Easy City Living - Noah Mills by Barnaby Roper

One of the top male models, Noah Mills, was photographed for this editorial for GQ France by the well renowned photographer Barnaby Roper. The editorial was styled by James Sleaford with looks from Hugo Boss, Giorgio Armani, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Sandro. I love the coat Noah was wearing on that photo when he was carrying the big radio over his shoulder because I own it, ha ha!

Cama-Camel-ion - Bo Ackerson by Milan Vukmirovic

This Editorial appeared on both L'Officiel Homme Paris and China.  Showcasing one of this season's trend, The Camel (the color, duh). Bo Ackerson appeared on this very sensual editorial photographed by  Milan Vukmirovic, donning pieces from the collection such as Gucci, Dolce&Gabbana, Burberry Prorsum, and Prada. It was interesting to see the same pictorial and how it was edited for both Paris and China market.  

Woe is me - A Fashionisto's experience from the Lanvin x H&M release

THE MANNEQUIN IS MOCKING ME!

So I just got home from the chaos that was the Lanvin <3 H&M launch day and came out empty handed. There was no one else to blame but myself. Last night over dinner, I was talking to my mon ami about how I was planning to head out in the wee hours to stand in line outside the store, after finding out that another fashion enthusiast and friend of mine, Thomas was camping out as well . . . in the rain. Coming from Pittsburgh he thought it was unheard of that people would be camping out for clothes. Really?! This is LANVIN we're talking about, Buddy! Clearly, he didn't know what fashionistos/fashionistas are capable of and willing to sacrifice in the name of Fashion.

AT MIDNIGHT
courtesy of Thomas Eagle

So there I was, warm in bed after being talked out of freezing my ass off for some bow tie, a pair of sunglasses and probably a blazer. Fast forward a few hours, waking up at 5:30 am after deciding to at least show up roughly an hour and half before the store opens at 8. After a short BART ride to downtown SF, mind you the rain was pouring like there was no tomorrow at this point, the line was all around the block and wrapped around to the other side.** Le sigh** at that point I knew it was hopeless. I ran into my friend Thomas who was fairly in the beginning of the line, donning a trench coat and his LV bag (he was there at midnight). I was surprised how sharp a handful of people looked especially in the rain, and that early in the morning on a Saturday.

CHAOS!

At 8:00 am the line quickly moved and once inside, I felt like I just got thrown into the Arena where ravenous lions were waiting for me. It was absolute chaos. The fully stocked racks and tables were now barren, broken boxes strewn on the floor, and everybody clamoring to whatever piece from the collection that were still untouched.

GUY TAKING DOWN NAMES
AND BEING FOLLOWED
BY THE LATE COMERS 

After a quick deep breathing session, One of the awesomely friendly associate approached and informed me that I can put down my name for the pieces that the mannequins were wearing. **smile** The weird coincidence was the boy taking down names was somebody I met during Halloween at an Event Promoter's house in the Mission, awkward. The downside, I can only put down my name on a piece, so I decided on the magenta bow tie.  Oh well, there was no guarantee that it would be mine, anyway. But if nobody grabs it by monday, its mine . . . so I picked the mannequin wearing the magenta bow tie on the tallest ledge so no one can grab it. Bwa ha ha ha! The sad thing, after the staff were putting some random pieces out on the empty racks, people were still grabbing them, clearly not familiar with the collection?

So feeling slightly defeated I left the store to have breakfast with my mon ami. Only to receive a phone call from Thomas 20 minutes later informing me that, in his possession were three different Bowties, The red, the blue, and the leopard print and asked if I want one of them. **Oh JOY** I told him, I'll be there in a second. So, I wolfed down my sunny side ups, bacon, and sausage, paid and briskly walked back to the direction of H&M. So I called back Thomas to confirm that he still has the bowties only to inform me that he gave it away literally 2 seconds ago. Am I bitter? No. Like I always say, all is fair in love and fashion. If somebody spent more than 6 hours in the rain, they deserve to have a piece of Lanvin.
  

 

All I Want For Christmas is . . . - Danny Beauchamp by Vanessa Jackman

The Holidays are almost upon us and for this editorial for the chic online store my wardrobe with the same title, All I Want For Christmas. Photographed by Vanessa Jackman featuring some pieces like D&G, Burberry, Marc by Marc Jacobs to name a few. The full editorial with the women's clothing can be viewed at their website. I love the modern take of a classic James Dean picture. On a side note, congrats on Burberry for reaching their 3 million "likes" on facebook. Happy Weekend Everyone!

Fashionisto's Dillema - To Share or Not To Share

Everybody has their favorite stores that they frequent for their outfitting needs. I try to avoid going to places like Saks, Bloomies, Neiman Marcus and the other multi-label stores for a couple of reasons: One for the limited selection for each label and two most of the time somebody already bought it. I'm not a snob in a way that I think I'm better than the rest . . .wait, maybe I do regardless, I do go there but most of the time for little essential things like cuff links, a tie, cologne, socks? I think I'm pretty lucky that I live in a city that actually has a very good base of single label stores from high street/fast fashion to High fashion houses sure it still can't compare to NYC or even LA but San Francisco is still good. I like clothes that I would normally wont find somebody wearing when I'm walking down the street or at an event and be mortified that some other guy is wearing the exact shirt/jacket/shoes. This is where the problem begins. I have a few small twice loved clothing stores, small time fashion designers, little hush-hush members only sample sales that I frequent. So as a fashion blogger, do I share these gems? I mean granted Wasteland (the store) is pretty well known to those who know what it is but I don't think a "normal" individual would think "gee I'm going to wasteland to buy a jacket." I feel like I should share these places for the fact that if somebody likes my outfit, the stores should get represented. On the other hand, I run the risk of losing some piece that I want just because I shared my store to some guy that has the same style that I do. I'm not loaded only by association ha ha and I can't afford to buy everything from High Fashion houses and that's why I love my little stores since they have the names but not the price and I refuse to wear knock offs. A very close friend of mine once told me, "fake it till you make it," to which I responded, "not with fashion, buddy."  So fashionistos and fashionistas do we keep our stores private or do we share the world our little known knowledge as an insider?

B.P. how I love you - AJ Abualrub by A.P. Kim

I think that I said it a million times now on how I adore Burberry Prorsum. In the November/December issue of Homme Essential, AJ Abualrub shows of the the Resort collection for 2011. Photographed by A.P. Kim and styled by Terry Lu. I love that camel leather jacket's neck line, very sharp!

Stripes And Textures - Lanvin S/S 2011

In honor of the upcoming release of the Lanvin <3 H&M release this coming Saturday. I decided to feature the collection that was sort of inspired the collection of the fast fashion. The collection featured A LOT of textured pieces with shear fabric tops that sort of looked like shawls at times. I love the outerwear especially the trench with oversize neck line. Most of the pieces had a very airy feel to them but towards the end of the show when the textures even though used with light weight fabrics tend to look very over bearing and heavy. The chunky jewelry that were donned on most looks were designed by Lucas Ossendrijver and had the mixed feelings for. Generally, it looked good but some just looked too heavy. Overall the collection looked handsome and the deconstruction on some of the pieces were awesome.