GQ Falls Into Style.

Ah, One of my favorite parts of every month, my subscription to GQ Magazine. Gotta love it whether it’s the style, the articles, or just the plain news of the world. So here’s some eye-catchy features GQ graced or ungraced us:

• The cover with Mad Men actress, January Jones. I don’t mind the fact that she shows off her breasts (almost) to call them golden globes seems oddly strange. I feel indifferent to that line.
• Joel McHale models for the season’s best materials from tweed to plaid to flannel to corduroys. Best part? Classy shoes paired with outrageous colored socks and an assorted array of lightweight v-necks and scarves.





• Ooh yes! I love that GQ endorses Simon Miller Jeans. Those jeans do look stylish and pretty damn wearable. And I love it that it’s described as they’re slim without being painfully skinny.”
• Project Upgrade spotlights the Entourage-esque attire when you’re out on the town. Yes to skinny black jeans and a leather jacket with Adidas shoes and no to oversize dress shirts with acid color jeans! My head just spinned to that thought.
• A GQ Winter Survival Guide is essential as they bring the modern gentleman up-to-date with (shiny) winter boots, Russian furry hats, and plush down vests, layering, and awesome jackets. I especially loved the rolled-up jeans as you show off your boots.




• This month, the Satorialist looks at fashionable men next to trendy shops and museums.
• Julian Casablancas from the Strokes is back with an emulated rebel style. His story of maturity and reinvention during the time of his solo is all well and good, but to hear that he bought his favorite jacket at a thrift store for $15 as he rocks the sunglasses is so much better.
• Coffee: The most important drink of the day? Coffee? Oh yeah, I forgot. I love how the mag mentions that we are in the third phase of the coffee era but we are douchebags for talking about them in a cultured manner. Eh. I’m more intrigued with the coffeehouses mentioned in San Francisco: Blue Bottle Coffee, Caffe Vita, and Ritual Coffee Roasters. Yes, an SF outing is in the works now.





• The Style Guy advises men in tidbits of ridiculous stale hippie style, tucked-in shirts with belts, wearing mock turtlenecks (um no), and the awesome mention of beatnik style from Scott Walker. I want to copy his corduroys, black sweater, specks, and scarf. Imitate for Halloween?
• Will Welch writes an interesting piece of staying home and enjoying the solo activities of shoe shining, record playing, reading, and making drinks instead of watching the game and going out.
• A Dress Shirt Manifesto, modeled by actor Talyor Lautner. Interesting advice with pinstripe shirts, crisp white dress shirts paired with jeans and a skinny tie, conventional collars with more conventional ties, and awesome colors such as a black dress shirt and blue stripes.





• Using the Navy’s strapping young men to model pea-coats is an ingenious move. It’s like modeling Tom Brady and Gene Kelly in their respective genres.

Fall’s The Season To Be GQ Stylish.

It’s been a while since I’ve talked about GQ (or even posted for that matter), but here comes the October 2009 issue of GQ magazine with the good, the bad, and the stylish:

• Olivia Wilde on the cover? Good choice as sex does sell. Better to have than that trashy tart, Megan Fox.
• Ads: same as last is’. Where are the edgy provocateurs?
• Jim Nelson’s anecdote on career building is interesting and depressing at the same time. It is tough though. But not to create a witty resume for $9,000?!
• Brooks Brothers’ extra slim fit is intriguing. Slimmer oxfords make a man look good.
• I love reading Jason Chen’s “I’m Going Broke Saving Money.” With all the savings and discounts during these harsh recession years, it’s no wonder men are broke buying products they don’t need.
• Ah, the monthly project upgrade focuses on a man’s three-piece suit. The lessons are pretty easy: formfitting and neutral.
• The Satorialist focuses on the Hipster trend: hats, cutoff corduroys, Warhol-esque glasses, faded colors, shorts with black socks. It’s nice to see what the subculture youth is up to.
• The “How To Get Fit” section focuses on the uncanny task of looking like an Olympic Rower. Fortunately, they take athlete Giuseppe Lanzone and give us a 10-minute upper-body workout: three-prong pushups and the three-prong crunches. I now feel motivated.
• The Style Guy gives us the usual: hair transplants (try not to), fitted tees (a given), belt buying (ooh simple, thin, and black or brown), and streamlining a man’s keys.
• Voyeuristically checking out news anchor Brian Williams’ playlist is a treat. I got giddy seeing The Republic Tigers and the Dandy Warhols.
• GQ reviewed the Informant! Last issue, and it is a bit too much PR, but analyzing Matt Damon’s underrated career makes a lot of sense considering his fine acting abilities.
• I agonized over reading a 6-page article on Ed Hardy creator, Christian Audigier. True, his style is just shiny tattoo-like clothing with tigers and skulls and mocking the brand is a state fact now, but the magazine should have left it to a quick blurb. Make him go away. I don’t care if celebrities wear his clothes. Writer Devin Friedman was right: Bourgeoisies fashion ignores his brand as low, low art.
• A very good photoshoot on the youngest (and very good-looking) man in Congress, Aaron Schock. The shoot covers all the basics in business attires: chalk stripe, glen plaid, tweed, pinstripe.
• A quick two-page on brown suede shoes? Thank you.
• I love fall season because we now focus on coats! I already have one, but the military peacoat, plaid duffel, moleskin, wool trench, and British cut look so irresistible. Must resist.
• “Design for the People” is a nice feature on cheap home products. It’s good to see GQ focus on the everyday products you’d see at Target or IKEA.
• A longer version of “Style Upgrade,” “The Seven Style Mistakes We’ve All Made” gives us the easy-to-do classics of the leather jacket, the grey v-neck, the perfect belt, the right collar, and the grey suit. See, easy to do.
• Cardigans I love! And when Mr. Hudson shows us a variety of cardigans from wool to cashmere to merino wool, you just have to admire them for what they are.

Anna Wintour And The September Issue.

“Fashion is a religion. This is the bible.”

Words were never truer for anyone who makes a living in the fashion industry. And this little independent documentary provides the viewers a behind the scenes look at the making of Vogue‘s September 2007 Issue. Headed by the notorious Ice Queen/Editor-in-Chief, Anna Wintour is provided much depth and handles her power with a reasonable amount that puts shame to Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly (anyone remember Devil Wears Prada). It’s a fascinating look at the gorgeous photo shoots, the mockery people assume of fashionistas, the rise of celebrity culture, and the editiorial input that changes practically the industry and all girls around the country. But what’s most human are the funny candid moments such as the disputes of the deleted layouts by Grace Coddington, Anna Wintour’s relationship with her siblings, and the decision to crop a man’s belly. A great 90-minute movie that shed light on the editorial decisions to produce the magazine’s largest single issue. Can you believe it weighed 5 pounds with 840 pages?! I have the urge to check out GQ Magazine’s recent September Issue.