Our short beanies with ribbed bottom brim come in three different colors and are finished by hand. The thick rib weaving is complemented with a natural brown leather label embossed with the brand logo. Now in store.
A couple of weeks back I was approached by the founder of this site asking whether I was interested in contributing a piece to the blog. Sure I was, yet time constraints made me procrastinate for as long as I could. Now I am thinking about what to write and the first thing that comes to mind is the very basis of how we learned about each other in the first place; i.e., the book ‘The New Man’ which I was fortunate enough to contribute to as well. As the title suggests, the book addresses contemporary currents in menswear and tries to respond to questions about the ways in which the male image has changed over the past ten or twenty years and which aspects the development (might) have been influenced by.
Truth be told, I had never bothered to read the book in its entirety. Apart from skimming certain chapters I was most interested to see how my own text fared compared to the rest. At long last – at the occasion of writing this piece, that is – I took a closer look and I was rather startled to learn that one of the book’s central claims suggests that men, on a grand scale, have become dandies. Western man has become a dandy. A dandy, really?! In the two-page introduction the words dandy and dandyism pop up no less than 12 times. Amazing. Mostly so, because dandyism has always been a niche phenomenon, with only a few selected individuals being courageous and/or tragic enough characters to live the existence of the solitary individual whose life (r)evolves first and foremost around himself. When it comes to the question which of the two is more important – creating or being – the reply by necessity must be the latter. In fact, in his case being is creating.
To be sure, this position has its benefits: promiscuity, dashing – but always understated – looks, an elegant amount of debts to name but a few. Nonetheless there is no denying that dandyism, or the dandy for that matter, by definition assumes the position of an outlier. He doesn’t belong anywhere outside the world he has created (and relentlessly creates) for and around himself. Creating is also building in this case; building walls; perhaps, the walls of an ivory tower that no one has access to. Access is denied because intrusion would mean to destroy his world. It is an unreal place in the sense that reality is allowed in only to a certain extent – and only on the premise that it doesn’t conflict with the tenure of the world’s principal ruler. He is the spearhead, the epitome of self-culturalisation, a public exclamation mark that populates an individuated habitat in its renunciation of collectivity.
Now I am wondering: how is it possible that men, on a grander scale, have become dandies? Who would aspire to such an existence, after all? At this nexus we encounter one of the most common misunderstandings when it comes to the dandy’s defining features. Frequently it is assumed that dandyism was about flamboyance. By all means, if there is one feature that does injustice to his existence (an anti-feature, as it were) it is the idea that the dandy was a poseur or, worse even, a fop. Never would he intentionally strike a pose – least so in terms of his looks. Whoever said that someone like Sebastian Horsley was a dandy has obviously misunderstood the concept. Horsley, who was notorious for wearing pink velvet suits in combination with top hats and plateau soles, was a public disgrace but surely not a dandy. In fact, the cheekiness – if not vulgarity – of his looks is what most people first think of when they hear the word dandy. Nothing could be further from the truth. Dandyism is a form of existence that plays with clichés and humour in order to reclaim a long-forfeited position in the collective whole which, by the same token, he denies and debunks time and again. Accordingly, dandyism is far less connected to clothing than it is to style. A style, to be sure, of which attire is part as well – but certainly it is the least interesting one. Rather, his posture – both literally as well as intellectually – is intriguing as is his toing and froing when he tries to reconstitute sociability and reconcile normative standards with his own ones.
Have we now all become dandies? If we go by the (errant) idea that male looks have gained more currency in recent years, perhaps. If we envisage the dandy in conceptual terms –as a kind of existentialist Gesamtkunstwerk, that is – we haven’t. Obviously. Not.
The cold knocked on the door and invited itself in, so the winter season can be officially declared. How are we going to face the icy winds and freezing days? Is our wardrobe ready to handle the extremity of winter? Guy Vernes has the answer in three consequent drops.
November is over, but the days of the mustache will never end. After a good run on the Writers tee, we decided to call one of our favourite characters, The Mustache Man, back on a very special feature. For those who missed out on last year’s The Big Idea, get another chance at picking up a Guy Vernes original limited work (only 30 made). Buy
The tale of Daedalus and his disobedient son Icarus is a poetic tragedy and one of the most prominent tales in Greek mythology. Icarus has been floating on our website for some time now (thankfully, the sun doesn’t shine on the internet) and now his flight extends to a vintage-style sweater. Just don’t get too close to the sun…Buy
The Kuma Tribe sweater is the encore of our graphic winter set. For this piece, we chose to boldly stitch our patterned cotton on the front and finish it with a woven logo in the corner, thus reviving the dynamic duality of African ethnic art and Hiphop expression of the early nineties. Buy
They say not to judge a book by its cover, but sometimes it can be a very good indication of whether the book is worth reading. Now don’t get me wrong — personality is definitely skin deep — but this past weekend, I learned that sharing mutual fashion tastes may be the best way to make new friends.
