The Ultimate Flying Outfit

'Tis the season for traveling across great distances in inhumane conditions just to be home for the holidays. Wearing head-to-toe oversized university apparel might be physically comfortable in those merciless skies, but I couldn't imagine how great of a beating my self-esteem would take having to be dressed so poorly for all those hours in transit. Hence, I constantly find myself on the quest for pieces that straddle the line between comfortable and stylish---gems that comprise my travel arsenal. Taking on the challenge by my friend Brandon to "bring style back to the skies", allow me to share with you what I wear when I fly:

1. Large black sunglasses hide jetlagged eyes and double as a sleeping mask when the airline you fly is too stingy to provide you with one.

black shield sunglasses by Number (N)ine

2. A relaxed jacket comfortable enough for you to sleep in, rendered in a luxurious fabric such as silk satin or jersey to keep you looking polished for both the authorities and the onlookers. This one comes in a palatial black-on-black silk brocade, with a shot of lime in the lining.

silk Chinese jacket by Shanghai Tang

3. Roomy pants, because sharp tailoring can almost be piercingly painful at the fourteenth hour on the cramped coach seat you've been tossing and turning on. I got these trousers in extra-large and belted them to my size, folding in a pleat under each of two belt loops to create my very own quick DIY pleated pants.

trousers by Cheap Monday

4. Rings, both sparkly and colorful, keep me sufficiently entertained during those short windows of time at take-off and landing when use of any electronic device is prohibited.

bird head and "incomplete traffic light" rings from the Brooklyn Flea

5. Slip-on shoes, because though lace-ups may be handsome, hopping about to get them on at the end of a security line of annoyed travelers isn't.

slip-ons by defunct footwear label 3:33

6. And a bag of the perfect size, spacious enough to carry all your documents and a couple of snacks, yet not so big as to tempt you to stuff in half your apartment, causing you to look like a weighed-down wanderer.

Saffiano leather travel bag by Prada

Here they are all together:

note how wearing all of The Dandy Project's travel essentials head-to-toe makes one look more Asian than usual

I've once made the mistake of wearing stretch skinny jeans on a long-haul flight that started to pull at my leg hairs after a few hours up in low-moisture altitudes, resulting in prolonged excruciating pain. Do you have any flying foibles you'd like to share?

Blank Canvas

Between the furniture assembling, grocering, cooking, scouting for a yoga studio, learning how to do the laundry, and numerous administrative errands needed to be run all to get settled in, shopping has been the only thing keeping me sane. Bereft of my fashiony friends in a city that doesn't put much of a premium on creative dressing, much less does it keep abreast with what's happening in the fashion world, I stock up on items in between classic and out-there, a cautious move as I wait to uncover the innate style and spot the stylish people of Boston.

The white linen oxfords shown above (set against the vivacious pattern of the IKEA desk chair I assembled myself!) were one of my in-between purchases. They remind me a lot of buck shoes:

quite a popular photo by The Sartorialist taken a few months ago

except they aren't made of buck skin. Ideas flooded my mind as I caught sight of them at the store: I could doodle on them with a Sharpie, smear them with paint, dip-dye them degrade, or even stud them with multicolor gems! Or I could just wear them and let them wear out, allow them to naturally get soiled by the earth of a city I have yet to discover.

Boston + The Mauve and Yellow Chiffon Shirt

Dearest readers, at the exact time this post is being published, I would be boarding the plane bound for the United States. I'll be making a four-day pit stop in San Francisco (to mitigate the aches of having to fly coach long-haul) before flying to my final destination, Boston. This means I'll have little time to go online, let alone blog, so I have scheduled this post and the next, for your reading pleasure.

my new city for the next few months, Boston, in the fall

Owing to the success of my black and white chiffon shirt, I decided to whip up a sibling for that shirt; and when I came across this charming georgette of what looks like pale lemon yellow abstract goldfishes in a sea of grayish mauve, I knew I had found my fabric. Contrast always works; I needed something to cut through the busy-ness of the print, so I went for a panel on the hem out of an off-white, semi-sheer, drapey fabric. Here it is, chiffon shirt #2:

The last of my tailoring projects for now (at least until Christmastime when I come back home), I'm ready to embrace change and find out what other sorts of "dandy" projects I could get my hands dirty with.

