10/10 for 10 plus

Thank goodness we are finally in the season of new magazines. On today's visit to Borders I bought and fell in love with 10 plus. It's aspirational men's fashion but isn't done in the normal way. I have finally found some great fashion writing when it comes to covering men! The highlight thus far is Richard Gray's assault on fashion victims which made me laugh out loud a few times on the 134 bus home and consequentially a few stares from my fellow suitably glum commuters. He mentions both The Face and Depeche Mode on the very same page, I think I am in love. I will give you a quick round up of his top ten victims but will return to them and will both expand and illustrate them as soon as i get the chance.

1 - Fluro - 'it's over'
2 - Army Scarves - 'You're not in the Territorials'
3 - Pointy sneakers - 'These verrucas in leather just haven't moved on'
4 - Fat legs in tight jeans - 'God made the world round for a reason, and he wasn't wearing skinny jeans'
5 - Literalists - 'flicking through back copies of The Face and picking the wit out of the fashion pages, like crows pecking the eyes from carrion'
6 - Fashion irony - 'curse of the creative industry'
7 - Ad campaigners - 'victims who push, nay force a look by one particular designer, top to toe'
8 - Mediocrity - 'Mediocrity breads contempt'
9- Disconnected hair - 'Glasgow is the capital of disconnected hair'
10 - Jean Saggers - 'Get the balance right as the Depeche once sang'

Accompanying the witty and insightful words are superb editorials. I am just cursing the fact that this magazine has passed me by up until now but I guess there is always the back catalogue...

Playing by the rules

Most men's (and women's) magazines seem to like trotting out 'rules for the stylish man/woman' or some such nonsense at least once a year it seems. It's a strange idea when you think about it to assume that all 'stylish' people abide by one set of rules, and not really a myth I buy into. More often than not these lists vary from the vague to the oddly specific. Take this lot from Esquire.com: Tom Ford's Style Rules. The first one- 'be confident'- seems like fairly sensible advice but 'never button more than one button on a jacket'? What, never? Seems very odd to me and not something I would necessarily advise or entirely see the logic behind. Surely most jackets are designed to look their best properly buttoned up? Maybe it's a slimming thing.

On closer inspection it would seem that Esquire is hoarding a collection of style rules . It is probably best if I stop reading all of these, but if you are in any doubt of the stupidity of style rules, please consider the following:

"For all hairstyling products, a little dab will, indeed, do you. In the unlikely event that a little dab will not do you, get a different hairstyle."

Good advice, perhaps, for the men who do overuse, but for the quiffed man? Pah!

So what do we think about rules? Personally I'm inclined to think 'learn them, know them, then make up your own'. That way at least if someone says you look crap at least YOU know what you were aiming for. My own personal rules focus on flattery.

I think at the moment they would be:
make sure it fits,
choose colours that suit you
and remember that accessories make all the difference.

What do you think? What rules (if any) do you follow?

I try not to follow rules but I do know a vast number of them. I used to love reading the ask GQ style questions, it was the highlight of the magazine for me but it did put me off. It reminds me of American Psycho, when an outfit is thought about so much it is no longer style, it's more of a maths equation as opposed to something aesthetic. That said I do try and match my belt with my shoes and aim to match my bag with the rest of the look.

I am not a fan of Tom Ford and wouldn't take too much notice of man who applies the same rule of never buttoning up more than one suit button to that of his shirt buttons (a slight exaggeration but seriously Tom I don't want to see your chest hair!) Whilst I'm on the subject of your style Mr Ford, please take note that you can wear more than just white shirts (unbuttoned) with a suit jacket and jeans! OK, enough of this nonsense. I agree with Ford on his first rule of 'be confident', if you wear your clothes confidently most things will look good. I partially agree with one his other rules 'You can't wear trendy clothes forever. Everyone has to grow up.' It is sad fact of life that we all do get older, although in most cases men look better with age. I advocate that your style should develop with age but growing a few years older should not necessarily mean you can't wear certain things. Is their an age where it is no longer acceptable to wear jeans or trainers? I hope not anyway. I think there comes a time when you can't wear jeans and trainers as your staple uniform but this age should be quite young. Everyone should mix it up when they have the chance! On the flip side (did I just say flip-side? that's a first right there) of this point I don't think age is an excuse for bad clothes.


OK my rules are as follows:

Be confident

Ensure that the clothes fit as they are meat to

Be a style magpie but make your finds your own

Think about the coordination of colour

Where/use complimentary accessories

Mix old and new where possible

Never wear too much of one label/brand at a time

Before leaving the house look at yourself in the mirror for a few seconds at least

Experiment with your style. Try not to wear the same look over and over and over

Just another Hack?

After reading Style from the Sunday Times this morning (I say read but I really mean cast aside because there was article on Sadie Frost discussing 'perfection' and her life which quite frankly put me off my marmalade and toast until I could take no more) it made me want to write about men's fashion journalism and in particular Jefferson Hack writing for the Telegraph. Hilary Alexander recently commissioned Jefferson Hack to write a fortnightly column for the Telegraph about menswear and it's quality. I like Hack. I like Dazed & Confused and ever since The Face folded it is one of the best magazines out there (oh I miss The Face but fortunately I have a few old ones which I turn back to from time to time). I have bought Another Man and this is full of pretty editorials and adverts, blurring the boundaries between the two. I have read all of his recent articles for the Telegraph and enjoy reading his words but to be honest what he is saying is not that interesting, most of what he is writing about is not new, not innovative and the people who read it I am sure already know about it. However, in recent weeks highlights include:

Christopher Bailey - my favourite article so far, as Bailey was talking about the relationship fashion and music. For Burberry's new advertising campaign Bailey includes three 'rising stars' of British music, Patrick Wolf, Larrikin Love (hmmmm) and The Paddingtons (oh come on really!?). His choice of musicians aside I liked his comments "Look at The Pistols, The Jam, The Clash or Freddie Mercury," says Bailey. "They are people who have all shaped and influenced fashion massively. The emotion of music is so important to fashion."

