Please Be Fat with Me

There's no suit cut surgically sharp enough to hide the weight I've gained the past few days, but neither is there a vision of myself in the mirror with beauty that matches the pleasure of savoring the unctuous goodness of the holidays' delights. Let me share with you photographs of what I had eaten, as well as an excerpt--two stanzas of a piece I'm working on: "Please Be Fat with Me". Call this my (likely temporary) antithesis to Kate Moss' notorious proverb.

"My dearest, please be fat with me

Come join me in my eating spree

Bone marrow doused and dipped in lard

Truffles creamed, smothered, roast pig charred."

Pig foot “Milanese” with rice beans and arugula at Babbo was the essence of dark, fried pig, in crumbs, compacted, and lightly seasoned with shards of salt.

Osso buco, after the fall

Rock shrimp with butternut squash, sage, and creamy artisanal polenta at Il Pesce, Eataly. Rock shrimp seems to be having a moment, for good reason. It's as if they genetically modified regular shrimp to have the soft, fatty bite of Asian crystal prawns and the robust, shrimpy flavor of tiger prawns.

The sea urchin roe in Eataly's soft-scrambled farmhouse eggs with tarragon was almost like a hyperbolic extension of the eggs: they seemed to be part of the scrambled eggs, only much richer and umami-laden.

The white chocolate-dipped red velvet twinkie at Lulu's just is.

Morimoto's toro tartare with caviar and fresh wasabi is pure theatre: scrape the fatty tuna off the plank with the metal paddles provided, dip in dashi, run through the stripes of wasabi, creme fraiche, chives, popped rice, avocado and the like, and pop in your mouth. Nibble on the sweet mini-plum when done.

rock shrimp again, this time tempura with spicy "Kochujan" and wasabi aioli

the most succulent spicy king crab broiled on the half-shell

Cut into the pillowy sea bass with miso sauce and avocado tempura and the world and your mouth starts moving like the river grass in The Little Mermaid's "Kiss the Girl".

RJ's home-made-from-scratch cornbread stuffing

and my Kung Pao shrimp spaghetti with an extra pound of shrimp.

the tastiest jalapeno blue cornbread at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill

and to ring in the new year, chicken rings and fried cheese at White Castle.

"I ask of you to hold my hand

When meat meets tongue strand by strand,

I moan, my spit glands go a-throbbing

In my mouth, they gush, ejaculating."

-1/1/12

photographs by Mikee Tuason

Fall into Floral

floral tapestry jazz shoes by Number (N)ine

You say, how dare he call himself dandy, all dressed in black and not a bow tie on his neck? Well, with rose-sprawled tapestry and ivory satin trim on dainty jazz shoes, I therefore announce, dandy is back! To my all-black Fall ensembles, they will lend a bouquet of romance, and to my ego, equally welcome stares of confuzzlement and nods of approval.

Staples: The Dark Debonair

If there’s one thing that helps me get dressed in the morning, it is my imagined persona. Embodying such a character helps streamline the task of picking things out of my wardrobe vast as the facets of my idiosyncratic personality. I’ve gone through quite a few in the past, most of them too shameful to reveal, but this one, I believe, will stick around for quite a while.

Beloved readers, meet The Dark Debonair.

He is gentlemanly, smart, and refreshingly proper---but at the same time elusive and intriguingly weird. Think young Sean Connery as the old James Bond in head-to-toe Comme des Garcons taking a private jet to the Maldives to do a performance art piece solely for his three wire-haired dachshunds.

Aramis had approached me to share my staples, and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to introduce you to The Dark Debonair. Suave yet relaxed, with a penchant for the charmingly odd, The Dark Debonair keeps ten things in his arsenal as he goes about his business and trots the globe.

