Dandy after Dark

I was turning a year wiser, and in honor of the great city of New York and of my dearest friends, I decided to resurrect an old Manila pastime of mine: throwing themed parties. I was fixated on the idea of the "Dandy after Dark"---the vision of the dandy tucking away his bright bow tie and donning something darker, ever so slightly loosened up, but still handsomely eccentric. I saw flowers, florals, bandanna pocket squares, and jackets seemingly made out of vellum paper; my friends' amusing takes on the theme made my two weeks of nervous party-planning worthwhile.

lights went dim at the SoHo Grand Club Room

All alone in the city, and bereft of my father's basement parking garage where I usually host my get-togethers, I turned to the lovely ladies at the Soho Grand Hotel to house my little soirée. The Soho Grand's Club Room was perfection: think fireplace, plush leather couches, leopard and velvet pillows, and alcoves, and friendly, snappy service---this is where the dandy would make merry after dark.

covered ankles by Crockett & Jones, exposed ankles courtesy of my winter foolishness

I was conversing with Deanne, but mine eyes were flirting with her Erickson Beamon neckpiece.

all jewelry c/o Occulter. from left to right: Kim ring by Langoliers, Taigi ring by BSPS, Bevel x The Cast skull ring, Solve ring by Langoliers, rose gold-plated hexagonal ring by BSPS

I wore a Black Fleece tuxedo, Thom Browne tuxedo shirt, DIY paper towel pocket square, and a large white rose on my lapel.

a Thom Browne tweed plaid jacket with Why You Mad alligator elbow patches on Austin, and a translucent polyester Thom Browne jacket on Brandon

vintage baggy jeans and Thom Browne saddle shoes on Yo Miyamoto

Yo's dandy take on Tupac, a leopard trucker, and a baby bouttoniere

mixed drinks, mixed hardware, mixed prints

tweed over denim and Chris' new 'do

an interestingly dandy take on workwear: a bandanna pocket square stuffed into a jean jacket pocket on Justin Bridges of Tucked Style

Classic and convoluted menswear converged, conversed,

and DANCED.

The ladies came decorated just as lovely.

the braid mohawk and the under-sized academic

the splurge at Alexis Bittar and Mom, get this bag already

green eyes and maroon lips on Sue

Manila lovelies Merryl and Marnee and my tight tight tight tuxedo shirt

DJ Sean Fight Cats' beats shook up our souls

and shattered the glass.

Thanks to all who added a spark to the conversation and shook a bone or two on the floor. And to the Grandlife darlings Lauren, Chenoah, Sam, and Yadira, much, much appreciation!

Until always,

Izzy

photography courtesy of An Unknown Quantity by Wataru Shimosato

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

Sequel to the Ring

I almost never leave home without my rose gold signet ring with brown diamonds, so I decided to make pavé diamond pinky rings my style signature. I think signet pinky rings are unobtrusively comfortable, classically masculine, and are the perfect little vehicle for daytime diamonds. Here's the new one I had co-designed with Jane Sy and Yen Guevara of Lanero Fine Jewelry in Manila:

The white diamonds on blackened yellow gold make for a bolder, high-contrast statement, as opposed to the brown diamonds on rose gold which is more tone-on-tone.

Alas, my hyper-acidic sweat so quickly stripped off the black plating, as you can see the gold peeking through the side of the ring in this photograph, and I will have to bid farewell to the ring for about a month as it gets re-plated in Hong Kong.

at breakfast, with Earl Grey crème tea and a gray nail

Look at the stones, huddled like tiny moons on a dark winter's night.

See the ring in progress here.

photographs by Nikki Tuason

Chris Habana's Glaze and Gild

Filipino-American jewelry designer Chris Habana presented a Spring 2012 line with two main motifs running through: architectural shapes rendered in gold, which he is typically known for, and more organic, almost tribal pieces in what seems to be enameled metal in neon colors. The pieces, though amplified in volume, and exaggerated in styling, I think, could very beautifully accentuate many an easy summer outfit.

Funny enough, the one piece that stood out for me, of all the large-scale ones shown, was the dangling-cross ear cuff.

Call me a poseur, but there is something entertaining about putting something on that gives off the gritty feel of having body piercings without having to deal with the pain. Ah yes, dandies love to pretend!

The ear cuff in dark silver. I also thought that the idea of having something dangle within the ear and not below the lobe was quite novel and interesting.

