Gaspard Yurkievich who?

Gents watch out for the Fall Winter 10/11 Paris men’s fashion collection from Gaspard Yurkievich Homme.

Masculine suiting with just a little peppering of true artistic designer-wear, where the shapes are curved like the bonnet of a Ferrari. We are loving the journey from traditional suits, to new artistic shapes to the shop floor for our readers to enjoy.

Adding a slightly casual look to his range, he underlays his grey, charcoal and matte suiting with large bold French striped shirts, jumpers and wools. Later taking out the strips and adding subtly tie-died fabrics that seem to swirl around the shapes of a man like a vampress mist, giving this collection another dimension. A real WOW factor!

The shoulders in Gaspard Yurkievich ready to wear range take on a pinched look which adds flavour and confidence to the already brilliant shapes.

And if you thought that wasn’t enough, the end of his runway show brought out suiting with leather squares sewn into blazers and jackets and the length of the trouser was shortened to give a glimpse of stunning sockery. Brilliant!

Gaspard Yurkievich accompanied half his collection with accessories such as overnight bags, back packs and the ever present ‘man bag’. Very masculine and a stunning achievement for this underground designer.

Smell like a romantic millionaire jet fighter pilot!

If you do one thing this week, let it be watching Old Spice’s take on male tanginess … seeing their new crackin’ Superbowl ad is the most hilarious genius 30 seconds you’ll have spent in a long time … it’s also a great reminder gents, that to the ladies, there’s nothing quite like a yummy smelling and CLEAN man …

“We’re not saying this body wash will make you “smell” into a romantic millionaire jet fighter pilot, but we are insinuating it.” Old Spice. Swagger.

Watch it here: Old Spice – Swagger

The Innie on the Undie

Let’s get to the bare essentials fellas. You wouldn’t wear jeans from 1999, so why are you still wearing the same drawers you did in middle school?

The Stylemeister and Stig Of Style have been chatting about dressing from the inside out over the last month. It’s taken us a while to get to the underwear section of styling, as we wanted you all to warm up to discussing how to keep the your best mate snug as a bug in a rug.

Now, while researching this very important topic, we’ve come across some very interesting female conversations of late and they go a little something like this. If they see a hole in your undies, you’ll never see her again. If they see faded sagging cotton, the night is called off; if they sense that you’ve had the same pair of drawers for the last 20 years and you’ve secretly written a Lifetime Achievement Awards speech about it … they’ll tell all their friends and those friends will tell their friends and (you get the picture) — you won’t have a date for the next decade!

So, before your lovelife gets shunted into 2020 when your body has evolved into a prune, update your underwear collection so you smell roses before the world comes to an apocalyptic end.

I know a lot of you may be freaking out about the cost of a tiny piece of cotton, but let me remind you; A woman who spends money on lingerie is going to expect her man to update his drawers. You love the lingerie …. enuf said.

Now we’ve just had Valentine’s pass, we’re hoping you guys also gave yourself a good update in the drawer department, with a pair of any of the following; Calvins, Gaultiers, Gallianos, Ginch Gonch, Hanes, HOM, Bjorn Borg, Davenports, Diesel or Macpherson for Men.

While we’re on the subject of brands, I want to highlight the following English designer to you that not a lot of people know about. His name is, James Tudor ( http://www.jamestudor.co.uk). We LOVE what he’s doing. It’s English, cheeky, masculine and different. Get yourself a pair for 23 quid.

Roger that.

Top 10 Most Stylish Men in 20-10 (prediction)

It’s a new decade, and with it brings a not-so-new crop of stylish men who are making waves with their powerful persona and even more daunting style and wardrobe.

Enter the MenStylePower ‘MITCH’ (MAN IN TOTAL CONTROL OF HIMSELF) Top Ten Awards – a nod to the best groomed men on the planet today.

But we don’t just hand the MenStylePower “MITCH” Award to just anyone – the dudes have to embody good grooming, stylish threads, debonair lifestyle and gentlemanly grooming – both inside and out. They’re hardworking, they’re businessmen, they’re sportsmen, they’re real men. They’re MITCHES … and we’re proud to give them kudos for their life choices and style.

Here’s the breakdown:

10

The Rock

One man and one man alone has traversed the wide, wide world of entertainment genres, from wrestling men down to the ground on TV to charming little girls as the world’s tallest tooth fairy, and with each transformation he continues to flash his very white teeth, fantastic tatts and panache. It also helps that he works out like a maniac to keep that 6 foot 5 frame in shape. For his very white teeth alone he makes to No 10 on our list (who’s his dentist??  Great prosthodontery work … mah-ve-llous!).

