Monochrome CHIC.

All black with with Bella...'lighten up' the situation with the bright loafers. Owned.

Zoe Saldana in shades of grey. Gorgeous.

The 'PEACOCK' man.

To be bold or not to be? I call this the peacock look for obvious reasons, with a get up like this you will get lots of stares and rightfully so. This is not the average guy, this is edgy but in a nice tasteful way in my opinion. For me it would either be the jacket or the pants not both, not sure I am that 'confident' I do admire it though. 

This is a beautiful blazer well put together with the floral details on the shirt. Not for the faint hearted though.

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Still on the Leopard trail...Tinie Tempah

 Tinnie scores high as usual with this ensemble. I'll call this 'welcome to the jungle'.

The all black with Leopard shoes is always a winner. You will rarely go wrong with it.

The 'HYBRID' Shoe.

Meet the Monk Fringe thats if you are not familiar with it already, its a mix of the fringe loafer and the monk strap brogues hence the 'hybrid' title. They come in an assortment of brands from reasonably priced at Russell & Bromley to the more pricey high end Santoni. Its versatility factor makes it a must have for any self respecting shoe man.

The SANTONI.

Found these at Russell & Bromley couple summers ago and they are still very much in rotation especially in the spring and summer.

'Earl Grey'

In the colour family Grey has to be Blacks more subtle, less rebelious and non aggressive brother. No? lol. While black can be quite full on with its intentions grey is vague and could be pretty much interpreted into any mood/season. Just as classic but not quite as famous as black, it plays the second fidle gracefully. Here is a toast to Mr Grey.  

Photo credit - Mr Babs Odulami

Dim the glares in this YSL number.

The Hilfiger Era - 90s Nostalgia.

Whats makes us wear another persons name like a billboard on our chests and bear it with pride too? Answer...MONSTROUS BRANDING. Back in the 1990's osetentation was the order of the day the bolder the better, bright colours that could rival the shine of the sun, yep Tommy gears were that bright! In hindsight that was probably the most brilliant idea ever, if you were an all american designer in the shadow of Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein and aiming to join the big boys club, appealling to the youth would be your best entrance with Hip Hop being the door of opportunity to run through. The culture was on the rise at the speed of light in the 90s and Tommy took advantage of that, he befriended the Hip Hop culture and he cashed in heavy, while we were all 'colour blocking' Mr Hil was stacking blocks of cash! The whole world followed what hip hop wore closely. Rappers and RnB Singers wore alot of Hilfiger so did their disciples. My boys and I back home rocked alot of it too! it was all about ralph and tommy but tommy had those colours on lock gaudy as hell but we loved it...memories...  

This picture is from like 1996/97 two of my close friends, you can tell who's in Hilfiger right? lol

I loved the way the Tommy shirts were structured. There was the 'V' at the back just below the collar, the green stitched button hole on the top right of the pocket and the crest below the pocket. This was not your regular shirt.

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The ever so beautiful Aaliyah. RIP baby girl. She had the baggy look on lock, fit perfectly with all the oversized gear Tommy was hawking in the 90s.

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 Even the King got in on the action. This sweater was everything!

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 Check Mike out in them baggys!

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The CREST that gave the RL pony a run for its money.

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Tommy Hilfiger with Destinys Child.

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Tommy these days...yep he's still in the game. He moved with the times and as you can see he still keeps it bright but not gaudy. 

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Regeneration of the Naija Party Fashion.

Wearing a suit to an 'Owambe' (thats the slang for a prestigious Nigerian party) doesn't seem to be cutting it these days, you will most likely look out of place no matter how nice your suit is, besides part of the essence of the Owambe is the native attire. If you really want to make a statement you will need to get a very good Naija tailor, some decent good quality fabrics and make your designs as unique as possible but not too far away from the conventional.

The all black would be boring without a touch of gold and leopard.

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 A bit of a modern twist on the buba (the top) the Givenchy inspired stars round the neck in place of the traditional embriodry. Made by LOLU.

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The Full Regalia - Agbada, Buba and Fila. We could refer to this as the equivalent of a 3 piece suit.

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Bohemian HAT Rhapsody.

Two weeks ago I bumped into my buddy Stunnah Gee at a party, there was something about his ensemble that just seemed right. Slightly cold evening so the warm gray and black look was weather appropriate, the gray cardigan with the pin I loved (didn't get the name), the paisley Jimmy Choo loafers was on point also the McQueen scarf but the HAT took the cookie, brought it all together. This is how a single accessory makes an outfit stand out. Say hello to the 'mad hatters'.   

 The 'Unconventional HAT Wearers' (Pharrell Williams did not 'create' this club). lol.

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TWO I(EYE)CONS / WISHLIST: The Vintage Cartier Vendome and the Steve McQueen Persol sunglasses.

 Gold frames brown lens Cartier vintage Vendome and the accetate light lens McQueen Persol.

The Cartier Vendome has to be the coolest shades ever in my opinion. A bonafied icon, put it on any face shape male or female round or oblong it sits well, comfy and fly. One day I'll get my hands one one...one day...

Christopher Walken as the villian Max Zorin spotting the Vendome in the James Bond classic 'A view to a kill'. COOOOOOL!

'BLUEY McGOLDIE' thats my pet name for the blue lens Vendome below.

Jay in the classic 1963 foldable Steve McQueen Persol. Keep the lens light enough to see through they are cooler that way, the light brown/tan accetate frames with the light blue lens are very nice too.

ANKARA gone GAGA in other words...AFRICAN prints gone mainstream.

Ankara has always been popular since I was a kid back in Ibadan many years ago. It was and still a sort of leisure wear sewn into iro and buba (a top and a wrapper for women) and buba and sokoto (top and trousers for men)  Even back then the younger ladies had them sewn into all sorts of contemporary styles like some of the ones that we see on the fashion runways today. I remember my sisters in them, they didn't want to sew it the traditional way so the tailors got creative with the fabrics. The mainstream has recently found its way to the Ankara and they are loving it, its all over the place from the runway  to the highstreet Burberry to Topshop.