Bobby Abley | It's Childs Play For Spring/Summer 2014

BOBBY ABLEY SS'14

As you may already be aware, today kicked off with the start of #LCM and although I don't normally take much notice of menswear looks, I had to do a double take when I saw a tweet with the final run-through for the Bobby Abley FW'14 show. I'll be honest here and say that I hadn't heard much from the designer in the past (after doing some quick research, I think he's a relatively new designer to the scene under his own name), however after being intrigued by what I saw on Twiter, I had to find out what sort of looks he had planned for this coming Spring/Summer season.

Bobby Abley reminds me of younger JCDC, circa 2009. His seemingly signature mascot teddy bear and love of Disney combine together to create a fun, playful and fresh take on an androgynous style. It really does take a male with no inhibitions or confusion in himself to pull off these looks, however, I would absolutely adore any man who could do it. Androgyny is an up and coming trend which gained a lot of backing in 2013 from designers such as Veer NYC and Victoria Beckham. It makes sense to produce garments for both sexes to wear, considering we all 'cross-dress' in some way or another and I think that Bobby Abley did that well in his menswear collection for Spring Summer 2014.

What seems to be the 'in' thing for designers these days, is to have transfer tattoos on their models. Bobby Abley was no exception to this and created bird and bear designs for his show. What I particularly loved about the tattoos, was more their placement rather than the design; they were all in visible places to the public. Necks, hands and faces were all adorned with the designs and tied each individual look in well.

The collection was a grown up tale of fantasy, adventure and royalty with those fabulous leather (and slightly fetish) King crowns. I would certainly have no qualms in wearing a few select pieces, as Abley has done something that not many designers seem to be doing for me these days - it excited me and renewed my faith in the fact that maybe fashion isn't always so repetitive and, dare I say it, predictable.

What did you think of the collection?

Image Credit: Found via Tumblr and HERO Magazine

Tattoo Acceptance In Fashion

Gaining Acceptance:

Tattoos in The Fashion Industry

If you're a regular here at Vita di Moda, then you'll be well aware that I have a very high appreciation for tattoo's and those heavily covered in them. I myself have a half sleeve at the moment (soon to be a full sleeve) and various others on my body, so to have people approach me and tell me that I'm crazy or worse, tell me that my existing and future tattoo's are going to "ruin my looks" just pisses me off to be frank. 

I'm well aware of tattoos having an association with inmates, thugs, chavs and generally anything with a bad reputation, but are people forgetting that we're now in 2013 - a time where almost every second person you meet has at least one tattoo? Doctors, soldiers and even lawyers have full body suits under their uniforms, yet if you saw them during their personal time off, they would be getting looks thrown at them from all angles. It's ridiculous and I'm fed up with the stereotype that people attach to you as soon as they see that you have ink on your skin. I don't know how many times I've gotten on the train to go home to Glasgow, taken my jacket off and had people stare at my arm with a look of absolute disgust on their face. (I travel first class, so the people I'm talking about are men and women who travel with their LV handbags and wear sunglasses indoors. Whilst it's snowing outside.) Hello! Do you not realise that your staring is more offensive than whatever ink I have on my body? That reminds me actually. I had my blood pressure checked just last week at the doctors and the nurse physically turned her nose up when she saw my half sleeve. I nearly fell off the chair I was that taken aback. Having art on your body is not something to be ashamed of and it should definitely, 100,000,000% not be something that stops you from getting employment in the area of your choosing. I say this because whenever someone see's my tattoos, their first question is "how are you going to get your dream job now?". My answer to them? The same way everyone else does it - by working my ass off and proving that I can do it better than anyone else. I have ink on my skin, it does not make me a bad person and it certainly does not mean that I am incapable of getting the job done. If a company chooses someone else over me just because they have clear skin, then so be it. That's their loss.

My point is, tattoos - and those covered in them - should be accepted without having preconceived opinions present. This thought led me to start searching for heavily tattooed individuals in the fashion industry and what I found was that the rather wonderful Vivienne Westwood is already a fan of male models covered head to toe in ink. I knew there was a deeper reason for loving her.

The images above are from both her SS'11 & 12 menswear shows at London Fashion Week. When I look at these images, all I think is "well these lads know who they are and what they want from life" - and that they're insanely hot, but that's besides the point. To get tattoo's like these, you need confidence and bags of self assurance - these are qualities that, in my books, put you higher than those without. I think this looks good and that more models and people within the fashion industry should look like this. Women especially. Think of a full sleeve, neck or chest piece as an accessory if you want, that's what I do!

