I Dreamed A Dream Tho

Designers Christophe Lemaire and Sarah-Linh Tran. Portrait via Remodelista.

And in it, Christophe Lemaire and Sarah-Linh Tran are dressing me up in their love, aka Lemaire Autumn/Winter '15. (The brand is now known simply by Christophe's surname to better reflect the collaborative nature of the design process, natch.) There's a cape AND a poncho involved, because we don't fxck around.

And then we play records and practice ikebana and Christophe and I rub essential oils through each other's beards while Sarah-Linh burns sage. Duh. More to come later this week or month or year or whenever about all of the ~fashion~. Also, I might literally buy a poncho. Thoughts?

All photos via Style.com.

Slay Mama Slay

Tommy Ton killed it in Italy this season and I'M DEAD. Actually feeling inspired to play dress up again. Oh, also, new urge: I think I need shell toes.

Sunnei Spring/Summer '15

I first discovered Sunnei on Instagram, and remember being so surprised to realize they're based in Milan. I suppose I've just come to associate Italy with a very specific kind of man, and an accordingly specific kind of men's wear. Sunnei, the brainchild of designers Simone Rizzo and Loris Messina, feels much less structured, more youthful and irreverent—kind of like a boy's version of Jacquemus, though that might just be because of their analog SS15 campaign. I tried to set up a visit to their showroom while I was in Italy, but ended up in Florence instead of Milan. C'est la vie!

You can read more about the brand here.

Backstage at Duckie Brown #SS15

Longtime readers of this blog will know that my favorite part of fashion week is the backstage photography. This year I had an all access pass backstage at Duckie Brown, which was really such a dream—I realized after the fact that I was shooting alongside Kevin Tachman! I interviewed the key makeup artist for the show for Out.com and took some digital snaps as well, which you can see in my portfolio. These were shot on my Nikon f90x with some black and white Kodak film a friend gave me. Hope you like! And be sure to check out my backstage coverage from last season. All photos © Sean Santiago.

Vintage Inspirations for Fall

So I sold off even more stuff over the weekend and opened up an Etsy shop. I'm so serious about paring down! My first sale was my Calvin Klein cocoon coat. I also have some great shoes up for sale on eBay. Change is afoot. Above is some stuff I've kept around, including my beloved Steven Alan wool blazer, a vintage white tee from Quality Mending Co. and my khakis. Below are some pics of David Hockney and James Dean that are on my seasonal moodboard, if you will. Really busy today but more thoughts on fall dressing to come soon. Thanks to Mac for snapping my pic!

 

Photos © Peter Schlesinger / Lost to the internet

So You Wanna Be a Japanese Hipster

Well, I do, so I assume we all do? But is this look really "hipster" in Japan? I have no idea, but I love it. It's urban mountaineer mixed with schoolboy workwear dad chic. (Ah, so, hipster.) Get the look with my picks, below. Photos (above) via STRATO Bee.

Shirt Save Khaki | Sweatshirt Carven | Glasses Warby Parker | Pants (similar) A.P.C. | Shoes Ami | Backpack Master-Piece

Doug Bihlmaier & the Cult of Living with Less

Oh, man—it's been a full week since my last post. Am I turning into that guy? I'm turning into that guy.

There are a handful of reasons why blogging has fallen by the wayside in terms of my priorities. I finally got around to building a portfolio and am focusing on updating that and making it as robust as possible. On top of that, I sold off about half of my closet the other weekend and am not really feeling very "fashion bloggery" at the moment (though I have shamelessly GPOY-ed away on Instagram.)

I needed to have a fire lit under my clothes-hoarding ass, anyway. After moving at the beginning of the month it dawned on me that I have way. too. much. stuff. I have way too many pieces that I keep telling myself I'll wear eventually or maybe for an occasion. Truth be told, I don't have too many occasions to dress up for. I kind of avoid occasions, preferring instead occasion's awkward cousin, non-event. I've been spending more money on getting film processed than fashion sweatshirts or whatever the kids are into these days (though I kind of do want a fashion sweatshirt.)

The point is that I needed to get real and get rid of some stuff. Hopefully it all has a nice second life. In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out how to get more out of less. More looks, yes, but also more inspiration, more flexibility, more adaptability. I've loved traveling a good bit in recent months and it hasn't escaped my attention that I'm perfectly content jetting around with just a pair of black jeans and a striped shirt. (And always a hat. A hat elevates everything.)

