For all that I love style, something troubles me about the general way in which so many people on the internet approach and consume clothing. There is this emphasis put on being "in fashion" or being "on trend", and while it is likely a machination of the powerful companies that persist by propelling fashion forward, it forms a negative attribute ascribed to so many who have an interest in clothing as a form of expression, making fashion appear trifling. The emphasis is not put so much on the artistry of constructing fashion, but of what is "new", what is "exclusive", what makes the person who owns it "special". In many ways I suppose that this make fashion a lot like music. People are constantly grappling and clamouring to lay claim to being the first to discover something or, in this case, to start wearing something. People want to not just keep up with the Joneses, but to constantly trump them and state that they "were here first". Perhaps this is what so persistantly troubles me about the idea of fashion. 

While I find the shows to be magnificent, I am haunted by the fact that this will mean so many people will buy into the newest product on the line, their old clothes will be disposed of, all in the name of wearing the hottest, latest trend while claiming that they are discovering themselves (coincidentally the clothes that express who they think they are happens to appear on the shelves just in time thanks to expert trend-tracking and well-positioned marketing.

All of this contributes to the perception that fashion, and clothing in general, is such a trivial thing. Buy it one year, discard the next, and yet this cycle has very real conesquences in the real materials from which fashion is made. Unlike music, you cannot simply move onto the next band and move your old songs further down your itunes playlist only to be discovered later: the clothing must be manufactured from raw goods, which must be farmed to feed the hungry maw of our increasingly consumptive culture.

This is not to say that I am some raging environmentalist, for I am not, but it troubles me that all that I love about clothing is ignored by these masses of buyers, lost in the trends as their search for happiness takes the form of whatever is on the runway. Nor am I going to cling to tradition for the mere sake of thing as so many of the older style enthusiasts that I see online, espousing the pure quality of Canali or Ermenegildo Zegna ad infinitum.

Simply put, I am disappointed to see the real power that personal style can have in a person's life reduced to a series of garments to be released every few months in the latest. H&M + Whoever collaboration/shit show. The triumph of "fast fashion" only compounds the problem.  How can one find oneself among the excess? How can one develop style when the urge is to constantly be in the latest garments? Frankly, the business disgusts me. The term fast fashion disgusts me. While I, as much as anyone, is interested in the artistry that goes into creating a truly novel garment, I am saddened that such industry thrives around making as many varieties of knockoff fashion as quickly and as cheaply as possible. Too many have given up the beauty of personal style for the endorphin rush of the latest thing, like the lab rat who starves to death hitting the orgasm button.

I realize this will not change, not anytime soon at least. The cat is out of the bag, and too busy making $300 billion a year to give a shit. However, much like the credit crunch I think that this consumptive behaviour will, too, hit a constriction. Fashion may be fast, but it is made up of very real materials that have to come from somewhere, and the environmental impact is very real.

All I ask you to consider when purchasing each new item is whether that item really builds on your style. Take the time to develop this personal style, whichever way works. Have a look at my developing series on building style from the ground up if it helps, or just check out as many blogs as possible until you develop that keen taste for what works. In this day and age there are so many images of style available on the internet that you can develop that sense without looking like you've been simply dressed by the internet.

If anyone has any great links on developing personal style, please share them with me in the comments and I'll collect them together somewhere for everyone to use.

As always, thanks for reading.

- Mr. S

In my last post I dove into my past for inspiration to create a look that is uniquely mine. However no man is an island, as the saying goes, and my look will tie into the rich history of mythology and story-telling that exists as a part of our society. This is not optional, all of us reflected upon by the stereotypes that permeate our culture. But by being aware of these archetypes, I can use them to create a much more unique and powerful look in my wardrobe.

I believe that every man's style taps into male archetypes from our culture. Masculine archetypes have always fascinated me, from reading Iron John and King, Warrior, Magician, Lover to reading up on style tribes. Fashion designers frquently use them in their collections, most apparent is Ralph Lauren in his depiction of cowboys and frontiersmen in his collections. Fashion and style are about ideas, symbolic representations of who we are that tie into deeply intuitive sociopsychological understandings of the world that are imbued in everyone raised in a specific society and culture. This is important to remember when developing your own personal style, By tapping into these archetypes, you give your look power. It will tap into years of history and mythology that give meaning to your look for everyone who sees you. The understanding of these archetypes is what will cause people to have an understanding of who you are by a simple glance. While these archetypes can be manipulated to create costume, we will use them in our looks to increase their authenticity.

In my last post I said that I was inspired by my country upbringing, my experience as a cadet, and my passions for outdoors gear and racing cars. Whereas my look in recent years has been much more gentlemanly, this look seems to be far more fringe and rebellious, featuring masculinity prominently. But what of the archetypes?
Below, I am going to pick apart the various inspirations from my roots to attach them to archetypes that represent different understandings of masculinity.

