Darjeeling has trunks full of style

The weekend gave me opportunity to watch Wes Anderson's new film The Darjeeling Limited. As usual with Anderson there is minute attention to details and design which extends to clothes; the monogrammed pyjamas, the sunflower coloured bathrobe, the loafers etc. Throughout the film Anderson creates a jovial contrast of Westerners' neutral-toned suits against the hot ochres and turquoises of India (if you are interested most of the movie was filmed in Rajasthan). I want to explore this mix of vibrant colour and neutral tones in the spring, if done well this look will have a great deal of impact, as it did in the film. In another life, Anderson might have been a Dutch genre painters to whom the details of light, domesticity and clothing were the lifeblood of their art and a way to express the everyday humanity of their subjects. A common critique of Anderson's film is that the appurtenances of style are there to amuse himself rather than to uncover an emotional truth; in short all surface and little depth. I am not a film critic but for what my opinion is worth I enjoyed the film (some aspects more than others) but overall it was a pleasant way to spend an evening and gave me a chance to eat sweet popcorn and drink from a ridiculously oversized Coke cup.

One of the stars of this film doesn't even have a speaking part... I could be talking about Bill Murray but I'm not. It's the 11 pieces of distinctive Louis Vuitton luggage made specifically for the movie. The luggage was designed by Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton and includes monogrammed steamer trunks, duffels, and suitcases covered in a jungle pattern created by Anderson's brother, Eric. I must admit though I am turned off by them because they are LV but forgetting my own bias these are really nice pieces and they ignite a desire deep inside me to own monogrammed luggage. In fact I quite want to explore charity shops and see whether I can find an old and battered piece of monogrammed luggage. I don't really want my own initials inscribed on the leather- S.S is not needed- just any combination of letters will satisfy me. Let the luggage foraging begin...

EJ: I've not seen the film yet (the weather is far too grim to venture outside), though have managed to find some nice luggage here and here (ridiculously lovely). Not quite the cheap second-hand shop prices I'm sure you were thinking of though. I must say though, if I was going for Louis Vuitton, I would be gunning for this beauty. I've longed for one of these after seeing them in a Fred Astaire film and I'm convinced that it's the epitome of cool travelling.

Picture Postcard - Chequers and Polka

To cheer myself up before I go outside I thought I would post a picture. EJ first showed me this image to pass the time at work last week but it is an image that I've not forgotten about and I thought I'd share (plus it will give her a chance to talk about it because I know she wants to!). This image is courtesy of fak! which we have blogged about before but why not again eh?

The combination of accessories is very good indeed, far better than most of the shots that one sees on facehunter (I have been looking over his recent shots of London though and I do approve). For me this outfit would be perfect if it he was wearing jeans as opposed to leggings/treggings. I just can't accept them and I don't like looking at them. I can however gaze at the combination of the chess board top and yellow polka dot neckerchief for quite some time. With this I leave you and this warm room behind but I will be back later.

Oh, I love him so! Mine is one of those mad crushes... my brain says:

'no, this is wrong! Look at him, who does he think he is? Some kind of harlequin ballet dancer? You don't like yellow, it's not your friend... and is he carrying a SPEAKER? Who carries a speaker?'

while my heart says:

'Look at him... he's like a harlequin ballet dancer! The boy's some kind of mad genius... a Doc Brown of colour and simple pattern'.

What belt would you wear with these?

It is a common held belief that your belt should match your shoes and I try to follow this as best I can. However, the great shoe dresser that is Pierre hardy has just devised this hi top which makes belt matching a touch tricky. I would suggest wearing a nice grey belt with these. I am in love with hi tops at the moment. I'm not entirely sure why, it is extremely unlikely that you are going to see me within 100 yards of a basketball court. I just think they are the trainer of choice right now. As for Pierre Hardy at times I wish i was female so I could wear his designs. Hardy's work has been influencing accessories and fashion design for decade and he has made his name creating masterpieces for Dior and Balenciaga. I will buy myself a pair of his creations for myself at Christmas.

Picture postcard: goodbye internet

Image courtesy of Fak! (their exclamation mark, not just me being overexcited)

Dear Steve,

Greetings from the floor of my living room! I am surrounded by boxes with my life (well, mostly my plates) packed in them. Moving at last! This does of course mean that I will be without proper internet access for an unknown period of time, but never fear as I shall try to comment/take over other people's computers.

Anyway, back to the pic. I (of course) really like this lovely, casual androgynous look. It's the kind of outfit you make up of stuff you haven't worn or thought about in ages, then realise that it looks pretty good and, hey, I should wear this hat more often. That bag is wicked too and so DIY-able. Mostly, though, I just wanted to draw your attention to this website. I think it's Ukranian, though correct me if I'm wrong. while some of the outfits are a little outlandish for me, I just love the photos. Also, I love the fact that it puts the total cost of the outfit... I get a bit jaded with certain street style sites that only seem to show people dressed in expensive labels (or blatently expensive vintage) .

