Great Gatsby!

Funny enough, on one of the coldest days of the year, an amazing pair of sunglasses by Polo Ralph Lauren inspires me to dream about how I'll dress this Spring. I'm already devising a plan. To keep my look fresh all year I make a list of must have purchases – items that will give me the most wear and the most dramatic looks. After all, although I'm on a budget, I want to look fabulous. I believe in dressing with a purpose.

While I will embrace my Wayfarers (and probably buy a tortoiseshell model to add to my collection), I'll be exploring other shapes as well. Lately, I've been wearing gold Ray-Ban aviators – which feel right again. I will also be sporting my Clubmasters with confidence, but I think rounder shades will be hot in years to come (think Carrie Donovan, not John Lennon). And I think I've found the perfect pair:


Polo by Ralph Lauren, Spring 2009

These are not for the weak at heart, but then again, how gutsy must people have been to wear J-Lo-style wrap around frames? Yet, everyone (except me, thankfully) did it! As a "frame" of reference, I will accompany these sunglasses with an urban sailor look (as I've said many times before, I'll forever be a sailor in search of a ship). Many fine labels such as A.P.C., Jean Paul Gaultier and Ralph Lauren produce amazing sailor stripe shirts, but this year I'm going to find an authentic Russian Navy sailor shirt in a winter (black) stripe:


Sometimes you have to stick to the basics and find the original, authentic example of the look you're after. For example, to me, nothing is more classic as the Ray-Ban Wayfarer at around $140; however, several other companies recreate the shape for twice as much. Doesn't make sense to me.

Every year I vow to purchase a pair of white pants. And every year I don't do it! I guess I haven't found a pair that looks perfect on me. I'm beginning to think the way to go is corduroy (so I'll be on the hunt for that). Meanwhile, I'll also be looking for a pair of wide-leg denim pants in a trouser cut like these ones from Ralph Lauren Spring 2007 (pleaaaaaase make them again, Ralph):



I like having a layering option such as a jacket or cardigan for most of my outfits, but it depends on my choice of pants. If I buy a wide-leg denim trouser, I'll find a short-waisted cardigan in navy, black or yellow; however, if I go for the slim-fit corduroy, I'll sport a navy blazer like the Trovata in my closet. But, really, how cute would this silk/cashmere number from Banana Republic be?


Or this double-breasted cardigan from American Apparel (a steal at $39)?


Then there is always the shoe dilemma. To really be current and to own something beautiful you have to invest. Here are two options that I'm exploring (and can't afford):


Balmoral Wingtip by Harris


New Gommini 122 Driver in Ecru by Tod's

There is a window of time in Toronto between about April 1st and July 1st when one can layer beautiful clothing, walk to work and enjoy the sunshine without overheating. This is fashion's best moment of the year. Colour is revived, the days are longer and the joy of warmer weather dances in people's minds. I plan on being ready for these fleeting months, looking better than ever (hopefully I'll start actually using the wii fit sitting in my living room, too).

When all is said and done, will I look like an eccentric millionaire lunching on the lawn of my New England estate? I hope so....why not?

Oh, the things I've learned....

Upon perusing the fall men's collections, I learned (and confirmed) a thing or two about fashion. And the experience has inspired me to reflect on my own sartorial lessons throughout my life.

Sitting in a seersucker suit, picnicking with my pony on my family's front lawn at age 12, I pondered what it meant to be a man of style. Should a man's feet ache while wearing dove-grey, leather-soled, slip-on shoes? Does washed, butter-yellow cotton go with navy-and-white pinstripes? Should I lighten my hair for the summer? Such a young man's mind should never have been bogged down with such questions. It's a wonder I made it through those years unscathed.

But what resources did I have back then? I instinctively knew what looked good at the time, but being a child of the 80s and early 90s, sometimes those sensibilities resulted in a lose, lose situation. Also, geographically I was at a slight disadvantage. At one point, my hairdresser simply refused to give me a Caesar cut, citing it was "too gay." Perhaps that was what I was going for. I saw her recently. Ironically, she has never changed her hairstyle, ever, and her Poison/Cherry Pie shag now makes her look somewhat lesbian.

