Ashok Mankad - Former Indian Cricketer Died

Ashok Mankad (12.10.1946 - 01.08.2008), former Indian test batsman died. He was 62 years of age and played for India in 62 tests with the score of 991 runs.

Ashok Mankad was selected to played against New Zealand in 1969 - 70 but in that series he dropped and later on selected for the series against Australia which was a successful series for him.

Ashok Mankad was the son of Vinoo Mankad who also played for India.

On the Street....Marais, Paris

Solar Eclipse 2008

Solar Eclipse 2008 / Surya Grahan 2008 - Another time for Indian acncient believer that some thing bad is going to happen and all news channel of India started to broadcast as per the Indian astrology. As per them Solar Eclipse 2008/Surya Grahan 2008 is going to happen in August and August is the 8th month of year. Many Indian astrologer and pandit believe that 8 is not the good sign for anything and that also 8th of 2008 is very bad for whole earth.

8 is the symbol of Sani which always bring some loss to the environment and to the person with whom this attached. This Solar Eclipse 2008/Surya Grahan 2008 is also seeing in this manner.

In India almost everyone will avoid to take food during the Solar Eclipse 2008/Surya Grahan 2008 and will take bath (at home or may be in holy river) to make themselves pure again. Many also believe that during the Solar Eclipse pregnant woman should come in the light of Sun otherwise baby born with some deficiency.

After Solar Eclipse many person also believe in charity as this one is also source to make themselves pure from all sin.

I am a simple guy who do not know the effect of Solar Eclipse 2008 with the purview of either Astrology or science. But yeah this much I know that Evil have Dark colour...

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Mr. Cool, Florence

Head-to-Knee American Apparel, Paris

Reinterpreting the Shirt Dress

Shirt dresses are the best. They are smart, sophisticated but still very feminine and daytime perfect. Tailored, clean cut, prim and pretty, they are the sisters to classic DVF wrap dresses (and can even be worn by girls less well endowed in the chest area!). These kind of shirt dresses, like the ones shown from Ralph Lauren, will never go out of style. But in a more casual atmosphere, as I almost always find myself in, sometimes these shirt dresses make me feel slightly too dressed up, even if they are designed to be perfect for the daytime- like a sore thumb who somehow landed on the streets from the country club.
Luckily for me, the newly updated shirt dress this season neatly solves my dilemma. They are less structured, more casual, with fun, youthful details. And yet they still manage to maintain the very proper and put together effect of a classic shirt dress! These two are from DVF (left) and Sass & Bide (right). I especially love how they made it into a high collar instead on the Sass & Bide dress.
Over at Paul and Joe Sister (left) and Derek Lam 3.1 (right), they turned in the buttons and switched it for laces . Usually I'm not a fan of this type of lacing up (too Pocahontas!), but I think it works here. It gives it a more casual, outdoor-sy feeling to the whole look.
Here are two of my favourite reinterpretations of the shirt dress from Top Shop (left) and Corey Lynn Calter from Nordstrom (right). The Top Shop dress barely looks like a shirt dress with its wide round collar, bubbly sleeves and scrunching. But all the crucial elements are still there. With the right accessories i.e. big colorful necklace, this dress would look so cool and now. Going in the opposite direction, the dress from Nordstrom is loose but still structured in a futuristic kind of way. The addition of the bright yellow belt is absolutely genius. It completes the look. I DEFINITELY wouldn't mind owning this dress!

Image Source: Ralph Lauren, Paul and Joe Sister, Top Shop, Nordstrom and Net a Porter

I Love Portofino

On the Street...Lino's Mad Plaid, Florence

When I started The Sartorialist it was to capture little images like this that would inspire the way I wanted to dress.

I know Lino is on the blog a lot but I think he really deserves it.

On the Street....Drama Queen, Milano

Meant for Movement, NYC

This is one of those looks that seems meant to be seen while moving.

She naturally walks with her arms tucked-in like that - I think it looks so graceful.

Night of the Man Moc, Milano

On the Street..7pm Bleecker St, West Village

On the Street....Strongly Striped, London & Florence

Urban Renewal

I usually walk past the Urban Renewal section of Urban Outfitters, thinking it is vintage stuff, which is not really my thing (not unless they come from a member of my family anyway). At the back of my head, I'd always wondered exactly how they got so many vintage items of the same style in different sizes together in one place. I mean, aren't vintage items supposed to be unique? But I'd never really been interested enough to read the fine print on their website and find out how. It wasn't until my friend mentioned it the other day that I realized what it was. Apparently what they do is collect vintage clothes/fabric and put them together to form new, more updated clothes. That is how they come up with so many pieces of the same style in different sizes. You can buy it at the store or online, where they claim you can even choose colors and they'd make you a completely unique piece using different materials in the same cutting as shown. The whole idea is to re-use materials and it has been around for over 20 years (before the whole go green craze!)- I didn't even know that Urban Outfitters have been around for over 20 years, let alone this division.
One of the reasons I don't like vintage clothes is that whenever I see them they almost always look very dated, hippie and bohemian like, which is so over - thank god! And indeed they do have such stereotypical vintage clothing in this collection here (above: ugh). In fact, most of the collection is like this and I was not impressed. However, there were a few pieces that are intriguing- like this denim vest (right). The extra trimming is quite sharp and refreshing! I'm not really sure how this black blazer (left) is vintage, but I like the cutting.
The ruffled tunic shirt (left) is feminine and romantic looking. Perfect paired with that crisp cropped blazer above! And the floral skirt is cute, reminds me of the floral skirts in the Prada ads this season. Though one should be careful when wearing that in case you look like you're wearing your curtains. Paired with something smart, tailored and modern, it would look stunning.

