Displaying items by tag: Best Dressed

As we end the decade, it’s time to look back at the highs (& low) of its final year and acknowledge those doing great things in men’s grooming and fashion. Hype is still just as important and the mega brands just keep getting bigger, but the great thing about fashion, and the reason I love it, is good ideas can come from anywhere. 

Here’s to 2020 being the year of the Fashion Wanker - BUY TheChicGeek's new book - FASHIONWANKERS - HERE and owning it. Remember, it takes one to know one!

Best Label of 2019 Bottega Veneta 

Just as Gucci starts to slow, Kering has Bottega Veneta creating all the hype thanks to it’s new British designer Daniel Lee. A graduate of Central Saint Martins College of Art, he has worked at Maison Margiela, Balenciaga and Donna Karan. Prior to joining Bottega Veneta, Lee was Director of Ready-to-Wear Design at Céline and he’s created a strict yet sexy reinterpretation of the Bottega Veneta signatures such as their basket weave leather. 

It cools yet strict, minimal yet interesting and its influence is now everywhere.

Left - Bottega Veneta SS20

Best New Label of 2019 Carne Bollente

Carne Bollente is an independent Paris-based brand established in 2014 by Hijiri Endo,

Théodore Famery and Agoston Palinko. They focus on the relationship between sex and positivity, to allow people to embrace their own sexuality and kinks through their clothes. By pairing straightforward streetwear staples with scenic sex illustrations, which manage to cover a wide scope of sexual taboos without verging on the problematic, Carne Bollente inject irreverence and provocation into no-frills basics.

Left - Carne Bollente - Bimbo Unchained 2 Blue Denim Jacket - €230

Best High Street of 2019 Jaded London

The High-Street became something of a dirty word this year. It’s tough out there and menswear has been hit harder than most. While some brands ditched menswear entirely, others have taken the plunge and really gone for it. 

Fun and affordable, Jaded London gets on all the big trends without the price tags. The made for Insta clothes are by brother and sister team, Grant and Jade Goulden, who launched in 2013. Dior Saddle bag for £40, anyone?

Best Grooming Product 2019 GilletteLabs

This year we were introduced to the first heated razor and its good. Part of the new ‘GilletteLabs’ stable, the stainless steel warming bar has adjustable temperature levels and a wireless magnetic charging dock to make this a revolutionary shaving sensation. Much higher than the usual Gillette price tag, it will be interesting to see how popular this has been.

Left - GilletteLabs - Heated Razor - £199

Best Grooming Brand 2019 Baxter of California 

It’s getting increasing difficult to stand out in the crowded men’s grooming market and with everybody jumping on the unisex band wagon anyway, where does it leave it? Baxter of California now has the expertise of L’Oréal behind it and is a reliable mid-priced grooming brand. Based on its Californian surf heritage since 1965, it was one of the first in men’s grooming. For an everyday easy product I swear by the Oil Free Moisturiser. 

Below - Baxter of California - Oil Free Moisturiser - £24

Fragrance of the Year 2019 - Ostens Impression Patchouli Heart No.1

Ostens was a new fragrance brand this year and completely won me over to patchouli.

This scent by Domitille Michalon-Bertier includes rosemary, lavandin, lavender absolute, immortelle absolute LMR, ciste labdanum absolute and is gorgeous. Easily my favourite of the year.

Left - Ostens Impression Patchouli Heart IFF-LMR No. 1 - 50ml - £85

Most Stylish Programme 2019 - Chernobyl

Possibly not the most stylish, but definitely the most memorable and impactful. Chernobyl took us on a jaw-dropping adventure in 1980s Ukraine charting the meltdown of the nuclear reactor. The wardrobe of drab Soviet suiting and military garments seemed to bookend the current trend of vintage dress down.

Best Menswear Collaboration 2019 - Moncler Genius 

Moncler did the clever thing for our short attention span times and commissioned a new designer to do a new collection every few weeks and keep dropping throughout the season. Designers have included Craig Green, Simone Rocha, Pierpaolo Piccioli of Valentino, Richard Quinn, 1017 Alyx 9SM and Palm Angels, along with two of the brand’s own labels, 1952 and Grenoble.

It has kept it fresh, reliable and is producing some of the best outerwear to suit every fashion wanker’s taste.