What do you think about tattoos in the workplace these days? Do you think they should be covered up, or that people should be allowed to express themselves without being judged and singled out?

Guest Post: One For The Men

One For The Men:
Where to find the best suits in London

On the look out for that perfect Christmas suit for yourself or other half this season? If there was ever a time to dress to the nines and impress, it's Christmas: what with all those work or college parties coming up, never mind Christmas Eve/Day and Boxing day as well. So why not shop with the Gold card and hit the retail scene in London? You're bound to find yourself a bargain, which is always something us savvy shoppers like to see around this time of year!

Everybody knows about Savile Row, the centre of London’s men’s tailoring industry. Here you will find bespoke tailors who can craft you a one-of-a-kind, made to measure suit that will last you for years. The street is lined with famous brand names, and these shops spill out onto the surrounding streets: Mayfair is a veritable goldmine of tailors.

But there are other London hotspots for suits. Chancery Lane is a good place to start: rich with lawyers, bustling and busy, this area of London will also provide you with plenty of sartorial inspiration if you have time to sit and do some people watching. The City of London – or the Square Mile – also has its fair share of tailors, catering to the financial services workers who commute there every day. This area of London is steeped in tradition and home to lots of premium shopping brands, as well as historic pubs and restaurants.

Although these areas of London have a certain cachet when it comes to bespoke tailoring, remember that large department stores – such as those found on Oxford Street – can be just as good for getting you fitted with the right suit. You’ll also get the opportunity to browse a variety of brands rather than committing to one from the outset, and of course they offer great value for money. The assistants will be able to advise you on the process of getting a suit altered, so do ask for help.

If you really have your heart set on a Savile Row suit, there are canny ways to buy. Rather than visiting a bespoke tailor, opt for one of the larger chain stores on the street, which may have seasonal sales - a bit of planning can help you to come away with a serious bargain, particularly if you go on the first day of reductions. That way, you’ll also have some of your budget left over for ties and other accessories. 

Make your money go further when looking for a new suit by shopping with rewards cards from American Express UK. With an American Express rewards card, you can earn exclusive membership points on virtually every purchase you make, which can be redeemed for a host of fantastic rewards including flights, gifts, hotel stays and more.

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Guest Post: Men's Summer Travels

What to Pack For: Your 2012 Summer Holiday

Summer is upon us, at last, and you have decided to escape to a more exotic setting for a week or two. Packing your suitcase, both organising it and the physical doing, is one of those things that seems easy enough, until you realise the night before that you do not have half of the things you need. Then you end up eating into your holiday budget at the airport, spending ridiculously inflated prices for clothes and other holiday accessories in the terminal concessions.

Use our essential packing guide to ensure that you get your suitcase planned and packed early, and can keep your holiday money for more exciting purchases over the next two weeks.

List Making

Lists are awfully boring, and not a very “man” thing to be doing at all. Trust me, as stupid as you may feel doing it, it will be worth it later.

What do you need on your list?

Essential Clothing

The first thing you need to consider is your footwear. If you are an avid wearer of plimsolls or classic trainers, then you may need to keep them for evening wear only. For the daytime, buy yourself stylish pair of espadrilles, which will keep your feet cool and comfortable even in the most soaring heat.

If you are not planning on spending a lot of time in the swimming pool or the sea, then consider linen trousers as an alternative to shorts. The additional air flow around your legs will keep you cooler, as well as saving you from sunburn and being bitten by any exotic bugs or insects.

Should shorts be more your thing, then stick to basic colours and patterns when it comes to your swimming options, just stay away from anything by Speedo! Consider too that these will be unacceptable evening wear, so ensure you have packed a few pairs of stylish tailored shorts. Tan colours are the most fashionable and will leave you with more outfit options up top.

Forgotten Anything?

Aside from the obvious things such as sun block, the only avenue left to explore is what will you wear up top? As much as I always talk about well-fitting clothes, if you need to go a size bigger for your holiday so you are more “airy,” then it is understandable. If that is the case, try and get the linen jacket when you buy the trousers, too, so you can pull off a sophisticated, smart look while keeping cool and at ease all throughout your holiday.

Stylepilot is designed exclusively for men to navigate fashion online and to discover which styles and items to purchase. Stylepilot displays a large collection of mens jeans, mens shirts, casual wear and tailoring.

