19
Top 10 men’s fashion brands … and why …
Which men’s fashion brands are the most popular in the world of style today? With a commitment to excellent design, tailoring and manufacturing, these leading menswear brands will give you a fashion fix for life.
1. Ralph Lauren
A luxury lifestyle brand like no other, Polo Ralph Lauren tops the men’s fashion brand charts (especially in the USA) in male wear. Ralph Rueben Lifshitz (aka Ralph Lauren) did not attend fashion school, but worked for Brooks Brothers as a salesman in the early sixties. In 1967, with the financial backing of a friend, Lauren opened a necktie store where he also sold ties of his own design, under the label “Polo.” In 1970, Ralph Lauren won the COTY Award for his menswear line. Around that same time he released a line of women’s suit that were tailored in a classic men’s style, which was when the first Polo emblem was seen. It was on the cuff of the women’s suit. Ralph Lauren, released Polo’s famous short sleeve mesh shirt with the Polo logo in 1972. It came out in 24 colors and soon became a classic. He also gained recognition for his design after he was contracted to provide clothing styles for the movie The Great Gatsby. The rest is history.
Today, Ralph Lauren is a US-based sought-out brand preferred by many men for its quality, design and chic, high-end fashion. In 2009, Ralph Lauren reportedly had a market value of $11 billion.
2. Diesel
Vibrant, bred in Italy and a firm favorite with men around the world, Diesel’s clothing is aimed at the young adult market, particularly its jeans, but the brand can now be found on everything from underwear to fragrance. Diesel’s innovative approaches to fashion and art includes endorsing young creativity by sponsoring the Diesel-U-Music Contest and the Sundance Film Festival as well as being the first clothing company to market their clothing in video games.
3. Calvin Klein
CK is a popular for its mad style amongst most fashion conscious guys. From sportswear, to denim and underwear, the CK brand is iconic and has made huge strides in the world of designer brands. Think of the fragrance line alone – ‘Eternity’, ‘Obsession’ and ‘CK One’ – each a stand-alone brand in itself. Calvin Klein’s underwear business, promoted in the 1990s with giant billboards showing images of pop singer “Marky Mark” – now actor Mark Warlberg – was so successful that the brand’s underpants became generally known as “Calvins” in everyday lexicon. As of 2008, Calvin Klein’s proceeds stood at $5.8 billion.
4. GUCCI
This Italian brand is a top men’s fashion luxury line which claims a wide share of the global market. The trademark striped webbing on their leather goods has been just one of many clever innovations that have come from the inspirational house of Gucci. Founded in 1921 by Guccio Gucci, the brand has gone through a thousand and one evolutions, from fame to shame, from true design to fighting knock-offs and from family roots to deep rivalry. “In the 1960s and 1970s, Gucci had been at the pinnacle of chic, thanks to icons such as Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly and Jacqueline Onassis. But by the 1980s, Gucci had lost its appeal, becoming a tacky airport brand.” Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter. However a turnaround of the company was devised in the late 1980s and has since made Gucci one of the world’s most influential fashion houses – it was recently named one of the best classic garment dealers in the world and sported an ample $4.5 billion in earnings in 2009.
* Useless fact – Guinness World Records cites Gucci’s “Genius Jeans” as the most expensive jeans in the world. A pair of Gucci jeans that had been distressed, ripped and covered with African beads, when they debuted in October 1998 in Milan, were priced at US $3,134.
5. Burberry Prorsum
Founded by 1856 by Thomas Burberry, a 21-year-old former draper’s apprentice, Burberry Prorsum is today a deluxe British-owned fashion corporation, popular for its clothing, fragrances and fashion accessories. The brand’s distinctive tartan pattern, a type of plaid pattern, has become one of its most widely copied trademarks of all time including the Burberry Equestrian Knight Logo with the Latin word “Prorsum”, (def: forwards) developed in 1901. In 1911 the brand became the outfitters for Roald Amundsen, the first man to reach the South Pole, and Ernest Shackleton, who led a 1914 expedition to cross Antarctica. A Burberry gabardine jacket was worn by George Mallory on his ill-fated attempt on Mount Everest in 1924. In 1914 Burberry was commissioned by the War Office to adapt its officer’s coat to suit the conditions of contemporary warfare, resulting in the “trench coat”. After the war, the trench coat became popular with civilians.
