...Style Girlfriend's list of reasons to 'kick-start' your style. Style Girlfriend Megan blogs about men's style from a female perspective, and I want to be her when I grow up.
I'm oddly fascinated by men's sartorial blogs, and have quite a few of them on my radar. I can't really explain it, but I just really enjoy reading about classic clothing and style for men. Perhaps because it has so much more subtlety than women's fashion --- fundamentally, the overall shape and style of male clothing (at least what most would today call 'dressed up') --- really hasn't changed much in many decades. A well-fitting suit now is the same essential shape as a well-fitting suit in the fifties, and there are only so many ways to express oneself with a pocket square. Contrast that to the insane variety of female fashion as the designers scramble to come out with new, more attention-getting, more flamboyant, different ideas.
Perhaps the lack of change is what I find comforting.
Also, well-dressed men are both delightful and rare in this particular time and place. As much as it would be nice in some respects if people weren't judged on their outward appearance and sartorial decisions, that's not the case. People will get their first impression of you from how you look. Not to mention that clothing is a fantastic way to express yourself and decide consciously how you want to present yourself to the world. Instead of leaving it up to random chance (which jeans did I pull out of the drawer today?), taking control of your image is a beautiful thing.
Perhaps I'm vain. But it's fun, and I enjoy encouraging the males around me to step up to the place and kick it up a notch.
I particularly like reasons #9 and #15. If only more lads figured this out earlier...
Showing posts with label wednesday love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wednesday love. Show all posts
5.16.2012
5.09.2012
today I love...
...the notion of washing my hair with beer. I'm a big proponent of alternative hair treatments (have you ever read all the chemicals they put in shampoo?), and have been using a homemade vinegar-based conditioner for a year or so now.
An idea that keeps some of the world's pervasive chemicals off of me, and helps declutter the bathroom to boot (think about how many bottles of store-bought goo are in your bathroom. I'm convinced they breed when we're not looking.)? Sign me up!
I tried the whole 'no poo' thing (which is a really unfortunate moniker for the notion of not washing your hair and letting natural scalp oils do the job for you), which seems to have worked wonders for some people. However, with my very fine hair I was never quite able to get past the greaseball stage, and the dandruff was unbearable. So I'm back on the shampoo bandwagon, though I love my vinegar conditioner and am always in the market for new ideas to reduce reliance on commercial chemicals.
Mr. Geek is a passionate brewer, so we always have beer around. I may need to try this...
An idea that keeps some of the world's pervasive chemicals off of me, and helps declutter the bathroom to boot (think about how many bottles of store-bought goo are in your bathroom. I'm convinced they breed when we're not looking.)? Sign me up!
I tried the whole 'no poo' thing (which is a really unfortunate moniker for the notion of not washing your hair and letting natural scalp oils do the job for you), which seems to have worked wonders for some people. However, with my very fine hair I was never quite able to get past the greaseball stage, and the dandruff was unbearable. So I'm back on the shampoo bandwagon, though I love my vinegar conditioner and am always in the market for new ideas to reduce reliance on commercial chemicals.
Mr. Geek is a passionate brewer, so we always have beer around. I may need to try this...
5.02.2012
4.18.2012
wednesday love
Today I love this blog that I found through the blog equivalent of Wikipedia Effect the other day.
From small tips on simplifying to dealing with a spouse's clutter without starting World War III to succinct guidelines on decluttering in general, Rachel of Small Notebook for a Simple Home is a fantastic resource on any decluttering journey.
She especially has a lot of fantastic advice on achieving a small, stylish, easy to deal with wardrobe, which is one of my overarching goals for myself. I need to mount a major offensive on my overstuffed closet one of these days. I own an incredible quantity of clothing but find that the same few pieces wind up in the laundry every week, while the rest just sits there. What's the point of that?
Wouldn't it be great if we only had to purchase, clean, maintain, and look at our very favorite things?
Ultimately, getting organized is not the goal. Simplifying is not the goal. The point of going to the effort to declutter and create more free space is just that, to create freedom. The freedom for experiences and travel instead of stuff. The freedom to move across the country if needed without having a panic attack about packing all your tchochkes. The freedom to focus more on the important people and ideas in life.
Also, I love my cast iron pan. I got it at a yard sale, and the clueless yuppies who just wanted this chunk of metal gone after cleaning out their grandmother's attic sold it to me for $5. Best $5 I've ever spent. I've discovered through setting up camp kitchens that I can cook almost anything if I have my trusty cast iron, a teakettle, and my Le Creuset dutch oven. It kind of makes that huge stack of frying pans that barely fits in the kitchen cabinet seem just a trifle superfluous...
From small tips on simplifying to dealing with a spouse's clutter without starting World War III to succinct guidelines on decluttering in general, Rachel of Small Notebook for a Simple Home is a fantastic resource on any decluttering journey.
She especially has a lot of fantastic advice on achieving a small, stylish, easy to deal with wardrobe, which is one of my overarching goals for myself. I need to mount a major offensive on my overstuffed closet one of these days. I own an incredible quantity of clothing but find that the same few pieces wind up in the laundry every week, while the rest just sits there. What's the point of that?
Wouldn't it be great if we only had to purchase, clean, maintain, and look at our very favorite things?
Ultimately, getting organized is not the goal. Simplifying is not the goal. The point of going to the effort to declutter and create more free space is just that, to create freedom. The freedom for experiences and travel instead of stuff. The freedom to move across the country if needed without having a panic attack about packing all your tchochkes. The freedom to focus more on the important people and ideas in life.
Also, I love my cast iron pan. I got it at a yard sale, and the clueless yuppies who just wanted this chunk of metal gone after cleaning out their grandmother's attic sold it to me for $5. Best $5 I've ever spent. I've discovered through setting up camp kitchens that I can cook almost anything if I have my trusty cast iron, a teakettle, and my Le Creuset dutch oven. It kind of makes that huge stack of frying pans that barely fits in the kitchen cabinet seem just a trifle superfluous...