Left - Craig Green Moncler Genius

Special ChicGeek Award 2019 - Drake’s

Charting its own preppy course, Drake’s has stealthy positioned itself as the bastion of contemporary classic British menswear. The new store on Savile Row shows they’re continued success and with Michael Hill’s tasteful eye over everything, it’s the most colourful quality menswear you’re going to find anywhere. Expanded far beyond its original silk ties and accessorises, it’s now a full men’s outfitters and the type of British label the Japanese and Koreans go crazy for.  

Right - Drake's new Savile Row store

Most Stylish Man of 2019 Timothée Chalamet

A best dressed person is somebody you can’t wait to see what they put on next. Anybody who leaves you guessing and then smashing it out of the park is always the most interesting and therefore crowned best dressed. 

This year I recognise Timothée Chalamet who famously said he doesn’t have a stylist. “I don’t want to work with a stylist or anything. I’ve been following designers like Raf, Haider Ackermann, Hedi Slimane—these guys are like rock stars. They’re artists.” he told Frank Ocean in a Q&A for VMan magazine in 2018.

Hi skinny frame and romantic locks have made him a youthful menswear pin-up who isn’t afraid to try something new.

Turkey of 2019 - Burberry 

I just don’t get it. Riccardo Tisci has stripped all the personality out of Burberry. Rather than building on Christopher Bailey’s legacy and momentum, he seems intent on doing the opposite. Prices have gone up and the original ideas have gone down. It all just looks like it’s trying too hard and doesn’t have any identity. 

It’s seems intent on ignoring the hero product of the trench and opting for gimmicks. If the Chinese stop buying, they’re going to need to change things quickly. It will be interesting to see whether sales are sustained at a label that has lost its kudos amongst the fashion crowd.

Burberry - Large Logo and Kingdom Detail Nevis Backpack - £1090

After much menswear excitement on red carpets, this awards season, the expectations were high for something interesting at the Oscars. Apart from Billy Porter’s voluminous train, it was a fairly conservative and traditional night. Those immature-looking, shrunken velvet suits were rife, while the rest opted for traditional black tie.

The man to offer us something new was British actor, Nicholas Hoult, in Dior Men AW19. From the recent AW19 collection, the suit was reimagined in plain fabric with a shorter sash. The simply singular button and sash wrapping around the shoulder, around the back, then to the side, is elegantly different.

Nicholas Hoult is tall enough to have carried off the original length, but, I think it would have looked chicer with black fringing at the end. It would have also weighted it down.

It certainly saves needing a napkin!

Sometimes in danger of believing his own hype, Jeff Goldblum, is a cool customer. On a recent Graham Norton Show, Goldblum totally nailed this year’s evening look. A snakeskin jacket was teamed with a lurex shirt and tie combo and striking zebra socks and matching shoes. 

Left - Jeff on Graham's sofa showing the zebra shoes and matching socks

What, on paper, shouldn’t work, totally does and shows it’s all about the sparkle and animal prints, this party season. This is confident evening wear and shows everybody at the office party what a lounge lizard you are. 

Get the look below:

Right - Smart evening wear with character 

Left - River Island - Black Snakeskin Print Skinny Fit Blazer - £85

Left - Saint Laurent - Damier Lurex Shirt - £685

Left - Moss London - Black & Silver Knitted Tie - £20

Left - Dr Martens Core Fusion Zebra Creepers In Black - £112 from ASOS

Left - Saint Laurent - Men’s Deck 20 Loafers In Black Suede And Black And White Zebra-look Calfskin - £795

Splash or Cash? The Snakeskin Shirt 

Finishing touches - See more Menswear Trend Eveningwear Lurex Socks

Hollywood’s golden boy, and probably one of the coolest actors of the moment, Timothée Chalamet, is currently on his press junket for the new film ‘Beautiful Boy’. When you’re this in demand you can have your pick of the newest and best clothes, so it’s always interesting what they choose.

He’s quoted as saying, “I can wear cool clothes from some of the nicest designers in the world. [So why] am I going to pay someone to figure out what I should be wearing?” 

True, Tim, but sometimes you need somebody to help with the logistics and the ringing around, oh, and the returns!

