Monday, 14 June 2010

The Well Dressed Man


Fashion trends are just that - trends. Styles are always evolving. For us guys it’s sometimes challenging to follow the trends.



So, here are some male fashion tips which, if you keep them in mind and actually follow them they will be your guide as you buy clothes and help you to stay in fashion and well-styled.


Convinced of your Clothes?




'Clothes maketh the man' is a well recognized turn of phrase. Whether or not it is for love or business or in every day meetings, self-belief is critical. Therefore you need to locate clothing that will make you feel more assured.



Sometimes paying a little extra can absolutely pay dividends since that touch of quality makes you feel good and feeling good can boost your confidence. If you buy clothes for situations where personal interactions are central invest as much as you can. Please note that this isn't an excuse nor encouragement to run-up credit card debt! Fix a budget you can manage and stay within it, but perhaps pay more for one item this time and delay the further article till next month.


The Magical Influence of Choice of Color



Color will effect how clothes come across on you and without a doubt how you look. Some skin tones give a intense contrast with certain colors as do hair colors.

What can be done?



It is possible to get individual coaching for color matching and it is worth paying for if you have the money.


We have a different and cheaper idea - seek shop assistants for advice! Yes that’s right! Here's the way to do it: First, buy and read some magazines that specialise in style, grooming, advice for men. Next identify a number of good quality stores. Then, go to the stores taking the magazines and explain to the assistant what you like.


You could end up being very surprised and you will positively get various helpful ideas.


Touches of Style



Style can mean many things to many people, but it certainly means neat, clean and well fitting clothes. Keep this in mind at all times whenever you are buying clothes.


One of the most common mistakes men sometimes make is to buy clothes that are too large. So ensure you are measured correctly by someone who knows what they are doing. Write the measurements on a piece of paper.



And keep in mind, style applies to several modes of clothing, no matter if you are dressed-down, smart-casual or going to a dinner party.


Below The Fold



We all know how important it is to make a good first impression and footwear always catch the eye. So always keep your shoes clean and well looked after.






1930s Palm Beach Mens Linen suit by wearitsatvintage




A celebrated fashion brand with exceptional style is G Star Raw clothing and the Lacoste jacket range.







Friday, 11 June 2010

We're Always Out Of Breath



In Music, In the Snow, In the Emotions - Here are three experiences of running. With our feet on the ground, let's run with diesel mens shoes on our feet.



Here is Running Man from Nostromo






The Movie Cool Runnings



The Jamaican bobsled team made the running very fast downhill in the snow and made us chuckle.






Run by Snow Patrol




Tuesday, 4 May 2010

Unique Types Of Jacket

Particular Types Of Jacket


Having looked at some descriptions and definitions of the word, I came to the conclusion that the term 'jacket' can be thought of like this: A jacket is an item of clothing designed for the top part of a ,man or woman's body. Most jackets hang to the hips or waist line of the wearer and has sleeves. A jacket is differentiated from a coat by its length, although certain jacket styles mean that there is hardly any difference between a coat and a jacket, a good example being the jacket that Neo wore in the Matrix could possibly be described as being somewhere in between a jacket or a coat.



Different types of jacket can be grouped into different categories:



- Jackets that are fogue based



- Protective jackets



Trend Jackets




Blazer Jacket




The blazer resembles a suit jacket. In general blazers include metallic front and cuff buttons and a breast pocket. Therefore it is typically worn as smart casual wear. The blazer is similar to the boating jacket and sporting jacket in cut and style. Even so the blazer tends to be of a more subdued color, 'navy' for example is a popular blazer color, as is black. Blazers are in many instances used as the basis of a uniform, e.g. for school children and airline stewards or as part of the dress for a club.



Leather Jackets




The leather jacket is very well-known simultaneously for the image of its style and also for the material it is comprised of. Leather jackets turned out to be remarkably in demand immediately after World War Two: people liked the design and style of the 'bomber jacket', so called due to the fact it was worn by the pilots of bomber planes. At first the leather jacket was connected with rebellion and worn by actors like James Dean and Marlon Brando. Leather jackets are still identifiable with rebellious sub-cultures such as rock stars and bikers but they are unquestionably part of the mainstream fashion world. A modern example of this jacket variety is the Superdry mens leather jacket.



