MAN GUIDE - "DEFEAT THE HEAT"

By now we all have experienced a little bit of the coming season. Sweat running down our backs and making us feel uncomfortable. As jeans go shorter and sandals make their entrance, coats and boots crawl from our floors and into our drawers until next season. Winter is my favorite season, ALWAYS, but I can't fight the weather and as much as I despise the hot days, this year, I'm here with a plan to battle them and conquer their stupid arms.

You see, as much as I would love to wear those trendy amazing shorts to work, I just can't. I have seen myself growing the need for something I can wear to work and then move on to other activities and viceversa. I really wish I could just wear the same suit all year long, but let's face it, not even the manliest man, or the slobiest slob could withstand that.

So here is my guide for the standard and the fashionable man. Here are some options that may or may not be trendy, but certainly give a stylish idea to battle this heat. Weather you go to the office or work from home, you sit around on the weekend or decide to go somewhere else, I certainly hope this helps you.

WHITE WONDERLAND:

 Wearing white for s/s is nothing new. But certainly the takes that designers gave to it are something fresh and cool. Spencer Hart gave us a very casual but chic ensemble in here, with some layering but still keeping it lay-back with a pair of tennis shoes. My advice is to keep it simple and well fitted, you can wear something like this to a date for a very nice first impression or out to have some drinks with the guys. The following two looks, the first from Port 1961 and the second from Dolce and Gabbana, give us more a business-related feel, with the inclusion of the double breasted blazer and the shirt without a tie, it certainly screams "I like to dress up but not in a weird way". My advice with these is, try to wear a short sleeved shirt with the blazer and also make sure the lining on it, is not of some lame ass fabric like polyester or viscose or you'll feel like you're inside a roasting machine.

50 SHADES OF GREY:

If you're not much of a white kind of guy, you can always go for 50 shades of grey, literally. From almost white, going through concrete and finishing on almost black, the shades of grey are an amazing way of staying on trend and still hitting the notes to relief the heat.
On the first two you can see ready-to-work looks brought to you by Dolce and Gabbana and Emporio Armani, with simple choices you can make a great impression. My advice is to go with the basics and add some pop with grey and another color. Fuchsia made a very good impression this summer, so maybe (if you dare) you can add a little to this grey days look.
Now the other one is a more basic look with the mixture of different shades in one single ensemble which looks very chic and effortless. Z Zegna, shows us that even with the littlest effort we can go a long way.

PRINT-TEMPS:

Now with this trend you need to be VERY CAREFUL, because you don't want to be seen as the crazy flower dude, because no dude wants to be seen that way, right? So with that being said, you can actually wear these prints to the office or even outside and still lead a normal life. Men in the 80's were more daring than men right now, and that's a bit discouraging taking into account that the sense of style and cut is more refined nowadays among designers. The first two options are very casual but avant-garde-ish, because you can easily pair the pieces up with some basics and look very nice. Prada and 3.1 Phillim Lim made it very clear that florals can be worn by the male species without looking like your dad or a crazy motherfucker. Now Dries Van Noten in his collection made florals on a more neutral way, with little to none colours that stood out, definitely made it very wearable, sans the pants, the last look is very cool.
Now my advice is to keep them simple and organic. Florals and leaves are good prints for this season. Fruits and faces are not that much for this season, though I wouldn't promise not to wear a Givenchy F/W 13.

STRIPED DOWN:

 I know, I know. STRIPES AGAIN. As if we didn't have enough of those in our everyday attire. And, aren't horizontal stripes supposed to make you look fatter? Well to be honest, I think only fat can make you look fatter. But jokes aside, horizontal stripes are actually a good thing for men, they broaden the shoulders and give you a more hunky look. I mean, who doesn't like to look a bit buffer without the pain of the gym? Now, I don't promise huge arms in a heartbeat, but I do tell you, horizontal stripes make you look good. Specially when they are so bold and on-your-face like the ones showed on the pictures above.

On the first two you have an idea on how to include them in your every day look. Either very edgy and, oh yes, printy like the one showed by Moschino, or more muted but still very stylish like the one showed on Wooyoungmi. These two looks are easy to take from the office to something less formal.

Now, the second one is a very regular choice, but still with an edge. The mix of trendy colours and trends definitely give this look an A+ on fashionability. My advice would be to keep them in either one tone, or to combine them. NEVER block them. Pair them up with some basics on the same colours you see on the stripes and damn boy, you'll be dropping some jaws.