9 

Dale Begg-Smith

“Who?”  The mogul skier dude. “Who?” The Canadian who defected to Australia and just won a silver medal for said defected-to nation at the Vancouver Winter Olympics. The dude who’s getting a lot of flack for his schtick of joylessness – “infamous for offering monosyllabic answers to journalists”. The dude who “looks like he’s just sucked on a lemon even after winning a silver medal”. (The media’s words, not ours – “Why Mr Miserable leaves us icy cold” – SMH February 16, 2010)

Call him unflappable or perhaps a poor communicator – whatever you moniker you place on him, Dale’s a man who’s wild at heart. He follows his own rules (he defected from the Canadian Olympic team because they asked him to choose between his million dollar IT business and training 24-7 with the team – duh!!?!!), he speaks when he wants to (usually in singular vowel grunts), he works bloody hard, (running a multi-million dollar IT business AND is a sports phenomenon) and he doesn’t bend to every whim and whimper from paper flacks. No wonder they hate his guts. He’s his own man and not a media stooge. Go Dale. We LIKE you!! Almost as much as we like you in KARBON sportswear – lean, mean, snow machine!

8

Leonardo Di Caprio

Little Leo’s grown up to be a man his mama must so proud of. He’s one guy with a keen sense of balance; managing to keep his private life just that and his professional career climbing higher and higher. He’s acted in probably some of the most essential films of the last decade (Blood Diamond, The Departed, Revolutionary Road), and he calls Marin Scorsese and Giorgio Armani close friends so much so the latter is throwing a little party for the premiere of the Scorcese film ‘Shutter Island’ which features Leo, of course. Ah, friends in high places …

7 

Seal

This ebony man personifies sex on tap, mixed in with grace and icy mojo that far exceeds the Rat Pack’s cool factor by Nth degrees. He’s a father and husband to a gorgeous woman who has her own successful career – that he doesn’t seem daunted by. We love how he croons like an angel and strongly carries his facial markings (the result of discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE), a condition where the immune cells attack various body tissues) like a King of ancient African descent. Thumbs up for his dark suited ensembles and white crisp shirts. A gentleman’s wardrobe. A man’s man.

6 

John Travolta

 We can’t imagine the depths this man plummeted to after the loss of his 16-year-old son Jett. Soon after the tragedy, the media and the haters speculated wildly that John had been hit hard and was never going to rise again. They were wrong. He’s back, with a bang, and we applaud the effort he’s taken to pulled himself up and out of the pit and thrust himself back into this crazy thing we call life.  Plus he now sports a very cool shaved look. Smooth!

5 

Bradley Cooper

Move over Brad. Here comes your superlative … Brad-ley. (Get it?) He’s every girl’s dream at the moment and wherever he is, he’s soaking in the limelight for as long as it lasts. And it might last awhile because he’s one fine specimen of manhood. However it seems like most men, he’s still not quite got a handle on style seeing as he was busted recently for a fake tan blunder when at the Hollywood premiere of his new romantic comedy Valentine’s Day he appeared with 1/3 of his face visibly missing the oily ministrations of a tan bottle. Ah well, we can’t all be heartthrobs 24-7.

4 

Sam Worthington

This is one Aussie bloke blowing up Hollywood. He’s coming hard and fast behind all the other Aussie blokes who’ve smoked up the joint but unlike Hugh Jackman’s who’s a little too nice in person, and the Gladiator dude (Russell Crowe) who’s temper’s given him a not-so-nice rep, Sam is just right, as rough, gravelly and mysterious as his rough, gravelly and mysterious voice. His dress sense is unknown to many, but we assume his your jeans and a T-Shirt kinda bloke who always looks good in whatever he tries on. Can’t go wrong with jeans and a T, if you’re rough, gravelly and mysterious to boot.

3 

Barack Obama

He may have one of the most monumental jobs in all of history – reviving a dying empire and so we thought it pertinent to give him a historical write up as it would read 200 years from now: Although not coming to power “by the sword and the cross,” Obama’s popularity with the citizens of the United State carried him to his seat of power “by the people and the vote.” And in doing so Barack Obama became the world’s first ‘African’ master of the West. In the face of opposition, Obama was always tall, powerful, quick witted, yet stern and tireless. However the empire he inherited was falling into decay – his people had all but forgotten economic restraint and had been cheated into supporting a losing war in the Middle East. In the style of a sonorous, comforting and practiced orator, Obama challenged banking institutions and financial corporations alike. His appearance was stately and dignified, his tastes simple and moderate. He wore well fitted suits: mostly blue and gray in colour – all in the same silhouette and material – single-breasted, 97 percent worsted wool and 3 percent cashmere. The pleated pants mostly sported an inch-and-a-quarter cuff. Over all these garments he flung an elegant coat, and he always walked like he had a sword girt about him – a man of major style and real power. Hu-aaaah!!

2 

 Michael Westen

(Covert-Ops agent on TV series Burn Notice – played by Jeffrey Donovan).

From the tips of his trademark Oliver Peoples Victory sunglasses to his SIG Sauer P228 (9×19mm) sidearm to the heels of his Mark Nason boots, covert ops Michael Westen is one cool slick brotha. In probably one of the best characterizations on TV today, the unlicensed private investigator/spy/soldier of fortune manages to remain highly fashionable, while being consumed by the desire to find out why he has been burned (i.e. blacklisted as a spy/agent).