Denim Jackets




The word 'denim' comes from the phrase 'serge de Nimes'. 'Serge' is a fabric and was initially grown in the Nimes area of France. So 'serge de nimes' evolved into 'denim'. Denim had a similar fashion path to leather: Initially denim was functional, being used by workers in challenging environments. Later it became included in fashion lines and became wildly fashionable in the 1960s and 1970s.



Many widely recognized design brands create jackets, for example Wrangler, Nike, G Star and Lacoste. G Star jackets are a relative newcomer contrary to the other more well-known players. On the other hand the Lacoste jackets is far more widely known.



Jackets That Offer Protection




The Donkey Jacket




From Wikipedia: "A Donkey jacket is a short buttoned coat, typically made of unlined black or dark blue woolen material; originally worn as a work jacket in the United Kingdom. It is derived from the wool sack coat worn by workers in the 19th century, and the OED references the term as first used in 1929: "one with leather shoulders and back".



Flak Jacket




'Flak' describes the debrie from bombs, i.e. shards of metal. A 'flak jacket' protects the wearer from flak. It does this by having a lining of strong protective material such as steel or titanium. These types of jackets are worn by soldiers and police forces in the majority of countries. In this situation they defend the wearer from weapons, knives, bullets etc.



The Chef Jacket




The white chef jacket is totally identifiable. It serves a protective purpose by safeguarding the chef from hot liquids and oil. At the same time, it is functional - the chef can quickly turn the jacket inside-out to disguise food spills.



Other Jackets



President Eisenhower, the World War Two USA President had a unique jacket known as the 'Ike'. It was styled to make Ike appear like a warrior having a blouson style.





Ike Jacket 2 by binkmeisterrick











Monday, 3 May 2010

A Small Historical Review of Trainers


Sneakers - Our Fast moving Historic Analysis


This article will provide a time-line with respect to the invention and background of training shoes.



The difference between what we see today, for example the Lacoste womens trainer and the shoes we saw in the past is huge. However it has take a lot of time to arrive at where we are today.



Trainers are a sports footwear that are these days also worn as a clothing fashion accessory. The term used to describe them may differ a lot from country to country, e.g.



  • Trainers - Britain

  • Gym boots - Australia

  • Running shoes - Canada and Australia

  • Tennis shoes and sneakers - USA, Australia

  • Gym shoes - Australia, South Africa




The modern day training shoe should certainly trace it's roots back to the 1852 and the creation of rubber. With no rubber there would be no training shoe.



The milestones from the history of the training shoe are:



1890s - The enterprise which ultimately grew to become Reebok was formed in England by J.W.Foster & Sons.



1907 - The Spalding Company makes the first shoes specifically designed for basketball.



1910 - 1919 - The development of the Converse All Stars Basketball shoe. German Adi Dassler forms Adidas after World War One.



1920s and 1930s - Post WW1 mass marketing of sports and sporting goods including trainers.



1936 - Tennis shoes with ventilation holes were developed by Spring Court, from France.



Post World War Two - Puma was formed by Rudi Dassler, the brother of Adidas founder Adi, after a family feud.



1960 - 1969 - The founders of the Nike company import Japanese sneakers into the USA. In 1964 the first all-leather tennis shoe was sold by Adidas. 1968 saw the arrival of the Puma suede trainer.



1970s - Marketing pushes the design and development of sneakers into more and more niches. Shoes for many kinds of sports are highly specialised..



1980 - 1989 - Sneakers are entrenched as an every-day item of casual clothing. Large brands are established including Nike and Reebok. Fresh markets expand, lacoste kids trainers, lacoste womens trainers and lacoste mens trainers.

Sunday, 2 May 2010

The Mid 20th Century Women's Clothing Styles - A Very Concise Review


Female styles were extraordinarily different at the beginning of the 20th century. This was partly because of the lack of modern materials available then, and also high cost of production. The whole outlook on design is different also. Today's designs such as G Star womens clothing designs could not be imagined at that time.



1900 was the period of long dresses that covered the legs.




The Hobble Skirt arrived in 1910. When looking at the Hobble Skirt it is easy to see why it had that name - it was very difficult to walk in.










