Alterations : Cuffs vs. Hems

Do not get me wrong I am still somewhat of a fan of a rolled cuff on a denim or casual chino pant. But as of late I have been altering my pants whenever I get a new pair or to spice up an old pair I just have lying around. With menswear everything is about detail and fitting, and with altered pants you are always in a win situation because you can get it exactly how you desire and more flattering to your figure (unless they completely butcher you garment). Overall comparing a rolled cuff to a shorter hem, clearly an altered hem is a much cleaner finish.

A cuffed hem is more of a traditional look to go for, however I am not too much of a cuffed hem fan. So I choose to just get a hemmed alteration and leave the cuffs to the more traditional sartorially gentlemen. The hem alone I feel is a much cleaner, sharper, and more laid back feel rather versus an additional cuff. If I go for a cuff it's only going to be a casual roll up. It's all about personal taste in the end.

Selvedge Japanese Linen

Remember when linen was just about summer shirts and suits? Well its time to change all of that. Linen is doesn’t have to be considered just a summer fashion but appreciated all year round. Linen unlike cotton grows much better with time and washing. Just like your good old pair of Levi’s at first when you buy them they may be a bit stiff and discomforting but after time and wear you will never want to take them off.

I paired this tie with a classic oxford button up, to give it a pop. The contrast of the red striping is super clean and brings presence to the tie. Now the detailing on this tie is superb. For all the detail lovers you will love this. The name of the tie is Crazy Selvedge Japanese Linen Tie, and it lives up to every inch of its name. The multi colored selvedge at the tip of the tie brings life and character to this piece. 

The hand rolled tip is probably the greatest personal touch I have seen yet. Who else would get down and personally roll the tip of your tie for detailing? You shouldn’t really take yourself too serious all the time, ties can get boring but with a selvedge and rolled edges detailing such as this, you’re really giving a F*** You to the corporate world. These ties are made to order so that’s a plus when if you really want that own personal feel.

Get your own HERE

Dolbeau's Re-launch

Earlier this week I posted about my time I spent last week on Dolbeau's photo shoot  for the relaunch of their web space. We have relaunched this week and I must say the feedback from our readers and consumers have been amazing. It's pretty surreal to me since I have never really seen myself as a main banner on a webpage besides my own.

Take a look for yourself HERE

Hues of Spring

What season is really defined by the blossoming presence of hues such as greens, reds, oranges etc? Spring of coarse just glance all around your surroundings blooming flowers, green grass, leaves are starting to grow back and I could have sworn I saw a butterfly just the other day. However with that being said us Canadians never really get a chance to ever put down our crewneck sweaters. The weather here is extremely bipolar. One day I can be running errands in shorts and a tank and the following day I would be layered down from head to toe. 

So why not just mix the two? Bright hues and a crewneck sweater, it’s not hard at all to pull of a bright sweater. But it takes awhile to really find the right one to throw one that compliments your body structure. Fit is everything never forget that, you can have on an amazing outfit but if the fit is off you better find a way to make it right. The secret to having hues pop is....well there really is no secret. It's really all logic, pair your pop colour with a neutral colour or shade, try to avoid heavy shades such as black. Black would drain the life from the hue that you desire to bring pop to, in my opinion. But try a navy, beige, or if you're into shades work with a grey or charcoal.

Behind The Scenes First Collection Shoot

On Thursday I was on set for a photo shoot with Dolbeau, putting together shots for the re-launch of their website. Everything I have been doing while interning with Dolbeau has been a great learning experience. From textiles, marketing, design, etc. Everything you can possibly learn on what it takes to build a product whether it is a blog, bowtie, a magazine anything. It is a various tedious process but at the same time very self gratifying and makes it all worth while when you see everything develop and grow right in front of your eyes. When I first started at Dolbeau they were in the beginning stages of developing their new look and approach on their products. It’s always best I feel to start off in a smaller scale and help it grow with your own knowledge as well learn as much as possible at the same time from those around you.

Summer Scarves

Back in the day gentlemen would wear their summer scarves in a dull manner. Just draping it around their necks, got the job done. That at times can be a bit of a hassle, your scarf position may move off center or give discomfort as you’re on the move from point a to point b. But now due to style conscious men such as you and I we have changed all of that perception on how a scarf should be worn. 

Scarf by Dolbeau

The cowboy square scarf knot is my personal favorite way of wearing this piece. It’s neat and not too flamboyant. Placing knots, loops, wraps and twist in our scraves not only make them a lot more practical. But as well can even complement the scarf, pending on your style of tying it.  Men don’t have many accessories to play with so lets make the best of what we got shall we.

The Blue Geo Dot Hand-Blocked printed scarf is more than just a piece of quality product but as well it has an uplifting back-story. The printing process of these scarves is done by women using wooden blocked equipment. This process of printing is used to empower women and craftspeople in India through work groups. This is the first of many beautiful pieces that plan on showcasing to you from the good folks at Dolbeau.

Peaks & Valley's

Peaks

• This is what it feels like to sell Insatgram to Facebook. Here
• Korea is feeling my Gazelles 
• Surround yourself with like minded individuals, you really will not regret it.
• Realizing that we are all given gifts whether we know it or not is very encouraging. Discover your gift your gift is the most rewarding and the best part of life.
• I'm not exactly the most social person in the room, I've been trying to work on it but it's not the easiest process. Isaac Likes shared a few tips on being more open and social. Here
• Got a pretty cool relatable ( personally ) concept for the next instalment for What His Is Hers.