The iconic Burberry black, white, red and tan check was created in the 1920s and used as a lining in its trench coats. Today, the Burberry Prorsum brand is well-known for using British celebrities in its advertising, including models Kate Moss, and most recently actress Emma Watson, who was named the face of Burberry’s 2009 Fall/Winter campaign. Burberry accrued sales of $1.125 billion in 2009, 25% of which resulted from the American market.
6. Nike
According to Greek mythology, Nike was the goddess who personifies victory and today, the Nike “swoosh” logo is universally recognised as a symbol of “triumph”. Founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Bill Bowerman and Philip Knight, Nike is the world’s leading supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment with revenue in excess of $19.2 billion USD in the 2009 fiscal year .
Positioned as a premium-brand, selling well-designed and expensive products, Nike lures customers with a marketing strategy centered on a carefully protected “urban fashion” brand image popular in the youth, chav and hip hop cultures, and via sponsorship agreements with celebrity athletes, professional teams and college athletic teams. Nike’s brands include Nike Golf, Nike Pro, Nike+, Air Jordan, Nike Skateboarding and subsidiaries including Cole Haan, Hurley International, Umbro and Converse. In addition to manufacturing sportswear and equipment, the company operates retail stores under the Niketown name. Nike also teamed up recently with Apple Inc. to produce the Nike+ product which monitors a runner’s performance via a radio device in the shoe which links to the iPod nano.
7. True Religion
This fast growing, trend setting and street edgy American premium clothing line, was established in 2002 by Jeffrey Lubell and co-founder Kym Gold when it debuted denim products from their LA base.
Recognized for its t-shirts, western styled shirts, sweatshirts and sweatpants all containing the western vintage feel, True Religion is a premium brand – its jeans can range between US$250–$300. Recently the company has begun branching into new products such as footwear, headwear, handbags, swimwear, eyewear, and fragrance and today they have around 900 branded boutiques and specialty stores in 50 countries on 6 continents. Their 2008 revenue figures came in at USD $270 million and in 2009, True Religion generated world net sales of $311 million.
8. Abercrombie & Fitch
A US bred fashion brand, A&F is a booming men’s garment conglomerate that brought in $3.54 billion in 2009. The brand specifically focuses on casual wear and accessories for a target consumer ages of 18 through 22. With over 300 locations in the United States, the brand has embarked on international expansion throughout various world markets
The brand is today heavily promoted as a international near-luxury lifestyle concept. The company began cultivating an upscale image after the opening of its Fifth Avenue flagship store in 2005 alongside Prada and other upscale retailers, coming up with a fictional dictionary term – “Casual Luxury” – “[using] the finest cashmere, pima cottons, and highest quality leather to create the ultimate in casual, body conscious clothing,” and “implementing and/or incorporating time honored machinery …to produce the most exclusive denim…” This upscale image has allowed A&F to open stores in international locations concentrating on high-end retailing. To that effect, price points in international A&F stores are notoriously almost double the American pricing to promote an international upscale image. While the Casual Luxury “image” is continued, the trademark itself is not as widely used as before. CEO Mike Jeffries calls the A&F image a “movie” because of the “fantasy” that plays out instore. Even some of the A&F clothing is given a story: “You buy into the emotional experience of a movie,” Jeffries explains, “And that’s what we’re creating. Here I am walking into a movie, and I say, ‘What’s going to be [at] the box office today?’” (The Stylemeister: “Hmmm … sounds a bit cheeseball and try hard, Mr Jeffries.”)
9. Dolce&Gabbana
Recently celebrating 20 years of design, the original brand was founded by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, and is more formal and ‘timeless’ than it’s younger, more flamboyant little brother D&G – a slightly more casual line that follows an urban inspiration and attempts to set trends rather than follow them. The design house describes itself as “new luxury, authentic and unconventional – a style that expresses new forms of elegance, presenting itself as a modern classicism” and is known for its geometric and dark approach to fashion.
