Art Style II

Got to love good sculpture.

Giant sculpture of a foot outside an UES townhouse in my neighborhood.  

Many people opt for giant urns of flowers.  A statue or sculpture is not uncommon.  But a giant foot.  There's a lot of humor in greeting your friends and family with a giant sculpture of a foot.  The recent snow added a nice touch I thought.  Not sure I would consider this 'good' style in and of itself, but it is unique, and I appreciate that.



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Art Style

Is this painting from 1910 or 2010?

Egon Shiele, Self Portrait with Red Eye, 1910

Early signs of man's punk rock attitude.

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Tech Style

I'm not really one for gadgets.  I prefer the good ol' days - before cars and electricity.  When toys were made out of wood and dangerous metal.

But here's one gadget I'm pretty excited about.  It was a Christmas present, from my parents, aaawww.

 

Gold lego brick iPod speakers!

The sound is surprisingly good for small speakers. 

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The Suitcase

Enjoying a nice dinner out with friends.  Sipping some after dinner drinks.  The perfect time to tell a good story.  A good story - funny, and appropriate for the company - definitely shows good style. 

This tale was told to me by my good friend Max.  It's a true story.  But I changed the names.

Daphne and Betsy were the best of friends.  Daphne was going away for a week.  She asked Betsy to take care of her dog while she was away.  Betsy easily agreed.  She stopped by Daphne's every day to feed, walk and play with her dog.  One day she showed up and the dog was dead!, apparently of some natural cause.  Betsy called Daphne and told her the bad news.  Daphne, very upset, asked Betsy to take her dog to the vet so she could at least find out how he died.  Again Betsy easily agreed.  After getting off the phone, Betsy realized the difficulty of this task.  She decided to put the dog in a suitcase and ride the subway to a nearby vet.  When exiting the subway Betsy struggled with the weight of the suitcase as she ascended the stairs.  A seemingly nice guy offered to help carry the suitcase up the stairs.  "What you got in here," he asked.  Betsy, a little caught off guard answered, "oh, just music and DJ equipment." Thinking the suitcase contained music and DJ equipment, when they reached the top of the stairs, the guy ran off with the suitcase!  

Betsy was left standing there, in shock.  She attempted to chase the guy down, but he got away, with a suitcase containing a dead dog.  Ha.  Now Betsy had to explain this to Daphne.  

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Finishing Touches

Good style = Attention to detail = Finishing touches.

When it comes to wearing a sport coat, suit or tuxedo, you can't overlook the pocket square.

Always wear a pocket square.

Some designers/guys don't follow this rule.   However, true etiquette calls for a pocket square.  A true gentleman, a man with true style, will always have a pocket square.

Fred Astaire                                      Gary Cooper 

Tom Waits

 

Frank Sinatra                                    Oscar Wilde

Pocket squares were originally utilitarian.  They're hankies.  Now they have taken on the role of a style accessory.  Personally, I prefer a combination of the two.  Don't be afraid to actually use a pocket square, and don't get too attached to them either.

A simple white cotton pocket square is almost always appropriate.

Vintage hand-knit white cotton pocket squares

Change up the material depending on the season or the occasion.  For example, linen in the warmer weather, wool in the colder weather.  Cotton for the everyday.  Silk for a formal occasion.

Go ahead, get your pocket squares monogrammed.

Play with color and pattern as well.  You can't really go wrong with a solid color pocket square.  For the more fashionably adventurous, there are an infinite number of designs to chose from - conservative to wild.  Match the pocket square to your tie, and to even your socks.  Or mix and match complimentary colors and patterns.

 Christian Dior

Hugo Boss                                                                    Ralph Lauren

Pocket squares make a the best statement when wearing a simple suit and/or not wearing a tie.

Folding a pocket square intimidates a lot of guys.  But... there is no right or wrong way to fold a pocket square.  Shove it in your pocket carelessly.  Fold it like a table napkin swan.  Go with a simple mod straight line fold.  It doesn't matter, as long as you've got one in your jacket pocket.

Don't leave your look incomplete. 

Finishing touches! 

Always wear a pocket square.

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Interior Style

Good style extends to my living space.

  

A yoga blanket that I 'stole' from my mom.  It's heavy and sturdy but soft and comfortable.  A deep, dark purple, with flecks of many of other colors.   Not just a work of folk art.  It's a solid blanket, made for survival.  I will take it with me (when I run into my fallout shelter) (when I ride horseback across the west) (when I escape NYC after the zombies/aliens/robots invade).  You get the idea.  

And it looks really good in my room.

Are there animal prints in my house because I'm Italian?  

Or am I Italian because there are animal prints in my house?

I may never know.  But done right, animal prints = super stylish. 

Hard to tell from the photo, but this is a very quality woven cotton fabric.  

It brings a lot of life to the simple, classic style of the apt.

Himalayan Style

In 2005 I backpacked across China.  And there was no way I was going home without visiting Tibet.  At that time, it was not easy to get there or to get in.  But it was worth the difficulty.  It was nothing short of amazing!  Memories of my visit inspire me daily.

Tibetans are incredibly stylish!

The men all wear slacks and suits (handmade).  The suits have a casual and well worn feel.  This not formal or business attire, this is everyday wear.  In solid fabrics or simple micro patterns and dark, earthy colors.  They were collared shirts.  They rock vests and fedoras!  And robes lined with fur or bright fabric, which they wear only on one arm.  Great layering.  Tibetans ride horses and travel long distances across the Himalayan Plateau, so there is a little bit of a cowboy feel to their style.

Good accessories.  Lots of accessories.  When walking around the markets there are a lot of jewelry and trinkets for sale or trade.  Every piece is old.  Any piece could be hundreds of years old.  Pretty cool.  But these items are commonplace and cheap(inexpensive).  Everyone wears lots of accessories.  All the guys wear rings, bracelets, necklaces.  Lots of metal and beads, turquoise and coral.  (The Himalayan plateau was once completely under water.)  I'm not big on accessories, except for a few necklaces.  I was given sandalwood prayer beads as a gift.  And I rock them sometimes.

Tibetans also have some wild hair styles - which actually reflect which the region from which they come.  They regularly incorporate braids, beads and threads/strings into their hair. 

All round, this is some seriously good style. 

What makes it so great, is that it's so natural, cultural and traditional for Tibetan men.