Recent Burberry campaign with Wolf and Deyn

His mention of the Sartorialist - Well just because I like him. 'On his blog, thesartorialist.com, Schuman has created an invaluable source of ideas and inspiration for the style-conscious. "I love how this gentleman layers his suit with that short, extremely fitted nylon vest, shoulder bag and helmet."

Dover Street Market - Hack calls DSM a revolution in retail (these are strong words especially when you compare the retail space to examples in countries like Tokyo) and it is certainly one of my favorite shops in London. Hack then goes on to discuss how DSM might have had an influence on retail sales within men (not too sure about that myself) but the shop has definitely paved way for a change in attitude. Adrian Joffe (of Commes des Garcons and one of the brainchild's of the store) says "Men are definitely being bolder in their sense of individual style. Factors like DSM, but also London's creativity, magazines and other creative role models, are all encouraging that."

One of the cool spaces within Dover St Market

It seems Hack writes about a few of the things that I like and to be honest I do like reading about them. But (and it is quite a big but) I do find his articles a little uninteresting as I feel that the people reading them more than likely already know about it. Plus how he writes about men's fashion as a whole is uninspiring and to the most part just anecdotal and mentions of how seemingly great his life is. Maybe I am just a tad jealous. Apologies Mr Hack because I do like you and I don't blame you. Have you read any of his articles yet? Are there actually any good male fashion journalists out there? GQ writers can be good at times (but only at times as Dylan and co can get too much) but I see an abundance of great food writers and critics but there is a void where men's style journalism should be. It seems that it is reduced to merely a few pages within supplements like Style (before I cast it aside this morning I noticed a few pages on Chelsea's stylish players) or men's fashion magazines. I think it is time for change.

Shopping like a man?

Photo by pdxmac

I leave Steve to run the blog alone for a week and he uses it as an excuse to post about Dylan. Oh, he is a cheeky one; he knows how I feel about that man.

Ok, now I don't care what EJ has to say about Dylan, he is an interesting fellow regardless of whether one likes him or not.

Back from Venice last night: lovely time, great hotel. I took just under 300 photos if anyone wants a slideshow... Steve, I'm looking at you. Anyway, back to business. I was reading this article (another one of those pieces that newspapers and magazines run every so often about how much better men are at shopping) and found myself wondering how true it actually is. Which ones do you follow, or do you have any other 'masculine' shopping habits and tips you'd like to share. I think I'll go through them and compare Steve's and my own habits and see how we do.

Always good to have EJ back in the same country as myself. Welcome back! Ok I thought I should give my own opinion...although EJ does know me very well indeed (possibly more accurately than I do in fact but I couldn't tell her that of course!)

1. Plan and research - I'd say we both do this one, though we are both equally guilty of just 'going shopping'. Steve seems to be better at aimless shopping than me though, as he more often comes back with something. I always find, though, that I plan and research, set my heart on something and then when I think I've found 'the one' it doesn't bloody fit.

Planning and research is a great part of shopping. It is like stalking one's prey, learning where it goes, what it does and then striking at the optimum moment! The internet makes this so much easier than ever before, so I agree with Thom, there is no excuse for not doing at least some research. However, nothing quite beats the feeling of buying that spur of the moment item which transpires to be a superb buy.

2. Have an eye for a long-term bargain - buying quality over quantity? I've made that promise to myself, but it's surprisingly hard to keep. I know that Steve's a fan of the idea too.

Menswear to me is all about quality and strong pieces. To avoid bankrupting yourself, the best way to gain a wardrobe that other men will envy is putting in the time and effort and knowing the market, sourcing the best high street, designer and sample sales.

3. Buy in multiples - does anyone actually do this? Really? Unless we're talking standard t shirts (I'm slowly building up a rainbow of American Apparel t-shirts), the only time I really bought something in multiple, I realised I actually hated it two weeks later. This meant I was left with two versions of a mistake. I don't think I actually know any men who do this, do you? The closest Steve gets to doing this is buying five very similar t shirts over the course of six months by accident... (don't try to deny it!)

I admit it. I don't intentionally buy in multiples because I think it takes the fun out of shopping. Shopping to me is more than just buying what you want or even need. It is a hobby.

4. Hold until the market falls - wait for sales? Hell yes! I am unashamedly cheap. I wait until the price is right for me, then wait a couple of weeks more and then buy it.

This goes without saying. If people aren't doing this they are foolish. That said, I am well aware of the lure of the rack and the desire to get an item when you actually want it. Not months after. The key is getting the balance right.

5. Don't buy that statement dress - I'm not convinced that there is an equivalent to the 'statement dress' in menswear, so enlighten me if you will. I think we both tend to avoid obvious trends unless it's something that can be adapted to suit our own personal styles.

I am coming round to the idea of the existence of the 'statement suit'.

6. Only buy things you don't need during sale time - surely people that stick to this one just aren't that interested in clothes?

Surely everyone does this?