My Love Affair with Man-Skirts

My love affair with man-skirts is a rather recent phenomenon. It occurred during my transitional period from normal color wearing college student to all black, skinny jean wearing fashion bitch. This was during the end of my freshman year at NYU. During this transitional period I stumbled across an image of the Givenchy Homme Spring/Summer 2012 Birds of Paradise printed skirts and although not part of my all black aesthetic, I still fell in love with these skirts and so a romance between me and man-skirts developed. As a struggling college student the romance never reached fruition (as a poor college student I could not afford a Givenchy man-skirt without selling an essential organ) but nonetheless my love grew and was only rekindled when I saw the pleated skirts Riccardo Tisci designed for his Givenchy Homme Fall/Winter 2012 collection. It was as if Riccardo was looking into my dark, Gothic soul and pulling out my inner darkest desires. These skirts screamed "Fuck Off, You Commoners" which is basically what I want my everyday look to scream out. Other designers have attempted the man-skirt/kilt but most efforts have been sub-par except for a few notable exceptions such as the Prince of Darkness Rick Owens who expanded the man-skirt to a full on man-dress and most recently Thom Browne who produced the most drool-worthy kilts for Moncler Gamme Bleu. Man-skirts are certainly not for the weak of heart or fat of calves but wearing a Givenchy man-skirt is at the top of my bucket-list.

Givenchy S/S 2012

Givenchy F/W 2012

Rick Owens S/S 2012

Thom Browne for Moncler Gamme Bleu F/W 2013

Safety-Pin First

Some people are big fans of a crisp basic white button down, unfortunately I am not one of those people. To me white button downs always look the same and they always look boring no matter who it's by, whether it be Dolce & Gabbana or H&M. In my own closet I only keep a single white button down for when I'm feeling more conservative than usual. To my amazement Thom Browne has created such an amazing white button down that even I'm obsessed with it. Known for edging up classic menswear pieces, Thom Browne has added safety pins to a white oxford resulting in a powerful, statement making shirt. Definitely adding this to my dream to-buy list. 

Thom Browne Safety Pin Oxford $750 at barneys.com

Tommy Ton for style.com

Five Reasons Why A Fendi "Baguette" Is Better Than A Baguette

The iconic Fendi Baguette bag is celebrating it's 15th anniversary so I thought it was only appropriate that I dedicate a blog post to this iconic bag, which is often hailed as having started the "it-bag" trend. In addition to the book, "Fendi Baguette" which is due out in just 4 days, Fendi is reissuing the bag in six of its most popular incarnations. I'm fond of five reasons, so here are 5 reasons why a Fendi Baguette bag is much better than an actual baguette.

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1. Too many Fendi Baguettes are never a bad thing whereas too many baguettes just make you fat and no one likes the fat girl.

2. The Fendi Baguette is a work of art whereas a baguette is just a piece of bread, delicious, but just bread.

3. People will compliment you on your fabulous Fendi Baguette but no one will compliment you on your expanding waistline courtesy of too many baguettes.

4. A Fendi Baguette bag carries the Lagerfeld seal of approval whereas everyone knows the Kaiser doesn't eat carbs.

5. A Fendi Baguette bag makes you a better person because of its high chic value. Everyone knows chic = better.

Bite Me

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Givenchy Shark Print Tee $320 available at bergdorfgoodman.com

I've been obsessed with Givenchy for years now and consider myself a true devotee of the Tisci Tribe. Ricardo Tisci is a true visionary when it comes to fashion, specifically menswear. His menswear collections are always bold and powerful wth a fuck off attitude. His inovative syle can best be seen by his decision to launch a Pre-Fall 2012 Collection for men. Other designers have followed Tisci's lead but none of their collections are as impressive. Continuing the beach theme from his Spring 2012 women's collection, Tisci has created some amazing shark printed garments that are sure to become highly coveted, such as this amazing Shark Print Tee Shirt which I'm dying to add to my closet. Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, not many retailers have picked up the pre-fall collection which is truly a shame. Hopefully more retailers start stocking up on the Givenchy Menswear  such as the amazing Givenchy Men's Resort 2013 collection which is full of great camouflage inspired prints.