To get started, the word I used above was rebellious, and I like that description. It fits with some of my young adulthood where I used to spend long nights hanging out on the fringe of town, playing with fast cars and staying up all night until we ate breakfast at whichever nearby greasy spoon was open 24 hours. So the first archetype for this look is the Rebel. The rebel can be presented in many ways and can be central to a lot of men's looks, but always with an understanding that the rebel goes against the grain of society, so he will do the unexpected, live unconventionally, and have little regard for traditional authority. From this we can gather that my look will be slightly unconventional perhaps, not fitting into any one box, and I will further delve into this in my next post. Beyond the rebel, I need to further identify how the inspiration from my roots will tie into masculine archetypes, or whether it will break them. I will be incorporating elements of my country upbringing into this look, and thinking of country rebels, I think of Cowboys. So my second archetype will be the Cowboy. This might be incorporated in plaids, western shirts, raw, tough denim, or occasionally cowboy boots, blended in such a way to work with the other archetypes I will draw from. Finally, I want to incorporate aspects of my experience with cadets and the outdoors into this look. Thinking on these two experiences, they have a lot in common, as I frequently went on survival weekends in cadets building my own shelter and sleeping out in the cold where temperatures could drop as low as  -35 degrees Celsius. For me it was about adventure, about exploration. I think I have it then, the third archetype for this look will be the Explorer. When we think of the explorer, we think of the man who goes out onto the frontier to discover something new, who is restless, constantly discovering the world around him, and who is capable of surviving in the adverse conditions that he might meet on his travels. This might appear in this look by using very functional clothing that is well-suited for the environment in Canada where the temperatures can drop far beyond freezing. So my guide for this look will be those three arcchetypes: Rebel, Cowboy, Explorer. One question you might have is: Why three? When using archetypes to build your own look, you can certainly use as many as you want, anywhere from one on up. However, I find that two or three is the sweet spot where you can blend a more unique style that is not so complicated that it muddles it's inspiration beyond recognition. After all, recognition of archetypes in your look is an important part of using them because it ties you into the greater sociological story as your own self-made hero. I hope that seeing how I've added archetypes to my inspiration will make it easier for you to do in building your own look. In my next post, I will dig into the archetypes to match them with actual people, stories, or items that I can draw inspiration from, finishing the preparation for my look and helping to provide a rich source of existing media that I can look into for ideas of how to tie all of the aspects of my look together.

Thanks for reading!

- Mr. S

I always say that the difference between style and costume is authenticity. In part 1 we thought about the current style environment to assess our style needs and get us started. The next thing you need to think about in changing up your style are your roots. However you dress should not only represent who you are and who you want to be, but who you have been. People should be able to get an idea of what sort of man you are just by the way you dress. I realize that a lot of people don't have the same appreciation of style that I do and, frankly, a lot of guys I know think it's silly until they start digging for promotions later on in life and realize they need to up their game. Then they always seem more than happy to give me a call for assistance. I really find investment in personal style to be about self-discovery though and it all starts in the past.

Now, unlike a lot of guys who I see on fashion blogs, dressing well was never a priority for me growing up. It's not something I was raised with. I grew up out in the countryside wearing mostly hand-me-downs from my big brother and the only time I was aware of the need to dress and impress was when going to church on Sundays. But I consider myself inherently a country boy and this has always been fundamental to the way I dress. Clothes that are tough, can take a beating or be passed down from a man to his kids. For this reason I'm going to be looking at rugged fabrics like denim and cotton twill that are able to handle the rough and tumble life.

For this look I'm building, there are other aspects of my personal history that I want to tap. Growing up I spent a lot of my time in Cadets, heading out to camps every summer, building shelters on survival weekends and learning new skills that have helped me throughout my life. When I was a cadet, having a clean and pressed uniform was of paramount importance. I tell many people that this is when I first gained my appreciation of quality clothing, and this has stuck with me in the years as they've passed. I have a real affinity for military clothing. I like how durable it is and that you can really take it into anything. Tying that into this look that I'm building, I'm going to be looking for some military silhouettes like cargo pants, chinos, etc and implementing military colour schemes or themes into this look to reference my time spent as a cadet.

After I graduated from highschool, my life was focused on two different passions: the outdoors and racing cars. I worked in an outdoors gear supply store after highschool and bought a lot of equipment for camping and other outdoors activities. Shortly after I bought an old Toyota Supra and started working on it's engine to turn it into more of a sports car. My Friday and Saturday nights were spent hanging out with my car buddies and driving around town getting into trouble. While I've grown up a lot since those times, I still want to capture that past in the way that I look. I love the vintage racing jackets and mechanic's shirts associated with those days, and I was always inspired by my backpacking magazines even if they weren't particularly fashion-forward (quite the opposite, really). Those days will always be a part of me, and I'm going to bring them forward into this look I'm creating.