10. Armani
Ranked as one of the world’s leading menswear brands, Armani is an Italian luxury fashion which has a faithful male following who appreciate the clean, tailored lines of each collection. Giorgio Armani formed his company in 1975, and by 2001 was acclaimed as the most successful designer to come out of Italy, with the business making an annual turnover of $1.6 billion, and a Giorgio enjoying a personal fortune of $5.3 billion. Innovative and future forward, Armani was the first designer to ban models with a body mass index (BMI) under 18. The Armani Privé spring/summer 2007 fashion show was broadcast via MSN and Cingular cellular phones and after LG teamed with Prada to introduce the LG Prada phone, Samsung joined Armani to design the Giorgio Armani phone. Armani designed made-to-measure suits for Christian Bale’s character Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight. Soon, ads featuring “Giorgio Armani for Bruce Wayne” were released with pictures of Christian Bale wearing Armani suits. However, Bale later claimed in a GQ interview that the campaign was produced without his permission.
Armani has established approximately 2,000 stores worldwide with a yearly revenue of around $1 billion.
Other mentionables not on the list are Prada Pour Homme, Harley Davidson Clothing and Ed Hardy – each iconic, each with a distinctive male offering. Get out there, check them ALL out for yourself, you won’t regret the investment.
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Resources:
Annmicha Blugh, Break Studios Contributing Writer, www.mademan.com
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. Investor Relations
Better Investing, The Leader in Investment Report: Nike
Burberry Brings Its Luxurious Brand
Fashion Design Schools: Giorgio Armani Profile
Market Research World
Harley Davidson Sets Lay-offs
University of Oregon Investment Group
True Religion Apparel Inc.
www.wikipedia.org
12
Active Sportswear – are you for real?
Given the massive focus on active sports wear due to the recent focus on the World Cup & Wimbledon – MSP is looking into semi-casual sportswear for blokes, which is proving itself to be more sophisticated than ever before. Active Sportswear also covers sports that aren’t so commercial such as fly-fishing, hunting, sailing, aviation and hiking. No offense fellas, we are aware these sports are dear to your ticker, yet in the light of their social popularity, only the select authentic few are passionate about them. (ps- aviation style/fashion to follow in next week’s blog).
Many moons ago, we saw that luxury brands such as Chanel and Louis Vuitton were venturing into the sports arena with the likes of Adidas and more, to create a semi-casual yet premium look, which quite frankly – worked. The price tag lowered, the ranges expanded, and men could move out of their gym gear and still feel like themselves (in sports clothing) and wear this to outings without having to feel like a tosser and dress in something appropriate that they weren’t comfortable in. Like? Yes.
So in ’style speak’ here’s what’s happening.
Denim textures are changing, there’s more of a rugged appearance developing, shoes are distressed more and more, (which reminds me of a funny story to tell you about a friend of ours and his new R.M Williams, and how he accidentally de-stressed them while stressing himself!), and there is a more sublimated depth to the fabrics.
Because MSP is all about keeping it ‘macho’ and ‘real’, I’m not even going to write about the deceptive trends that I see rising over the horizon when it comes to the faux fur that is being sewn into velvet jackets and hoodies, which will give you a ‘plush’ feel about yourself – it’s way too dandy for the likes of blokes that I chat to. But I am pleased to announce a more engineered nature to the sportswear that is emerging. Knits are being reworked in every manner by designers, and metallics are shining through but if you don’t want to wear your gold Nikes down the street, then that’s fine. We’re happy for you to do so in the comfort of your own home. But don’t be shocked when you see them on the shelves. Just slowly turn away, and walk to the ‘authentic and manly’ shelves and sigh quietly under your breath. You’ve escaped a bullet. Bond.
One area of sportswear that is sitting on top of the ‘uber-cool ladder’ is the virtual leather patches hanging over shoulders or on the elbows of jackets, the finer piping around pockets and the gloves that are needed in the southern hemisphere right now. What is going on with the cold-snap! Freak!
Men either can handle their clothing snug, or they need it to be loose. Depending on your body shape of course. Climate performance jackets are now multi-purpose and user-friendly. Much like an iPad. They’re adaptable, which is a big YES to the men who don’t want to look like they’re trying too hard in the fashion arena, and most are reversible which gives you a satisfying feeling that your money is well spent. Fleece tops are being reworked, but if you are like me, you’d prefer a sheep-skin jacket that is a little vintage. Some designers who are trying to innovate are taking the classic sheepskin and making it into something that is a cross pollination of a hoodie and a terry toweling cardigan. Don’t go there!