Givenchy Men's Resort 2013

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Vanitas Love Affair

H&M Skull Bracelets

Perhaps it is due to my study of and love for Dutch still-life painting, or perhaps it is because I am a dark and depressed soul but I have recently become obsessed with skulls and everything related to Vanitas paintings. The term Vanitas refers to a genre of art that emerged in Northern Europe during the 17th Century. These paintings differed from regular still-lifes in that they contained symbols of death, the most common being the skull. The skull is a little dark, a little macabre but I absolutely love it.

Still Life with Bouquet and Skull (1642) by Adrian van Utrecht

Nowadays it is super easy to incorporate the skull motif into your everyday look. First pioneered by the late Alexander McQueen, the skull is now a common fixture in fashion. One of my favorite ways to rock the skull is in a bracelet form. You can find skull bracelets almost anywhere from fast-fashion retailers like H&M to higher end jewelry companies like the 2011 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Finalist Finn Jewelry.

Carras Skull Bracelet
$28 available at shopthegallaxy.com

Finn Black Silver Skull on Cord
$150 available at finnjewelry.com

Although I may be a dark and dreary soul I love juxtaposing the skull motif with something more romantic and dreamy such as roses or other bright flowers (must be the fag in me). One of my favorite images is when the skull is completely composed of cutesy little flowers and butterflies such as one this t-shirt from H&M, which is only $5.95 USD.

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My Stash

Some guys collect baseball hats, some girls collect shoes, I on the other hand collect designer stationery. For some reason the smell of a new limited edition Moleskine notebook sends a rush through my black-clad body. The sad part is that unlike the baseball hats and shoes that get proudly displayed, my stash remains unused and hidden in a small discrete pile. It's not that I don't want to use them but it's just that they're too beautiful to tarnish with my insignificant thoughts (ok well my thoughts are actually super important but still not important enough for these delicate beauties). I have a fairly small collection of as now but I'm sure it'll grow just like my waistline during finals. 

Below is my collection thus far (as you can see the overarching theme is black):

From L to R: Karl by Karl Lagerfeld Moleskine available at the Karl shop on Bleecker St; Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty Notebook, Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty Pencils, both from the Met Exhibit; Christian Lacroix for Kate's Paperie Notebook; Marc by Marc Jacobs Moleskine for Barneys CO-OP

Wishlist:

Margiela Ostrich Feather Pen:

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Alexander Wang Leather Notebook

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Nicola Formichetti "Nicopanda" Moleskine

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James Nares for Coach

I know what you're thinking, Coach like really? Who shops at Coach nowadays but please allow me to justify myself. Coach Men's has really been stepping up their game. A few months ago they collaborated with the artists Hugo Guinness on a line of bags and accessories featuring the British artist's prints. The stuff was cute if you're like into sports and stuff (obviously not for me). But I got really excited when I read on Bagaholicboy (one of the blogs on my daily reading list) that the company was collaborating with the British artist James Nares (someone at Coach is clearly an Anglophile). I must admit I had no clue who he was when I first read his name (I have since taken the time to look him up and think his painting process and works are bananas!) but I thought the bags were amazing and so I was obsessed, so I obsessed that I actually took the time to go in search of the bags. The bags weren't supposed to be available in store until April 20th but when I went to the store on Thursday my source at Coach Mens on Bleecker Street, Kyle this super adorable and helpful sales guy, told me they had been on the sales floor since Wednesday. The Coach Mens on Bleecker has the tote in black, green and blue. I was searching for the pink (shocking given my phobia of all colors that aren't black or gray) but was told I would have to trek uptown for it. I was so conflicted between the black and blue since both are like super amazing and the print on both is slightly different. I'm pretty sure you can guess which one I ended up choosing, if you can't take a look below. The tote itself retails for $798 and is available at coach.com, the Coach Mens on Bleecker and the Coach on Madison Ave. The bag itself looks amazing in person and the fabric is really high quality but my only concern is that it's HUGE! I thought the bag was going to be your standard normal sized tote but this bag is more of a weekender bag than an every day bag, so do keep that in mind if you plan to purchase it. I still bought it anyway since there are only about 170 available in each of the 5 colors but not sure when I'll be using it.

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Ended up going with the black one obviously.

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West on Sunrise, Black (2010) by James Nares