For my week off school, I decided to travel to London and Amsterdam. London was exciting, but it wasn’t until I arrived in Amsterdam midweek that I learned that sometimes it’s the smaller cities that really know how to do it big. My first night out, I was wandering by myself in Dam Square, where I walked into an interesting looking store called Tom’s Skate Shop. An urban skate-wear store at heart, the front was adorned in Nike, Obey, Hundreds, Stussy — brands that so fondly reminded me of home in San Francisco. The people hanging out inside the store were what piqued my interest however; their style was a clever combination of urban street style and classic finesse — beanies with bow ties, and loose knit sweaters with sneakers.
I was a little shy to make conversation at first — they were speaking rather animatedly in Dutch the whole time — but as I was leaving, someone sitting by the counter offered a friendly “Goodbye!” as if I had been making small talk the entire time. From there, I mustered the courage to actually talk. I complimented the store, and mentioned how it reminded me of home. He asked where I was from. And from there, we began talking.
It’s funny how the beginning of my night began with a “Goodbye.” But I guess that’s what’s so wonderfully different about a city like Amsterdam.
The people I met at the store invited me out to drinks and I spent the night bouncing around with them from club to club, learning that they were more than just a group of friends, they were a collective — a group of DJs, poets, artists who loved to chill, generate good vibes, and create. I had never been more excited to be surrounded by complete strangers.
The next night they invited me to a 1920′s party that some of them were to DJ for in the Leidesplein. I pulled out my best dress (as in whatever I had with me that was still clean) and tried to recreate that timeless flapper girl style as simply and quickly as possible. Forget “Midnight in Paris” — at the party it definitely felt like “Midnight in Amsterdam”, with men and women dressed to the nine’s in pin-stripe suits, beaded flapper dresses, fedoras, bow ties, and feathered headbands. Big band music mixed into modern hip hop as perfectly fashioned bodies cut a rug on the floor.
My last night in Amsterdam was certainly happy, but also bittersweet. Like Cinderella, I spent the night dancing away before the clock struck … 5 AM. I said goodbye to all my newly found friends, making promises to come back again soon.
And though this may sound like just a simple anecdote about making friends while traveling alone, it really does tie back again into clothes. I’m not trying to say you should only be friends with well-dressed people (though it is always a joy when you can borrow your friends’ clothes), but that the best kind of people are expressive people — and style just so happens to be the simplest, most straightforward way to express oneself. It’s true.
The friends I made that night could have very well carried their paintings around with them everywhere they went, spouted poetry instead of colloquial English, or played vinyls off a portable turntable — symbols meant to allude to their statuses as artists, poets, and DJs. But they didn’t need to. I could tell, just in how they carried themselves: their relaxed attitudes, friendly smiles, and, of course, spiffy threads, that these were fun people — artistic people — that were worth getting to know.
That’s the funny thing about fashion versus style: people like to follow fashionable trends or wear what’s popular because they want to be admired, neglecting to cultivate a personal style that’s much more expressive of their actual personality. So the next time you get dressed for the day, I say stop for a second and look in the mirror. Forget what that celebrity wore, or what was on that blog, or what you saw on that magazine cover — and ask yourself, “What does what I’m wearing say about me?”
And, if you don’t know, then it just might be time for a wardrobe change.
Photography by Mathieu Kamiel Kardono Cremers.
Models: Cher Jacques and Laura Holscher.
Featured items: Dagny cardigan in heather black, The Ambassador Bag, The Giant in deep heather and in maroon, The Washington Hat, L’Ouveyio in black, The Road to Success tote bag.
There is an undeniable development in the man’s world of today where style is becoming an intrinsic part of our daily lives. It’s not just men’s fashion, but a collective notion of aesthetical thoughts, ranging from interior design to watch making. Of course, the most evident developments are in men’s fashion where the earlier androgynous revolutions in the haute couture are finding their way into our closet: the silhouette is tightened, the look is sensualised and traditional craftsmanship has regained its epicentral position in the regards of both designers as well as consumers. There is a need to style our environment, to define a look and translate it to our surrounding and ourselves, whether this is a passing trend or a new landmark for the modern man.
It is beautiful to see an elaborate vision of style immaculately translated. The result in this case is a perfectly balanced picture with synergy between its different elements. One of the best examples is undoubtedly designer Tom Ford’s director debut “A Single Man”; a crafted picture with a consistent aesthetical vision. Another good example is Hedi Slimane’s haute-couture oeuvre where beauty is found, created and translated from the smallest design detail to the pinpoint construction of the runway set. The result in both examples is the achievement of perfect beauty.
The discussion around style, its meaning and definition is common and the tired, sometimes blatant use of the word in today’s magazines and blogs might dilute its significance. But there is a great lesson to be learned if one is willing to dig deeper, to breakdown the term and reconstruct its stripped elements for a clear, primitive understanding. Especially if you’re an artist and/or working in a creative business, defining what style is may offer a helpful, basic departure for your work process. But before we can answer the question of style, we first need to free the term from its pure sartorial connotations (style is not just about fashion and accessories) and understand it in a broader, general perspective. Furthermore, it is important to note that the analysis of this article departs with an objective definition of the term; style in this article doesn’t mean stylish. So the question remains: what is style?
