The Jante Law

French-based pan-European brand The Jante Law was one of the clear standouts for me at the men's trade shows; they were all about creating simple, beautiful men's pieces and had a charmingly irreverent attitude towards their work. Rule one, they say, is: "Don't think you're anything special." It's this pragmatic, no-frills approach that drives them to create pieces as beautiful as these.

I immediately gravitated to this marbled grey turtleneck made out of Alpaca-blend yarn. It's big and chunky but feels much lighter than it appears to be.

Continuing my obsession with mint, a loosely fisherman-inspired mint green sweater in Australian wool. Apparently this one is naturally water-repellent and they say it'll be the sweater of a lifetime. Give me this one with loose white cutoffs and floppy beige suede shoes (and perhaps a little family of Hermés weekend bags all in etoupe) and that'll be the sweater of Spring 2012.

photographs via The Jante Law

Mint and Peas

Mint and peas, and a little bit of carrot: the colors I'm crushing on are not quite jewel-toned, not quite neon, but are darned delectable.

pea green suede New Balance ML574 sneakers (c/o ASOS), mint green and periwinkle striped shirt from American Apparel, orange Hermés looping bracelet

It's the island boy in me craving a bit of sunshine, and on select days in the dead of winter, under my padded parka, you just might find me dressed like a cupcake.

On other days, you'd see me all black and wooly and minimal, punctuated by a pop of chunky classic sneaker in a funny color. (New Balance ML574 sneakers and my superwarm supercomfy everyday socks c/o Stance)

Clutch My Heart, Céline

I like the idea of the smaller-than-A4 portfolio bag, or, dare I say, the clutch, on men. It would look as handsome with a dark suit to lunch as it would be with a tailored coat and sneakers running around town. In this day and age of paperless everything, why bother pretend we're carrying around all-important documents when all one really needs on him is lip balm, a Clif bar perhaps, and a handful of other little unmentionables?

Céline iPad portfolio in black and taupe (manipulated photo via Céline)

The Céline iPad portfolio is so plain and nondescript, it could be mistaken for a Filofax, and that's what I adore about it.

Open it up and the leaves of lambskin expand to reveal pockets of buttery beige suede goodness.

Shoot me for jumping on the Céline bandwagon, I dare you---but not before your fingertips meet the bags.

Chest Action at Prada Fall 2012

My eyes went straight to the models' chests at Prada Fall 2012: I saw stick pins in twos, napkin-like pocket squares, leather flowers stuffed into pockets, and other goodies. Prada might possibly be the most directional and influential mainstream luxury brand in the market, and if this means in the next few years we'll be seeing men with suits creatively adorned, I'm all for it.

football and pistol stick pins, and what looks to be a gray saffiano leather card case worn as a pocket square

more Prada stick pins: a crown and a sword

Prada stick pins on impeccable Edwardian-dandy suits that buttoned up high

a purple leather carnation stuffed into the chest pocket

the leather flower with a napkin and a pen

creative chest stuffing at Prada

So where is the pre-order link?

photographs via NOWFASHION

Black and Gold

lion-man coat of arms pin, cameo and wreath ring, and black rose stick pin, all vintage

In my younger years, I'd often shun the combination of black and gold; in my mind it was gaudy, and my princely pipe dreams had not yet manifested. There is a warmth and opulence to the marriage of the two colors, and in tiny touches, fine or faux---say, a pin on a plain suit, or a ring with thermals and jeans---they make daily wear that much more debonair.

Tech Tux

I'm at my uncle's in Boston for a quick holiday---the one who lives at the Ritz, acts more like a Gen-Yer than a baby boomer, flies to China for medical missions, the one who happens to have a pair of unworn Prada shoes in my size to be freely given away to his most favorite of nephews.

Prada patent leather lace-ups

I was hesitant at first; where was I to wear a pair of rubber-soled, pointy-toed black-tie shoes? But there was something about everything being so not of-the-moment: the patent, the pointy toe, the Prada Linea Rossa stripe at the bottom that made it so refreshing. It's the pair of shoes I'd wear with a hyper-heat-generating tuxedo or a tux made out of Tyvek.

In the late 90s, these brand badges were my holy grail when the red Prada Sport stripes crept a good centimeter and a half up the back of the heel. As tiny dashes today, I could learn to live with them, and even love them.

with my overused and much-loved Prada saffiano and nylon travel bag

What are your new shoe acquisitions?