Oh, I just remembered a question I meant to ask you. Do men compliment other men on their clothes or is it just not done? I'm always telling random women that I like their shoes or their top or whatever, but always hesitate to do the same to men. Agony aunt, help me!

EJ

Hello there EJ,

It's saturday Morning and I'm in a funny moody. I'm so pleased that I'm not at work but then I've lost my gf for 10 days which also means that I've got no internet access either. So the next few days (other than arranging the internet for my own home) will include frequent trips to the internet cafe down the road. I hate those places! Anyway, back to your post. I've not come across this site before but it's cool. I like how it contains many facets that other street style blogs just don't offer. Such as the elaboration of the outfit and the various shots of key components of it. I love the case that your chap is holding and I agree that it would be fun to create something like this. My instant favourite on the site was this chap who is doing a fairly common look within the realms of Brick Lane and Shoreditch but is doing it really well. This chap would certainly be snapped by the likes of facehunter. He seems to possess something though that many others featured on the styleblogs that I regularly consult. Yes the squash racket case is a little unnecessary but I like the style conscious humour of this outfit. Most of all i love the tie and the contrasting autumnal tone of the entire thing. Good find EJ!

Now onto your agony aunt query. As your well informed Agony Aunt I can tell you that quite a few men do comment on each others style but the level of dialogue contained within this conversation can range from 'Nice shirt' to a lengthy discussion about rare trainers (which I have done after a few drinks). I'm not sure how many men would discuss this with random men though, I'm a little shy about it personally, I normally just look and admire. Overall, the style dialogue between the majority of men is nowhere near the levels of that between the majority of women and I'm not sure that it ever will, at least not in my lifetime. Unless of course I succeed in revolutionising how men think about clothes. I do think though that more men are thinking about clothes and of course thought leads to discussion (well hopefully). It's a little too early for this pseudo-social science exploratory investigation as I've not even had a Lady Grey this morning. It is an interesting question though and I'd like to open it up the readers...because amazingly we have readers now. What do you think J, Dustcakeboy, Stephen and friends?

Time for tea. Much love

Steve xxx

Picture Postcard: Lacoste Colour

After not being able to get my fix from the sartorialist and facehunter I am now in overdrive and my thirst for treats for the eyes is hard to quench. To be honest I've not missed too much in the last few days (although Ivan's recent posts on new York have confirmed my desire, no scrap that, NEED to go!). I've also been advised to visit misshapes which thus far I've neglected, well frankly because of my own ignorance but have enjoyed wasting the last couple of hours spotting celebs and scensters alike! All of these sites keep me out of trouble. Anyway...there was a point to all of this. That point was thus; to extend on your discussion of colour and men's apparent lack of balls to try it. I completely agree and I am guilty of it but this autumn/winter I will experiment and be a little more adventurous. That said, classics do work but classics don't necessarily have to equate to monochrome. This guy looks awesome in the classic Lacoste colour combination of pale pink and apple green. He has a certain Kanye meets Andre 3000 thing going on and in my book that's not bad at all! I love his use of accessories, both his sunglasses which and his bad, I am a big fan of totes at the moment (they are so practical!)...The moral of this post is you can use colour and it doesn't automatically mean unusual experimentation but there is certainly more out there than just monochrome.

I all-out love this guy (and love that our posts now have morals!). I think the trick to pulling this look off without looking like you're trying to hard is to keep it relaxed. Skinny jeans nd trousers are ok but here you wouldn't want these trousers any narrower than they are: the colour and the cut should not be competing for attention in such a bold look. This is the second photo I've seen in a little while with a half-tucked shirt like that (one of the blokes in the plaid post being another)- is this some trend I'm missing out on or just people being snapped before they're ready? I somehow think it's more likely to be the former.

We seem to be out of sync with bags though- I don't like this one that much (plus it looks a little tatty). Maybe because it looks a little drab compared to the rest of the outfit. Want those shoes badly though.

Funny you should mention Andre 3000 too- I have been rekindling my love of Outkast recently. It's amazing how much 'So fresh, So clean' makes me want to dress up in my maddest, coolest outfit and dance around the house.

Extending the idea

Further to your earlier post about Prince I have been thinking about colour. I've never been a monochrome kind of girl (far too messy and accident prone for white and black is just too depressing) though I can hardly be called a riot of colour. I think colour can be a scary thing and while I see it bandied about in different forms on the catwalk you rarely see real (as in, on the street, not some kind of bizarro macho) men giving it a go. I saw the picture below from the Paul Smith Spring 08 show and wondered why.

Yes, it always helps that he is a pretty boy with lovely hair, but I really think that this could look brilliant on the ordinary person (btw, why do I love the rolled up turn ups in this picture so much?).