One area that I am really digging in this new emergence of sportswear is the 2011 adaptation of the cropped khaki or hiking pant. Snapping just under the knee, you’ll find the functionality when you’re doing your ‘crouching tiger hidden dragon’ the design gives you more flexibility and doesn’t pull at your crouch. We’re diggin’ it! The colours are still in dark and heavy shades, and we’re still feeling like men when we go hunting. Loving it sick!
5
Rock contemporary style, contemporary man!
Are you a man who enjoys fashion forward clad, cool bits and bobs and pimped up footwear? Do you wear brands with a commitment to exceptional quality and do you follow independent designers with distinct visions?
Then you’re a contemporary man!
You’re a guy who sees himself as strong and fearless when he’s rocking trend driven luxe looks from edgy, cutting edge designers! Your wardrobe is filled with a mix of the good old staples and a complementary mix of indulgent and exciting brands like D&G, Mulberry, Ralph Lauren, Timex, Prada, Oakley, Marc Jacobs, G-Star Raw, Belstaff, Fred Perry, Hugo Boss and Vivienne Westwood.
And if it’s not and you long to look, be and breathe contemporary, then look no further. Get these essentials into your wardrobe:
5
Menswear trends according to Pitti Uomo
“With Pitti Uomo begins a month-long cycle that tends to leave even the most dedicated follower of fashion feeling as glutted as a foie gras goose on corporate design agendas.”
Pitti Uomo? Who?
It’s neither the name of an Italian count gone rogue nor a notoriously expensive entree at a ridiculously exclusive Michelin establishment, although both have credence in that vein.
Pitti Uomo is the leading menswear trade show held each season in Florence, Italy. It’s where the trends for next season are debated over glasses of Prosecco and the world’s top buyers parade for The Sartorialist.
“At Pitti Uomo, you can count on the Italians to wear tight pants and smoke (outdoors only now that a new ban is in effect) as if Marlboros were the staff of life. You can rely on Japanese buyers to overexert themselves performing courtesy bows. You can guess that the English will come dressed in the kind of clothes that evoke lager-lout blowouts on Ibiza. And you are guaranteed to find at least one Austrian wearing a Heidi T-shirt, ironically. And, of course, you will see plenty of Americans doing all of the above, more or less at once.
There is a sober side to Pitti Uomo of course, since it is here that one encounters all the major players responsible for the continuing glory of the “made in Italy” label, even though it increasingly comes to mean “assembled in Romania with buttonholes added somewhere near Milan.” There are Ermenegildo Zegna and Pal Zileri and Luciano Barbera and Maurizio Corneliani and Giorgio Canali, representatives of what is brightly termed the “upper-casual market” here. There are dozens of companies making sports clothes under labels that no one but retailers bother to differentiate.
Increasingly, though, it is Pitti Uomo that attracts the new names and no-names whose business plans may never bring them to international fame but whose ideas will almost certainly turn up on Italian and American runways, in specialty boutiques and at the virally replicating multibrand stores. It is at Pitti Uomo that one can chart the future of bluejeans. And anyone who thinks that the end is near for treated, roughed-up and overpriced denim had better take a couple of aspirin and lie down.
In need of an inside scoop, Swide.com got in touch recently with Pitti Uomo’s elegant CEO, Raffaello Napoleone to quiz him on the secret life of this menswear institution.
FIRST EVER PITTI UOMO
Florence, Hotel Villa Medici in February 1972
THE FIRST EXHIBITORS
Roberto Cavalli, Fendi, Flli Rossetti, D’Avenza, Ingram and an additional 44 menswear designers.
THE STRANGEST EVER PITTI UOMO
January 1990 when half a metre of snow fell on Florence and then in June 2005 when temperatures hit 42° – equal to those of the desert.
STRANGEST VISITORS
Cicciolina (Ilona Staller) a former porn actress and ex wife of Jeff Koons and – member of Italian Parliament.
HOW MANY PANINO’S ARE EATEN DURING PITTI?
The average is 20,000 paninos per day!
HOW MANY GLASSES OF CHAMPAGNE ARE CONSUMED?
More than 1000 glasses per day.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO SET UP THE STANDS INSIDE THE FORTEZZA DA BASSO?
We start setting up the stands a month in advance.
HOW MANY OFFICIAL PARTIES ARE THERE?