Valley's

    

• This past weekend I was out and about with Antoine putting together a film project in a nearby warehouse. As we were leaving the most disturbing thing occurred. The warehouse is pretty beat up and run down, a large chunk of the warehouse is missing right down the middle. You can pretty much see the very top floor from the the ground floor. So as we were leaving Antoine looked up and noticed there was a random dude masturbating down in our direction. When Antoine tried to point it out to us he got scared off and ran. C'mon son like really dude -___-
• Hearing my own voice will never get easier.
• I was on the train heading home and random girl took the seat right next to me. Not that there is a issue with that but when the train is completely empty, its a tad odd. So I'm sitting there minding my own business. She then proceeds to compliment me on my pants and what not. We conversed for about 3 minutes, she then took my Ipod from my hand and attempted to write her name and number in the notepad. Confidence is key with anything you approach in life but there really is a limit.

Needs & Wants

Barker Black - Moxham Loafer

Aren't they a beauty? Why wouldn't you want a pair of these, you'd have to be somewhat insane to reject owning a pair. For all my summer time non sock wearing men out there this is the shoe that you will need on your team this up coming. Barker Black does not disappoint with the Burnt Acorn Calf Moxham Loafer, this is really a gentlemen's shoe at its best. Barker Black pride themselves for offering amazing quality construction, craftsman ship, and modern design with a bit of a rebellious touch. Skull and Crossbones is what represents Barker Black, how cool is that? They offer well made hand finished gentlemen products and to finish it off they must finish it off with their infamous skull and crossbones logo.

Retail: $775.00
Get Your Own

Lifetime Collective Swim Shorts

Pool season is upon us and I don't know about you but I have the hardest time looking for the right beach shorts. It gets to the point where I just avoid any bodies of water all summer. But these navy swim shorts are pretty dope plus the strip print on the back end are just the icing on the cake navy and prints. There is no losing involved here.

Retail : $69.99
Get You Own

DSPTCH Camera Strap

Day in and day out what is it that I always have on me ? My camera. It really never leaves my side, unless if I'm pointing and shooting. But really my camera strap game can really use a major boosting and for all the other shooters out there with the same dilemma Dsptch has us covered. As you skim through their web space you can grasp that Dsptch draw inspiration from tactical and military fields. With that inspiration they provide their customers with practical, affordable, and everyday accessories.

Retail: $48.00
Get Your Own

Inspired By // Antoine Ryan

Out of all the people I have met in my life thus far, one person who I can confidentially and comfortably say that loves and nurtures his craft is my good friend Antoine Ryan. He is constantly on the move always putting things together not only to better his craft but to fulfil his need of self expression. Not everything we make needs to have a backing or a main purpose behind it. When you truly have passion for something, you really just get up and do it just to do it. Antoine's, strongest point is photography hands down but of coarse he wants to branch out and dip his hands into other forms of work to really broaden and better his craft.

This short clip is Antoine's latest pieces that he has put together while experimenting with cinematography. The way it came together was all pretty much a spontaneous action. Basically Antoine and his buddy Jean-Benoit were walking up Mont Royal here in Montreal and Antoine  pulled out his camera and decided to shoot it. There was not much of a sense of direction or a goal of any sort, it was put together from passion and the drive to nurture his craft. Keep in mind, this clip is pretty much just a test shot. And I must say the visuals in this test shot are amazing.

- Surround yourself with like minded people.

Got The Blues?

Outfit

Button up - Club Monaco

Double Breasted Vest - Michael Kors

Chinos - A.A

Sneakers - Adidas Gazelles

In a previous post Needs & Wants I somewhat broke down my whole love and hate relationship with the colour blue. And how I have somewhat managed to grow to appreciate it over some time now. We grow and our taste changes and develops with our experiences and what we come across.When I don't want to wear black ( which is 95%  of the time ) and I want to somewhat remain a bit sombre in my tones. Blues are great to play with.

From lapis, royal, navy, turquoise, etc there are so many options of rich tones that blue really has to offer. Everyone must have a few items of blue in their closet, but never really take a chance to work them together. Blue is really one of the only colours that offers so many shades and hues that can work together without looking like a circus act and remain easy on the eyes.

Peaks & Valley's

Peaks

• Tumblr has a thing for Sydney, who I shot 2 weeks ago. 12,000 + notes in 2 weeks Woo-Hoo.
• My buddy Tiago, recently started his own accessory line. And it got picked up by a local boutique here in Montreal. Super proud of the dude. I'll be sure to get a few shots of his work.
• Intelligence, it needs to be nurtured. No matter what it may be artistic, mathematical, scientific, etc... I hate the fact that so many individuals are intelligent in their own manner but are look down at because their intelligence just is not of value. Somewhat along the lines of THIS.
• Currently scouting a few locations to shoot my next instalment of Whats His Is Hers, I'm pretty excited about this one. May take a different angle and give back to my readers on this one stay tuned.
•   This really cool fellow by the name of Isaiah Johnson featured me on his page. Thank You Isaiah.

Valley's

• Is it just me or is it extremely awkward when class ends and everyone has already managed to pack their stuff and head out. And you and your prof are the only ones left in the class room? This has happened to me on many occasions this past week, guess it's a good excuse to pack 20 minutes earlier.
• It sucks when you really look up to someone and they influence you in ways that you don't think could ever really be possible. And you slowly find yourself losing respect for them over time, not because their creativity or mentality has began to slack. But just for the reason they are not the same person or they do not carry themselves the way they claim they carry themselves *stay humble*
• "It's so easy to be one of those people who only commits halfway to anything. If you don't fully commit, you'll always walk away unscathed. Don't try / can't fail is a bullshit philosophy. Don't be one of those people" - Isaac