For the cover of their September issue ELLE dressed the lovely Emily Blunt head to toe in lace! For me lace represents the elegance of decadence!

The summer isn’t quite over but as usual the fall/winter clothes are hitting the stores around Europe and my very first piece acquired is yet another snood from the Swedish MQ. This year a fully fledged one, much like the ones I liked from the Nicholas K collection. This one even covers my head like a hood and not only my neck. The whole thing goes in a loop and you are meant to warp and drape it like a bedouin scarf. You might even find it looking a bit like the women’s hair scarf in Iran! Like I said the snood is originally a part of the women’s fashion, that’s why it might deem a bit feminine. But unlike the wrist-borne bags this is one feminine attribute which I can conveniently incorporate in my wardrobe, since it translates well into my personal style. Now if you excuse me I’m gonna go audition for the role of Altair in Assassin’s Creed! hehe

Miss Mexico Jimena (Ximena) Navarrete won the 2010 Miss Universe title a couple of nights ago. Not my favourite candidate to win, as usual, but I think I can reconcile with the thought …

The Rat Pack

My past posts are testimonies to my soft spot for cute Bohemian girls, especially if they come as a quartet and all wear black turtle-necks and pantihose! Hehe, The Like’s second album titled “Release Me” is out now and I’m loving the retro flirt of the Cali ladies “Z” Berg, Tennessee Thomas, Laena Geronimo and Annie Monroe who are on the road in Europe ’til October.

1977, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro (The Godfather)

2010, Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception)

I’m normally not big on bling blings but wouldn’t mind getting dazzled by this kind of bling!

M.J.

This is the lazy day lunch for me! Well not really a lazy day per se, since I’ve been busting my azz off resistance training the entire morning. But lazy in terms of actual lunch making. So considering that I’m on a training diet it gets to be tuna, corn and mid-east bread (there is a local bakery and brand called Liba in Sweden, run by Lebanese peeps, which has in few years grown big by delivering their always fresh and delicious Liba-bread across the country. A bread that can be used for wraps as well as for dips and has hence been a hit even with the Swedes). Washed down with my all-time favorite drink namely Pepsi Max, maximum taste no sugar! Have to say this tastes surprisingly not as disgusting as it might look!llol

I love Lubiam’s upcoming line for fall 2010, modelled here by the boxer gone model Will Chalker. Not to mention all its avantgarde ornamentations and pattern combinations in a gray palette.

check out the rest of the collection at Lubiam.it

Model Daisy Lowe did an ultra sexy set for British Esquire last month. Greg Williams who shot that spread also did direct this dynamic dance/outfit try-out clip which I lowe! Cool music, cool chick! Check it out!

These are not the first Madonna pics leaking on the net, revealing a sad reality! A reality which is not the fact that she has aged naturally, but rather the obsessive fixation with youth and the desperate measures to cling on to it!

The unretouched photo

The manipulated images used in the Louis Vuitton campaign last year, where Madonna was celebrated for her “freshness“!

Truly sad …

If there is any term that manages to stand for the mixture of styles that I happen to favour it would be “urban prep”! In the more modern sense of the term. From the sophisticated refinement and preppy flair to the urban chic and street edge, all eclectically combined in a nexus of styles. Albeit theoretically contradictory and seemingly opposite at times, these elements somehow manage to find a way to a balance in an urban lifestyle. In which you can be an academic and a boxer, at the same time!

A while ago I mentioned my admiration for Cary Grant as a master of the sophisticated style and source of inspiration. In my quest and research on the sartorial skills and secrets of the icon I have come across a book which has managed to capture exactly that!

“Cary Grant: A Celebration of Style” has put finger on the man and the phenomenon Cary Grant. Through never before seen pictures and interviews the book explores and further elaborates on his importance as a fashinisto and timeless constant in a historical context of trends and cultural variables. Recommended to the fans of the man, fashion and cinema!

I leave the actual prêt-à-porter practicality of Julian Hakes’ Mojito shoes for the ladies to judge, but I personally wouldn’t mind displaying it as a decorative piece in my home! Just for the cleverly minimalistic design alone. Its like a signature made by a quick and light hand move! A ribbon which starts at one end, flows smoothly, whirls elegantly and stops at the other. Pure art!

I love Nicholas K’s clothes for mainly two reasons. First, they don’t make clothes that only fit the thin and tiny, in fact its on the muscular and masculine type of guy which the clothes get properly displayed. Second, their aesthetics are a unique blend of romantic chic and urban bohemian, with a monochromic look and organic feel to their pieces. Something which I happen to love. Also the whole wrapping and draping gives the image an air of heroism and drama. Basically, they make clothes for the modern Robin Hood! You can clearly see it in the men’s ensembles from their Fall 2010 collection modelled here by Christopher, one of the siblings behind Nicholas K (as I’m sure you’ve concluded, Nicholas is the name of the sister!). If only I could, I would get every single piece in their fall collection!

Go to NicholasK.com for the rest of their collection, for men and women.

Sadly due to my hectic schedule on this side of the globe I wasn’t able to make it to our 7th anniversary events in Canada. I’m sure you have checked out the lovely photos from those faithful nights already, but as I myself was going through the album one detail caught my eyes. And that is Babak’s chic scarf, a double length and double washed scarf in shades of blue from ZARA. No how do I know this? Well I happen to own one! Hehe, all three of them in three different colours as a matter of fact. The nuances allow a wider range of expression through shaping and draping, the blue one I particularly love for its tendency to simulate the waves and to associate with the cool and calm of an ocean. A poetic nod to the new-romantic era. So that is one perfect pick Babak jan, that is what I call Pièce de résistance! You’ve got an excellent taste in scarfs my friend.

I finally got a chance to watch “A Single Man“. Tom Ford is an omnipotent perfectionist and thus his directorial debut is an orchestration in pure perfection! Everything from the micro details to the macro perspective find themselves in perfect harmony and cohesion without the slightest pretension. Ford’s smooth crossover from fashion to film makes the Isherwood novel the justice it deserves, through a poetic style of visualization which benefits from a powerful soundtrack. “A Single Man” evokes empathy and sympathy yet never relies on sentimentality. Never before has anyone managed to handle the still controversial theme of homosexuality in such an impartial manner. As hard as it might be to believe and Ford, of all people, comes along and dramatizes and contextualizes it so skillfully that he completely neutralizes and naturalizes it for the general public. In the end “A Single Man” becomes a desexualized sensual story about any man or woman who has ever felt a feeling and thought a thought about life!