This brings me to magpie mix master Doug Bihlmaier, who came onto my radar a few weeks ago after I interviewed John Devitt, VP of Advertising and Set Design at Ralph Lauren. Devitt was listing off the shops and people who've influenced him over the years and Bihlmaier's name came up, for obvious reasons. His look feels relevant to what I'm finding myself most passionate about now, even though I think his look is also very trendy at this point. It doesn't seem very "fruity" (my preferred looks have ben getting less and less so as of late, tempting me to change the name of the blog...but it's kind of a thing now, huh?) but I'll elaborate more on this point later—in the meantime I'm back to the grind.

Photos, top to bottom: The Sartorialist, Mister Mort, I'm Koo

BLUE IS THE WARMEST...OH YOU KNOW

I'm on a warm-weather-just-get-here-now kick, so sue me. Pajama dressing and oversize knits for summer for all! Andrew Westermann for T Magazine, styled by Jason Rider & shot by Matthew Kristall.

ÉTUDES SPRING/SUMMER '14

Is it really spring yet? No? Ok, cool, didn't think so. Let's pretend it is, though, with some of my favorite looks from Études Spring/Summer '14. Sandals and big hats and...translucent macs? Ok! Sign me up.

TOROS IN THE ATMOSPHERE

As in, 'Brr, it's could out here, there must be some...' (AKA everything I know about climate change I learned from Bring It On.) Today's look goes out to my momma, who hooked me up with this old Ann Taylor sweater last time I was home. I love the longer proportion of it with my Brooks Brothers skirt, worn here with tights, all covered up in teddy bear fur—basically melding this look with this look. Also of note: I'm wearing a nose ring!

Assembly New York #FW14

"Dressing in the dark...for the dark" was the mantra for last night's dimly lit Assembly New York presentation, held in Gramercy Park's National Arts Club. The collection drew on cabals to serve up some major coven vibes and featured "articulated school uniform tailoring resultant of midnight trysts". There were white creepers by Underground, lots of gorgeous coats, wide brim hats and even leather bandanas, all in a range of moody hues. I'm reading The Goldfinch right now and the whole thing felt oddly in tune with that mysterious, Dickensian spirit. Click here for more from Assembly.

The Look at Carlos Campos

"I wanted the skin to look as healthy and as beautiful as possible," explained Walton Nuñez, the key makeup artist for this season's Carlos Campos show. "We used a lot of moisturizer, then went back with concealer—which we diluted and spread over the face. We have some mascara on the ends [of the lashes] and a brow set. We used a lot of EvolutionMan—it's created by a man for men, so it doesn't feel makeup-y, it doesn't look makeup-y. He just looks his best." Nuñez (above) backstage at Carlos Campos, 2/5/14.

Check Instagram for more coverage from the men's shows!

Boy Wizard is the Look

True story: I never saw a single episode of #AHSCoven. True story part 2: I don't need to have seen it to know that goth-chic is so hawt right now. Which is good, because I realized you could totally form your own coven with some of my favorite lewks phresh off the AW14 runway. From left to right: Dior Homme, E. Tautz and Margaret Howell. Or, for Harry Potter fans: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff. Who wants to join my coven?

THE OTHER F WORD

By which I mean "femme" – though some might say "faggy". Let's dish about the recent men's shows, sex, and the science of self-expression.

A few weeks ago I asked my mom to help me choose which black lipstick selfie would be the cutest choice for Instagram. She laughed and said, "My sister and I used to do that." It was like I was five years old again, sneaking into my parent's bathroom to marvel at the sea of compacts laid out on the counter and the powder-caked puffy heads of makeup brushes—except this time, I wasn't afraid of getting caught.

When people ask me what my blog is about, what the focus is, I always feel left in the lurch. It seems wrong to say I’m a menswear blog, not just because I post about other stuff, too, but...“menswear”? Really? I'm coming around to calling it a "queer men's style site." When I was a kid I had no other associations for that word—queer—outside of its rhyming with “smear”, but nowadays there's something like comfort in the term. I like that it says other. I like that it suggests something amorphous, something unexpected, something that deviates. I like the idea that you can use it as a verb and a noun. I like that it's open and inclusive and ambiguous. “To identify as ‘queer’ is to be at ease with your own masculinity and femininity,” said writer Rohin Guha in his viral essay, On Gay Male Privilege. “You’re not constantly having to fear for your own gender expression.”