Tinsel and Tourneau

New Year's Eve dinner, two years ago, my sister decides to send sound waves crashing with my brain waves as she blows a horn in my ear. My brother, of course, has the quick wit to pull up his camera and take a snapshot of that moment at its peak. (Zara shirt, tailor-made suit, Husam El-Odeh pin)

Famed New York watch retail institution Tourneau invites you, my dear readers, to share a photo that captures your most festive holiday moment for a chance to win the Tourneau 40mm GMT Automatic watch.

Tourneau 40mm GMT Automatic: I don't own a lot of watches of the sporty vein, but this one calls to me the more I look at it---the silver dial, the 24-hour scale on the rim, the wide, digital-esque arabic numerals, all flanked by the black barenia calf strap---I see a quietly luxurious, smart-sporty watch that I need in my life. I've got a hunch that a smart move would be to start leafing through your old Facebook albums and upload your festive holiday moment now: http://bit.ly/w0gKVq

watch photograph courtesy of Tourneau

Park & Bond Pops Up

Last night was opening night for the GQ at Park & Bond Pop-up shop in New York City. It's always interesting how the new media takes a step back and manifests itself within the realm of "old media", say, when Style.com came up with a print issue, and now, a leading menswear online retailer becomes brick-and-mortar for a limited time.

opening night for the GQ at Park & Bond pop-up shop

Park & Bond's expert editorials shown on screens scattered around the space

To make things even more interesting, the store features “GQ Selects,” a selection of products handpicked from the pages of the magazine by the editors.

flannel ties as far as the eye can see

ties, bags, shoes, and other accessories interesting merchandised throughout the spacious store

I think the days of pitting old media against new media are obsolete: all media is so intricately woven into our lives and it's most beneficial to think of creative ways of making them all work together. Having the goods normally sold online being interestingly merchandised in a physical store for a limited time, curated by an originally print-only publication now equally as strong in print and online is very much emblematic of the times.

the old celebrity: teen heart-stopper Chace Crawford of Gossip Girl

and the new celebrity: fashion industry maven and streetstyle blog sensation Nick Wooster

GQ at Park & Bond is located at 414 W. 14th Street, between 9th Avenue and Washington Street. The pop-up shop will be closed Monday and Tuesday, open from 11am to 6pm Wednesdays-Fridays, 11am to 7pm on Saturdays and 11am to 5pm on Sundays.

The Crochet Corsage

Call me hypocritical singing praises for fresh flowers just two posts ago, but these knitted floral imitations are just too hard to resist. I spotted a gray one on Barneys New York's Julien Decanali and I was immediately captivated.

crochet lapel flowers c/o Hook+Albert

There couldn't be an easier way to dress up a jacket: slip the button back into the lapel buttonhole and your jacket is elegantly beflowered.

with a few of my favorite things: vintage emerald cufflinks, scissor cufflinks by Eton, Baudelaire by Byredo, vintage elephant cuff, Cartier watch

Supermarket Shoes

I have been known to wear dress shoes to just about any occasion, but there is a time and place for sneakers: long walks of food guilt, volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, the morning after. Though I wouldn't normally wear sneakers past sundown, I do think that the mark of a well-dressed man is in looking just as fine off-duty as he does suited up. At Whole Foods on a lazy December Saturday, with black upon layered black Comme-Yohji and Comme-Yohji-inspired vintage piled over my sleep clothes, these shoes will be as cozy as they are sharp.

Roc two-eyelet stitch down boot in off-white full grain leather by ohw?

ohw? (pronounced who) is a new label from footwear fanatics Stephen Gill and Hiro Chen launching this line of shoes and boots, with moccasin, hiking, baseball and desert boot influences, all produced in a company-owned factory in Zhuhai, China with sustainable, employee-empowering business practices. It's an interesting proposition, and with business in China booming at a pace quite difficult to keep up with, this seems to be a step in the right direction.

I tend to favor low-tops over high-tops for ease of wear, so I think I'll go for these Hiro single-eyelet stitch down shoes. The cleanliness of the single lace line, the full-grain white leather, the tech rubber sole---grocery day perfection!

photographs via ohw?

Turquoise Time

turquoise, coral, and sterling silver Native American watch band on a Casio watch

There's something about turquoise jewelry, perhaps in the convoluted notion of pan-Americana, that makes it meld well with classic, preppy, if you may, American sportswear pieces. I had spotted one of these stone-set watches, in fleeting and from afar, on a handsome older man outside a burger joint close to where I live. I thought to myself, who would have the patience (and the genius) to set a twenty-dollar Casio watch with turquoise and coral? Apparently, these beauties are handcrafted by native Americans and sold as watch bracelets, as explained to me by the lovely lady who owned the shop in Old Town San Diego where I bought it from.

