what Landis wore : a recent Hermes scarf

i limited my purchases in paris
(gotta love the exchange rate.  stupid american dollar.)
but got this from the flagship.

had to.

years ago, tim and i walked through the hermes in chicago.
i had seen a recent lookbook
with a skinhead wearing a vivid purple silk scarf
as a headwrap,
(this was hermes marketing.  ten years ago.  brilliant.)
and wanted to see for myself.

as the woman behind the counter pulled out scarf after scarf
(anyone who has done this will tell you it is an insane experience:
the colors billowing over and over,
the SOUND of the silk unfurling, heavy, almost wet)
and talking about how men wear them all the time,
but you have to know how it eez done, non?

she showed us
seven ways to wear any one scarf,
and each way made total sense.

this trip's scarf was a similar discovery.
i asked if they had anything in blue and white,
they unfurled,
and eventually, a flurry of dots appeared:

their prints are unrivaled.
so sophisticated, so modern, so timeless.

but she stepped back,
and i saw,
finally,
that it was josephine baker.

SOLD!

note, only Grr could affect ennui so perfectly.

and this is how it's worn:

not for everyone,
but you can't describe the feeling of that heavy silk.
and every time,
people come up and comment, touch, and smile.

that alone is worth it.

tim bought me seven scarves that first time.
you wonder why this year's anniversary is number seventeen?

i can be bought.  ;)

what Landis wore - one evening out in july

going to dinner with friends . . .
always a good excuse to pull out the good stuff,
and feel like a grown-up.

i think american culture overall is always swinging back and forth on the issue
of casual v. dressy,
and growing up with a strong willed mother
(ex-beauty queen.  multi-lingual.  artist.  flirt.  picture it.)
we were the family that wore blazers when we flew to london,
and jeans weren't in the closet until we were ten.

so going out to eat?

 

an old pair of marc jacobs wide legged chocolate trousers,

a CIN2 gray v-neck tee,

lanvin suede and patent trainers,

and the new jil sander blazer (1400. on sale for 249.)

love this look.  very "me".  

for me, this is casual, comfortable, and a little powerful.

and i really love the details on the blazer.

it's the palest blue, and the stitching is just perfect.

RUNWAY RUNDOWN : Lanvin, men's spring 09

ok, i lied a little.

THIS is my favorite show of the season, every season.
Lanvin, since alber elbaz took over,
is pretty much universally acknowledged to be the most covetable label for women,
what with the combined recognition that YES, PRETTY IS GOOD
(you would not believe how many times i have had that discussion with a designer . . . )
and that YES, women like to dress up, pretty much every chance they can,
and NO, everything doesn't have to fit like a freaking latex bondage suit to be sexy.

guess what?
YES, it sells like crazy.

so when he launched (technically relaunched, though there wasn't much to speak of it before)
men's, he hired lucas ossenjdriver
to not just rework,
but RETHINK the line.

and he has done just that.

he rethought how men dress.  he took the feeling of casual dressing,
mixed in really luxe fabrics, and recut the silhouettes on everything.

he believes in the high with the low,
but makes BOTH extremely thoughtfully.

it is no secret that i am addicted to their trainers.  addicted in a way that goes beyond rational thought and enters the realm of "the only shoes i really ever need".  which is the first time i have ever said that.  but more on that later . . .

not since jil did her original men's lines have i bought pieces (a few few few pieces.  they make even me choke at the price.) have things suddenly . . . gone with everything.  without thought.

since this line is my new obsession, of sorts, spring was at first a little off-putting.

uh huh.

hats.

silk velvet.

this is spring.  for men.

in some ways, i had an easier time justifying leather shorts and leggings than this.
it was pretty, but did i see myself in them?
did i see anyone?
other than bobby trendy?

but, i have faith in this line.  so i looked closer, i dug around, and i began to understand.

pant legs are definitely slimmer. there is (again, a trend) an almost legging-like quality to them.  and the fabrics were all lightweight, almost floating in motion, and meant to be layered.

add a trench, and it might work.

more:

the colors had an amazing dull touch to them, reminiscent of burberry prorsum, but more feminine here.  that played right into the feminine/masculine mix going on for so many seasons.  and i've found that you grab ANY of these pieces, throw them with jeans, an american apparel thermal, and oddly, magically, you are fucked-up cool.

of course, i kind of lust for the floors on the runway,
but those aren't showing up on any racks any time soon.

pity.

then things got a little easier.  a hat i will wear in a convertible:

shorts and a jacket, perhaps a little full at first, but i swear these things blow up on you unexpectedly:

and,
completely practical tennis shoes.  trainers.  i'm blurry suddenly:

this is the trick with runway.
what you see during the show,
and what you see on the racks,
can sometimes end up being two different things.

with lanvin, you can be sure the inspiration will deliver.
and most often,
over-deliver.






i could make it work.

RUNWAY RUNDOWN : prada, men's spring 09

some critic called this prada show
"the Gap for thinking people".

i think that about sums it up.

for men, it was tons of classic sihouettes,
but slashed, stretched, layered,
and re-thought.

though it's been done before,
miuccia prada has the ability to make things feel not just new,
but subversive,
dark.

and that is thrilling.

you may only "get" a piece here or there, but you have to acknowledge the imagination it takes to take these pieces and add . . . shoulder straps?

or to take these colors and basics
and make them in things like rubber:

personally,
i'm not wearing rubber raincoats
(not in public, anyway)
but i think the sweaters were perfect:

and yeah, that's the new way to do a piece of denim.

take notes american designers.
you can fuck with a classic.

as long as it's not anna wintour *.  that is one classic you don't mess with.

watch your malls, kidlets.
these colors, these lengths, these (less extreme) cuts?
they will find their way to menswear within a year.