The Dandy Project's Dark Debonair Staples: 1) Comme des Garcons black blazer, 2) vintage black lace-ups, 3) black-faced Rolex, 4) Thom Browne cashmere wool tie, 5) Number (N)ine sunglasses, 6) Hong Kong, 7) Erotic Poems by e.e. cummings, 8) Seth Price mix CD, 9) Goldwell hair gel, 10) Sabatino Tartufi truffle honey

Here they are in detail:

clothing: the Comme des Garcons Homme black blazer

The soft tailoring on this Comme des Garcons Homme blazer in subtly crinkled black wool makes it an easy versatile piece, and the luxe red silk lining makes putting in on a simply delicious experience.

footwear: vintage black cap-toe lace-ups from London

These shoes, scuffed beyond decency, have been with me through two re-solings and one painful breaking-in. The classic almond-shaped cap-toe is perfect, and the patina adds that touch of street-grit shiny new shoes just can’t give.

time: black-faced Rolex

I’ve had it since I was a child, and wore it to elementary school with its original bezel of pavé white diamonds, much to the puzzlement of my classmates. Ah, the beginnings of a grown-up eccentric...

neckwear: gray houndstooth Thom Browne cashmere wool tie

Handsome and understated, and the soft cashmere makes it such a pleasure to stroke.

eyewear: round tortoise sunglasses by Number (N)ine

There’s something about round glasses that connotes eccentricity: John Lennon, Willie Wonka, Freddie Aguilar… The tortoiseshell gives it a softness that makes it more versatile than black.

travel: Hong Kong

The glossy boutiques of Hong Kong may carry all the goodies that the dark debonair needs to fill his closet with joy, but it’s the noisy, smelly, neon-hazy streets of authentic Hong Kong that fill his nights with wonder. He meanders about Kowloon, possibly lost on the way home to his hotel, he makes eye contact with a stranger or two, and is convinced he is Chow Mo-Wan from In the Mood for Love.

literature: Erotic Poems by e. e. cummings

e. e. cummings’ love notes embody the way the dark debonair lives his life: passionate and irreverent. The best subway read.

music: Seth Price Fashion

New York-based conceptual artist Seth Price put together a mix of both smooth, danceable beats and hauntingly jarring sounds for his latest collaboration with Tim Hamilton on the designer’s Spring 2011 line. The CD, a limited-edition giveaway at the Tim Hamilton presentation, is a carefully orchestrated audio file featuring Severed Heads, Philippe Besombes, and Zsa Zsa Laboum.

grooming: Goldwell hair gel

How else does the dark debonair achieve his bulletproof slick-back but with the thickest, most high-tech hair gel available? Goldwell’s Lagoom Jam is thick to the consistency of jam, yet washes out cleanly with warm water.

entertaining: Sabatino Tartufi truffle honey

Generously bespeckled with black truffles, this honey is a jewel in the dark debonair’s kitchen: slathered on cheese and crackers, drizzled over buttered pasta---or even on ice cream.

Here I am channeling my alter-ego du jour in a bruise-inspired color palette of black and blue:

Comme des Garcons blazer, Eton of Sweden shirt, Margiela denim cummerbund, Uniqlo jeans, and vintage lace-ups

details: round collar on the Eton shirt and a vintage astronaut pin with a moonstone head

Fellow menswear bloggers Mat of Buckets and Spades and Pelayo of Kate Loves Me have also collaborated with Aramis on similar posts on their ideas of how to be a gentleman. Check out theirs and other bloggers’ posts here:

Buckets and Spades

Kate Loves Me

Guerreisms

Impossible Cool

Man of the Cloth

photographs and collage by Hudson Shively

blog post written in partnership with Aramis

Baudelaire by Byredo

I've found a new everyday scent: Baudelaire by Swedish perfumer Byredo. I'd describe it as oddly handsome, the first whiff evoking fresh leather giving way to an herbaceousness that reminds me so vividly of the smell of that malevolent forest in Punchdrunk's Sleep No More. My mother, sour-faced, dismissed it at first smelling, saying it reminds her of the scent of a new bag. (Believe me, she knows very well the experience of opening up the box to many a new handbag..) Confuzzled, I thought to myself, what could be a more festive morning pick-me-up than a fragrance that smells of new leather goods?

Byredo's Baudelaire Eau de Parfum

Opening the box, I was delighted to find a little envelope...

...that contains an excerpt of the poem Parfum Exotique by French poet Charles Baudelaire, who the scent was named after:

It's a beautiful, sensual piece. Allow me to share with you the full English version:

When, with both my eyes closed, on a hot autumn night,

I inhale the fragrance of your welcoming breast

I see happy shores spread out before me,

Blazing in the flames or a monotonous sun;

A lazy isle to which nature has given

Singular trees, savory fruits,

Men whose bodies are vigorous and slender,

And women in whose eyes shines a surprising candor.