A milestone occurred in 1913 when Mary Crosby created a support for breasts. It was made from ribbon and two handkerchiefs. It was the world's first bra.




Liptick in tubes arrived in 1915.






Lipstick blue-red #205 by ★Debs★






For the period of the 1920s the length of women's knickers shortened. They started below the knee and ended well above the knee by the end of the decade.






My Mother-in-Law by florriebassingbourn






The 1920s also saw a style change from a feminine look in the direction of a more boyish styles during the mid-20s. In 1924 a replacement for leather, vinyl, was launched.



This changed again in the 1930s when women became slightly more conservative and feminine.



During the 1930s that Wallace Carothers invented nylon. This {brought new design ideas|enabled a whole range of new clothing ideas.
Nylon made its appearance in the mid-1930, making fashions more availablebringing new design ideas.






c1930 Pretty Woman , Amsterdam, NY  by DeadFred.com






Skirts got shorter all through World War II for the reason that, well, there was less material for making them: textiles, just like everything else including food was rationed.






3030 by Little Black Car






A fresh wave of design occurred during the second half of the 1940s. 1946 saw the arrival of the bikini. The hour glass figure also arrived with the Christian Dior New Look in 1947.



Meanwhile the bikini was invented in 1946. In 1947 the 'New Look' from Christian Dior was introduced bringing long skirts and narrow waists - the hour glass figure had been born. The second half of the 1940s was a time of fashion invention.



A more female elegance was in full swing in the 1950s rock and roll years, with more full skirts being worn, great for dancing.



The 1960s were a mix of many styles but Mary Quant's mini skirt is a particular icon.




Fashion 1969 by retro-space




What Are The Roots of the Sweatshirt?


The sweatshirt (or simply 'sweat') was invented by Benjamin Russell in 1926. The Russel Corporation was founded in Alabama in 1902. The business started life by producing underwear for men and women.



Benjamin had a son, Bertie, who commenced playing football at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and complained about the football shirts of the time. They were made from wool and caused itchiness when they became damp which in turn caused discomfort for the football players.



Bertie came-up with the idea of making football shirts from the same material the company used to make the underwear. Knowing well the garments made at his father's factory Bertie suggested this would be a great way to make football shirts. Benjamin saw that the idea might have legs and tried it out.



Football players loved the new material - it had many benefits for them, not least of which was comfort. Bertie sold the concept to other clubs and the new shirts quickly became very popular.



Benjamin saw the potential and encouraged Bertie to identify new markets for the lighter, softer material. Bertie found sales in athletics clubs and the baseball world and production expanded to satisfy the new orders.



{The Russell company was able to become the established shirt company by forming Russell Athletic in 1932.|In response to this success the Russell company formed Russell Athletic, an athletics association in 1932 establishing Russell as the preferred sports shirt supplier



Fast forward in time and the sweatshirt style has since become a very popular casual wear item being made by many fashion brands for example G Star Sweat.


Friday, 16 April 2010

Lacoste - A Short Account.

Lacoste: The History


Lacoste is a French company and was formed in 1933 by French tennis player, Rene Lacoste. It was during the 1926 US open championship which Rene won which seen him wear the first sport performance clothing. Rene wore a cotton polo shirt which was supposed to reduce sweat.



After the 1926 championship win, Rene's friend drew him a crocodile which he embroidered onto his tennis shirts. This was to become known as Lacoste's famous logo.



It wasn't until his retirement from Tennis that Rene introduced other shirts and started the foray into fashion 1933. During the 1950's and 60's Rene's son Bernard took over the Lacoste empire and started to really expand the product both in the range and to new markets internationally.



During the 1970s Lacoste became a really popular brand in the huge USA market. In the 1980's Lacoste further increased the product range into items other than clothing, notably aftershave and toiletries.



Nowadays there are over 50 million Lacoste products sold nationally covering a diverse group of people from the scallies of Liverpool to the up and rising tennis stars. One of Lacoste's most successful and popular products is the polo shirts with the distinctive logo to the left chest. Since the turn of 2000 these have been in massive demand and still continue to be many stores' most popular product.




Great price and quality Lacoste Jumpers and Lacoste trainers womens.