Black magic

I think I may need help from the occult arts to get over this one: my article deadlines come crashing (come to think of it, I haven't posted an article for quite some time now) and here I am still pondering whether I may still have time to finish my long overdue Thom Browne post. (Am already half done.)

Very soon, and shortly! Will need to hem and put a cuff to my habits of procrastination. In the the meantime, here's what I wore today.


Micro-checkered shirt, Ben Sherman; micro-houndstooth pants, Custom Made; thrifted leather elfin slip-ons, Camper; skinny leather belt, APC; plastic necklace, Qeelin; fingerless gloves; Debenhams

Photo by Patricia Suzara

This is not about tying scarves...

But about volume, houndstooth and stripe combinations, and the American colors.

It's about my new Tretorn by Acne nylon sneakers.

Or the lady in pink behind me who reminds everybody that this is just a shoot and scarves and beanies belong back to the office where it's perpetually airconditioned.

Once again- and with feeling - maybe this is merely about using peelable accessories for the tropical climate, where it's really quite cumbersome to keep on wearing and removing jackets and sweaters in and out of the workplace.

Thrifted shirt, Daks; jeans, Levi's; skinny leather belt, APC; sneakers, Tretorn by Acne; scarf from Kalinga Apayao province, produced by locals; beanie, thrifted

Photos by Patricia Suzara

Dark days

The days can just go on and on, without reprieve and without much reflection, not just while going through the motions but even when it comes to happy and continuous improvements.

I have just also enlarged the format of my fledgling street style site, La Folie Douce, and in the past few weeks have been getting more traffic and comments on this page.

Things are moving into a clearer direction, and this also applies not only to my recent fashion choices, but also to my day job at the FT.

Then again, it's been months since I've sat down to work on my poems, which for me, bring everything together in a way that is totally unexpected. Else, writing has meant magazine articles and blog musings. (On the topic of changes, someone has actually followed my poetry blog, which is surprising.)

Personally, only the creative process can distill the sharpest and clearest insights. And there are no point-by-point blog updates or Twitter feeds mid-way. In between there is only silence.

I wonder when that time will come again. I both yearn for it and fear its inevitable return. Till then, I cannot say I do not really enjoy these dark, opaque days. I do. But not as much.


Tuxedo jacket, from a local department store; thrifted plaid shirt, Izzue; micro houndstooth pants, Custom Made; skinny belt, APC; thrifted sneakers and open bonnet hat: both 5cm

Chains that tickle

Even if the day was mostly downcast, here's some color amid the gray and black. Bought the shirt from yesterday's bazaar shopping at Greenhills.

A friend once said that I never really was a teenager; that I was already old even during those years. Well, that doesn't stop me from wearing Elmo on my shirt.

And hanging something in front of his nose.

Tee, from Greenhills; nylon jacket, Izzue; thrifted jeans, Two Percent; skinny leather belt, APC; leather sneakers, Helmut Lang; black plastic necklace, Qeelin; stainless steel necklaces, 168; handkerchief, local department store

The sheer joy of it

"Only photograph what you love," the mom of a friend told Tim Walker. I stumbled on this quote in a special edition of L'Uomo Vogue. This must be true for any artist to continue and thrive being one. And for this case, also for bloggers: only post what you love.

What is a man?

With so many things to feature and discuss, it's easy to go crazy and even publish up to 10 posts a day. But then again, love cannot be hurried.

A man is comfortable being alone. Loves being alone, actually. He sleeps.

I know I have been rambling for so many months now, and am grateful to find out that some of you do read my thoughts and not just peruse the pictures. Truth be told, I love complexity and approach things from different angles. (That's why I ramble!)

Or he stands watch. He interrupts trouble. This is the state policeman. This is the poet. Men, both of them.

Have you noticed, perhaps, this blog's banner? It's not a picture from a magazine or an art gallery. It's actually the floor of a jeepney (a public mode of transportation in the Philippines), with three layers of paint scraped, peeled, and scratched in every possible way. Sometimes I think like that.

A man loves driving alone most of all.

Then patterns appear. Even if they come in weird shapes, they can be deciphered in repetition.

Style — a man has that. No matter how eccentric that style is, it is uncontrived. It's a set of rules.

Things become transparent — sheer — and joy increases because you can see every shape and also the entire pattern.

Sheer shirt, tie, and shoes: all thrifted; jeans, Neil Barrett; belt, APC; watch, Tissot. Photos by Patricia Suzara


A man watches. Sometimes he goes and sits at an auction knowing he won't spend a dime, witnessing the temptation and the maneuvering of others. Sometimes he stands on the street corner watching stuff...

