London Fashion Week: ten male style mistakes

Flickr: Paul-In-London

This is London Fashion Week and the weekend, quite unusually, is devoted to male dress. So, this being a blog for the older male, I thought it might be worth kicking off with a few mistakes we make too frequently.

10: Heavy aftershave or EDT in business meetings
You know that feeling when you're in a meeting and someone's smelling as if they're about to go on a really hot date?  Just don't do it.

9: The cheap, emergency shirt
This week I was away on business and had to go into a meeting immediately I came back. Knowing that I had a bunch of shirts being tailor-made so they'll be ready in a few weeks but not yet, I bought a cheapie from Marks and Sparks - twenty quid - to put on for the meeting. It. Looked. Terrible. Low-grade material, unflattering cut - it even made the suit and tie look cheap, as my wife reassured me on my way in (for which my thanks, you need a confidence boost for meetings). Cutting corners simply didn't work.

8: Clashing patterns
Don't listen to the 'never mix spots and stripes' brigade - they're wrong about a lot of things, as anyone with a colour-co-ordinated striped shirt and spotted tie combo will vouchsafe. It can look rather good. But be judicious: stripes on a suit are fine, so are stripes on a shirt but if you have them on a tie as well it can start looking like interference on an old telly.

7: Buying online and not admitting mistakes
A number of mistakes of mine - ties with which I was less than delighted, pocket squares which ended up looking dull - were made after seeing the items only online. That's on a computer with a backlit screen, which can make the colours look substantially brighter than they are in real life. If you find you've fallen victim to this, the next big error is to go into a strop and insist on wearing the stuff anyway.

6: Modelling your look on someone else
Actually this one's OK as long as they look a bit like you. But be realistic; if you're not tall, lanky and young-looking then the Matt Smith tweed-and-bow-tie look is just going to look middle-aged. One good tip I've seen is to look at pictures of fashion designers; if they have a similar body type to you, it might just be that they're designing for it.

5: Take the catwalk look too literally
Models on the catwalk are there to look extreme. You can take a few ideas and adapt them; maybe the preppy-looking ones are all wearing patterned pocket squares that tone in but don't match the tie; maybe the tweedy look is in, can you incorporate these things a bit without looking ridiculous? It should be fairly easy.

4: Skimp on the shoes
The old saying says you can tell an Englishman by his cheap shoes. Which is a bit rubbish when our best shoes from the likes of Church's are so good; invest decent money in your footwear and look after the shoes and they'll top and tail your look perfectly.

3: Wear boring socks
OK, this isn't essential. Nonetheless when I'm wearing a pink shirt or pink tie I like to tone in a bit with socks - it's a tiny touch that links the whole outfit together. Even if people think it looks ghastly they'll see where you were going with the idea.

2: The comb-over
No, seriously, I still see this. Listen, gents, if you're losing your thatch (or "it's changing" as I like to think of it, I reject this idea that ageing is about loss rather than development) then get it cropped and celebrate it - it's absolutely the only way. Nobody except you will find it at all worth remarking on - unless, of course, you adopt the comb-over in which case everyone will notice.

1: Jeans half way down the bum
Oh come on, even young people can't carry this look (although many think they can - see the picture above). We early middle agers would simply look ridiculous - don't even think about it!

So, ladies and gents, what are your favourite fashion howlers?

Related entries: Dress sense mistakes men make

Seacret skin care

One of the things about being a male lifestyle blogger is that you get sent quite a lot of skin care products and a load of men end up wondering why you're bothering. Growing up as I did in the 1970s when using deodorant was a bit girly you can start to see why the idea of skin care ranges seem a bit odd to the male of the species - we're used to looking and feeling a bit rough.

This view always surprises me a bit, though. By all means we're used to it but we're also used to dragging naked razors over our skin on a daily basis. So I'm quite pleased with two of the products I've been sent; Seacret after-shave balm is soothing and odour-free and yes I think I look a bit less spotty for using it. ProActiv Solutions' day treatment has a similar effect; Seacret seems to work better on my skin and you can make what you want of that.