This chap, taken from facehunter, proves my point quite well I feel. This is of course a severely toned down use of colour, but I think those bright pink shoes and the crisp white shirt complement each other so very well and stops this look from being boring. I love that he's wearing a neon yellow belt and it's not the first thing you notice.

facehunter again, and the same pink shoes. Now, I'm not big on the shorts, but I do like how this all goes together. The purple of the top is just lovely, while the dark colour of the shorts stops them screaming 'look at me, please' as much as they might have done in a different colour.

One last picture from me, this time courtesy of MTL street:

This looks like the easiest way of wearing colour- and it probably is- but look how well put together this is, with his trainers picking up the colour of his pocket, jeans and his top and his sunglasses matching his belt buckle.

Picture Postcard - Prince

Hey Eliza,

Well as Prince is in town (Laaaaandan town that is) I just couldn't resist talking about him and his style. These are just a few words that the little man himself had to say about style 'Style is not a lie, style is a man that cries, style is the glow in a pregnant women's eye...' (The rest of the words can be found here if you are interested, he even says that 'style is puppy breath.') Whatever you think about Prince he certainly does things his own way. Ever since 1977 when, at the age of 19, he signed a three-album deal and blew the budget for all three albums on the first one (which is very similar to how I spend my wages), and this after insisting that he play all the instruments himself, record all the vocals himself and produce it himself. I'm not convinced about his style though and would like to know your thoughts. He's not a style icon of mine but he does give all short men hope of being seen a sexy (despite the fact that he is extremely short he does wear well fitted clothes which helps his stature) and he certainly uses colour (to varying degrees of success). What can we salvage from the below images?

I like the colour combination but wouldn't wear such a block of colour personally

I like the cut of his suit and again his use of colour

But what do make of all this you this?

Good evening stranger!

You're lucky to hear from me this evening- had the house to myself for a while and was almost sucked in by bust a move on the wii. Still, I have freed myself for long enough to take a look at Mr Squiggle. I LOVE Prince. Don't think much to his new album, but love his weirdness. Who could ever resist those cheekbones?

I really like these pics, even if I don't love these clothes. Sunglasses indoors? No! Is he even wearing a shirt under the first suit? And yet... Look how well the colour of the first suit, well, suits him. You so often hear women's mags talking about dressing in flattering colours, but I can't remember the last men's mag I read saying the same thing. And that guitar... talk about customisation. It might seem naff with another rock/pop star, but he does it with such conviction that it just works.

I love the line and fit of the second suit. I'm not sure what it is that makes him look taller than he is (not standing near anyone perhaps?), but I think it might be the single, high up button. I really want to know if he's wearing matching pale blue shoes. I think, if it was me in that suit, I'd have a different, patterned pocket square and some white crocodile skin type shoes. I think I may just be having a Vegas day.

Did I mention the hair? It slays me. I wish he had more facial hair going on. Ok, I'm definitely having a Vegas day.

Rock on

EJ

Style Diary: Travelling and First Day

The all important travel outfit. I am far from a seasoned traveller. The furthest I had ever been prior to New York was Crete which was a four hour journey, this was twice that long and comfort was the key. Before the trip I visited Uniqlo and picked up some great basics. Quite surpisingly the first part of this travel outfit diary is filled with colourful bargains from the store which is seemingly taking over London town and in particular Oxford Street (seriously how many Uniqlo stores can you fit in such a small space?) and prior to this I had never bought anything before. Excuse the below mugshot looking image. I'm not really a psycho killer, blame my crazy stare on jetlag or something.

The 'New York Here I Come' outfit

1 - Uniqlo grey ribbed top

2 - Unconditonal wrap trousers

3 - Omar Kashouri cardigan

4 - Battered old Converse. I am looking for some new hi tops on this trip

The 'New York Here I Am' outfit.

1 - Unconditonal t shirt with bibbed front

2 - Uniqlo red jeans. Red jeans? This has to be my most unusual purchase ever, but I like them. They have a good selection of colourful jeans and these add some colour to my otherwise monochrome focused palette.

4 - Uniqlo (yes Uniqlo again) blue cardigan. I thought I was over cardigans but they are so useful when layering and again this adds colour!

The first day in New York was spent wandering around downtown, concentrating on Soho and Nolita. It was a relatively quiet day because I was just getting used to my surroundings and if i'm being honest a little grumpy because I was tired. The shopping highlight for me was INA, a consignment store which had some interesting items, friendly 'stoned' staff and great music. I tried on a pair of Prada trousers which had stirrups. Unfortunately (or luckily) they were just too short for me, they fitted like a glove otherwise (althought I was a little perplexed by the stirrups). Off to Brooklyn today which has a host of great stores and Brunching options.

In my country we call them cosmonauts

Does anyone else look at these shoes and want to play dress up as an astronaut?

