Death and grooming

Wallpaper magazine shot at the Brion-Vega cemetery for its September 2008 issue's Death in Veneto cover editorial.



What I noticed even before the morbidly sleek monochrome outfits was the Wolverine hair.



In time for Halloween?



I bet this hairdo would be good even with colored and casual clothes.



Though you would have to have it black and not blonde, and it helps if you have a high forehead, or even a widow's peak.





The slickback becomes a slick-up?



Whatever its creators decided to call it, the hairstyle brings a different kind of austerity.



Sleek and intimidating even without the adamantium.



************



Parisienne blogger Garance Doré snaps some eccentrics with hair that also defies gravity.



Romain Brau is a designer.



Keegan Singh a stylist.



And Matthew Stone an artist.

Garance Doré: Men in Paris

In a previous post entitled La Femme Française, French blogger Garance Doré explores the enigma of the Parisienne by discussing style in general, stripes, layering, scarves, solid colors, and even smoking.

Garance's images of women are striking, fierce, endearing, and most of the time - very Parisienne indeed - beguiling.

For those rare instances that men grace her pages, one notices that pictures have a different pull; the timbre or weight of the images change. They are not necessarily heavier, but they retain a tinge of the exotic and the strange that whisper from her shots of women.

It is easy to call some of these men soft and fragile, but I think that that impression is just their version of the ruse. If women appear tough and feisty, these men may only be allowing an impression of weakness - tenderness to coat rough edges.

There is that same tendency towards the scruffy - via hair, layering, frippery, or even just the roll or the crease of the sleeve - but as with women, it is always intentional: a nonchalance that is both innate and studied.

Of course, some of you may have ready reactions for style flourishes.

But not all differences are deviant or done in daring.

A simple scarf, a brightly colored shoe, the fall of a hem - these are enough to add vintage to a common drink.

Other times it's really just bad-ass hair, the perfect bag, being surrounded by classic architecture, the size of your necklace, or accessories that place a plume on your outfit.

Or having a scar at the right place.

Who can say what makes the Parisian who he is? There is no single script.

Francesco by Garance Doré

So his name is Francesco, and he is quite the quirky dandy.

If this picture had a title, it could easily have been Pinkish Marble with a Little Bit of Dust.

At first, the combination of four different textures is unsettling. But once you get the hang of it, you discover that Francesco's style has a certain type of appeal.

I ran into Francesco in Paris during men’s fashion week and I definitely enjoyed getting to see all his outfits.

Everyday, he wore something new. Everyday he had some splash of originality, something small, an idea all his own.

I didn’t talk to him much, just admired the way he owned his clothes, how he wore them differently, and how he always had some eccentric focal point, something chic and endearing to catch your eye. (Garance Doré)

Is that a black Gumby pinned as a brooch? Whatever it is, his butter yellow envelope clutch would certainly melt in anyone's hands. Francesco sure doesn't run out new ideas, or these bags.

Scott Schuman and Garance Doré

Although it was Jefferson Hack who took the photo of Scott Schuman, aka The Sartorialist, above, for his post entitled On the Street....Brown & Grey, Paris, it could very well have been Garance Doré, who appears below photographed by Scott for a post named On the Street....Beige & Brown, Rome, since it has been reported by Metro that they have been spending much time together.

Garance Doré appears again on The Sartorialist:
On the Street.....Ms. Doré, Paris
On the Street......Bev, Yasmin and Garance, London.

Though it is clear that both of them love wearing neutrals, after this piece of gossip, can you say you can look at Scott's photos of Garance the same way again?