May 24, 2012 world of men's style / fashion / grooming RSS
“advice”
12/01/08
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Dept. of Corrections

The Devil’s in the Details

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Any time a glossy unveils their New Rules for anything, you know they’re about to get themselves in trouble. And when it’s something as commonplace as denim…it can get ugly.

DETAILS’ just debuted their New Rules of Denim and, to their credit, it stops short of being a complete embarrassment. But you can tell how hard they’re working.

The problem is, denim just isn’t that hard to wear. By now, you know whether the skinny look works for you, and beyond that, there just isn’t that much to it. So to stretch it out for six slides without repeating yourself takes some real journalistic ingenuity.

The Kempt take on DETAILS’ rules»

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11/19/08
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Shelf Life

MOTHs in Print

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aRUDE editor and occasional MOTH Iké Udé has just put together what may be the magnum opus of modern MOTH-hood. The book is called the Style File, and it might turn out to be the sartorial field guide we’ve been waiting for.

The book profiles a series of well-dressed souls—including fellow Kempt favorites like Ruben Toledo and Dita von Teese—and their take on personal style. Naturally, there’s a lot to learn from Udé himself. We just hope it all made it into the book.

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11/12/08
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Scene

Blame it on the Rain

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The paparazzi get a bad rap, but as long as they’re on the side of chivalry, it’s not all bad. Take, for instance, this latest infraction by our own Daniel Craig, captured by the intrepid photogs of the Sun.

A brief lesson, if we may: A little rain never hurt anyone, but leaving your lady to soak may cause irreparable damage, as Mr. Craig is surely discovering now.

You never saw Roger Moore doing this sort of thing.

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11/11/08
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Good Idea

The Hobo Knows

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We’ve sifted through a lot of advice, but it’s rare that you find anything approaching real wisdom in a magazine. To get the good stuff, we recommend going to a slightly smellier, more grizzled source.

We’re talking about the Hobo Code.

Inscribed in the Annual Convention Congress of the Hoboes of America in 1894 (we hear the buffet was amazing), the Hobo Code has stood as the gold standard of vagrant ethics for more than a century, guiding famous vagabonds like Fry Pan Jack, Stormin’ Norman and Waterbed Lou as they rode the rails through the country. It holds up surprisingly well, especially if you ever find yourself in Hobo Court…

A selection from the Hobo Code»

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11/07/08
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Icon

The Birth of the Cool

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We’ve been scanning our latest tumblr obsession The Impossible Cool for a while, and we’ve detected a couple of patterns.

First, in addition to the usual actor suspects—Mr. McQueen, Mr. Clooney—there’s a healthy spattering of genuine genius, including Robert Altman and our personal favorite, Mr. Kurosawa. For all the cross-cultural fun we’ve had over the past twenty years, it’s easy to forget he was the first one importing American staples like the shoot-em-up western to eastern shores.

Second, they’re almost all sporting shades.

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10/30/08
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Good Idea

Guarding the ‘Stache

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If you’re still scrambling for a Halloween costume, here’s a good tip: a fake mustache will turn anything into a costume.

We recommend the Selleck in the lower left, but with a crop like this, it’s hard to go wrong.

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10/27/08
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Sound & Vision

The Draper Method

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Saturday night’s Hamm-hosted SNL wasn’t quite the ad-man frenzy we were hoping for, but they did manage to sneak in this handy *Mad Men*-inspired guide to picking up department store heiresses, models, beatnik illustrators, and the empowered wives of diminutive comedians. And yes, the suits have a lot to do with it.

Try it at your own risk.

See the video here»

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10/21/08
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Good Idea

Tough Love

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If any of you happen to be picking up this month’s GQ, you might happen to see a familiar name…

Our old friend and Style Guy Glenn O’Brien gives us a big up for calling him out all those months ago on a brief stylistic indiscretion. Giving advice to a similarly conflicted soul on how to correct his friends, O’Brien says, “Sometimes a guy needs tough love.”

Nothing but love, Glenn.

See the full page here (last question)

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10/20/08
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Dept. of Corrections

Slide Rule

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Apparently Esquire isn’t the only print mag getting into the men’s advice racket.

We recently ran into this Men’s Health article offering up “40 Unwritten Rules to Live By.” Leaving aside that they clearly aren’t unwritten anymore, we have to admit we’re a bit disappointed. Maybe they’ve been at this for long enough that all the good unwritten rules were already taken…

See a few of the items»

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10/16/08
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Current Affairs

Catching Flies

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There are a lot of rules for gentlemanly behavior. Some are made to be broken; others are not. One often-overlooked rule that falls into the latter category is this: A gentleman should never gesture with his tongue.

Based on the above, it should be obvious why.

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10/03/08
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Shelf Life

Know the Time

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The “manly advice” market is really taking off lately, between a few blogs we could name and *GQ*’s ever-increasing “rules” pieces. And, if you remember the Tribeca J. Crew store as well as we do, you know there’s a pretty good book form of it too. Say hello to What a Man Should Know, Volume 1, available at a bookstore and preppy menswear retailer near you.

See what’s inside»

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09/16/08
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Good Idea

Here Comes the Son

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It’s a big internet, and while there’s plenty of snark, vanity, and free electropop, genuine wisdom is always in short supply. That’s why we were impressed when we ran across 1001 Rules for my Unborn Son. From sartorial advice (“If you are tempted to wear a cowboy hat, resist”) to a surprising number of hangover cures (including swimming in the ocean), the blog is a source of surprisingly good advice for the old school gentleman. Someone get this man a column in *Esquire*.

A few of our favorites after the jump»

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