This is the final week to see the exhibit Sole Desire: the Shoes of Christian Louboutin at The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Famous for those red-hot soles, Louboutin’s shoes are a favorite accessory of many celebrities, including our December 2002 covergirl, Dita Von Teese.

Her crystal-studded “Lipteese” cowgirl boots, which Louboutin designed especially for her MAC Viva Glam burlesque show, are one of the highlights of the exhibit. If you can’t make it to see them in person, check out this video where you can catch a glimpse of the boots and watch Dita skillfully ride a giant lipstick. 

For the past few years, I’ve been trying to introduce a couple of words into the American lexicon. The first was tilk. It can be used as a verb or noun and it’s defined as the accidental lurch a person experiences when a train begins to move. Haven’t heard it used before? Me neither. But this next word will surely seep into the American vocabulary by year’s end: swest. It is just another word for a sweater vest, but I believe it gives the piece of clothing it’s own identity. No longer is it some boring hybrid caught between innerwear and outerwear. The swest (rhymes with test) is its own thing.

I assumed that since I’m from the same town as Noah Webster, I would have some sort of in with the dictionary people, but Webster’s has been ignoring my constant calls and faxes. The only way I see it possible for the term “swest” to someday become an acceptable Scrabble answer is for the masses to use it in their everyday lives. Here are a couple quick examples: “Hey, it is a little cold out today; I’d better throw on a swest.” Or, “You should totally cut the sleeves of that sweater- it would make a great swest.” So I urge you, go forth and say swest. Once we get it in the dictionary, we’ll go back and work on tilk.   

Just as the temperature in Manhattan began to dip below freezing, the Playboy fashion department skipped town in favor of warmer climates. Last week we were in Turks and Caicos with photographer extraordinaire Antoine Verglas to shoot our April fashion spread.

This year we are focusing on the lifestyle as well as the clothes. Says Fashion Director Joseph DeAcetis, “This years’ photographs will portray a very elegant way of life. We want to portray a man who looks good and feels good, regardless of the setting.” This means that even when it comes to casual sportswear by the pool, the labels read “Canali” and “Gianfranco Ferre.”

One constant on the shoot was the light-weight sports jacket. Whether silk or seersucker, this is a warm weather necessity that puts a polish on a strong look. 

The first snow fell on New York City this past weekend, and for me, this was Old Man Winter signaling me to break out the long underwear. That’s right, I wear long underwear. Not only that, I enjoy wearing long underwear. I’d buy stock in long underwear if I could. Yet every time I stand on my soap box and proclaim the necessity for long johns, I get resistance from the hoi polloi.  
Most believe that  long underwear is meant solely for downhill skiing or hunting black bear in the Yukon territory, not for mornings in Manhattan.

But what sense does it make to wrap my upper torso in seven layers, and leave my legs protected with one pair of thin, wool trousers? I’m not suggesting we wear union suits every day this winter, but it’s not unreasonable to throw on a pair of long johns when the wind chill dips to zero on the Kelvin scale.  

There are all kinds of moisture wicking, tri-insulated, thermo-nuclear long johns out there, but I’ve found that the basics work just fine. A simple waffle style keeps you warm and goes unnoticed under a suit.

As a magazine that began over 50 years ago, it seems appropriate that Playboy has a line of menswear that is the epitome of vintage-cool. Our new City Nights line is a collection of tees and outerwear that pair distressed graphics with low-key color schemes. The slim-fit tees make for a clean silhouette, and a $28 price tag means you won't have that day-after buyer’s guilt. Wait until the chaos of Black Friday clears, and wander over to Bloomingdales, the exclusive retailer for the line.

Darin Hager, founder and designer of Heyday Footwear, (not to mention a dead-ringer for actor Evan Handler) dropped by our offices to show off his new spring collection. They aren’t the most subtle pair of kicks, but for sneaker-freaks, Heyday is starting to make an impression.

The company is only a year old, but Hager has been designing for the likes of Puma and Reebok for over a decade. The new collection is a stew of bright colors and unique designs. I’m wearing a more conservative pair of Winger slip-ons and they feel pretty damn good.  

As New York’s Fashion Week winds down, one of our favorite American designers previewed his spring/summer ’08 collection.

From the 45th floor of 7 World Trade Center, the John Varvatos show featured the designer’s eponymous line, and his younger, funkier John Varvatos Star U.S.A collection. As was expected, Mr. Varvatos remained quiet with his color palette and edgy with his design. His suits had a relatively slim fit while the casual wear hung off the body a bit more. Varvatos is known for his rock 'n' roll-inspired clothing (we featured him in Rock the Rabbit) but year after year his lines feature pieces that can work well on the weekdays between nine and five.