Style is about arranging. From fashion designers to architects to creative directors and tasteful consumers, the creation (not the adoption) of style is a process of production, selection, arrangement and presentation; a process that generally consists of two components: a natural, artistic vision or feeling (irrational) and a deep knowledge in and experience of the specific domain and of life in general (rational). It is the rational element, one’s knowledge of textures, materials, combinations, traditions, techniques, etcetera, and the experience therein that enable an immaculate translation of the natural, irrational, artistic vision.
In this regard, one can interpret style as a total, multi-disciplinary work, where a magnitude of artistic output meet to create a single look, an extensive, but unambiguous and consistent communication to the audience. It is the creation of the perfect picture that requires little to no effort to be grasped. Interpreting the above in more aesthetical terms, one can say that Style is a conclusive answer to a search for beauty.
Tom Ford’s A Single Man carried a legion of details that together drew the picture that the director probably envisioned. From the silhouettes of the cast to the photographic arrangement of the interior; it all made perfect sense. The same could be said about nearly all of Woody Allen’s movies and drawing the line beyond the realm of film we see spotless renditions of style in retail (Abercrombie & Fitch store, Fifth Ave, NYC), in opera (Robert Wilson’s “Der Freischütz”) and video games (nearly all Final Fantasy games).
Whether it is creation or selection, finding and creating beauty is an ever-evolving, layered process. Evidently however, for style to be translated, it needs to be created first and to create style, one needs a thorough (temporary) conclusion of what is beautiful. One should not miss the point that style is style because it is unambiguous and to achieve unambiguity, all elements of the communication need to be consistent.
For those who are in the process of understanding (their) style and creating a comprehensive look through their work or through their expressiveness, the above theory can help put things in order. Human beings are complex beings with many, sometimes paradoxical needs, wants and tastes, which are furthermore ever-evolving and influenceable. In trying to translate what we think is beautiful to an unknown audience we naturally define ourselves through the result of our work. Style is created once the totality of that work is consistent. Sometimes we succeed therein effortlessly and sometimes we fail, because either we’re still searching for our definition of beauty or we lack the experience and knowledge to translate our vision.
My personal learning from the above is that until one finds such an answer, the focus of the work in general or the arrangement can shift from the bigger picture, the overall look and feel, style, branding, to the individual piece of work. Understanding that for style to be created and perfectly translated, one needs an extensive self-definition of beauty exposes that a shortfall therein means that one is still searching. Reassured, the focus of the work can then solely and entirely shift to making the next individual piece of work an answer to the search for beauty. The artist will just have to trust that the bigger picture, if there is any, can or will be consistent because the source of the work is one and the same.
Now available in the fitting room, the latest peak in our aesthetical journey, the “Kleio” etui. Fully handmade by our lovely partner Chii from Chii Designs, Kleio sets a crafted landmark for the etui anno 2011. This is an item that you have to see with your own eyes, feel and smell to fully comprehend its beauty.
Kleio is made of 100% vegetable-tanned hide which has an impeccably smooth texture and a natural elegance. The etui is fully handsewn, meaning that all stitching is done by hand. Crafted with a keen eye for modern retro, the cut is of architectural precision and the etui is finished with a subtle embossment of the brand logo on the inside flap.
As for the use, we recommend Kleio as a pen case for your pens and pencils or for your tablet pen (tip!). Furthermore, the etui is an excellent cigar travel case for cigar smokers and can house up to five coronas. For the ladies we suggest Kleio as a descreet and graceful case for your small cosmetics. Pencils, cigars or lipstick, to us, Kleio is the new meaning of etui.
- 100% handsewn
- vegetable-tanned hide leather
- embossed logo
- holds approx. 5 pens/pencils or a corona cigar
- measures in inches : approx. 7” x 1.25” x 1.25”
- measures in metric: approx. 180mm x 34mm x 34mm
- created and handmade by our lovely Chii from Chii Design
- exclusively available in our store
A sharp ray of light hits my eyes as the train takes me further away from him. He left this morning, quick, he’s always late. He kissed me on my cheek as I slowly woke up. He ran into the bathroom to take a quick shower. With the water slowly flowing in the background, I turned to the mirror, whisking my hair into a big bundle of playful strings. I ran downstairs to make him a cup of coffee and some toast. I hear his footsteps creeping down the small corridor we attempt to call a hallway. The smell of Chanel de Blue finds its way to me to trigger even more love for him. He kisses me in my neck as I pour him some coffee. I put my hands behind me in an attempt to reach for his back. I can feel the softness of the shirt he’s wearing, I smile, he turns me around and takes off his shirt. “You wear it today”. I put on the shirt, kiss him goodbye and walk up the stairs. I walk into our bedroom where the morning breeze brushes swiftly through the curtains, I take a look in the mirror, smell the scent of his perfume on the t-shirt and realize. It’s not just my guy, it’s his Guy Vernes.
