Asam Pedas Melaka: lelaki dan fesyen

We braved the vast unknown darkness of our archives to unearth these outtakes from our Badlands themed denim editorial. Don’t ever say we never did anything for you.

GANT by Michael Bastian Silver Crown Watch

I am completely in love with this watch. To this date, with the exception of a hand-me-down from my grandfather, none of my watches exceed the $100 range. That is not to say I’m not proud of them; in fact, it’s just the opposite. I’ve prided myself on finding classic beautiful pieces inexpensively.

But I want this…badly. Might be my first splurge.

Bottega Veneta Ipad Case.

Chelsea - JD

Sprezz Overload

Tommy Ton shooting LFW

London Street Style

We sent Tommy Ton across the pond to capture the most stylish lads in London. Would the Brits bring the fashion? Spoiler alert: yes.

Acne | Bleeker H Bone Derby

Patrick Johnson Tailors - Melbourne

Tones on tones on tones…with the drape!

First Look: TOPMAN

The vibe for Spring 2012: The TOPMAN man for next spring is, as they so eloquently put it, a “rebellious decadent.” He’s that dude in a DB, sucking down champagne at a side street cafe at 3 o’clock on a Tuesday afternoon with two coeds draped on each arm: that guy. And he looks pretty good in brilliant Moroccan-inspired patterns, jacquards, linens, and rich-toned, tasseled kicks. TOPMAN, like we saw in many of the other European men’s shows, favors the fitted, double-breasted jacket over much more relaxed underpinnings as the silhouette for the season, a look of equal parts casual and formal, and pretty much all around bad-ass. Done any skydiving in silk slacks recently? You have? Oh, well then let me introduce you to someone…

Check out more spring 2012 collections here.

Windows of Bleecker Street.

The fresh chill in the air brings about fall and winter collections in every window on Bleecker Street. The leaves have turned and each shop offers heavier materials, darker colors, boots and pieces to keep warm. Layer up and enjoy the smell of firewood on your next brisk stroll.

-RandomIsThePlan

The Color Purple

Most men rely on standard colors for their wardrobe - blues, greys, and browns, in various shades and textures. These are good foundational colors since they’re easy to wear and complement each other well. However, only relying on these colors get a bit boring, and eventually cease to excite the eye. As such, it’s good to have a few secondary colors in your wardrobe just to break things up a bit. Salmon pink, hunter green, and bordeaux are all very nice, but today I’ll talk about purple.

Purple can make a statement since it’s a unique color. However, it’s so closely related to blue that it can also feel familiar and sophisticated. Purple is also much more versatile than men give it credit for. It complements many of the standard colors men wear and serves a good substitute for blue. For example, a dark, deep purple tie goes well with a tan jacket and light blue shirt, and can be used any time you would otherwise wear a navy tie (though the conservativeness of navy can make it more useful).

I also recommend purple socks. Michael Drake, co-founder of Drake’s of London, wears them as a personal signature of eccentricity. This past summer, I often wore purple socks with light blue shirts and pants in either a grey tropical wool or tan linen (first picture above). I’ve found that this ensemble goes especially well with brown suede shoes.

Hardy Amies once said of purple, “I can see no use for this handsome, not unmasculine colour except for ties, socks and handkerchiefs.” I, however, think it can be used for more than accessories. For example, lavender shirts go quite well underneath navy or tan suits. You can pair it with a conservative, charcoal tie, and then have a secondary color in the tie pick up the lavender in your shirt or the color of your suit. This practice seems to be common in Moscow. From my observation, one in six men here on the street will be wearing a lavender shirt, and it always looks good (assuming the shirt fits well).

The standard palette of grey, brown, and blue is a nice foundation, but don’t neglect to have some secondary colors here or there. Purple works with a number of colors and wearing it well can add variety into your wardrobe. Just don’t overdo it. Wearing too much of it will make you look like Barney, and doing things such as matching purple socks to purple ties will make you look too studied. Purple, in my opinion, should be worn with a healthy dose of nonchalance.

(pictures above taken from Ethan Desu, A Bit of Color, Men of Habit, and me)

Two Inch Cuffs - Fall Lookbook 2011

“Fall has arrived and we headed to a small town isle for a story inspired by New England prep, menswear essentials and layered wools. From sportscoats to field jackets; heathered cotton shirts to cashmere knitwear; leather boots to wax twill bags, our fall showcase builds on the heritage lifestyle of the northeast. Experience more with Two Inch Cuffs”

GQ Selects: October

Each month, the editors of GQ select a series of items from the magazine and make them available through online retailer Park & Bond. For October, Jim Moore likes this shirt-and-tie combo from Thom Browne.

“Thom Browne’s always putting a different spin on the dress shirt every season. He’s doing something that’s a real hybrid that I haven’t seen that much, which is a button-down club collar. He finds a new way to reinvent the American button-down every season. This one we love because it’s a two-color windowpane pattern so you’re going to want to wear this with your quieter fabric suits and tweeds and sportcoats or a solid color cardigan. The tie is silk but it’s beefier, it’s heavily constructed and it will tie really stiff, with a strong dimple. I haven’t seen the red power tie, or the red tie, since the ’80s. This is the anti-Republican power tie.”

View the rest of Jim Moore’s picks here.

Sartorial whatevers you can learn from the always stylish JD as seen at NYFW S/S 2012:

-Wear a v-neck sweater under a sportcoat as opposed to a v-neck tee/scoop neck tee/tee anything to avoid looking like you just stepped out of a Las Vegas strip club. (Cinnamon, if you’re reading this, the child support check is in the mail)

-Everyone loves an odd sportcoat, but it’s a ballsy move to pull off. If you’re gonna do it stick with a more understated pattern in understated colors (for example the black and white miniature hounds tooth seen above). Jackets such as these hide stains real well FYI.

-Learn how to hem your own pants or drop a little coinage at the tailor/seamstress. Everyone’s rolling their shit these days and that’s okay, but if you want to stand out go as DIY as you see fit.

-As long as you’re not wearing a suit, sneakers are fine. Yes, even with trousers. Just make sure your kicks are of the classic variety like JD’s Vans slip-ons.

-If you’re wearing a suit because you want to wear a suit, have some fun with it. A faja belt keeps things casual and what you do with your collar is your own prerogative.

-Lead by example.

All pictures courtesy of the great Tommy Ton for GQ.

Pantharella fair isle socks are the truthiest of truths.

Rust toned orange is a very underrated colour in menswear. Given our propensity for wearing whites, navys and greys, I believe that sartorially conscious men everywhere could benefit from having a few more orange toned accessories to complement the other pieces of his arsenal.

Unlike pink or red, which can sometimes be too bold, a muted orange is both sharp and restrained at the same time. The Azabu tailor display shown above is a good demonstration of this: mixing a rust coloured tie with an orange bordered linen pocket square on a jacket with various orange accents (which is a bit too ad hoc for my liking), resulting in an outfit that is neither too loud nor too overly conservative.

Red Wing Footwear Beckham Collection

“Beckman collection – a series of shoes inspired by the boots worn by Red Wing’s founder Charles Beckman. Every pair is made in the USA from Featherstone or Abilene leathers, which are tanned at the legendary S.B Foot Tanning Company and then expertly triple stitched together for maximum durability. As we know, every pair of Red Wing is built to last.”