Now I know it's been a long time since the last post in the series, but I'm going to be speeding things up here on out. Most of the wait has been because I wanted a DSLR to capture the right images for this series. So I worked some overtime and picked up a Canon 60D and some other stuff I'll be using here on  out:

So let's get on with it.

In my last post I took the experiences from my own personal background and matched them up with existing archetypes to help develop the world in which this look will appear to come from. I identified three main archetypes: Rebel, Cowboy, Explorer, which represent this look in the broader mythology of man. As it is important to remember, good personal style is as much about telling a story as it is about keeping you from being inappropriately naked all of the time. Now that I've identified the archetypes that this look will be drawn from, I can look for representations of these archetypes out in the world. These representations may be actors in movies, celebrities, objects, books, photos, or anything else that is a unique representation of the feeling and the story that I am trying to create with this look. The point is to find a continual source of inspiration for building the look. When you identify these for your own look, you can often come back to them time and time again to find more inspiration or look for ways to change things up a bit. Below, I've included just a few of the inspirations for the look that I'm building. I'll post more when the spring comes around and I need to build the other half of this look: 

Robert Redford

My favourite all-time source of inspiration for the rugged look has got to be Robert Redford. Rising during the 70s and defining rugged manhood, you need go no further than any of his movies to find some inspiration on how to dress like the gentlemanly-outdoorsman. My personal favourite is Three Days of the Condor, from which I took the above photo still. Definitely worth watching for both being a great movie and a source of style inspiration.


Look for: Denim-on-denim, Chambray, Simple, clean lines

Justin Theroux GQ shoot

Borrowing it's inspiration from Al Pacino in Serpico, I loved the way that GQ took the style from the original movie and brought it into the modern age. I watched the movie after seeing the shoot, but I liked the updated style far more than the original version. Made me decide to try out a beard this winter. If only I had the pocket change for some suede pants. 


Look For: Scruff, just because my clothes will have clean lines doesn't mean I will

Billy Bishop

A Canadian icon and one of my original inspirations when approaching this look, I admire the style of Billy Bishop's military uniform and the northern pilot attire of the time. His inspiration will help me inject the Canadiana I desire in my look combined with military heritage that reminds me of my time as a cadet. 


Look For: Aviation inspired wear

Brad Pitt in Inglourious Basterds

I'll never forget how inspired I was immediately by Brad Pitt's style in Inglourious Basterds. One scene in particular where he's wearing a chambray shirt and a dark charcoal V-neck sweater led me to go buy both the next day. Throught the movie he has the look of a frontierman who's packed light and on the move, both qualities that are incorporated into this look.


Look for: More Chambray, dark layers

Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac is both a literary icon and voice of a generation. He was also a modern explorer, seeking out meaning in his life and capturing it all in his work On the Road. Like Pitt in Inglourious Basterds, but not fictionalized, Kerouac was a man constantly on the move, and basic repeated flannel shirts are ideal for a number of conditions and environments.


Look for: Plaid shirts, clothing that travels well

Esquire Mountaineering Shoot

When I first saw this shoot, it took my breath away. Having worked in outdoor apparel as a young man, I always found the goods that we sold incredibly ill-suited to fashion. However, recent developments in this area of menswear in collections ranging from ZegnaSport to Prada Linea Rossa to the more traditional lines like Woolrich Mills or Barbour has added much needed style to technical gear and made it an urban-friendly style alternative. Esquire perfectly captured this movement in their Mountaineering Shoot, leading to much of the inspiration for this look.


Look for: Gear that looks like it is mountain ready

My Grandfather


It wasn't until my Grandmother passed away late last year that I realized how stylish my whole family had been. I drew a lot of inspiration from my Grandfather's look in old photos and it comforts me to know that we are cut from the same cloth.

Look for: Pants tucked into bean boots, socks that extend over my boots

It doesn't take much imagination to see how all of these sources of inspriation might be threaded together to build a look. When starting out with a new look, it's important not to spread yourself too thin. It's easy to want to emulate anything you think looks cool, but it takes ruthless editing to get things down to a manageable look, and then to build off of it. Even for this list here, I cut a number of notable style sources: James Dean, Ryan Gosling in Drive, Steve McQueen, Edmund Hilary, and so on. I'm not saying that those names won't make a return to this list eventually, but it's best when you're starting out a new look to focus things and then let them loosen up over time, rather than own a lot of pieces that have no coherence. I'm sure you're a dynamic individual, but just keep it simple for now.

In my next article in the series, I'm going to edit my existing wardrobe down to what works for this look, and pack up the rest into storage. I own a lot of beautiful pieces that have their place somewhere, but i need to be discriminating in rescuing the pieces that matter for this look and leaving the rest out of it.

As always, thanks for reading.

- Mr. S  

Normally this time of year I make predictions about the course of men's fashion over the next 12 months and I would do so again this year, only problem being that I haven't really been paying attention. I haven't been putting in the time I need to on this blog, instead I've been off working on other projects.

