Staring at the Moon

Candlelight vigil at CSUF

    Earlier in the day, a candlelight vigil was held in honor of Trayvon Martin and Shaima Alawadi.

In case you don't know, both of their murders are being treated as hate crimes. I have to say, the vigil was pretty moving.

It was sad to hear the testimonies of people who live in the area — people in my own backyard who may be of a different culture or hold different beliefs than me — who just want the same basic things as me and who are denied them on a daily basis.

Ill have more to post in the morning once I have access to my laptop tomorrow.

Come back soon,

-Joeyb

Men's Fall Essential: Burberry Outerwear

I was having a pretty serious conversation with one of my friends about the last round of women's runway shows in Paris and Milan.  

We got into a pretty deep conversation about which designers blew us away and which left us asking for more and she ended up asking me what I look for when it comes to menswear.  The first thing that came to mind when she asked me that was...fur.

 Honest to God, hands down, FUR.

 I know it sounds ostentatious and bourgeois, but fur is in.

My obsession with fur on guys started with Christoper Bailey's Fall Winter 2010 show for Burberry Prorsum.

He was the first designer to show shearling since Dolce & Gabanna's Fall 2008 Collection.  I know two years seems like nothing, but in fashion, two years in a very long time.

 Anyways, I'm off topic.  Burberry does the best fur on guys.  Hands down.  That's why I nominate Burberry's outerwear as this year's Fall Essential.

 

Here are my favorites:

This is definetely my favorite coat for fall.  Amazing tailoring, beautiful Finnish mink collar, incredible fabric...its perfect.

Who doesn't love a full length leather trench coat?  The shearling collar is a welcome addition as well.

See the rest of my picks after the jump!

First Day of the Spring 2012 Menswear Shows in Milan

Ok so I dropped the ball and sort of forgot about posting for the last three months.  I finally have a good reason to get started up writing again!  The first round of menswear shows were presented yesterday in Milan.  I have to say that I am pretty impressed with the first offerings of the season.

 

Here's a round-up of my favorite looks from the day.

Burberry Prorsum:  

I was excited to see that Christopher Bailey injected freshness and a new relaxed attitude into his latest menswear collection for Burberry Prorsum.  He reworked the outerwear that is a staple for the house by constructing them with lighter fabrics and replaced the shearling that has caused a frenzy lately with hand woven raffia.  The collection was a real tribute to English craftsmen and at the same time universally appealing to men everywhere.  

 The collection's coats are available for pre-order for the next week.  I looked up the prices and they are a little more expensive than I hoped they would be but they are definitely worth it.  I am really considering putting aside my vacation/dance/car payment/credit card payment/food budget money in order to snag one.

 

Costume National:

For the last two seasons Ennio Capasa of Costume National has consistently designed youthful looks that I find really irresistible.  I loved his styling this season.  

The coats this season were wonderful and the light layering was remarkable, but OMG look at the shoes!

For me, the strength of the clothes was the injection of red into the collection.  

 

Dolce and Gabbana:

Mesh on men has never looked so clean.  Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are always able to create a new reiteration of their Sicilian upbringing every season.

I'm also glad to see that their low-slung English-punk inspiration is alive this season with lighter fabrication.

 

John Varvatos:

His collection was a little bit more Parisian than Milanese today but there were some pieces that I can agree with.  This band jacket with floating layers is definitely calling my name.

 

Overall, the latest offerings from Milan been pretty satisfying.  I have a lot of options to crave over the next season!

 

 

Trying to Find My Angle

It's funny how I'm a journalism student and I sometimes take issue to writing.

Its just so hard to come up with new content all the time.  My mind doesn't work creatively like that.  I guess its time for some reevaluation.... 

 

On a lighter note; its finally warming up! YAYYY!!! 

Finally get to wear summer staples during the day.  Now I'm looking forward to the warm summer nights.

 

For some reason I can't get my pictures to cooperate with me today.  But I like this angle better anyways!

Forever 21 Jacket, Marc by Marc Jacobs Silk Cotton Sweater, Corpus Jeans, Marc Jabobs Suede Boots

Today it is all in the details

I really love the seaming details on the MbMJ sweater.  Its basically a bunch of super fine-guage triangular silk cotton panels seamed together.

I know that I haven't been posting a lot lately but I am definitely going to try to get more content up within the next two days.

See you then,

    -Joeyb

 

Just Roaming Around the Neighborhood Like a Lost Dog

I love living near LA.   I'm just far away enough to not have to deal with the smog and the crazy people but I'm near enough to drive over whenever I want.

This was supposed to be a day of museums  with my friend Kristin and scouring the streets for materials to make assemblages, but like most of my contrivances; the plans fell through and we ended up driving all over UCLA and getting lost in very scary places....

Notice how I kept my windows rolled up when I took this picture....

At least I got to swing by the world renowned La Brea Bakery which was right down the street from the above picture.

All the people in this neighborhood had perfectly manicured lawns and I couldn't help but be a wierdo and take a picture here....

Just a little note; that is root-beer in my hand!  And in the other hand, the worlds most decadent carrot cake.

Jacket and Trousers are by Richard Chai via Gilt Groupe, Charcoal Sweater by Vince, Leather and Nylon Bag by Yohji Yamamoto for Y's Mandarina

Now I'm gonna pass out from exhaustion,

    -Joeyb

Because We Know How to Throw an Amazing Baby Shower!

I had no idea how to throw a baby shower before this but I do have to admit; my friend Sarah and I know how to put together one good party!

Arrena; the mom of the evening!

Yes; I did make the centerpieces.

Sarah made the cupcakes.  You can't really tell from the photo but they have gold dust on the tops.

The awesome party planners!

Jacket by Dolce and Gabbana, T-Shirt by Zara, Jeans by Levi, Bracelet by H&M

My friend Sarah and I had so much fun with this shower that we are scheming on getting everyone else pregnant....

 

See ya later!

    -Joeyb

Fall Winter 2011 Menswear Show Highlights: Milan and Paris

I know that this post is two weeks past-due, but I really wanted to do a top ten piece  for the latest round of menswear shows that we saw in Milan and Paris over the last month.  Sadly; I could only narrow it down to twelve looks....

I knew that it would be gauche to post a jumble of pictures up in a crude list so I've been on the web the last few days researching slideshow production.  Believe me; plenty of hard work has gone into this post.  I've spent the better part of six hours (intermittently; of course) going through look-books, editing down selections, doing my research on HTML generators, and tagging EVERYTHING to get this post done.

Now; I present you with the fruit of my labor; the top twelve looks that you need to buy (if you have the cash!) or obsess over (if you are the rest of us) for the next five months or so.

Just a side note!!! Click on the pictures to get my commentary on each look!!

 

Till next time,

    -Joeyb