Seacret also sent me some shampoo (which works well enough, pictured) ands mineral-rich peeling gel (it says here) to get rid of dead skin buildup on your face, which would also give you a shaving rash. It's a brand I'll be watching with interest - women still tend to be more interested in this stuff than men, which is odd as they tend not to shave their faces.

If you do have difficulty with your skin after shaving here are some basic tips:

1. Face should be clean - this doesn't mean a quick rinse, it means a wash, preferably with a non-soap cleanser as soap can gunge up your pores. A scrub with bits in (or 'scruffing lotion' or whatever your supplier calls it) once a week will get some extra gunge out.

2. Hair should be softened - water is very good at this, I find a dab of shaving oil or my favourite Proraso shaving preparation helps too - this isn't obligatory.

3. Decent shaving cream - ask a good barber. I use Coates and sometimes The Bluebeards. Apply with a brush as this will raise your facial hair and make it more accessible to the razor.

4. Decent razor with a sharp blade, washed frequently. OK, I'm fussy so I've gone for the Merkur Futur which isn't going to be to everyone's taste let alone budget (although replacement blades cost pennies so over a couple of years you do save money). Very gently, aim to reduce rather than eradicate hair - then repeat from step 3. Change the blade frequently.

5. Rinse excess soap off in cold water, this closes the pores up

6. Moisturiser or after shave balm like the Seacret stuff above or the many other products I've reviewed here from time to time. This helps your skin recover from the razor being dragged across it.

7. Scent if you like but top of the neck/chest (unless it's very sunny, you can burn yourself) and maybe back of the neck. So many people put a scent on newly-shaved skin, it stings like hell and they wonder why they go red afterwards. Your face needs about five hours to recover completely before you start splashing smellies onto it.

Summer scents 4: Kouros EDT Tonique

On the scent of more scents (see what I did there?), and on to Kouros Eau De Toilette Tonique. This is a summer edition of the perennial lemony Kouros and if I had one issue with it then it would be that the original ain't broke, doesn't need fixing. I find this often with seasonal variants; last year Armani made a summer version of Diamonds and Code as well as a Sport version of Code, and for me the originals of both remained preferable.

Kouros EDT Tonique is a bit like that. It's certainly one of the better purpose-built summer scents and of the review samples I've been sent this season it's one of those I've used more than a few times to try. I do like this one but I wonder, other than for financial reasons, why it needed tampering with.

The opening aroma is familiar enough - you get a lot of lemons. This is what perfumiers call 'top notes' - the first scent that hits you. It's sharp, citrussy and of course this calms down eventually. This fades away to something a little more leathery; you wouldn't want the sharp lemons all day and you don't get them. They're in the background and this is an overall pleasant scent to use. It lasts a while, unlike certain  other bottles I've tried - there are a lot out there which are perfectly OK for an hour or so and then you realise they've disappeared.

It's been out almost a month according to the publicity and if I were looking to buy a new aftershave at the moment it would certainly be on my list of possibles. I just suspect I'd end up giving in and getting a bottle of ordinary Kouros if I wanted that particular niff.

Summer scents 3: Classics from Jo Malone

Today's summer scent isn't actually one that's been sent to me, just something I'm rather fond of. Jo Malone is a perfumier in London and this Lime, Basil and Mandarin Cologne is quite stunning. Intended as unisex it's a lot less sweet and artificial-smelling than a lot of the more traditional scents on offer in the dedicatedly male market just at the moment.

You're hit by a sharpness from the limes, offset by the distinctive sweetness of the basil and mandarin - one thing I like about Jo Malone's stuff is that there's no pretentious naming, no silly descriptions, the bottle tells you what it smells like and it's really as easy as that.