Thank God for Ralph Lauren, though. He is my patron saint of fashion. Without him, my childhood could have been very neon...or ever more neon, rather. My brothers and I were obsessed with Ralph Lauren and, at one time, quite possibly boasted the largest Polo collection in Saskatchewan. I could have easily passed as a young scholar at any ivy-league college in America.

Also, during these years of discovery, I realized that smelling good was half the battle (winning this battle in my hometown was a mixed bag -- I was teased -- by kids with teased hair, go figure). And guess what the first fragrance of note in our home was? Yes. Polo. To this very day, every time I smell Polo I am brought back to my youth, where young boys wore very mature scents, and mature men wore Brut... The first fragrance I bought with my own money was Calvin Klein Obsession. This one, too, takes me back to grade seven, boat shoes and skinny jeans.

Of course, a few women inspired me to love life, fashion, good things as I was growing up... But my ultimate style guru was my Grandma Zayshley. The only way one could truly know her greatness would be to know her personally. But I can try to paint a bit of a picture. She always seemed very tall to me. Once, upon getting lost at Eatons in Winnipeg (a terrifying ordeal at age 7), I simply scanned the heads and spotted my Grandmother's coif bobbing joyfully in the women's department. Admittedly, her bright-red hair helped the process considerably. She was also the first woman I knew of who owned dozens of pairs of shoes. Sometimes my cousins and I would try to count them all, lined up in the guest bedroom. I can't remember what the final tally was, but I have yet to see a comparable collection.

My Grandma was also a master at dressing perfectly for the occasion at hand. When she had a portrait taken a few years ago, she arrived in a full-length teal-green silk gown, but later that year when my father hosted a bbq at his farm, she donned perfectly cuffed raw denim, white canvas shoes and a cotton jumper. At Christmas she wears glittery frocks and at home she sports white linen pants and ruched, flowy blouses.

The most important fashion lesson my grandmother taught me, though, was that you can be fabulous and edgy and everything you envision yourself to be, in spite of your economic background, geographic disadvantage, less than sympathetic peer set and seemingly finite resources. And I hope I'm following in her beautifully shod footsteps as I continue eking out every ounce of style and happiness from what quite easily could have been a very typical existence.

Time to amp it up!

In the words of my super-stylish brother, "It's time to amp it up."

Summer in Toronto can be so oppressively humid it can be hard to have the gumption to dress properly. Sometimes I wish I could throw on a caftan and be done with it. But, alas, there are options. Here are a few of my picks:

1. Can't go wrong with a classic Polo. Try navy, white, Kelly green, pink or yellow:


2. These deck shoes by Philip Sparks are inexpensive and unassumingly cool:


3. I've always wanted a navy seersucker suit. This might be the year -- and to accompany it I'll get wide-leg pink pants and a pair of madras shorts:


Brooks Brothers

Polo Ralph Lauren
4. I'm still dead set on recommending Rayban Wayfarers:



5. Acca Kappa White Moss is the best summer scent, in my opinion:



Dress up!

Where are we going?

The fashion world's preoccupation with predicting trends is akin to some people's fascination with having their future told to them. Just this morning I had a brief conversation with a colleague about "Lorraine the clairvoyant," the mystic woman who reads tarot cards and tea leaves every Tuesday night at my local coffee shop. She really plays it up too -- head wrapped in a muslin scarf, flowing blouse, sitting by herself in the corner of the room beckoning those who need to know: What's going to happen next?

The future never happens -- we can only live in the present. So why the need to predict?

The answer is clear -- pure, uninhibited curiosity. How boring would it be if the world lacked soothsayers, fortune tellers and forecasters? Part of the fun, admittedly, is hindsight and the capability of seeing how wrong most predictions were. How wrong do most of the trends from the 1980's look now? But, then again, how right did it feel to lust after and then finally obtain the latest hypercolor t-shirt that was not yet available in Canada but luckily found on a family trip south of the border? I regress....

Looks like wing motifs are big on the fall runways. Could work. But I see a lot of possibility for big bird disasters if this trend falls into the wrong hands. (You know who you are).