Westen is highly trained in various forms of martial arts, such as Sambo, which he uses when pretending to be Russian and his cool demeanor gets icier as he battles and outwits an array of mobsters, con artists, contract killers, professional thieves, drug traffickers, sex traffickers, deadbeat dads, arms dealers, kidnappers and war criminals without breaking a sweat in his Diesel and Kenneth Cole Shirts, Rock and Republic Jeans and suits by Hugo Boss.

Michael also has a fondness for yogurt (particularly blueberry) – yorghurt being good “spy food” – full of protein and nutrients and easy and convenient for a spy to eat during a long surveillance. I spy, with my little eye, real style, in Westen!

1 

Johnny. Depp.

Élan. Flair. Elegance. Johnny.

A Gentleman’s Valentine

We’re not going to complicate it. Love and being in love, is amazing. Valentine’s Day is when you remind your forgetful noggin’ of the fact.

Gentlemen, whether you hate the soppiness of it all, or dread the creativity required to make this day count for your woman, you need to acknowledge that Valentines is here … like it or not.

If you’re single, believe that your true love is around the corner so celebrate her imminent arrival.

Make a great meal for yourself (beef and potatoes are highly recommended). Scoff it down with a great glass of wine, then turn down the lights, and hang out with the J’s – James Brown or better still, John Legend, and most definitely Monsieur Jack Daniels in one hand and a cigar in the other. Enjoy the moment. You’re blessed to be alive. And love is on her way.

If you’re attached, wake her up with a soppy kiss, whip up a pancake or two and serve her breakfast in bed.  Tell her how much you appreciate her … she’ll love you for it. Have a simple dinner together and as you do raise a glass in her honour. She’s worth it and you’re one lucky bugger because love is in your life. Don’t ever take it for granted.

Peace (and love). The Stylemeister.

The Queen designed clothes for real men. RIP

McQueen has passed. Long live the Queen!

He may have been a Queen, but the this enfant terrible of the fashion world was a creative genius who designed strong, bold clothing for real men.

He interpreted style in a way not many designers living today will ever match up to; he challenged convention and blew our minds yet still somehow managed to deliver wearable, livable designs that were the talk of the town – from high fashion circles to everyday street buzz … he was out of this world so much so he has been taken away from it.

RIP friend, RIP.

The Bald and the Beautiful

Bald is bold. Bald is BAAAAD. Boys, bald is back.

While you shudder in the bathroom at your tresses clogging up the sink, when you whimper at the sight of your mane clinging to your girl’s nails when she drags them through your scalp, when you begin wearing caps and fedoras at jaunty angles to hide the growing empty real estate on your noggin’ please try and remember … if Travolta can rock it, so can you.

(FYI – Travolta has recently re-jigged his look to a cool, velvety, hairless panache that translates enormously well in his new role in the blockbuster movie  ‘From Paris with Love’.)

Bald is fierce. And women love fierce-bald, infact I know of many who drool at it.  Little babies too, as they rub their pudgy fingers across smooth baaaaaald plains of their dada’s cranium.

There’s something primal about the expertly sanctioned levels of testosterone that are said to charge through the male body, pumping so hard that they force the little hair follicles right out of their sockets. It’s primordial, it’s savage and it’s very attractive … to girls who see very bald man (with exception of a few) as the species’ highly endorsed candidates for passing on their strong, best survivor-on-an-island genes to the next generation.

Let me outline the baldy benefits for those who are still questioning the style: (courtesy of blisstree.com):

Mega savings – dudes with long luscious locks have to spend their time and cash maintaining that ‘do’. Being bald is a budget friendly investment in your future.

Evolution - Bald Men are the future; the hairy are a dying breed. Hair is vestigial structure lingering from the old days when we didn’t know how to wear layers, heat our homes and stay indoors during blizzards. Bald Men are more advanced, whereas hairy men are more monkey-like.

Simplicity - Bald Men enjoy simpler lives. Less product crowding up the shelf in the shower. Less effort coordinating schedules around salon appointments. Less time spent getting ready to leave the house.  More time being a ‘real man’.

Confidence – A Bald Man is a confident man. A baldy doesn’t need to stroke their ego by brushing their hair.

Lady-love - For a girl who loves to talk, there’s no better bliss than a bald-man-listening. Baldies seem more adept at showing empathy than those guys who have hair stuck in their ears. Baldies have a better chance in scoring points with the ladies.

So for the gents who begin balding early (25% by age 30), please rock bald with bravado for life. For the 50% who get hit by hair loss by the big 5.0, shave off those last straggly locks and go all-bald and beautiful – and watch how much how your wife and/or partner warms up to you when you do. (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)

Be you. Be baaaaaad. Be bald!!