Equally good is the same company's Grapefruit cologne (below) - again, it does what it says on the bottle. Long lasting and yes it's costly but seriously, just use a tiny squirt and you're set for the day. Better yet, put a little of the Lime, Basil and Mandarin on and then follow withj a tiny bit of the Grapefruit - it's a really good refreshing combination (guess who bought a multi-pack in Duty Free last year).

These aren't review samples, they're things I've bought and would certainly buy again.

Declaration: The links lead to Amazon through my affiliates scheme, I get a tiny cut of any purchases anyone makes through them - this has not biased my writing at all.

Second declaration: Amazon provides the pictures so when it says "No image available" it's no use blaming me!

.

Summer Scents 2: Boss Bottled Sport

It's still raining so I'm writing about summer scents again - come on, it's May, it'll start soon. This time it's the turn of Boss Bottled Sport as it says on the release, or Hugo Boss Sport as it says on the bottle. It's been around for a few weeks and the press blurb is full of how the man who uses it is focused, sporting and stuff like that. You've got to put something in a press release I suppose. I'm a lot more interested in how it smells.

The top notes - in other words the bits that hit you first - are lemony and zesty with a touch of pink peppercorn. These fade and give way to lavender with a bit of spice, and eventually when those fade you're left with vetyver and patchouli by the end of the day. I can confirm it's long lasting. One or two scents I've tried lately are great for about an hour then they're gone; this isn't one of them.

It's a bit spicy and sweet for my tastes. You know how sometimes you understand something's well made but it's just not for you? That's unfortunately how I am with a lot of the Boss scents I've tried. They seem a little sweetened and suited to younger men than me; that said. I felt the same about the Yves St. Laurent I tried a few days ago - it could be that I'm just out of tune with what's in demand at the moment. My wife thought this one was 'powdery'. Nonetheless when I gave the unwanted Boss EDTs to my brother in law, also over 40, he clearly thought they were great. It was as if Christmas had arrived with reinforcements.

So this one's well made and long lasting, just not necessarily for me. I'm still a bit bewildered that so many scents are now calling themselves "sport".

Summer scents 1: Yves St. Laurent La Nuit de L'Homme

I've been sniffing around - quite literally - new scents for men for the summer season. It feels a bit of a joke to be talking about summer scents when it's so miserable outside but they're in the shops - including this one, Yves St. Lauren't La Nuit De L'Homme Frozen. It gets the prize for 'daftest name of the week' if nothing else.

This one's quite pleasant, albeit not the better of the two the company sent over for trial (more on the other one and some more I've been testing over the coming days and weeks). The company says it's passionate and seductive; fortunately it also calms down a bit and says it has lemons, bergamot and mandarin as well as a splash of black pepper to make it a bit invogorating.

I get the black pepper bit and was reminded slightly of Molton Brown's Black Pepper Recharge products, if they'd added a load of other sweeter bits into the mix. And here we have my beef with the thing; it could have been sharper, it's as if someone had decided to hit the market with something a bit different then backed off at the last minute adding all the usual oversweetened notes common to a lot of male scents at  the moment. Presumably it's me rather than the mainstream; any long term readers might remember I reviewed six Boss scents a year ago and found they were all a bit on the sickly side for my tastes.

So, pleasant as long as you don't want something with much of a kick; would probably be good for an evening rather than the day time, and frankly I suspect it would suit a younger man better than an older one. It's been out a couple of weeks and depending on the deal you can find, it will cost you around £38.

Uncommon scents 2: Who's the Boss?

Design giant Hugo Boss has released some thoughts on what goes into a 'modern classic' in terms of men's fragrances. To be honest the answer is probably a depressing mix of focus group opinion and staying power in the market, followed by a sales report.

Boss for Men (from Flickr: Odolphie's photostream)

Boss isn't quite so cynical. Its research suggests people are concerned about evocativeness, reminders of their childhood (so the Play-dough aftershave is about due), and of course durability in the market. It nominates a couple of its current offerings as classics of course, and it's been kind enough to send them over. My own favourite is Bottled Night - actually that's not quite true and I'll tell you why in a mo.