Marchesa Fall 2008

Also Prada's new shoes look like Home Shopping Club Capodimonte. Kind of desirable, but how will it translate when real shoppers open their purses?


Prada Spring 2008

For years I've been thinking that the sailor look is going to be the next big thing. While I will forever love this style, will I also forever look like a captain with no ship?


Ricky Zayshley Spring 2007

Needless to say, Spring will come and pass -- same with Fall, then Winter -- and the furiously fashionable will predict, act, then reflect. But I say, as long as you're living in the moment and feeling the age (or Zeitgeist, as we like to say at FQ) and truly experiencing your environs, that's all that matters. Non?

Bijou

You know how some women just own their looks? I'm honoured to be best friends with that type of gal. My friend Caitlin can pull together like none other. No matter what she's going for, she looks good. When I first met her, she was an 18-year-old, more-beautiful-than-thou ballet dancer. Dancing up a storm, whipping all the boys into a frenzy with her blonde hair, glowing skin and knee-high boots. But she quickly progressed into a chic young lady who lunched. With me! She shed her mini skirts for a more demure, refined look. And it worked even better than before. It's not that she changed, she just evolved. And she hasn't stopped since.

A day in the life of Caitlin is chock full of activities we all wished we did, but don't have the energy to do. I'd often spot her along Queen Street East walking her dog, Jasper with a coffee in hand, or jogging in Lulu Lemon, or driving her silver Vespa. She works out almost everyday, but also loves to eat copious amounts of Rice Krispy treats that we make together. She would often invite me to do her makeup for a night out on the town. We'd scour Kevin Aucoin's book Making Faces and choose her look. Then, makeup completed, she'd don a fabulous dress a killer pair of heels and depart for a night out on the town.



But what makes Caitlin so chic is her personality -- it's totally unexpected from such a physically beautiful person. She's actually quite brilliant; however, I don't think I can fully describe her genius. In top form, Caitlin is a better wordsmith than Dario Fo, a better social commentator than Perez Hilton and smarter than a Harvard grad.

A couple of years ago Caitlin went through her biggest transformation. She shaved her head. Bald. Every lock of hair that dropped to the ground was like every notion of femininity and gender that had been pressed upon her. What emerged was a woman who was confident with whom she was inside, ready for life as a social worker, activist, bombshell and friend.


Caitlin, Jon and me

Since then, she has grown back her hair, this time to a style with bangs. She still looks great and she still lives the life we all wish we could live, but now she lives on the other side of Canada from me -- Victoria. It's hard when such a good friend moves away. When I was younger I accepted transience much more. It was expected that everyone would move away, it was a part of growing up. But for the past couple of years I have made a concentrated effort to lay down roots and stay put for a while. I didn't expect my best friend to move on! But it was the right thing for her to do, and I wouldn't expect Caitlin to stagnate in any way. She keeps on moving, looking good and being my best friend. Bijou.

Top Five Style Tips for Men

I'm no James Bond, but I do think I'm quite versed in the world of men's style and I'd like to impart a bit of my wisdom to the gentlemen. A lot of this stuff is trial and error, but the catch is most men could care less to figure out what works for them. That's where I'd like to step in. I care. I shop. I read. I impart.

Here are my top five tips:

5. Look at your feet. Don't be afraid to invest in good footwear. Go for what appeals for you or what suits your lifestyle. I love loafers and simple, supple shoes -- Cole Haan, Gucci, Tod's and Hermes all make amazing shoes, but don't exclude brands like Aldo and Town Shoes. Also, don't be afraid to go barefoot in your car shoes.


Tod's Loafers

If you wear socks, make them interesting. Richard James, Decamp and Paul Smith make great socks, but H&M also makes some real lookers.


Paul Smith Socks

Take this one seriously, men, many of my girlfriends have told me they gauge a man's style by his footwear. Anyone can walk into a store and buy a head-to-toe look, but only those truly in the know pay attention to the details.

4. Scent. The first thing I notice about a person (besides that initial visual hit) is how they smell and that memory lingers in my mind far after they've left -- be it good or bad. The best scents are not obvious; rather they seem to exude from within. Spend some time finding your signature scent. Go to a good department store and start sniffing. I'd avoid any scent named after a celebrity, as a rule of thumb. Also, I find the current unisex, clean scents to be tired and cliché. I tend to stick to classics. It's harder to go wrong with brands like Hermes, Aqua di Parma and Creed.