Dean 48 shoes by Swear

The only question I have is: where do you get one of those fish-bowl helmets?

Cheating

So there I was, casually flicking through the A/W (I am NOT American, so it's not fall to me) catwalk pictures looking, as ever, for approximations of The Suit, along the way marvelling at how Jean Paul Gaultier could make me reconsider the bowler hat, sniggering slightly at ze tres French styleeengs of Emanuel Ungaro's models and being extremely underwhelmed by Paul Smith... anyway, back to The Suit.

Ann Demeulemeester was coming close:

Well ish... this does look a bit like a duvet cover I own.

This is a bit more like it. A bit too frilly though and where's the trousers, Ann? She clearly isn't taking this seriously.


How about Yves Saint Laurent then?

Ooh, nice. Not right, but lovely all the same. I don't like the length of the jacket, but otherwise this is pretty much top.

And then it happened. Out of nowhere this one hit me.

Oh my. Jesus, the colour is magnificent and those trousers are just perfect. And velvet?! How do they know my weakness??

I'm sorry The Suit, Gucci Suit and I are in love. Please forgive me.

All pictures courtesy of men.style.com

Your obsession got you known throughout the school for being strange

Forgive me for paraphrasing Kylie here but I just can't get it out of my head. When my mind is blank, I'm bored with style and think that I'll never want to buy any new clothes again I remember it and daydream for a while...

Oh purple suit, I love you so. It's no secret that I'm a fan of the Science of Sleep, but until now my love of The Suit has been kept hidden from even my nearest and dearest. But no more! The Suit and I are meant to be. The colour is so beautiful... not necessarily unusual (I have at least 3 tops in this colour, all bought in the same year) and not so in-your-face as to be annoying. I adore the shirt-style jacket with its solitary breast pocket.

Cat ears and fabulous French actresses are optional accessories, but come highly recommended.

But have I been blinded by love? Has cupid's arrow made me oblivious to how difficult such beautifully coloured suits are to pull off in real life? No, it can't be true. Just keep remembering those lovely Ozwald Boateng suits in Selfridges and all will be fine.

Gratuitous Gael Garcia Bernal pic (I don't care if this blog is aimed at men, it's my blog and I can do what I want):

After mentioning your fascination with the purple suit in passing months ago I didn't realise that it was such a strong feeling that you were hiding from everyone, even me! I bought the film on DVD as soon as it came out but unfortunately there isn't an added feature solely focused on the purple suit. I agree that the colour is amazing. I actually wore a similar shade of purple today and received a comment from almost everyone at my office. It was a purple wool and cashmere sweater from the Autograph range and a present from my Nan. It has to be one of the best nan bought jumpers I've ever received...and there has been many! Ok, back to the suit, aside from the great colour, the cut and style of it is interesting. I'm not sure I would like it in any other colour though.

No place like home

Until the last year or so I simply would not entertain the notion of buying a pair of coloured shoes, ie the shoes were either black (the preferred choice) or brown or white/cream (if they were trainers)...I was much more simple back then maybe.

I am beginning to find style inspiration from extremely unlikely sources and it seems that I'm not the only one. Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz might be inspiration for a number of girls growing up (not pointing fingers but I'm sure EJ had a desire to be Judy Garland) but it seems her choice of red footwear which were bright red (thanks to the technicolour film that was used) has made me green with envy. You may recall that I liked the idea of wearing a pair of bright red formal shoes with a grey suit (as shown by Mjolk) and now I have seen the Facehunter pipping me to the post and wearing his patent red boots with a mocking nonchalance (but well, the best I've seen him turned out!) alongside very similar muted tones which I myself had in mind.

If you, like me and the Facehunter, have been inspired by those 1939 ruby slippers there are plenty of offerings to choose from; Swear currently have a reduced option (which is extremely low in stock) but I prefer another pair and these can be found at b store. Why not add some colour to your feet?

I will leave you with my favourite quote from the film uttered by the Wizard of Oz himself "Frightened? Child, you're talking to a man who's laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom, and chuckled at catastrophe... I was petrified."

EJ - Well surely if you're going to channel Dorothy then you need to get those red glitter shoes we saw in the window of Topman? I can't find them on their website, although these ones are tackilious. I never really wanted to be Dorothy... maybe the cowardly lion instead. (p.s. you are still the campest straight guy I know). But seriously, I love the red shoes. I wonder if the saying about girls who wear red shoes applies for men too?

Steve - Good Morning EJ. Those Red metallic lace ups are a little too metallic for me but they certainly are Dorothy alike and thanks for reminding me about those Topman ones, they were pretty awesome. I definitely think that if the old saying is indeed true then it is universal. In response to your little remark about my perceived campness...I am proud to be the campest straight guy you know, that is quite the accolade. I will call you later as it seems you have run out of credit....someone needs to get a contract! Happy Saturday everyone!