Fall presents so many opportunities to upgrade your style. My friend Brett Fahlgren is GQ‘s executive merchandising stylist. We got together to discuss Fall’s key trends and address some of the most common questions guys ask when I’m making my rounds of NM stores.
What do you wear when an invitation says creative black tie? We break out of the black-tie box and explain what the alternative evening wear trend is all about.
This season suits are textured and in slimmer proportions. Whether you favor houndstooth or windowpane, we are here to help you shop and style the season’s patterned suit.
Men’s wear has been a consistent source of inspiration for women’s ready-to-wear, appearing in borrowed-from-the-boys fabrics and tailoring. Although, lately it’s the way men style their outfits that I find most inspiring. It’s the creative layering of mixed patterns, and the individualized look they create that is covet-worthy. Naturally Eddie Nunns, NM’s VP of Creative, has an eye for design and it shows in his daily pattern-mixing ensembles.
Nunns’ attributes his keen sense of mixing patterns to his graphic design background. Always being drawn to crisp graphics – stripes, checks, and plaids. “I’ve never been a floral or paisley kind of guy, I love the sense of order that linear patterns lend to fabrics,” says Nunns. He creates interesting looks by playing with the scale of geometrics together.
Nunns describes himself as a classicist. “I love how there is this trend in reinventing the classics.” A repp stripe tie is thinner than it was 10 years ago. Gingham shirts are in unexpected colors now. Brogue wing-tips are chunkier and color is being added to the soles and heels of the shoes. A seersucker suit is trim and fitted, “not baggy like Colonel Sanders,” says Nunns. These are the details that push “old school” into modernity.
Earlier this year we road tested Spring men’s wear in Miami with IndyCar driver EJ Viso, but he’s a very busy man these days, with the IndyCar racing circuit nearing its season’s end. This weekend he competes in the Go Pro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma. Next it’s on to Baltimore, then back to California. And not only does EJ race, but he manages other drivers. Busy! So when our friends at Tumi started shooting their Case Studies, a look at the packing habits of stylish globetrotters, we put our favorite speedracer forward. We can all learn something about packing from a man who has this little time to fuss around.
Earlier this summer, we cheered EJ at the Texas Motor Speedway.
Lobster rolls at the wedding. Photograph by Gregg Peterson
Seersucker suits and floral bow ties worn on their special day.
Whale watching in Martha's Vineyard.
The Pilgrim Monument, built in 1910 to commemorate the arrival of the Pilgrims in November 1620.
Aquinnah Cliffs
"More delicious lobster."
The Menemsha Inn fishing vessels.
An old pier just south of Harbor Master Pier.
Crab catching during low tide.
As the man who develops the cocktails and wine selections for Neiman Marcus restaurants, “wine guy” Frank Zack gets to drink for a living – and in some swell places, no less. So you can be sure that when he got married in Provincetown, Massachusetts and honeymooned in Martha’s Vineyard, it was a delicious affair. The celebration kicked off with the guests’ welcome gift—a bottle of Truro Vineyards Cabernet Franc. The party continued, at the wedding, with white Burgundy, Rhone, Champagne and local beers served alongside mini lobster rolls, and whole lobsters at the wedding reception. The lobster roll extravaganza continued into their honeymoon. “We ate every lobster roll in sight, some version of it every day,” says Zack.
Cape Cod According to Zack:
To eat: Lobster! Lobster and shrimp frittata at Cafe Edwige in Provincetown and lobster rolls at Aquinnah Cliffs.
To drink: Patio has the best white sangria.
To do: Vintage shopping at Marine Specialties (our new favorite store).
To see: Sit on the porch at the Anchor Inn and watch the world go by.
We’re always awed and delighted by what Martin Pack and his visual team at NM Beverly Hills come up with for their Wilshire Blvd. windows. So we’re thrilled that our friends at the Imagine Fashion blog are featuring the windows on their homepage right now. Even better — Imagine Fashion made the windows shoppable. So if you’re not in Beverly Hills but you like what you see, you can use the links provided, and voilà, you’re not just window shopping. Check it out.