* (look it up.  she's an icon.  she needs no explanation.)

ICONS OF STYLE: ALAIN DELON

the second in the series of style icons

fits all five rules rather effortlessly.



alain delon is a french movie star,

breaking out with his role in "purple noon"

(the original "talented mr. ripley").

his great physical beauty and aloof quality

made him the object of both adoration

and curiousity around the world.



a dedicated playboy his entire life,

he wore clothing in a way that spoke

to "not caring" about it,

though he is known for once saying:



"I like to be loved like I love myself."



which could explain a lot:











i can relate . . .

what Landis wore - the shorts dilemma

let's start with the fact that i'm not big into shorts.
maybe it's the "casual" factor,
maybe it's too many years of being assaulted by men in cargo shorts
from abercrombie
(most of whom are technically ten years past the cut-off for the look.
and the brand.
and the people they are trying to date.)
but i've just never been a fan.

but once in awhile, i try.

i give the old "what the hell, it's hot, i should be able to do this. i've got great legs."

so this day, i attempted the navy short (D&G),
the gray pullover (banana republic)
and the hightop with the sock.

let's say i was tackling many fears at once.
the darker sock thing is something i'm seeing everywhere on guys,
and i just couldn't do the sport/tube thing with the lanvin sneakers.

you know, i'm an ass.

i'm trying to reproduce a look with a satin and suede sneaker.

WTF?

anyway,
thoughts?

i'm thinking it was a valiant . . . attempt.

RUNWAY RUNDOWN : givenchy, men's spring 09

from one extreme to the other . . .
my favorite show of the season,
the one that shortened my breath and made my nipples hard,
and also the hardest to bring into real life:
givenchy homme.

(homme is "man" in french.  get with the program.)

from the start of the show, there was something new going on.
it was a look at masculinity mashed with the feminine
(blah blah blah, it's been going on for three seasons now on various runways)
but this actually incorporated lace and leather and leggings (all women's current trends)
in ways
that actually made me go
"NO.  wait . . . maybe.  wait . . . i really love those.  oh god, i can't LIVE WITHOUT THEM."

(things like this happen all in my head.  i do not say them out loud.  often.)

(click on any image to enlarge)

something about the length combined with the textures make the sheer work.  i mean, it's not exactly office-wear, but in a big city, this is easy at a hot restaurant, to a party, etc.   

then it gets trickier:

i'm sorry.  HOT.

seriously HOT.

leather leggings?  don't roll your eyes at me, this is the vanguard of fashion.  
i'm not going to go all "devil wears prada" lecture about trends trickling down, 
but a legging under a short is happening more and more, and people aren't revolting.  
even if they think it is.  

if it helps,
think of them first as slimmer sweatpants, 
then really lightweight long-johns, 
and think of the layering the way the whole music festival scene wears their thermal underwear 
under shorts and tees and fleece.  
only, you know, without (shudder) fleece.


and there's something about the silhouette that emphasizes the BACK more than the front, 
from the reveal of the skin, 
to the ass and shoulders being so tight, 
to the calves.  

while the front is almost a riff on that abercrombie-sleeveless-tee-and-shorts look.

but here's where ricardo tisci (the designer, new, and on his second men's collection)

gets interesting and really pushes things:

jolts of transparency and color.

wait, more:

grommeted leather scarves?  american flag tees?  
(lord, i worked for a brand that sold flag tees every 4th for five dollars.  not these kind.  but not a bad idea . . . )

and then, lace shorts:

i am just perverse enough to want a pair of these.  badly.

and if someone were to simply, oh, i don't know,
send me the beige outfit, i would wear it.  you know, grocery shopping.  or to lucques in l.a.

or put on that damn leather outfit and really scare the neighbors.

though, i am in san francisco.

might have unintended consequences.

point is:  this is why we watch.  
fashion taking leaps, 
not trying to appease us or help us do the same thing again.  

fashion evolving before our eyes.

ICONS OF STYLE : HIDETOSHI NAKATAWA

someone asked me recently whom i considered as my personal style icons.



fun game, right?



but i was seriously stumped.

it's like when anyone asked me who i wanted to play me in the movie of my life,

i was always stumped, until i came up with "christina ricci" as my answer,

whereupon everyone would go, "christina ricc . . . ohhhh yeah. now i see it."



but style icon, that's harder for me. so i came up with some rules.



an icon has to be someone whom:



1) looks great in every picture you see of them, regardless of where they are,



2) chooses clothing that sets them apart, and is truly distinctive,



3) remains consistent in those choices over a period of time,



4) commits to fashion, and enjoys it,



5) makes you want to replicate their look, down to the critical details.



there. landis' five fashion icon laws.



that out of the way, i got stuck in WHO might actually fit that. and the field narrowed rapidly.



i've come up with three.



the first:

Hidetoshi Nakatawa. he's like the japanese david beckham,

only in a way that makes me go "yes, please!" not "oh, interesting . . ."

he clearly enjoys clothing, attending fashion shows and endless parties.

and he somehow straddles the whole masculine/feminine thing

with a slight edge of the dominatrix. i love that.



witness, my friends,

icon number one:













doesn't hurt that he's more than a little dreamy . . . non?



no, it don't.

recent men's trends i love (but shouldn't) -

during the fall runway shows,

the street reporting was as good as the catwalk for me.



here are the consistent themes i loved

that real men were wearing

and that i may have to try out:



the trim blazer with the pushed up sleeve -





the calf tattoo (one grr, one avec?) -









the mis-matched short suit -





the slouchy cardigan/cum jacket -





and i already have those shoes . . . half-way there!