No one taught him this — to be quiet, to cipher, to watch. In this way, in these moments, the man is like a zoo animal: both captive and free. You cannot take your eyes off a man when he is like that. You shouldn't. The hell if you know what he is thinking, who he is, or what he will do next.

'What is a man?' by Tom Chiarella, Esquire magazine

Of camels and editorials

From Details. CAMEL COATED: Photographs by Thomas Schenk

Suit and shirt by CALVIN KLEIN COLLECTION. Tie by MISSONI. Shoes by CHURCH'S.

Camel hair clothing or camel-colored apparel comprise two editorials, respectively, from the August 2008 issue of Details and the Fall/Winter release of Fantastic Man. Notice the difference not only in the styling and photography, but also in the language of the text.



Jacket by TOMMY HILFIGER. Scarf by APC.



Clothing by POLO RALPH LAUREN. Belt by YVES SAINT LAUREN.



Clothing by BOSS SELECTION. Shoes by CHURCH'S.



MISSONI.



ISAAC MIZRAHI.



GIORGIO ARMANI.



Clothing by VALENTINO. Shoes by CHURCH'S.

Styling by Paul Stura, hair by Johnnie Sapong using Aveda Men, makeup by Charlotte Day for See Management.



From Fantastic Man. CAMEL GALORE: The multi-layered allure of a neck-to-toe camel outfit, edited by Jodie Barnes and photographed by Paul Wetherell.

Who knew there were this many shades of camel? There is so much green in the TOM FORD cashmere camel double-breasted coat to almost slip it off the camel chart. Here, it's worn on top of a brown-ish GIORGIO ARMANI herringbone suit jacket, a more oatmeal POLO RALPH LAUREN camel cashmere poloneck and a reddish camel silk scarf by LANVIN, which is tied here as a cravat. Meanwhile the gold in these POLO RALPH LAUREN camel trousers really shines through.



Wow, look at the orange of those JUNYA WATANABE camel cords! They are part of a look that is more modern man than (its) neighbor (on top). The CALVIN KLEIN COLLECTION wool coat is treated with plastic and has a narrower lapel, while the classic camel suit-jacket by LANVIN is of a short length. Underneath, the caramel coloured poloneck is by BOSS BLACK, while the gold CARTIER watch is as close to camel as you can get in a timepiece.


Details only succeeds in one outfit: the one with Polo Ralph Lauren denim. In an effort to tone down the camel hair, the other combinations have only become slack and boring. Fantastic Man conquers the fabric with panache.

This is also what I mean when I said that Fantastic Man is more personal. Though the approach is conceptual - hence the color scheme - it welcomes the reader, while the images from Details appear more like shopfront installations that have the potential to assault passersby.

The absence of the model's personality allows room for the reader to project himself into the clothes, and the accompanying text offers usable information, and yes, even insight.

Wow indeed.

My latest fix: Black open bonnet

Open bonnet hat, 5cm; striped tee, Izzue; skinny jeans, Two Percent; skinny leather belt, APC; plastic necklace, Qeelin; plastic ring, Saizen (Daiso)

Black and gold

Something for the somber yet glorious week.

Striped tee with side vents, APC; micro houndstooth semi-stretch pants, Custom Made; leather filigree belt, Brave Beltworks; thrifted gold sneakers, Adidas; nylon messenger, Tumi; watch, Omega Seamaster; card holder used as a wallet, Marlboro Classics; leatherette coin purse, gift; tumbler, Starbucks

Black and white

A friend once read my palm and told me that I'm the type of person who always tries to see things - you guessed it - in black and white. Don't ask me though how he deciphered that from my hands.

I had to agree with him, since as a writer, my method has always been to wade through every complication and uncertainty to reach something with substance. I guess I aim for the same in my personal style and in my fashion commentary.

Black and white, beyond being safe and strong statements, can be a refuge one comes back to every now and then to scrape away all the muck that has built up.


Pleated shirt, Zara; faded black jeans, United Colors of Benetton; skinny leather belt, APC; thrifted sneakers, Comme des Garçons Shirt; nylon jacket, Izzue; silk tie, thrifted

Photos by Patricia Suzara

Strawberry nights

True Grit has got to be the one of the best movies I've seen in a long time, much better than Black Swan and the stream of crappy films I have subjected myself to lately. (Though there were of course I Am Love, The Kids Are Alright, The Fantastic Mr Fox, and The Class.) This was the night I watched it with my friend Gina.




The strawberries came in threes: in a salad with meat and greens, a multi-berry smoothie, and finally this dark chocolate creme brûlée. Wore my hood several times during the night since I still wasn't feeling tip-top. (Legs still sore after going down 42 flights of stairs thanks to a fire drill.) Though coffee did fulfill its supporting role by warming me a bit.