More than 80 parties during the 4 days
WHEN DID YOU START PLANNING THIS EDITION OF PITTI UOMO
We start organising each edition six months in advance
HOW MANY COUNTRIES DO YOU VISIT SEARCHING FOR NEW EXHIBITORS?
We visit all international trade shows worldwide, with particular attention in the USA, Great Britain, Japan, France, Germany, Benelux, Spain, Brasil, China, India, Scandinavian countries, Australia and Austria.
HOW MANY DESIGNERS APPLY TO EXHIBIT AT PITTI EVERY YEAR & HOW MANY SPACES ARE THERE?
We have a waiting list of about 180 application forms for Fall/Winter and 150 for Spring/Summer
HOW MANY LANGUAGES ARE SPOKEN DURING PITTI UOMO?
Over 30 languages
HOW MANY PEOPLE DOES IT TAKE TO ORGANIZE PITTI UOMO?
Throughout the year Pitti employs 50 people. During the show itself, more than 200 people.
And that’s that about it on Pitti Uomo!
References and thanks to:
- “What the modern aristocrat wears“, NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE
- Kerry Olsen, swide.com
To find out more about 2010 Pitti Uomo events click here www.pittimmagine.com
28
Virtual Style: Men’s fashion on Second Life
I was poking around the web today when a very cool site nabbed my attention – An online gallery focused on the fashion of 3D men in the virtual world ‘Second Life’. Talk about stylishly trippin on fantasy.
Apparently SLmen.com is one of the major men’s fashion websites on Second Life, with now more than 3,500 unique visitors per day average (the numbers can rise to 6,000 on days when new posts are published) and an average 400,000 page views per month! SLmen is included in the “fashion planet stream“, which allows even more readers to see each of the post 600 posts published to date. Seemingly impressive numbers …
Each SLmen fashion pic is carefully created by designers living in Second Life, using best practices in photography and lighting in SL, as well as the best poses on the market (model poses can be purchased with SL currency – the Linden dollar – everything and anything’s for sale I guess in a hypothetical universe).
As well, most of the fashion items in the pics on SLmen are available for sale on Second Life and can be bought and tried virtually via a SLURL to the designer’s shop.
And here we were thinking that Second Life and existing in virtual worlds was a dying trend! Not to the apparently 18 million registered account users.
Although the MSP crew is more interested in living in the real world, we must admit that SLmen’s fashion is out of this universe … literally. Take inspiration from it and if you’re game (get the pun?), try Second Life and its fashion world for yourself. www.secondlife.com
23
Get racy with OntFront’s casual street style
Dudes, start your engines! If you love fast cars, this new men’s collection, ‘Shift Gear‘, will tickle your racing funny bone.
Beautiful black, stream-lined cars and lots of horsepower was the inspiration for Amsterdam-based OntFront’s fifth collection’. The menswear label, which prides its self on designing for the bad boy and the gentleman, takes on a streetwise approach that they call “sidewalk tailoring” with clean cut yet hardcore designs that emulate a fast city life.
For their fall/winter 2010-11 offering, head designer Liza Koifman drew her inspiration from the world of street racing and night life: “I’ve always had a love for the aesthetics of car design. Spyker, Lamborghini …The aerodynamic lines and forms of fast cars are the basis for this collection of OntFront.”
The 68-piece collection, which consists of jackets, t-shirts, jeans, shirts, and unique blazers, is primarily made with dark colours like asphalt and car tire black, with highlights in red and eggplant colour. The Italian and French imported materials are high in quality being both ‘water resistant’ and breathable.
We love the OntFront aesthetic, pity the label’s only available in The Netherlands and China … when, oh when will they find a distributor Stateside & Down Under?
To get a peek at more from OntFront visit www.ontfront.com.
Oh, and watch the launch video for the collection right here – quirky, yet quite engaging! OntFront – the \”ShiftGear\” Fall/Winter 2010-11 Collection Video
8
Men’s style celebrated at amFAR Inspiration 2010
This just in: On June 3, 2010, men’s black tie fashion was the focus of a runway show at the star studded amFAR Inspiration charity gala in New York. Marc Jacobs, Dolce & Gabanna and Ralph Lauren were among the designers who contributed outfits for the show.