The thing is though, I'm still not really sure how I feel about this concept of "Urban Renewal." Besides the fact that you still do not know who the previous (many!) owners are, I heard that the renewed material is very scratchy and not very comfortable. On the other hand, we do use recycled paper and bags......so why not clothes? Thoughts?

Image Source: Urban Outfitters

On the Street...Runway to Reality, Milan

On the Street...Carine Roitfeld

The UV Rays Up There

So remember how I've been travelling a bit last month? Most of the flights I took were daytime flights and one thing that really irritates me about daytime flights is the amount of sunlight in the plane. This might sound weird to most people, and even my parents think I'm a total freak for applying sunscreen before a flight but here's the logic: up there in the sky, there are no shades or clouds or anything so the UV rays are naturally stronger and more direct. And it doesn't help that almost all passengers love keeping their window covers up and let the sunlight get through. I usually try to get a windows seat just to keep the blinds down!

So maybe I'm a bit overly paranoid. But while going through my magazines from this year (before throwing them away,) I noticed Elle (UK) had a "Top Tips For A Healthy Flight" editorial from a few months ago. Most of these tips are pretty much what you always read about, like make sure you hydrate by drinking lots of water and applying good moisturiser *Insert product recommendations, naturally*. So most of the time I ignore these editorials since let's face it, they basically just tell you common sense and sell you a bunch of unnecessary beauty products. But there was a 'tip' that I just have to share here since not most people seem to not know or care about:

"Wear a lotion containing sunscreens. 'Recent Studies show that UV rays can penetrate an airplane's windows. Because you're higher, the sun's rays are stronger as there's less proection from the atmosphere,' warns Dr Tom Monroe, director of research and development at Clinique."

See! It's not just me. OK, so a doctor from a major beauty company saying this obviously has commercial reasons, but it sounds logical doesn't it? I'm no dermatologist so I have no idea which sunscreen is the best, but BG and I do love Bioderma's SPF products.

Anyhow, I actually wanted to write this post to rant about people who keep their window blinds up during the flight -just because you like the sun and don't mind the UV rays damaging your skin cells doesn't mean the passenger next to you wants that! OK, rant over.

Image Credit: www.bioderma.com

On the Street...Mad Men of Milan

On the Street...American Chic in Milan & Paris

Since We Were Talking About Men in Skirts...

seems the idea of men in skirts is now acceptable but questions remain.
-cultural appropriation
-how the gentleman's legs look in the skirt
-what shoes to wear?
-(I can't believe I'm asking this but) above or below the knee?

On the Street...Casual DB, Florence

I always think of DB's as the most formal of jackets - very buttoned-up.

here I love the idea of a casual cotton DB worn in a very easy way.

White Flip Flops

For the longest time, my summer staple have been simple white flip flops. Not the rubber beach kind, but the more sophisticated and dressy type, with actual soles, made of non-rubber material. They are just awesome, because they are summery, comfortable and matches with absolutely everything- perfect for a casual summer day. Ever since my pair of Nine West white flip flops with chunky heels (just the right height!) expired a few years back however, I haven't been able to find a pair to properly replace them.
That is until I laid eyes on my friend's pair of Tory Burch white flip flops (over at their website, they call it thongs.... I have no idea what the difference is). They are just EXACTLY what I've been looking for. While the design is simple and casual, the little gold emblem and the wooden sole gives it just the right amount of sophistication that makes it elegant and classy. I LOVE it. Unfortunately, I've walked through the shop and all the usual department stores, and couldn't find them. They're also sold out online of my size! But while I was browsing, I noticed that they had this design in many different sharp colors, like this yellow one, which I think works great to match/clash with this season's bold color theme.
Another white flip flop I've looked at are these ones from Banana Republic. The patent leather strip and sole transforms this simple, classic design from the beach to the streets. This design also comes in a rainbow of sharp colors and are relatively cheaper than the Tory Burch's (more available too!). The only question now is which color? Other simple flip flops I'that also fits the bill are these ones from Nordstrom. They're basically the same as the ones from Banana Republic, except the straps are a bit wider and have a bit more elevation in the heels. These little details actually help to make these more sophisticated. But the gold shiny stuff on the soles kind of put me off even though I know it won't show when I'm wearing it.... should definitely go check them out!

Image Source: Tory Burch, Banana Republic and Nordstrom

After Costume National

On the Street...The Impact of Mens Accessories, part 2

Personal Silhouette (part 2)

I think what we are seeing is that some people are very in-tuned with what type of shapes look good on them.

For guys this would translate into always or never wear double-breasted jackets, or peak lapels with a low gorge or something like that.

Purple Driving Mocs Are All The Rage