Bottled Night has note of lavender, is a bit woody and at the same time refreshing and is my idea of a good scent. My wife, crucially, also quite likes it. My actual favourite from the range, Boss Orange, is new; it has apple, vanilla and is so far from the run-of-the-mill identikit cologne (you know the sort of thing, you buy a cologne and it smells the same as the last one you had in spite of the different name).

Unfortunately my wife is one of the handful of people who has a very strong reaction to scent; I put it on and she got a headache, nausea - this isn't a comment on the scent but on some people's sensitivity (she also has trouble when she walks past a Lush shop). I like it myself and I would wear it in a minute, but I know it'll upset my partner. So that's in the back of the cupboard for when we have a row.

Boss for Men I also like, fruity and fresh, but haven't chanced it with Carol around just yet;  Hugo Man is a little spicier and I like it very much, while Hugo Boss Different has a bit of zingy mint and lemon in the mix. I'm not terribly worried about whether these are modern classics; I'd wear any of them occasionally (although the ad campaign leads me to suspect they're chasing a younger demographic - am I going to end up looking like a walking mid-life crisis? Or smelling like one..?) but if I took one lesson away from this sniffing session then it's "don't buy your colognes alone - your partner will have to inhale too".

I've also looked at a couple of non-Boss scents recently. I was favourably impressed with the cucumbery, apple-y Polo Ralph Lauren Red White and Blue, which is very refreshing indeed. Current favourite of the new crop is one from Vintage, sold to me by the guys at The Valet in Addiscombe. Called Mod, it's light, gives you a splash of spearmint and lemon to start you off and as it settles you get warm vanilla and (I think, although I can't find any other write-ups that say so) a bit of cocoa. Maybe I eat cheap chocolate with an overdose of vanilla and only think I'm smelling cocoa.

A pretty good crop then.

The best summer aftershave?

A few weeks ago I blogged about Debenhams' latest innovation, the Beauty Club iPhone app. I mentioned it was having teething trouble so I thought I'd try it again as there have been some updates. Without any trouble at all I was able to order a small bottle of Emporio Armani Diamonds For Men eau de toilette, a firm favourite of mine.

Mechanically it's a pleasure to be able to report the app is working faultlessly, then. The design could still do with a more masculine version as it's clearly aimed at a female market. Presumably someone has sat down with a spreadsheet and worked out that the female market for "beauty" products is vastly bigger than the one for the male of the species; I've commented before on how we need a new word for "beauty" when we're talking male products but failed to come up with anything better.

The scents

Diamonds is a really good, light smell for men. There's a sharpness and pepperiness that I like very much, blended with a bit of citrus and bergamot. It wears well during the day, not overpowering but lasting quite some time.

Armani Diamonds Summer

I thought this was just about the perfect summer scent, and asked Debenhams' PR team why there had to be a summer version as well. (The easy answer is "because customers will buy it" but that's just cynical). Obligingly they sent a sample through and for once I have to say I found the seasonal version even better. A bit of extra lemon zing, splash of cocoa at the base notes and you have something which I think is really excellent. My wife, on the other hand, thinks it's got "that Armani smell" and she still says plain non-seasonal Armani Code suits me better. For me the Diamonds Summer edition is probably the best scent on the market.

I've also been trying Eau de Toilette Verdon by L'Occitane, available from QVC. More in-your-face then the others on test, there's a distinct and not unpleasant whiff of lemons about it with a woody base. Strong but more subtle than previous L'Occitane offerings I've tried, I'll certainly be using this on occasion.

P. S. You might notice I'm calling these bottles eau de toilette (correctly) in the text. They have no astringent or cut-healing properties, which is what an aftershave does. I am of course cheating and putting "aftershave" in the headline because most men use the stuff interchangeably but will search Google for aftershave rather than EDT.