Menswear Fall 2012

Menswear Style Report Fall 2012

Keeping up with each show at New York, London, Milan and Paris Fashion Week, meant that irregular eating and sleeping patterns were the price in which I had to pay. In the end though it was all worth it. Fashion Month gave us endless hours of excitement, fab street style and of course – trends for this coming Autumn/Winter from the top designers in the business. Fashion bloggers and insiders from the industry kept us all up to date through twitter and various other social media, and gave us reports on which trends stood out at each show. What they didn't give us however, were trend reports on menswear collections that read longer than a single, solitary paragraph. If I were a guy, I would be pretty peeved, so I decided to give the guys what they've been waiting for; A style report on the top trends this coming season.

New York was first up, where we saw menswear collections from designers such as DKNY, Duckie Brown, John Bartlett, Rag & Bone, Tommy Hilfiger, Antonio Azzuolo and Robert Geller.

DKNY (seen to the right was the one show which I found to contain a lot of the recurring trends from NYFW all rolled into one; Sleek evening/business wear in the form of black and grey double breasted trouser suits were finished with shades to give a casual-cool edge to the look. Day wear followed with horizontal stripe and patterned jumpers, slouchy knit cardigans, checked shirts, stone coloured chinos - which had the legs rolled up slightly - and jackets with shearling collars and lining. Then came a series of looks that would have best suit a get away driver; baseball caps, black leather gloves, bomber-style jackets, padded body warmers and jackets, leather shirts and shirt jackets, turtle-neck tops and wool blend jackets all worked together to create some very stylish - yet warm for our Scottish weather - autumn/winter looks.

Up next was London and for this particular fashion week, we saw menswear collections from the likes of Belstaff, Ozwald Boateng, MAN, Christopher Shannon, Topman Design, Matthew Miller and RAKE to name but a few. Topman Design in particular showed it's gothic side for Autumn/Winter 2012; Leather trousers featured heavily with fur and wool long line coats to fend off the chill of a UK winter. Long knit cardigans and double breasted blazers and jackets were a trend which carried over from the previous week in New York alongside belted waists and black leather gloves. Shirts were either black, grey or white, with some featuring full on patterns in the form of polka dots and various other geometric prints. The colour palette used as a whole? Black with a few sporadic flashes of white and grey.

It's week three and we find ourselves in Milan. The home of the most glamorous and famous fashion designers in the business; Gucci, Fendi and Prada – You know you're going to see some amazing shows when you hear those names. For menswear, that means shows from Alexander McQueen, Prada, Bally, Versace, Botega Veneta, Dsquared2, Burberry Prorsum, Calvin Klein, Gucci, D&G, Emporio Armani...and the list goes on. From the grand opulence and grandeur at D&G, to the in your face, electric colour combinations at Versace; Milan had something for every type of man this Autumn/Winter.

Florals, checks, tailored suiting and intricate brocade featured at many of the menswear shows such as Alexander McQueen (seen to the left) and D&G, with double breasted suits (sensing the trend here?), pinstripes, polka dots, gun prints, leather gloves, trousers and jackets at Valentino, Prada and Gucci. Missoni was the one show which had a focus on 'outdoorsy festival' day wear with preppy knit cardigans, scarf’s and double breasted suits which went alongside striped, geometric print tops and jumpers, puffa jackets, gilets and duffle jackets. Not only will you guys love the looks, but there were a few cardigans and jackets in there that I'm sure the females in your life would no doubt want to cover up in too!

If you liked what Milan had to offer, wait until you see what Paris turned out. Balmain, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Acne, Christian Lacroix Homme, Lanvin, YSL, Givenchy, Hermes, Issey Miyake, Louis Vuitton, Jean Paul Gaultier and Karl Lagerfeld Paris were among the shows which contributed towards a great ending to a fashion-filled month. Velvet, knitwear and leather played a large part in the majority of collections this week, however one collection which featured all three in an interesting way was Balmain (seen below), which had a theme of Russian Imperial Army meets classic Rock n' Roll.
Skinny jeans in red, white, navy, black and denim were paired with rolled neck tops, knit cardigans and double breasted military style blazers (some in velvet) with shoulder pad detailing, finished off with clompy buckled leather boots. On paper it would have seemed out of sorts for Balmain, however it merged seamlessly when seen in the flesh. Olivier Rousteing done a fine job with this collection considering it is only his second for Balmain menswear. 

Finally, to summarise all four fashion weeks, the top five key trends for Menswear Autumn/Winter 2012 are;

1. Double Breasted Jackets/Coats & Blazers in Grey, Black, Navy, Red & Deep Purple.
2. Checks, Stripes, Geometric Shapes and Pinstripes.
3. Leather gloves and...well, everything really.
4. Turtle-necks
5. Fur & Shearling Lined/Trimmed Coats