The dark sterling against the brash cheap steel, the turquoise and red coral against the blue and red print, the handcrafted against the digital---aah, this will be tattooed on my wrist for quite some time.

Winter Staples

Having moved from the Philippines of Perpetual Summer to the Northeast United States, with its extremely variable four seasons, I often get approached by friends from back home for wardrobe advice when making the move to a colder city. I tell them, besides a closetful of beautiful coats of varying lengths and thicknesses (I just can't bear to look the same on the street every day, could you?), the best advice I could give would be to suit up and have proper winter gear. Lest you be amenable to having your extremities un-stylishly freeze off and your heartbeat slow down to a hypothermic pace, you can't just throw a big black coat over your t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers and call it a day. This is my guide to surviving New York winters in style:

Sunglasses protect your eyes from the piercing winter sun, and also act as a partial mask, shielding your face from the cold wind. I always keep mine on.

Illesteva sunglasses, Uniqlo turtleneck, Black Fleece jacket, Portolano gloves, Uniqlo jeans, Desert Mali boots c/o Clarks

A nice polished indoors jacket is important, because as outside temperatures drop, the indoors, though heated, get cooler too. One layer is often not enough for indoors, but wearing your heavy coat inside would look silly, hence the need for an indoors jacket.

jacket by Thom Browne for Brooks Brothers Black Fleece, pin by Husam El-Odeh

Thermal underwear works wonders at maintaining body heat, and the new ones in the market, from Uniqlo's Heattech line in particular, are stylish enough to wear out. The slimness and clean lines on their fine jersey turtlenecks make them modern and universally flattering.

Uniqlo Heattech turtleneck

It's important to have everything covered, especially your hands, which are one of the most sensitive parts of your body. Leather gloves, lined in cashmere, work best for me. A little secret for those of you with skinny fingers like myself, don't be afraid to check the women's section for gloves; just stay away from the bows and ruching and ruffling. Unless you want to, and by all means, go forth.

red leather gloves by Portolano

I still can't quit cropped pants, so in the winter, lace-up boots keep my ankles protected. These Clarks Desert Mali boots have a silhouette that evokes a slimmer pair of Dr. Martens, but the minimal detailing and waxed leather makes them that little bit more intriguing. The bouncy crepe soles make them immensely comfortable, once broken in.

Desert Mali boots c/o Clarks

Running back inside--I need my coat.

photographs by Pop, Bop and Snap

One Monk

single monkstrap shoes with John Lobb signature buckles in navy, rust, and chestnut

With the current pervasiveness of double monkstrap shoes, I find myself favoring the conciseness of single monkstraps. It seems as if all of New York feels like they've discovered the ingenious new invention that is the double monkstrap shoe and are scrambling to call dibs on who wore it first. Scratch that---I'm not one to hate on pieces of sewn-together leather and metal, but in their austere simplicity, don't you think single monkstraps are decidedly more monastic?

Maybe Miami

So about that trip to the Galapagos... how's about Miami instead? Onia had shared with me a few new campaign shots of their reversible Marko short board short, shot in Miami, and they're building up a feeling of claustrophobia knowing I'll have to remain within the northeast continental United States for the holiday break.

the clean elegance of stark white swimwear, perhaps made delightfully gauche with an aggressively all-gold Rolex

The white Marko shorts turn inside-out to an equally chic fine gray and white stripe, shown here. On a mildly chilly vacation eve, I'd say they're nice enough to wear with an un-lined un-structured navy blazer.

a peek at Onia's coming offerings: stripes, color, and archival Liberty of London prints

But maybe, just maybe Miami?

photos via Onia

Rats and Cats

Rats clearly outnumber cats toward the edges,

silk twill "cat and mouse" pocket square by Hermès

but around the center, the felines gain a foothold.

This pocket square, with a checkerboard of household furballs set against a background of what looks to be burnt coral (though it comes labeled "rouge"), serves to liven up an otherwise funereal suit. (black-tie herringbone wool suit by Black Fleece)

I love: ambiguous colors, fashion created in the likeness of Animalia, and surprises that come in boxes of orange.

Grosgrain Fridays

I love/hate visible branding. Overdone, it's gauche, but over-gauche can be chic. And vice-versa. Thom Browne does it beautifully.

his and hers

sans trousers

striped and scuffed

suits and silver

Wooster's watch band

and tie clip

back-tabs

and badges

photographs via Tommy Ton, Street FSN, and eBay