in particular, I love them. So I'm not ashamed to admit that this new Levi's commercial only reinvigorated my interest.

It's part of their new "Go Forth!" campaign. So you can bet we'll be seeing similar commercials. I figured out it was a Levi's commercial about a quarter of the way through - but I still think it's marvelous. I love the lighting and editing. Not to mention the narration. I love how the actor performs it.

New Photos are Up
October 5, 2009 6:36 PM

I mentioned a couple of months ago that I had a new camera and therefore, new pictures needing to be put up. I finally got off my butt and did just that. So head on over to the photos page and scroll down to see the new photos.

Here's a taste: img098.jpg