The Sartorialist

I love that sometimes a hat can still be worn without the hipster irony of “oh, look I’m wearing an old-school hat.”

The other day I posted a photo of Renata wearing this same type of sweater-wrap, skirt look. Apparently she made this her look of the Summer, and showed up to many of the shows in some variation of this theme. This is really making a look your own.

When done right, this could be really cool.
I want to try it with a pair of hard denim APC jeans.

To me this look is all about the belt

The belt is such a simple accessory, and yet I am just now really learning how to use one successfully.

I love the jacket, shirt and tie combo – but for me it is really about the cool slim jeans.
It’s so hard to find jeans that are slim, but not Cheap Monday slim.
I have to remember to ask this guy who makes those jeans.

I’ll be in Toronto tomorrow (Wednesday the 22nd) and I’d love to meet some of my readers!

I will be at Holt Renfrew on Bloor Street from 12:30 PM – 2 PM (on the menswear floor) on Wednesday afternoon.

Also tomorrow evening we will be having a very non-organized gathering at the bar in The Drake hotel (1150 Queen Street West), starting around 9:30 or 10pm.

During the men’s shows in Milan and Paris I did a little double duty and shot a story for Italian Elle with Eva. She is truly a charmer and the only woman I know that can wear the kookiest hat (or bunny ears) while working very hard and not give the hat a second thought all day.

I’ll post a few of the “behind the scenes” shots from the shoot in the evenings this week.

Well what can I say – the book is starting to roll off the presses.

Penguin just sent me one of the first printed copies.

It is so crazy to actually be holding the book I have been working on since January.

I know I took all of the pictures, I remember taking each one, but I still can’t believe I took all of the photographs.

Tracy is holding the paperback version, and soon I will have a copy of the limited-edition hardcover with slipcase to show you.

This has been a labor of love. Taking the pictures, editing the pictures, arranging the pictures, doing most of the writing while I was still in Phoenix after my Dad died. It’s hard to put into words how one feels looking at their own work presented like this – so I won’t even try.

I hope you enjoy the book and I will keep you posted about the book signing tour, the SartoriaLUST pop-up shops, and any other events surrounding the launch of the book.

Below are links to some sites where you can pre-order the book. It comes out August 12th in the US, and worldwide by early September.

Amazon (US)
Amazon (UK)
Amazon (FR)
Barnes and Noble

I only had one day in Bologna, but I made it work for me. I think Bologna is a really beautiful city and I look forward to making it a regular stop on my way from Florence to Milan. It is so easy to take the train between these cities, but next time I think I will take a car. From the train it looks like the most perfect region of Italy.

Yes, the suit is very nice but it’s really about the hair, right?

We have all seen this type of look before, but rarely done so well. This is all about execution.

It seems every time I return from Italy I want to watch “The Talented Mr. Ripley” to see if my Italy was as beautiful as the Italy in that movie.

In one of the final scenes of the movie Marge has coffee with Dickie’s Dad at Caffe Florian on San Marco Square in Venice. That spot is still so beautiful (if you can block out the tourists). This young waiter was standing at the cafe and instantly I thought of the movie and how this “type” of young man has probably been working the Cafe Florian for the last 100 years.

I loved the cut-off dress pant shorts at Prada. A great way to take the cut-off khakis to the next level.

I had a great seat at Prada, but by the time I realized how cool the shorts were I couldn’t change the settings on my camera fast enough to get a great image.

Wouldn’t this cut-off idea be a great way to update those Prada pants from last Summer.

It is so tough to make an all black outfit not look oppressive in the summer heat.

I think the subtle fact that Darcy has a very open neckline really makes her look feel more open and easy.

“Makes her look feel,” that’s a funny phrase. I think a lot of times we decide how much we like a “look” based on how it must “feel” to wear it.

I really loved the idea of the sheer jackets at Dior. With the transparency of the jackets it would have been interesting to play with contrast colors for the layering pieces. At least that is what I would do if/when I buy this jacket.

I don’t know how he stays so cool in the heat of Milan.

Another great collection from Lanvin – one of the top shows in Paris this season. Like BV, a mix of bold reds and purples played against a tranquil desert of neutrals.

I am very happy that the David Letterman-style of DB buttoning has been picked up by Lanvin this season. Mark my words, next season Lanvin will replace the current patent leather sneakers with patent leather wrestling shoes, circa Letterman 1985.

These rental bikes are changing my relationship with Paris. Before I felt so trapped by the lack of taxis and a challenging subway system (those connecting tunnels are the devil). This past men’s season I started using these bikes, and now I feel a power of control over getting from one place to the next easily.

New York is aggressively expanding it’s bicycle lanes all over the city. Does anyone know if we are scheduled to get rental bikes? Anyway, I hope if we are that we can look as chic as this young man.

I really thought Bottega Veneta was the best show in Milan. The use of color (both bold and neutral), the prints and the surface textures were superb.

There are very few shows I see that (at some point) stop being a show, and start being a personal shopping preview.

As I mentioned yesterday I am in Venice conducting a workshop with local Venetian students. A few want to be photographers but most are aspiring fashion designers.

Explaining to the students the hows and whys of the way I work has been a real refresher for me. So many of the things that I do are instinctual, but verbalizing it to someone else really helps to restore my focus on the fun of my job/art.
The first day here we walked around Venice trying to shoot people in a similar way that I would in New York – it was a disaster. No one interesting to shoot, very hot and the students weren’t really motivated. After a while we all sat down as a group and I tried to find out what they like to do when they have free time. Most all of them said that they like to go to the beach. So the next day we went to the beach.

I wanted to them to see that you don’t have to separate having fun and taking pictures. I take pictures walking around on the street because I find it very relaxing and fun. What each student needed to do was to find what they were passionate about and try to capture that passion with images.

I tried to explain that if they want to become a fashion designer they should try to take photos that will inspire a certain feeling of a season, or a gesture, or a mood. The pictures that I took above are, to me, the essence of Summer. If I was a designer I would look at photos like this at the beginning of the spring design season, just to remember what it is that everyone loves about the sun, warmth, and vacation.

I’m in Venice until Friday to conduct a workshop. This is the view from my hotel on the Grand Canal. It is incredibly beautiful here in Venice. I will be posting more photos from here in the next few days, then I’m going back to Sao Paulo!