Terre d'Hermes

Two scents that work very well for me are Terre d'Hermes and Acca Kappa White Moss, but, really, it's just a matter of taste, err, smell.

3. Grooming. A good haircut, clean nails and a close shave are like icing on the cake. In the same way ugly shoes can ruin a total look, so can poor grooming. After years of trotting off to dozens of stylists and never really being happy with the cuts I received, I recently decided to source out a top-rate barber. I chose a great place called Truefitt & Hill in Toronto, but there are great equivalents everywhere. A good barber specializes in men's haircuts so you can be assured you will walk out with a safe, masculine cut. Hair as art isn't my style, so if you'd like a stylized cut, stick to reputable salons like Vidal Sassoon or Aveda.


Truefitt & Hill Storefront

If you are keen and have a bit of time to spare AND you want beautiful nails, skip the manicure at a salon and invest in some good cuticle cream and a nail buffing stick. I'm quite brand loyal to the Body Shop's buffer -- it has three steps -- one for removing ridges on the nail, one for cleaning the nail and one for shining. I like the look of a shiny nail and the real glossy look fades in a day or so. The outcome is clean and refined.

I've used the same shaving routine for years: Kiehl's Blue Eagle shaving cream and a Gillette Mach 3 razor -- a truly inspired combination. You can choose anything you want according to your needs; however, the standby drugstore staples have never worked for me. I find their scents overpowering and the results irritating. A close, clean shave feels good, looks good and keeps your skin exfoliated.

2. Tie the tie. Ties are a fact of life in a man's wardrobe. I personally love them and my collection is growing year by year. Ties allow men to decorate their otherwise often drab outfits. Lately, labels such as Paul Smith, Etro and Ralph Lauren have been showing men how to mix textures, colours and patterns in their suitings and a good tie finished the look perfectly; however I wonder if many men know how to tie the tie. I much prefer the half or full Windsor to the oft' used "four in hand." The Windsor varieties are great because they give the tie a symmetrical look. See the difference:


Four in Hand


Half Windsor

Here are step-by-step instructions to tying the Windsor knots (and a couple others):



1. Good manners. Some types of refinement can be bought -- a nice car, great clothes or a beautiful home; however, some types cannot. No amount of money can afford a man good manners. That means limited blackberry use while in the company of others, limited road rage, a great sense of humour, eye contact and respect for others, great and small. I've met many gracious men in my lifetime and the lasting impression I often get from them is not their outfit but the way they treated me.

One man that exudes good manners is Alistair Mitchell. If you ever have the pleasure of meeting him, you'll know what I mean. He's truly dashing. Silver hair, well heeled, athletic and successful. But his true magnetism lies in the way he treat those around him. How refreshing!


Alistair Mitchell

I wish I was a woman...so I could wear this!

Blumarine, Fall 2007

I've been begging and pleading with my girlfriends to wear head coverings for years and nobody seems to listen -- but the runways are proclaiming the look for this fall, so girls, heads up! Wrap up! It's not a look men can translate into their own wardrobes so easily, so I must live vicariously at this point.

Head coverings have been popping up on the runways for a few years now. Recently we saw veils and last year Prada bombarded us with turbans. Not so easy to wear to the supermarket. The great thing about babushkas is that they are super chic, and rooted in practicality and even mystery. Sport a head wrap with a killer trench coat and throw on a pair of your favorite sunglasses and people will wonder who you are. It's not something you see everyday, especially not in Toronto, but I'd like to see it a lot more. And who doesn't want to keep their head warm on a chilly October day?

You don't have to wait for fall though, start with your favorite scarf -- I like Pucci or Missoni for high end and Echo or vintage for a more affordable option, classic Wayfarers by Ray Ban and a slick of red lipstick. Wear this combo with capris and a t-shirt or a raincoat and Wellingtons.


Insects on Parade by Echo, $98


Ray Ban Wayfarers

Who doesn't want to look like Audrey Hepburn?