So rather than make some completely uneducated guesses about the course of bow-ties (trending downward), workwear (petering out) and 70s style (oh yeah, it's back), I'm just going to make some resolutions of my own and do my damnedest to keep them.

1. I'm going to start posting more frequently

In 2011 I really let my post frequency fall right of the rails, so I'm going to correct-course and try to put out no less than one post a week. Not for my own sake, of course (Lord knows where I'll find the time), but because I'm told that people generally enjoy reading what I write, and there are still things left to be said about men's style.

2. I'm going to upgrade the site

When I started this site a couple of years back, my primary motivation for using this template was that it was free. That is pretty much it. I was in my last year of school and scraping buy to pay tuition. Now I've been out of school for a couple of years, accumulated some wealth (If I am to be generous in calling it such), and I'm going to put in the investment to make this look enjoyable to read, even when that belies the reality.

3. I'm going to bring focus to the site

For the last couple of years that I've been putting this site out, I've posted always on matters of menswear, but they have lacked a cohesion. To an extent this has been because of various experiments I've embarked on to find my niche in the ever expanding morass of menswear blogs. Having felt like I've found that, I'm going to focus on education. I'll be writing on education for men at all levels of style, as I'll outline soon. The new slogan is "Style For Every Man", and I'm going to hold true to that, genuinely educating men on the world of style that is available at their mouseclick. Preventing them from being dressed by the internet, while addressing them via the internet.

Those are the plans for 2012, so hang tight. I know I'm scared. (But mostly because my therapist told me to be... I'm starting to think he's not very good).

As always, thanks for reading and get ready to start checking back a lot more often.

- Mr. S

When Andrew Muller, founder of Vivarati asked me to have a look at his socks, I wasn't sure what to expect. A gift set arrived an impressively short time later (only a few days across the border and from coast to coast) and I was intrigued by the excellent packing and hand-signed note that he provided for me. Opening the gift set revealed four picks from the collection.

Packaging aside, designer socks are a matter of style and construction first and foremost and, in terms of style, the socks certainly make a statement. Bold designs for business mean Vivarati socks will likely appeal to many young professionals who read the pages of fashion magazines like GQ and are looking for ways to punch up their look. Muller clearly knows his audience, as he is cut from the same cloth, having spent years working for a large financial firm in New York. However, Muller faces tough competition in this category from the likes of Thomas Pink, Richard James, Paul Smith and Duchamp on the high end, and Happy Socks, Corgi and others on the low end. In the pairs that I tried the style of the socks is top notch, competing with the best of them. I have a very large sock collection and I found the Vivarati socks to find their own fit in the collection, offering simple, vibrant patterns that are uncluttered; comparable to my Duchamp socks, but a few bucks cheaper. After several wearings, I am particularly fond of The Rollover.

Although I do like the style of the socks, I am constantly annoyed by the small Vivarati symbol that is stitched into each sock. I recognize the importance of branding, but I've always disliked the use of a marque on the ankle. It reminds me of cheap department store socks or, worse yet, Hugo Boss socks (which I am surprised do not come with a BOSS T-Shirt you must wear by contract to increase brand awareness). However, I am glad that Muller has had the marque moved on some socks avoid interrupting the design, and I admire the attention to detail. To be fair, I don't have a branding solution to that problem. Some of my other socks have their brands printed on the toe, but I think I'd prefer to see the designs speak for themselves, with no branding at all, as with some of my other pairs of socks. If I like the socks enough, I won't suddenly forget who made them, and anyone who insisted on seeing the top of my ankle to identify which brand of socks I was wearing would annoy me far more than the marque.

In terms of comfort, I am very pleased with the Vivarati socks. They are the perfect thickness (frequently a complaint of my other socks), and after wearing them over several long work days in a variety of shoes, my feet did not feel overly sweaty at any point (sweaty feet being a sure-fire sign of shitty socks). They are made from cotton, nylon and elastene with a hand-linked toe, fairly standard for their price point, and well-constructed. Time will tell how well they last but after one wash, following the basic instructions, they are thus far unscathed.

Overall, I think that Vivarati socks are a good purchase if you like to wear bold socks as I do. They come in a little less expensive than comparable brands, and the designs are perfect for an office wardrobe filled with slim suits and splashes of colour, although a man with a larger socks collection may find the designs too simple. While the selection is a bit on the limited side right now, I'm sure that Muller will be expanding it as he grows the business. If you're looking to pick some up, I'd recommend the gift set. The price is great, getting you one pair practically free, and it gives you a chance to check out an assortment. I especially appreciate the free shipping both ways, as many retailers are catching on, even if it doesn't apply to non-Americans such as myself.

As always, thanks for reading, and look for my next article in the Building Style from the Ground Up series coming early next week.

- Mr. S 

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

I know, I know, I'm disappointed in the first half of my cliched title too. I could moonlight as a headline writer for Cosmoplitan, clearly. 