Sweet relief from the heat of Milan! In Paris it’s always intriguing to see the creativity of the fashion students who crash the line for shows, alongside the pros. Everywhere, I’ve noticed bold prints, fleece crewnecks (often with backpacks) and a few monochromatic looks as well. When we can get away from the runways for a while, we scope indie brands at the trade shows. At the Capsule Show, guys looked deliberately casual, as they have for most of PFW.
Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana sent a cast of everyday Sicilians down their Men’s Spring/Summer 2013 runway. The decision to ditch traditional models in favor of regular boys from small towns and villages was a reflection of the collection’s origin of inspiration and democratic wearability. A traditionally dressed Sicilian band set the cultural tone for the collection comprised of high-waisted cropped pleated pants, linen striped T-shirts, tank tops, and woven leather sandals.
Miuccia Prada went back to the basics – print-free, simplistic shapes – for her Spring/Summer 2013 collection. Seventies-inspired team colors – maroons, mustards, tans – worked with gym gear fit for an old school wrestling or bowling team – think oversized tanks, bowling shirts, sweat bands. Interspersed within the line-up of chiseled male models, Prada placed her women’s resort line, which sported similar athletic lines and hues.
This season Christopher Bailey added an element of fun into his typically masculine men’s wear collections. Flashes of metallic foil in cardigans, trenches, and baseball jackets illuminated darker slim fit navy and gray suits. Silk short-sleeve button front shirts in pajama-like prints topped with contrasting prints and/or Burberry’s never-fail basics continued the whimsical approach to rainy weather.
John Varvatos’ Spring/Summer 2013 collection was for the man who wants to look sleek but not stiff – signature to Varvatos’ rock n’ roll attitude. The mix of tailored touches – double breasted jackets, neckties and pocket squares – were juxtaposed with deliberately rough accessories such as wide brim straw hats, varnished canvas boots, and canvas duffels.
For Spring/Summer 2013, Bottega Veneta’s Tomas Maier offers a collection inspired by the ease and informality of the pullover. The near-universal garment recalls clothing as varied as naval uniforms and South Asian kurtas. At Bottega Veneta, it’s casual and lightweight, with a breezy, retro sensibility. Narrow, cropped pants worn with pullover shirts and T-shirts have the effortless feel of sportswear. The slim, natural-looking silhouette is enhanced by nuanced tailoring and offhand layering.
The heat wave follows us to Milan Men’s Fashion Week. A lot of the guys are wearing woven shirts to keep cool, but it’s surprising how many are still layering. Khaki, white and navy blazers aplenty. Crewneck layers, in the form of T-shirts or modified sweatshirts, add pops of color. Minty greens appeared both off and on the runway. (Burberry Prorsum and Ermenegildo Zegna showed them.) Linens and straw fedoras are very appropriate.
Tim Blanks of Style.com
Burberry Prorsum Spring/Summer 2013
Eugene Tong of Details
Crewneck layer
Crewneck
Alex Badia of WWD and Menswear mag.
Blue blazer
T magazine's Bruce Pask, casual in navy.
Cardigan/blazer
NM's Matthew Singer is rarely without a navy blazer these days.
NM's Matthew Singer
NM's Matthew Singer
Beppe Modenese, president of Italy's Camera Nazionale della Moda, sartorial icon.
The Pitti Uomo men’s wear fair draws trendsetters from the world’s most influential stores and style publications to Florence. While they scout European tailoring and luxury sportswear, they also look to each other for style inspiration. Blogger/designer/trend-spotter Mordechai Rubinstein a.k.a. Mister Mort was on the scene for NMdaily.
With temperatures reaching 96F, short-sleeve woven shirts were the best look, in solids and with prints. Intriguing, non-linear prints are everywhere, even on lightweight jackets. I’m glad the humidity is not as bad as NYC in summertime. Regardless, I find it very inspiring in that they still “dress” here no matter the weather. The guys still brought it—with navy blazers in double breasted and single, worn dressed up or casually with T-shirts and sleeves pushed up, and even one with a pajama style shirt! Very interesting to see all the non-trad ways to wear the classic. Lots of minty greens and teals, both in tops and bottoms and even shoes.
