Feb 19
My book showed up in a magazine profile of the bag of famed fashion blogger and friend Anita Clarke. This means my book probably goes to more parties than I do. She says: My good friend Ryan Oakley had his first novel, Technicolor Ultra Mall, published this year. I pre-ordered it months in advance and even got him …
Oct 02
I never turn down an opportunity to travel to the suburbs. While quite a few of my urban cohorts view the regions outside Toronto with disdain, I see them as exotic foreign climes. Perhaps because, unlike a lot of people in Toronto, I’ve never been native to one. I grew up in a village and moved to …
Jul 10
Catalytic Clothing is a fashion innovation that’s meant to clean the air using nanotechnology. Professor and designer Helen Storey and scientist Tony Ryan have collaborated to add a photocatalytic process to fabric. This process requires Titanium Oxide and UV Light. When these two interact, the combination aggressively breaks down volatile organic compounds like formaldehyde and ammonia, turning them into carbon dioxide …
May 06
It feels like I’ve been attending and complaining about FAT (Toronto’s Alternative Fashion Week) for years. Double checking that feeling against my blog archives, I’m surprised to learn that my memory is correct. My first mention of it is back in 2006 and now it’s, um, a different year. Also: Holy shit, I’ve kept this blog for …
Nov 29
I wanted a simple grey suit. Something dark and conservative. A counterbalance to my more outlandish choices. It is a classic choice and a male style staple. This potato of suits looks good. I have not given up on the idea. But I have slightly delayed it. Because, when I entered my tailor’s shop and had a …
Nov 17
A documentary about Saville Row tailor Ozwald Boateng. Known for his “cutting eye-popping, super-sharp 1960s-inspired suits with raised waistlines and slimmed-down trousers that elongated and refined the line” Boateng came to the row in May 2002 and was the first tailor to stage a catwalk show in Paris. This documentary is interesting, not just to hear …
Oct 22
When reading about suits, one can find quite a bit of fussy, fashionable nonsense. Edicts about the amount of buttons, the ones that should be done up and the correct width of ties. While some of these make a great deal of sense (meaning I subscribe to them) others are just passed from person to person without much intervening thought. Indeed, some of these, at one time, did make sense but in today’s world veer into obsolescence. The basic rules of fit, texture and color remain fundamental. Some of the other stuff can be dispensed with.
Oct 15
During my most recent closet purge, I tossed out quite a few pairs of shoes. This left me with two pairs for work, one pair of slippers and three pairs (in the fundamental colors of black, brown and silver) for leisure. A perfectly fine base but a collection that I wished to carefully expand. I wanted a …