My tailor has produced some excellently crafted pieces for me, but reality is, the workmanship couldn't be perfect all the time. He seemed to be quite sloppy with this shirt, giving me misaligned pockets:

(a detail I'm willing to embrace as an endearing quirk)

and a curved hem that just didn't drape so beautifully. Hence I went on to rip the hemming and cut it straight across, leaving the edges raw.

I quite like the effect of random threads sticking out and fraying, and to be honest, I just can't be bothered to go have it properly hemmed.

As you're reading this, I'd probably be knocked-out, curled up, hopped-up on sleeping pills, miles above the ground in an oversize t-shirt and sweat pants. But wouldn't it be nice if we could realistically travel in elegance, immune to what intense discomfort itchy threads or constricting tailoring would bring us when traveling by air? Inspired by Tommy's laid-out-on-the-floor outfit shots on This is Naive (Tommy, if you're reading this, I direly miss your outfit posts!) here's what I'd like to guys to imagine me wearing on the plane, I'd call it my fantasy summer traveling outfit:

Panama hat from Rome, chiffon shirt designed by me, necklace made from a friend's wedding favors, vintage Ray-Ban aviators, YSL Muse briefcase, Zara khakis, sandals from Cyprus

See you in a different time zone!

Bring Back the Backpack + Porte Monnaie

I never thought I'd start carrying a backpack again, but I did. It was raining in Paris that day, and I snuck into American Apparel for temporary shelter. Tired of carrying stuff in my plaid wool briefcase that would heavily dig into the crook of my arm or scratch and redden my freakishly soft palms (fun fact: I have won contests because of these silken hands), I decided to get one of their inexpensive bags as an alternate.

with the bag in question, on the Spanish Steps in Rome (worn with Ray-Ban aviators, Zara long cardigan, American Apparel t-shirt, Cheap Monday jeans, Zara shoes)

I was first gravitating towards the metallic duffles, but looking over to the backpacks section, I was suddenly reminded of this post by Steve of Style Salvage, which told the heartwarming story of how his recent purchase of a leather backpack reminded him of the joys of being a backpack-toting kid again. Though still unsure about the idea of carrying a backpack, I threw caution to the wind and purchased the AA metallic backpack in smoke, even at least to give my tired arms and palms the rest they deserved.

Much like in Steve's story, I now walk with a little more spring in my step when carrying my backpack, perhaps partly owing to the fact that I'm eager to show off something so shiny on my back, and also because I of my delight at being strolling around hands-free. It's like I'm a child again, carrying my backpack on a supercool field trip to just about anywhere I wanted. Sometimes, I think it makes me almost annoyingly perky.

today: Ray-ban wayfarers, American Apparel sweatshirt and metallic school bag, Topman cobalt blue shorts, loafers from Don Quijote

Now that I look at my favorite bag of the moment, there is something quite Raf Simons for Eastpak about it. It's got the classic old-school shapes of fall 2008's backpacks

crossed with the metallic elements of spring 2009.

Boy, has Raf Simons been getting a lot of love from this blog lately.

I think fashion is slowly warming up to backpacks again. Their prevalence in the nineties gave way to the messenger bag, which I didn't really care much for, because of the way it wrinkled your clothes and awkwardly cut your body diagonally. Then the messenger was taken over by the briefcase/overnight bag which became the accessory of choice on many a Dolce and Gabbana/Gucci runway. Blame it on fashion's obsession with everything young, or simply on its cyclical fickleness, but I think backpacks are having their moment right now.

In other unrelated news, I just learned about Porte Monnaie wallets from a tweet by Oki-ni. Hand-made in London, they feature minimalist designs, interesting, modern finishes, and my one requirement in buying a wallet: a coin pocket.

The Porte Monnaie classic wallet in black (GBP 69)

Their trademark origami-style coin pockets are achieved through the "paper-like tacitility of flash spun high density polyethylene that forms the back bone of a Porte Monnaie wallet" (from Oki-ni). I'm just not sure how this style of coin pocket would work in a dark parking garage where I'm in a hurry to dispense my coins for fear of being honked at by the car next in line at the exit counter. My other top picks:

the Porte Monnaie Chalk Wallet: white with gray distress marks (GBP 69)

and the Porte Monnaie Bow Tie Wallet (GBP 69). Very thedandyproject, don't you think?