There was a time when the idea of sharing that side of myself that likes to play with makeup would have terrified me and made me feel unbelievably vulnerable. Now I'm broadcasting it to not just my mom, but to two thousand strangers on three or four different social networks. It's a bit self-indulgent, admittedly, but I'm just glad that the stigma associated with being open about what makes me different—or, really, the same as any eight-year-old girl—has dissipated.

LOUIS DE CASTRO

Love the styling here, and the silhouette in that second image. Plus: mandals! Next week I'll be posting thoughts on the recent men's collections, so you have that to look forward to. Enjoy the weekend! Photos © Francesco Brigida for Encens magazine.

HOW TO WEAR VINTAGE

The essential 5-step guide you didn't ask for and never knew you needed.

This week's outfit post has me wondering—how does one go about making someone else's decades-old clothing one's own? It's not always as simple as pasting yourself on top a Tumblr graphic, so I've compiled these handy-dandy tips for wearing vintage. Harken to my wisdom!

01 Know your references (but stay true to your own style). This look perfectly speaks to my inspirations: Marcello Clerici, the protagonist of Bertolucci's The Conformist and Tuxedo Mask. The Conformist is, hands-down, my most favorite style movie of all time. It oozes style. Pungent, intoxicating, meticulous, sexy style that'll leave you with a fashion boner for years. If you haven't seen it, rent it now. And Tuxedo Mask, I mean...come on. Can't go wrong. (Actually, when I Googled Tuxedo Mask, a lot of "cos play" came up. I'd say that's where you might go wrong. So watch out for that.)

Clockwise from top-left: Me shopping vintage in Florence (this is the store in which I bought my Fendi muffler) // a still from The Conformist // Tuxedo Mask // another still from The Conformist

02 Less is more. Not to be confused with the rule below, this applies more to the actual shopping experience. You should always be on the lookout for simple, versatile pieces that you can wear in a multitude of ways. (Keep this in mind—we'll be talking about it more next week!)
03 Accessorize within an inch of your life (but then take one thing off). It's super fun to stock up on vintage pocket squares, ties, scarves, tie clips, glasses cases, hats, etc., but exercise caution. I was thinking of maybe wearing a pocket square with this look, but then realized that's the definition of trying too hard.
04 Don't be afraid to mix decades. These pants are from the eighties and I think the blue velvet jacket is too, but together they help create a look that's totes old-school glamour. Cary Grant aficionados, eat your heart out.
05 Don't be afraid to wear lady clothes. These pants are actually lady pants. High-waisted and pleated, as God intended, yet I wouldn't have found them if I didn't shop both sides of the aisle.

Call Me Marcello

It's been just over three years since I made the acquaintance of the infectiously stylish city that is Florence. Well, it doesn't infect everybody because that's a lot to ask of such a popular tourist destination—once you go fanny pack, you never go back—but the city is still an amazing place for style, design and culture. Like Paris, it's a city for which you don't really need an itinerary. (In fact, I'd recommend against one.) Put on your most comfortable least ugly shoes and hit the streets, turning random corners, stopping for pizza and gelato, snapping pictures all the while because everything will take your breath away.

Florence is the city in which my passion for vintage came into its own. It's also where my interest in photography really took off. The light in Florence is insane, for lack of a better phrase. It's so beautiful, wherever you look, it pulls you outside of yourself. The way it falls on buildings and plays off rooftops, throwing the city's famous architecture into relief—it's like living in an Instagram filter. Or like being in Italy IRL. IDK.

An experience like that changes how you see things, how you taste things, how you use all of your senses. You have to slow down to ingest all of the textures, the colors, the smells, the people. A father walks his daughter to school, her pink backpack slung over his shoulder; a woman bikes by with her purse stowed in the front basket; a gentleman werqs lime green pants while out for a Sunday stroll with his wife. It's not a remembered still frame from a Merchant Ivory film, it's living and it's breathing, it's quiet and yet it's full of passion. And they have really good spaghetti.

Given my severe lack of fundage I probably won't be making it back to Italy any time soon. But I was feeling inspired by the recent menswear shows to take a sartorial cue from the birthplace of Bertolucci and Fellini and strike some poses in NYC's own Washington Mews. You can take the boy out of Italy, but you can't...oh, you know.

Photography Angelica Domingo & Sean Santiago // all clothing & accessories vintage