Matched the ikat print of my tee with the geometric design of my crochet sandals. (Why is it that when I need warmth, I always neglect my feet, one of the most sensitive parts of the body in terms of nerve endings…)




Though I've never let sickness completely deprive me of fun (I assign Twister Fries as my flu placebo). Here playing with milk. Do Got Milk food stylists use Elmer's Glue? Starch? Whatever they used, it was also a night thickened with some verses courtesy of Louise Glück, whose stanzas never froth.




Unfortunately my two bags were the worse for wear. Impatient of gossip and useless chitchat, they decided to abandon me before I finished my dessert. (Usually trusty black nylon tote commiserated with a worn out canvas tote from now defunct Aeon bookstore, which Gina also ran to for her literary fix.)


Hoodie, Topaman; tee, Dries Van Noten; skinny belt, A.P.C; Two Percent jeans, sandals, and tote: all thrifted; canvas tote, giveaway

Cameo photos by Gina Sales

My latest fix: Electromagnetic Tentacle tees, part II

Wore this the entire day yesterday, from gym to Fête de la Musique. Still not in the mood to post pictures of myself, sorry. Soon. Soon enough.




Think the weather is getting to me. Iceman, you can always grow your hand back. Just blow on your stump.


Cardigan, Dean & Trent; tee, Electromagnetic Tentacle; jeans, Two Percent; braided belt, A.P.C.; Young Camel satchel, thrifted; beaded bracelet from Kalinga Apayaw

My cutaway jacket's debut

Too bad I hid my right arm behind my back. Was wearing my Qeelin necklace wound around my wrist.


Jacket and shoulder briefcase: both thrifted; polo shirt, Zara; jeans, Levi's; skinny belt, A.P.C.; loafers, Cole Haan

Picture by Bobby of Styles I Love

My latest fix: Electromagnetic Tentacle tees, part I

Finally the rain has stopped. Hope the sun decides to come out today. But before that, here is a quick post of what I wore yesterday.

Had myself a good laugh when I first saw the cartoon spoof tees by Manila-based Electromagnetic Tentacle. The t-shirt here depicts Lion-O, the leader of the ThunderCats.





But instead of wielding a sword, he is holding up a long spoon used to serve taho, one of my favorite local snacks made of soft tofu, brown sugar, vanilla syrup, and pearl sago. Does anybody remember what the real Lion-O shouts when he is in battle?

Can't wait to show you the other designs I bought! Happy (hopefully dry) Saturday!


Faux leather jacket, Drei Soriano; tee, Electromagnetic Tentacle; jeans, Bitter End from People are People; belt, A.P.C.; bag, thrifted

Zuzeca and Panda

Apologies in advance: you'll be seeing my face more often than is necessary in this post as I experiment with the format of my blog entries. I think I wore this black-and-white outfit last Friday.









I wanted to wear a Hardware piece against black, but without being as somber. So I wore the Zuzeca necklace over the first three buttons of my cardigan, but left the rest open to reveal a striped tee underneath.









Zuzeca is part of the latest Hardware series, called Dragons, which can resemble snakes and other slithery things.









I love the resulting contrast in solids and stripes, the almost feminine silhouette literally weighed down by steel and made masculine by leather and denim.









So who is Panda? Like my outfit, he also comes in black and white (hence the name, according to my sister), but has a moist nose and white whiskers. Remember him?





Cardigan, Muji; tee, Ralph Lauren; belt, A.P.C.; jeans, Calvin Klein Jeans; sandals, Kickers, thrifted; "Zuzeca" necklaces, Bosquejo

How to wear white jeans

So shoot me. My first advice would be to wear white as if you don't care getting dirty. This is the most important thing to keep in mind. Otherwise don't bother.



Okay, so after ignoring my Alfalfa hair, let me say that this is a real escaltor stepped on by all sorts of people. The good news is I thrifted this pair for a mere pittance, which makes this picture doubly alright.

In this instance, I have chosen a black and white ensemble. In order that I won't be confused as an orderly (!), wore a plastic necklace, two wooden necklaces wound together and worn as a bracelet, and another bracelet made of tiger's eye — which serves as the outfit's accent.

The stripes on the shirt's collar and sleeves help to establish a theme.



And so does this skinny belt, barely seen. I think this is best done at the back or on either side, not in front.



So there. White on white can be quite tricky. Accessories not necessary if you have well cut trousers, a nice shirt, and, most importantly, the attitude.

So how have you worn your white jeans?

Tee, Zara; jeans, thrifted; belt, APC; plastic necklace, Qeelin; sneakers, Generic Surplus

Photos by Cecilia Aycocho