 I received a message last week from the PR Team for Jac5, a new underwear brand that just launched their first store in Hong Kong. They offered me a chance to try a free pair (review coming once they arrive), but that's not why I'm writing this. In fact, if anything they only reminded me that I've been meaning to write something on underwear for a long time. I think about underwear all the time! In fact, a friend of mine and I were discussing opening a men's underwear store at one point that we were going to call 'The Junk Drawer'. Frequently my thoughts turn to ladies lingerie, but I'm also of the opinion that guys don't pay nearly enough attention to what they wrap their junk in and I'm glad to see that someone is doing something about it. I checked out Jac5's website and I like a lot of what they're doing as far as designs go. The "Barking Mad" waistband is sort of interesting, but for me the struggle with designer underwear has always been finding something comfortable. Only time will tell if Jac5 is all talk when it comes to comfort or if they can actually deliver the full package.

Now, Jac5 isn't the first company to get into this field. There's stiff competition:  Bjorn Borg, Ted Baker and Diesel, to name a few. It's still a growing market but I'm hoping that more guys will take an interest in trying something cool instead of picking up another six-pack of Stanfield's at Wal-Mart. For me, underwear, along with socks, are the one area that I like to go balls-out crazy. I don't try to match it with my style to create any sort of complete aesthetic. I just buy stuff that I think is cool, like art, and the girls always seem to like it. If you consider yourself a fashionable guy and haven't tried a pair of designer underwear yet, it's worth giving it a shot. I think it adds a little more personality to a look even if only the lucky girls get to see it.

My personal favourite so far is Bjorn Borg (skip past the advertising for ladies), who I'd consider the current king of the designer underwear market, but I'm interested in seeing how Jac5 stacks up as the new guy on the block. As I said above, many designers make some cool looking underwear, but so many get the fit wrong. I consider my Diesel pair practically unwearable. 

I'll post more on this once a sample arrives from Jac5, but in the mean time you can check out their site, and if you want to go balls deep you can order a pair for yourself and support the underdog. Apparently they have free international shipping, which is pretty sweet if you ask me.

More coming soon with my "Building Style From the Ground Up" Series. 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

This past weekend we held my Grandmother's funeral. It wasn't a sad time for me because she had lived for a very long 95 years, but it was an appropriate celebration of her life which has spanned the better part of a century. It boggles my mind that she was born during the first World War and lived during the second one when she was around my age.

Towards the end of the service we watched a slideshow that was put together by my Dad featuring photos from throughout her life and what amazed me the most, other than how long she had lived before I had ever known her, was the incredible style with which she and my Grandpa (who passed before I was born) had lived. I'm not suggesting that they lived a fancy life by any means, it's far more down-to-earth than that. But for me it carried home a message about my own individual style - a style that I had never known the foundation of before.

See, my Dad isn't exactly known for his style savvy, nor will he ever suggest that, and yet it's a part of my life that I am deeply curious about, so for me it was a revelation to see my Grandpa and Grandma in photos from the past exuding such style, and it's going to certainly inform my approach from now on.

I've included a selection of photos below both for your enjoyment and to explain the influence that it had on me:

This photo above is one of my favourites. The clothes my grandpa is wearing really resonate with my personal style influenced by my country upbringing and my cadet survival camps where I spent so much of my time outdoors. In fact, I think I managed to track down an almost identical pair of boots that I might pick up in the near future. You could expect to see a stylish photo like this in the ads of any brand trying to hock it's heritage these days, but I'm glad to see it in the family photo album.


My Grandpa keeps up the woodsman look in this family photo below:

During the time that I worked for Brooks Brothers, one of the items I took an immediate shine to were the slim pointed bow-ties, which I'd never seen before until then. Turns out I would've seen them if I'd flipped back into my family's photo archive:

There's my Grandpa rocking the same sort of bow-ties I've been pulling off lately. Until now I never realized wear I got the desire to wear them from. Guess it runs in the family. For those wondering when this photo was taken roughly, my mom is the baby in my Grandma's arms, so I'm figuring around 1958-1959. Also a hat tip to the piped lapels on my uncle in the front.

Finally, I found this old picture of my Grandmother skiing and found it very interesting how much skiwear has changed since back when this was taken:

Rest in peace, Grandma.

One of my favourite hobbies is building up performance cars and racing them. As with any project like that, it requires a lot of planning and preparation. I have to ask myself: Do I want a drag car, rally car or a road racer? Do I want to turbocharge it or supercharge it? Do I want to build something classic or exotic? And so on. Building your own personal style isn't much different except your likely not going to get as much grease on you and have less bruised knuckles.

On blogs, a lot of guys talk about personal style, and a lot of tips are given, but never have I seen the process documented from start to finish. How is it that the style set come up with an idea and execute it from start to finish? Whether you are building your own clothing line or just filling out your closet, the concepts are very similar. In this series I'm going to document the whole process from idea to execution so that you can learn how to develop your own complex personal style. Feel free to follow along after the jump.