The gala is the first in a new event series celebrating all aspects of men’s style. amfAR Awards of Inspiration were presented to Ricky Martin and Jean-Paul Gaultier. Wilhemina Models sponsored a runway presentation of men’s designer looks inspired by the evening’s “Black Tie/Black Leather” theme, and the event raised more than $400,000 for AIDS research.
Men’s Style is giving back and the MSP team love this …
7
Real men wear PINK
No matter the season, winter or summer, warm or cold, in order to keep your stress levels down, you need an easy approach to life that always begins with your mindset.
Which should then translate to your clothes. Studies show that wearing light colours is one way of lifting your mood. Gents, there’s evidence to suggest that colours not only have an impact on our mood, but can affect us physically – our internal organs and our nervous systems react to colour.
Get this – The human body is made up of every colour in the rainbow. Our growth, immune system, blood pressure, temperature, muscle activity, alertness are all affected by light rays.
There are two ways of receiving colour:
1. By looking at colour with our eyes and by absorbing colour through our skin. Different coloured lights will affect us as will our clothing – as light passes through the fabric so light waves penetrate our system. The pineal gland is a cone shaped gland located deep inside your brain and is sensitive to light. This gland produces the hormone melatonin, regulating sleep, affecting our sex drive and having an effect on our biorhythms. The amount of light can be affected by changing seasons which can affect your body function.
2. The pituitary gland is a pea sized gland hanging from the base of the brain just below the optic nerve and is affected by coloured light. This is the gland of the endocrine system and it releases hormones directly into the bloodstream, which regulate the control of many of our body processes – our sleep and sex drive, but also our temperature, energy, metabolism, appetite, our mood and our feeling.
So … which colours are for you?
Knowing that we absorb colour through our skin we can perhaps understand some of our natural choice and instincts. For example when we are depressed we may choose to wear black to cloak us from the world as black allows no light onto your skin (whereas white clothes allow all colours of light onto our skin). However we would be better treating depression by wearing reds, oranges and yellows to lift our spirits rather than containing our negativity in black.
Generally clear, bright and light colours are considered positive and they’re great for winter wardrobes because they contrast wonderfully against the drab weariness of the season.
Let’s delve deeper into the meaning and influence on your persona when you wear lighter colours:
Real men wear pink? Perhaps unsurprisingly as pink serves to sooth, calm and nurture it is often associated with the female and all things feminine. However men who wear pink tend to be perceived as pretty bold, and infact exposure to pink can lessen irritation and aggression and offer love and protection. It apparently draws people in and therefore alleviates loneliness, despondency, over-sensitivity and vulnerability and unlike the passion of red, pink represents unselfish and long lasting love. Wearing a pink shirt pink could influence your ability to be more affectionate and loving … it’s an excellent colour (and often instinctively chosen) for developing self-love and security.
Our yellow energy centre is located in our solar plexus and exposure to yellow light can affect our skin, pancreas, liver and our eyesight. Yellow light directly stimulates the brain and the nervous system (motor nerves give energy to muscles). A lack of yellow light can cause fear, instability and shyness. Too much yellow light can cause us to be dominant. A balanced amount of yellow light can keep us alert and engaged, give us clarity and help us make decisions. Yellow represents the intellectual and thought and can aid memory, organisation, and the ability to see others point of view. Those who wear yellow will be interesting, spontaneous people who enjoy challenges, but may also be nosey and enjoy an argument (mental conflict as opposed to physical).
Because yellow is usually illuminated by artificial yellow light inside our homes, it can be too harsh on the nervous system. As a mental stimulant, a soft creamier yellow may be a good choice for an office or study.
Sky blue is a very popular colour for clothes and homes. In fact half of us prefer to paint the inside of our homes blue. Blue helps us relax (the deeper the blue the more relaxing) and expands room size whilst making us feel quiet and protected.
Blue is known to be a cool, soothing and calming colour and it is a fact that blue light can lower blood pressure and acts as an anti-inflammatory.
Blue energy is centred at the base of the throat and affects the thyroid gland, which helps to regulate the body’s energy levels. Blue is apparently able to promote good verbal communication and creativity and stimulate imagination. It is associated with mental control and clarity – a higher part of mind than yellow.