This beautiful boy has got a lot to learn, but looking at him, he’s doing a pretty good job at stylising himself and is the perfect leggy shape for designer clothes.

Be inspired by Timothée in Call Me By Your Name - here

Left - Louis Vuitton SS19

Right - Alexander McQueen AW18

Below - Saint Laurent AW18

It’s September, which means new season, fresh ideas, shopping, putting more clothes on, having your eye on something and changing things up. Well, at the recent 75th Venice Film Festival, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke jumped forward all the way to next SS19.

At the premiere of Luca Guadagnino’s - the director of Call Me By Your Name - new horror film, Suspiria, he was wearing the latest collection from Dries van Noten. Inspired by the 60s designer, Verner Panton, the collection - see more here - is a beautifully kaleidoscope of wavy colour and was firmly on my must-have list for next season.

This inspired me to look at Thom’s other outfits during the festival to promote the film's soundtrack. From the natural tan sandals, which will change colour over time, to the nonchalant summer scarf to the honey coloured lensed sunglasses, you won't go far wrong by copying Thom for your next warm holiday wardrobe.

Left & Below - Radiohead's Thom Yorke in Dries van Noten SS19

Far Left - Style in Venice - Honey coloured lenses and matching frames and a double breasted jacket

Left - Move over Benedict, Thom is in town

Ryan Gosling topped TheChicGeek's Best Dressed Oscars list last year-  here, and, again, his laid-back confidence shows with the reintroduction of the fun and retro ruffled shirt. He hasn't gone full-on Jared Leto Gucci, here, but, this is a wearable interpretation of Gucci's influence on menswear right now.

You can pick these shirts us from vintage shops or online and they add a touch of personality to a formal dinner or prom suit. Add a large floppy bow tie and you'll be the life and soul of the party.

Left - Ryan Gosling in Gucci Oscars 2017 

Expectations are never very high when it comes to menswear at the Oscars. Giorgio Armani usually has a monopoly of safety with his sea of black tuxedos and matching bow-ties.

Well, it's the small changes in menswear which really make a difference. By simply changing his self-tie bow-tie from black to white, Ryan Gosling has given men's formalwear a contemporary freshness. While safely in the parameters of acceptability it added an element of difference and style.

Definitely something to think about come prom/party season.

Left - Ryan Gosling in Gucci presenting at the 2016 Oscars

Cecil Beaton was a true original. From the moment he arrived at Cambridge University in 1922 wearing an evening jacket, red shoes, black-and-white trousers and a large cravat, to his appearance nearly forty years later at Truman Capote’s 1970 Black and White Ball, Beaton expressed unmatched sartorial flamboyance and nonchalance. He held accounts with many Savile Row tailors, bought his hats from Herbert Johnson and Lock & Co and his shirts from Excello in New York. A testament to his stylistic significance, many elements of his wardrobe are today held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum, New York, and the V&A, London.

Below - Cecil Beaton & David Hockney in the conservatory at Reddish House, 1970

TheChicGeek says, "This book came at a perfect time as I was already Pinning images of Beaton and his conservatory on my ChicGeek Pinterest page - here - and wanted to know/see more. A confirmed snob, photographer Cecil Beaton is better known for his subjects then for the man himself. Benjamin Wild's does his best with, in what I can only imagine to be, a limited supply amount of information, physical items and photographs. These things just weren't documented as much in those days. You almost want to bring Beaton into the 21st century and gorge yourself on images. I'm sure he'd be one for the selfie, if only to double check himself.

Left - 'Rabbit' coat made by Beaton, 1937

One of the best segments of the book is his reaction to his portraits. Showing his level of vanity, he didn't even like David Hockney's drawings. I'm pretty sure that Francis Bacon would have been a wise investment, if he'd liked it! 

The image of Beaton in his conservatory with David Hockney - above - is one of my all time favourite menswear images. It sums up the eccentric side of the English gentleman.

The book is a quick glimpse of one the 20th century's greatest social climbers and the taste level that allowed him to progress. Starting as one of the early 20th century's 'Bright Young Things' and living and working through a very exciting time in Britain, he seems the type of opinionated character worthy of reading their diary".

Thames & Hudson - £29.95 

Right - Beaton, James Fox & Mick Jagger on set of film Performance, 1968