Guided by your fragrance to these charming climates,

I see a port filled with sails and masts

Still exhausted by the waves of the sea,

While the perfume of the green tamarinds,

That fills up the air, and widens my nostrils,

Mingles in my soul with the sailors’ songs.

Here it sits as the star of my scent-shelf, flanked by L'Occitane's The Vert (for sweltering summer days) and Comme des Garcons Eau de Parfum (for weary whiskey winter nights), with my old everyday fragrance Bvlgari's Pour Homme Extreme sitting jealously behind.

photographs by Mikee Tuason

Beaten, Bronzed, and Bitten

A draining past few weeks has left me feeling all these three “b” words, with the second one owing to the recent bursts of sunny summer-esque days in New York City. This feeling of enervation brings in me a sudden preference for a more masculine, back-to-basics, even weathered aesthetic after months of piling on gemstones and clashing animal spots. These are what I find myself in the mood to slip on my fingers these days:

Stephen Einhorn beaten sterling silver ring. The weathered finish on this ring makes it wearable, and the heft brings a touch of opulence.

The same ring in gold:

Stephen Einhorn beaten ring in 18 carat yellow gold. I’m toying with the idea of wearing this ring on the thumb, as a nod to the 90s.

This rose gold “liquid” ring is silently masculine, and the warm tone would perfect accentuate a summer tan.

Stephen Einhorn liquid ring in rose gold

Perhaps it would take baby steps to wean me away from sparkle? This fang ring with pave-set brilliant cut rubies is both clever and dark.

Stephen Einhorn fang ring in white gold with pave brilliant-cut rubies

Slip it on to signify feelings of being bitten, or smitten, or suppose that the sanguine stones spell a scathing sentence to those you so spite.

Stephen Einhorn crafts handmade jewellery in their London workshops and specializes in custom-made pieces such as men’s wedding rings.

photos via Stephen Einhorn

J. Sabatino's Disheveled Dandies

Inspired by the elegant nomads in Jan Yoors' book "The Heroic Present", J. Sabatino put forth a fall collection teeming with disheveled dandy and thrift store elegance. Narcissistically, I couldn't help but feel that the collection was just so me: the tailoring in relaxed shapes, the dandiness of printed silk, the mystery of wide-brimmed hats are all images high up in my virtual inspiration board. J. Sabatino's Fall 2011 collection was unmistakably directional yet keenly salable, and shows immense growth from the designer since Spring 2011.

I stepped through a heavy black metal doorway in the middle of the East Village into an old, cold theater. Onstage, a lone accordion player and a model in one of the looks by the designer, spot-lit as if he were being introduced as a character in a folk play.

Here are my snapshots of the looks:

a rugged-relaxed denim suit

a black finger-woven chunky knit with a charcoal-printed shirt

a furry-lined coat and a belted vest

silk scarf worn as a sash

blanket over jacket

the finale, and my favorite look of them all: heavy black wool suit with wide-legged trousers accentuated by shots of red

A short verse headlined the show's press release which I think succinctly embodied the feel of the collection:

“To the elegant nomads... drifters and grifters.

Con men and caravan dandies,

Rumpled romantics,

Carefree carnies and those who sleep under the stars.”

An Exercise in Embodiment

Aquamarine Kimono with Cherry Blossoms

Your anger is an aquamarine Japanese kimono

Striking in a sea of T-shirts and mini-skirts,

Embellished with the cherry blossoms

Of sharp words and stares of contempt,

Cinching you at the waist

But loose on the arms,

Making you free to throw jabs and stabs

Towards your most favorite of enemies.

Allow me to shut the door to the bustling outside.  

(The butterfly sleeves of your cumbersome kimono might snag on the old screen door.)

Unravel that constricting obi,

Let me gaze at what the silken robe hides from the world.

Ashamed, you quiver as I intently look

At your delicate elbows, the ridges on your breast bone, the crescent-shaped birthmark on your right arm.

Just this once, keep the kimono on the couch;

You look stunning without it. 

-01/11/06

photo credits: "One Day in Tokyo", photography by David Mushegain, styling by Julia von Boehm