Blue is a colour of peace and trust. It is also the colour of faith and wisdom. Wearing blue is meant to stimulate your artistic, perceptive and sensitive side. You may seek a more peaceful environment and be a good practical problem solver (if a little slow to reach decisions).
White light includes every colour in the rainbow. Its energy centre in the human body is at the very top of the head (sometimes the crown is also associated with violet). Because of its location, white acts on the brain and the nervous system. When focused on white can influence our sense of empathy and unity and is calming.
White is the colour of purity and peace (waving a white flag). White always gives the sense of time and space to reflect, free from clutter thus it is the preferred colour for minimalist interior designers. However high exposure to white can cause a sense of loneliness and excessive vulnerability. Likewise if you wear white, whilst you may be open, positive, and well-balanced individual, you may also be a loner who is yearning for a simple life or looking for recognition. Sometimes people are drawn to wearing white during a period of change.
Grey is the colour of self-reliance and control but as it is also the colour of smoke, fog, and clouds it could represent a lack of clarity, evasion and non-commitment (it is neither black nor white).
So should you jump onto the colours and psychology bandwagon? It’s up to you. The color that you’ll be most drawn to is usually your subconscious mind telling your brain to seek out a particular color for its healing properties. Or, maybe it’s not and there is nothing to it more than just a reflection or absorption of light and the way that our brain interprets it. Whatever the reason, I think I’ll go to my white and tan sitting room and chillax …
10
Coat and Jacket Blazin’
If you’re not in the Southern Hemisphere au moment, please excuse this post. It’s expressly written for the dudes in the cooling climes below the Tropic of Capricorn, but feel free to draw inspiration if you’re a northerner.
As the mercury drops, your fingers will automatically reach for warmer clothes and there’s nothing that can make a man stand out of the pack than a well designed jacket or blazer. Worn casually over jeans on the weekend or over a trouser on weekdays, the blazer, jacket or trench, are classics that every man should have in his wardrobe.
Here’s how to pick the best for you:
1. The Trenchcoat:
“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. A trench coat so perfect and flawless you gotta have it…” Yes, the trenchcoat is a classic. Nothing quite flatters the male shape like this staple of men’s wardrobes since it first debuted as officers’ garb prior to World War I. Originally designed by Thomas Burberry, it’s never been ‘out’ of style, but this icon of British look has enjoyed a renaissance in popularity of late, powered by the resurgence of Burberry. Smart and effortlessly stylish, the trench exudes an air of mystery, making it the garb of choice for the edgiest cinematic heroes – from Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca to Harrison Ford in Blade Runner. Timelessly cool with a smart, grown-up feel; choose the right one and it will see you stylishly through winters for years to come.
There’s always the classic long length but MSP favours the more modern cropped versions that accentuate the shoulders, legs and behind (if you’ve got a good one). Trenches look best completely buttoned with the collar up; add a scarf knotted loosely over the collar for a cosy wrapped up look. Consider the fabric carefully too – look for waterproof cotton drill or poplin for lighter styles or for a heavier winter number, wool gabardine is a classic. More structured fabrics will hang far better, emphasising shoulders and narrow waists. Cream is the time-honoured choice but dark colours, especially grey or navy, are generally sexiest. If you prefer black, avoid anything leather unless you’re planning to spend the weekend at an ‘Allo ‘Allo convention.
2. The Blazer:
Think casual, relaxed and chilled. Then think ‘blazer’. The second cousin to the suit jacket, the blazer is what you wear when you want to kick back yet still espouse style thus their tradition in polo, golf and yacht clubs.
Don’t confuse the blazer with a suit coat – it’s cut more casually and sometimes with flap-less patch pockets and more ‘glitzy’ metal buttons. The cloth is usually durable because it is essentially an outdoor sports jacket.
Try the blazer with a white button-down oxford shirt and a striped tie, or on the weekend, the same blazer over chinos and a polo shirt, and for a laid-back look in the summer wear it with off-white pants and a bright polo.
Unless you love the attention, contrast collars on a blazer really belong under a suit, however we do dare you to try a few colours beyond just navy blue or black. Grey, tan and even full colour blazers are now making their way into the shops and if you keep it plain underneath or wear a great T-shirt, you’ll look amazing.
While it is perfectly acceptable to wear a navy blue blazer with jeans, and indeed the combination can look very stylish, one must take care that pants and coat are not too close in color. This goes for any jacket and pants combination: if it’s not a suit, it shouldn’t look like one from a distance.