LEATHER WEATHER:

 

Leather has made a comeback for the last seasons, and spring/summer was not the exception. Now I still haven't figured out how to wear leather to the office, except maybe on the details. A soft trimmed leather skinny tie, or leather panels on a shirt, or even a regular motorist jacket when its a little bit cold. But for informal looks, leather is a very good choice. You can either make a statement with a pair of leather shorts like Dsquared2 did for their show or leather pants like Hermès . But why not make it simple and just put on an airy jacket like 3.1 Phillip Lim did on this look. Leather is here to stay. Try to add it to your looks on a very skim way, I don't want you all to roast on summer and then blame me for it.

So here's my guide for S/S 14, there are some options that might be too daring for the common man, but give it a chance! You might surprise everyone with a bold choice and become an icon, or you'll eventually laugh about it on a family year book, the thing is to try them out and enjoy your time doing it. Fashion shouldn't be something to panic about. Just follow these simple steps, and enjoy the ride.

XXXO

KINGLEO

YESTERDAY - "IT WASN'T JUST A PHASE"

A couple days ago I was suffering of high fevers and an acute stomach ache due to some poisoned food I ate over on either Saturday or Sunday. I literally couldn't even move without feeling like I was gonna die and that my insides would make their way out of my abdomen somehow. My doctor sent me to rest for 48 hours and on those 48 hours, I spent approximately 24 of them alone and thinking.

You see, when you're a loner like I am, being alone doesn't seem like much of a hassle, you always seem to find something to do or to get entertained. But when even the slightest sound gets you unnerved then you're off to an awful day. Because your thoughts start to wander and your mind starts going places you don't allow yourself to go normally.

And that's when disaster happens.

You start playing several songs on your mind that remind you of the good and bad times, and suddenly one of them hits you like a cold slap on the face. "Helena" by My Chemical Romance was its name.

For a moment, I was in my high school graduation party again, wearing my all black ensemble with a black and white tie, like Gerard Way was wearing on the "I'm not ok" video. And I couldn't help myself but to laugh not on how ridiculous I must have looked, but on pride of myself, because through high school I always thought that something was missing. 

It wasn't my sexuality, or lack of people I could call friends, how unpopular I was, or how much I was suffering. It was identity. I can't say I had lived until the moment I truly got to experiment the glorious taste of failure. After high school was over, that was it.

It didn't matter how many friends I had or didn't have, because I wouldn't speak to most of them. It didn't matter if I was or not acknowledged as a part of the class of '05 (yes it has been that long), it didn't even matter that for the past 18 years of my life, I had been less than a wallflower. Nothing really mattered, except that moment. That little, independent fashion moment.

At least on my last moment in high school I was able to do my own thing. The simple statement of wearing an all black ensemble where people decided to wear navy, sky blue and even chartreuse defined my following years, and I didn't even notice it until now. That stupid little rant I had over the black and white tie, that wanting to wear "chucks" to prom, that smile I had that day.

I needed to be reminded of that. All in one 3:30 mins song.

Many of you probably never heard of it, and many of you probably have heard of it. But to me this song, made a difference in my life. It helped me experience sadness and glory. It helped me experience freedom and choice and more recently it made me feel young and stupid.

Let's never forget why we're here, and what brought us to where we are. 

This video, this song, that year, those were the simple days. Today, I take a vow to myself. To not relive the simple days, but to keep on living them. To keep the fresh blood running and the cold rain falling. This isn't just a "phase" boys and girls, this is an oath we pledged since we were born. We are the freaks, the geeks, the bitches and the witches.AMEN.

XXXO

KINGLEO

MEDIUM - "NEU COLLECTION"

 We all know how some fashion new comers just want to be super fresh and avant-garde without any knowledge about it or any reason for that matter. Some just stroll around putting fabrics and ridiculous pieces together making the real essence of fashion to be missed and turning it into a freak show.

But, then there's the designers that with a hand on their heart and a brilliant head on their shoulders are super fresh and avant-garde without even planning it. They naturally seem to know exactly what to mix and match to be the emissaries of great taste and the faces of the new generation in fashion, such is the case of Guatemalan brand "Medium." Which little by little has been making a mark and statements all together.

On the latest collection this brand proves that folklore can look very youthful and whimsical. With a very smart put together of textiles from the inner parts of Guatemala and unusual materials, they take us to a trip into a magical land where animals and jewelry are one same thing.

Here are a few picks of my favorite pieces of the new collection:

1. NOIR BAG

2. TIGER NECKLACE

3. ROUGE NECKLACE

4. RIO HANDBAG

5. FRINGE ROSE NECKLACE

There's a lot of other pieces to lust for, but what good would it be if I listed them all? So go visit their shop and if you like what you see go ahead and friend them in facebook. The owner is super nice and ready to take over the world with her collections.

 SHOP HERE

XXXO
KINGLEO