As my Grandmother recently passed away I also gained insight into my family's style history through old photos of her and my grandfather. I want to implement some aspects of those vintage looks into this style to help bring it all the way back through my family history.

The blending of these various themes into one look is what is going to make the look intensely personal and unique. I'm not tapping into every part of my past, but selectively curating it to form the basis for my look.

Your personal style doesn't just fit an occasion. Sometimes it won't, but it should fit you. It is more than just looking good or looking presentable. It is about telling a story where you are the hero. Creating your style in this way gives you confidence, makes you feel comfortable and represents who you really are in the best way possible, which will help you to succeed and attract like

In the next article in this series, I'm going to delve into masculine archetypes represented in the parts of my personal history I want to tap. Like any good story, there needs to be some myth and some legend. By identifying these archetypes I will help cement my personal story in the broader story of man.

Til next time.

- Mr. S

Perhaps I've been spending too much time in my thinking chair (RE: Couch) lately, or maybe someone replaced all of my clothes with slightly smaller versions recently as a prank, but whatever the reason, things just aren't as they used to be.

I've never been what I would describe as fat. Pudgy maybe, chubby... jolly even. However, about three years ago I did drop a suit size (from 42 --> 40, most of it from my gut) and I haven't looked back since, until now. This is the first time that I've actually put on enough weight that I haven't been able to put on some of my favourite clothes. and I don't like it one bit.

Now, I'm not going to claim that I can share the frustration of men who weigh much more than I do when it comes to showing style, but I do think I understand it a little bit better now, and I will until I get rid of this spare tire (Ironically, my new workout plan consists of hauling around tires). See, now that a lot of my favourite clothes don't seem to fit, I'm feeling the pressure that comes with your body defining what you can and can't wear. It sucks. I really noticed it the other day after unpacking all of my summer clothing. I was putting on one of my favourite polos and noticed that my stomach was pressing against the polo a little more firmly than my chest. First I felt a little bad about myself, which was quickly replaced with a resolve to shave the extra pounds, which was then further replaced by a desire to eat a box of Oreos, which I consequently dialed back to that strong sense of resolve again.

There's no question that struggling with weight is something that can affect a guy's appetite or inclination towards dressing more stylishly, but I hope that any guys who are struggling with their weight and reading this don't let it stop them from trying to dress their best. To that end, I'm going to create some posts over the next several weeks about how to dress stylishly even if you're on the heavier side, and how to stay stylish as you're losing the weight like I am.

In the mean time, some photographic evidence. I specifically picked these two photos because my smile is the same in each of them so you can see where the weight came off:

There's great satisfaction in setting a physical goal and achieving it, whether it's to lose 30 pounds, or run a 4 minute mile. For me, the next few weeks will be hard as I whittle away at my frame to get back into all of my favourite summer clothes, but I've been there before and I know I can do it again. 

I saw this photo of Marc Jacobs last night on ye olde Tumblrs and it got me thinking. No, not about my proclivity for featuring topless men on my site. Rather, it got me commiserating about the capacity for men to reinvent themselves in both a physical and intellectual way. For a lot of guys getting on later in life, it's easy to feel like the die has been cast. If you haven't discovered your own sense of style yet, or achieved that goal of physical fitness, or learned that new language or started that new hobby, it feels like it's too late, that the train has left the station. 

Then I think of something really key about the way Marc Jacobs looks now. He didn't look anything like this even a few years ago. In fact, if you hold up a photo of him as late as 2006 to the way he looks now, you probably wouldn't think that they're the same person. What I find so inspiring about that is that Marc Jacobs is just about 50 now. He made all of those changes to his lifestyle when he was in his mid-40s.

I mean, just consider that the badass-looking man shown above is the same person as this guy, mild-mannered Marc Jacobs circa 2006:

I'm a firm believer that there's something more to developing your own style than just the whimsy and silliness with which fashion is typically regarded. While we often think of intellectual development, style is a form of physical development, which is just as important. You have the capacity to reinvent yourself in a number of ways, but none is more profound in the eyes of the masses than a physical reinvention. The effect that it has on you may seem a trifling thing until everyone starts responding to you differently, which in turn gives you more confidence in your abilities. It's called the halo effect. The way in which others simply reacting to us changes everything should never be underestimated. It's the key to that first impression that everyone seems to go on about. So I want to urge you, no matter what age you are, to evaluate yourself and see if there is any way to up your style game. Are you putting forward the best version of yourself at every given moment? If not, that's where well-developed style can open doors for you. It's the difference between getting that girl's number or not, being promoted or not, getting picked out of the crowd as someone special or not. The skills and intellect you bring to the table are absolutely vital, but you never get the chance to show them off if someone doesn't see something special in you before you open your mouth and they get to know you. That's what style can really do for you. It's either that or be really really good looking (Seriously, there are studies...)

I'd love to hear what you think about this in the comments.

Thanks for reading!

- Mr. S