Brown suede dress shoes match the navy blue blazer in versatility, and anything that looks good with the latter will too with the former (although neither are typically worn by the English). Black shoes, other than oxfords and wingtips, are also fine compliments. Anytime you wear a blazer, you will do well to wear some sort of patterned socks, whether checked, striped, or argyle.
Dudes, if picked well, a well designed, fitted coat or blazer adds instant ‘OOMPH’ to your wardrobe. Don’t while this winter away without one to inject a little pizzazz into your look!
18
The making of a Legend
He’s among TIME’s Top 100 Influential People. In 2009, 10 years after landing on the streets of the Big Apple, he headlined the legendary Madison Square Garden Arena in New York for the first time – the same year in which he won his 6th Grammy.
He’s sold more than five million albums world wide, garnered multiple hit singles (“Ordinary People,” “Used to Love U,” “So High,” “Save Room,” “Heaven,” “Another Again”), received countless awards and wowed rapt audiences across the globe. Music’s leading producers clamor to work with him. Fashion aficionados can’t get enough of his incomparable style. And the humanitarian community has rallied around his fight to end poverty.
Critics have called him a genius, one of the most compelling and important singer/songwriters of this generation, an elegant ambassador of soul.
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- In Classic Armani – dude, we love it!
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- Channeling Miami Vice at the MTV’s VMA’s
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- More Prada and Chrissy Teigen
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- In Prada
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- Legend and more of Chrissy Teigen … yum …
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- JL chews the fat life with his peeps …
He is John Legend and since his debut on the world stage, he’s left the competition, musically and stylistically, gasping in the wind.
Born and raised in Springfield, Ohio, the singer (born John Stephens) began playing piano at the age of four. He was singing in his church choir by seven and blossomed into a choir director in his teens. He began to work his way into the Philadelphia music scene while studying at the University of Pennsylvania (where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1999). While in college, Legend was introduced to Lauryn Hill by a friend. Hill hired him to play piano on “Everything Is Everything”, a song from her album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Kanye West gave Legend his first big break when he signed the artist to his G.O.O.D Music production company in 2004.
It would prove to be one of West’s smartest decisions. Legend’s debut, Get Lifted, opened at #7 on the Billboard Top 200 and turned the singer into an overnight sensation. Featuring the hit singles :Ordinary People,” “Used to Love U,” and “So High,” the album quickly became both a critical and commercial success, selling more than three million copies and earning Legend a slew of awards, including Grammys for Best New Artist, Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B album.
Legend’s new album ‘Evolver’, the follow-up to his Grammy award-winning ‘Once Again’ is a strong, soulful and passionate project whose name is as succinct as it is bold, a one-word mission statement encapsulating the singer’s ambitions. “I am constantly evolving as a person and as an artist,” says Legend. “You still have the legacy of what you did before and the people’s memory of that will always be there, but with each album you get to question that, to play with it and even rebel against if you want to and I did that with this album.”
One of the tracks on ‘Evolver’ – “If You’re Out There” – reflects John’s passion for social change. In 2007, John and his team launched the Show Me Campaign whose mission is to fight poverty through fostering sustainable development. Through John’s work with economist Jeffrey Sachs and Millennium Promise, the Show Me Campaign has adopted a village in western Tanzania called Mbola. The campaign funds a robust program to help lift this village out of extreme poverty. Additionally, Legend and Sachs have toured the U.S. on a “Poverty Action Tour” to bring the message of sustainable development to the nation’s college students. Legend has recently been honored with the 2008 Humanitarian Award from CARE and the 2008 Difference Award from OneXOne.*
Reflecting on his evolution, Legend says that at this point in his life he is the most confident that he’s ever been. “I’m more comfortable with my entire being,” he says. “I’m more engaged in the world around me. In every aspect of my life–in relationships, sexually, emotionally, intellectually–I’ve grown up. This album is a statement about where I am right now.”
When it comes to style, Legend is dapper and clean – he loves his Prada and Armani suits and tailored garments – he’s not a creases and tousled locks kinda guy, but on him that preppy look is sexy and suave. Mr Legend rocks major style and for that, we at MSP give him a major thumbs up!
* Bio excerpts from www.myplay.com.
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