I've taken to wearing one bangle high up in the forearm as a fresh little break from layered bracelets. This triple bone bangle could easily add much visual interest to an outfit of summer whites or summer blacks.

And the same goes for this thorny garden of a bangle.

The plastic-striped slanted posts remind me of the flaming cactus installations put up all around the East Village a few weeks ago.

The less colorful, predominantly gold pieces were showcased in an opposite installation that was part Grecian and all-greasy.

a septum ring and a collar of salmon lucite crosses

Chris Habana's signature cages and cubes all in gold

photographs by Hudson Shively

Nibbles: Nasir Mazhar Hat

designer Nasir Mazhar in a pencil loop hat of his own design

Having a pencil on the side of your head, usually tucked into the ear, is a staple of carpenters, or where I'm from, balut-makers (click at your own risk) who mark these widely-maligned duck eggs if they're ready or not. I think having a pen-loop on this Nasir Mazhar cap is just brilliant; aren't we always fumbling for a writing implement?

photo taken at the London Showrooms, New York

Scout Original, the Antidote to Trade Show Fatigue

There was an epidemic of sameness at the recent menswear trade shows in New York. I share Style Salvage's feelings of fatigue with the trade shows, but mine more of a sense that many brands merely rehashed clippings from their inspiration boards over the last five years, somehow pushed through into production, content that the line had been sufficiently freshened up with the novel idea of doing one double-breasted wool jacket in...wait for it...peach. At trade shows, which are designers' exhibitions of their next-season offerings, mostly for buyers and partly for press---in essence, clothes on racks en masse at convention centers---devoid of the glare and stomp of runway shows and the magic of styling and accessories and the beguiling beauty of models, one gets to see the clothes for what they really are, what they would possibly look like if they make it into production, and subsequently, into the hands of consumers checking them out in stores.

I was about to lose all hope in fashionkind in the stroke-inducing heat on the last day of Capsule when I stumbled upon Scout Original, a new Brooklyn-based label by Gianna Galli, Ryan Sneden, and Jon Sneden, whose clothes I thought transcended the conventions of fashion and tickled a childlike fascination in me.

hand-painted reworked vintage jacket by Scout Original

Granted the DIY-er in me favors those who do customization in a similar vein, these exquisite pieces are created with such skill that I could only dream about recreating them with my kindergarten-level manual dexterity.

The caricature jacket in its entirety: the drawings are a kitschy nod to Old Hollywood (and a fresh take on those much-maligned two words!), but they also remind me of those for-hire pencil portrait artists in sleepy little Shoppesville in Manila.

the back: more drawings and distressed oversize leather elbow patches

These hand-painted khakis in an interesting capri length that is longer-than-Abercrombie but not-quite-Thom-Browne are oddball-beautiful. The doodles on the patched and frayed pants make me think of an artistic soldier who chose to stay in Hawaii after Pearl Harbor and whiles away the time drawing figures of fantasy on his now tattered army-issue uniform.

hand-painted khakis by Scout Original

They like to pair objects of history with their pieces, and this vintage compass comes with the pants.

This painted white t-shirt would look terrific worn over and over in the summer until it's stained and semi-sheer and the colors are muted and falling off.

botanical hand-painted-tshirt by Scout Original

For the dreamers, the star-gazers, and those perpetually starstruck---

this reworked vintage work jacket hand-painted with a constellation print is an interesting mix of romance and masculinity.

And the orange scarf elevates it to the state of painterly.

What they did with the belts was brilliant:

vintage leather cut and pieced together with brass hinges.

These long shorts are an exercise in subtlety and an exhibition of technical prowess. They started out an almost-black indigo, and were repeatedly washed until supersoft and pale ice blue.

washed long shorts by Scout Original

a close-up of the color variation due to the repeated wash and the natural folds and frays all over the piece

The commentary on Americana that is strung through the entire collection and their fresh take on heritage are so versatile that those like myself with a penchant for darkness could easily incorporate a piece or two in their wardrobe, say, the caricature jacket, and those who prefer a more joyful, colorful take on clothing would appreciate pieces like this apple-stamped military jacket:

The kooky take on Americana is amusing,

and with the map-print pocket square, also quite global!

The line had just been picked up by Barney's, and I only expect to hear great things about this label in the near future.

Scout Original's official site