It's a relief to see a designer who can create a line of clothing that's far from conventional yet completely practical for today’s metropolitan man. Mr. Varvatos, a two-time CDFA Menswear Designer of the Year, has been a fashion standout since the line’s debut in 2000, and last night he kept with tradition.

This past Thursday the Playboy men’s fashion department shot our December tuxedo story with legendary photographer Harry Benson. We were on location at New York hotspot The Box to capture the best in men’s formalwear. Take a sneak peak now, and check back in mid-November for the full feature.

 

 

 

 

Photographer Timothy White gets comfortable on the streets of Harlem during our November fashion shoot. White, who has photographed the likes of Brad Pitt and Harrison Ford, shot his third Playboy spread last week in the sweltering New York heat, this time featuring very cool fall/winter outerwear.

Photography is one of those things that I love but know nothing about. F-stops, focal length, aperture, shutter speed—all Greek to me. But boy, do I like looking at all the pretty pictures.

So when my friend Rachel (that's her pictured to the left) told me about a project called 365 Portraits that her friend Bill Wadman is working on, I had to take a look. The concept is quite simple: one photo each day of a different person.

Wadman shoots all kinds of different folks: young, old, dark, light, attractive, average, high-fashion, blue collar—from myriad angles, indoors and out. The result is nearly hypnotic: I found myself clicking "next page" over and over again, easily making up the six-plus months I’d missed. If you like the pretty pictures like I do, check it out.

Sometimes it’s necessary to drop some serious cash on a nice piece of clothing for yourself. You’ll feel like a millions bucks in a Borrelli shirt or a Zegna suit, but there are some parts of your wardrobe that you don’t need to splurge on. Example A: T-shirts. For the life of me, I don’t know how a person can rationalize paying hundreds of dollars for a T-shirt.

I own about 30 tees, and I love them each like a child, but my shirts from Threadless.com hold a special place in my heart (and closet). Threadless encourages everyone and anyone to submit their own T-shirt design, and every week a handful of those get chosen for mass production. Hundreds of styles exist already, and they range from humorous to political and plenty that are just plain strange.

Are you bald? I am. Started losing my hair in my early 20s, cowered under a baseball cap for a few years, then finally decided to shave it all off at 26, a look I’ve stuck with ever since. (Guys, if you’re struggling with this decision, please, just do it. Comb-overs are laughed at, plugs make everyone cringe and toupees really are just the saddest of all. And if you want to keep what I call the “horseshoe” or “toilet-seat,” keep it short and tight.)

While the cue-ball look has become almost commonplace nowadays, I’d hardly call myself a trail-blazer; surely Yul Brynner, Telly Savalas and Michael Jordan come to mind when one thinks of plain pates. And since this look has become so popular, you’d think someone out there would’ve capitalized financially on it, right?

Well, someone’s finally doing it. Bald Guyz is a line of head-care products for men like me (that’s me at the top of that page with the shoulder stripes on his shirt; the guy pictured on the right here is none other than Kojak himself), who just weren’t smiled upon when hair was being handed out. People think I must save tons of time and money because I don’t have to shampoo or blow-dry, but that's hardly the case. I shave it every morning, have to keep it clean (Zits on the dome? Ugh.) and moisturized. And let’s not forget the sunblock: A burn up top is painful, something I learned right away.

So the guys at Bald Guyz have us chrome-domers covered: cleanser/conditioner, wash/shampoo, moisture gel, shave gel, portable head wipes and sunscreen. And I say that it’s about time. If a dog can wear shoes, bald men can have head-care products.

And remember: God only made a few perfect heads. He had to cover the rest with hair.

Our friend Paulie “The Magic Man” Malignaggi (pictured), whom we featured in our June fashion pages, went the distance this weekend, winning a junior welterweight title by unanimous decision. With this victory over Lovemore N'dou, Malignaggi now holds a belt and a 23-1 record. Malignaggi told us that he has one of the best jabs in the sport and on Saturday night he backed up that statement with a fierce ninth-round knockdown that put the title on ice.

Standing at the intersection of jurisprudence and leisure wear, intern Lynsey Gilchrist files this report:

The mayor of Delcambre, La. (population c. 2,000) would rather his young constituents cross-dress than wear saggy pants.

The town council approved a measure this week that will set a possible six-month jail sentence and $500 fine for wearing pants that expose undergarments or your “privates.”

I personally think the pants-falling-off-your-butt look is a little over, but I wouldn’t arrest you for it. Since we Americans like to sue for anything and everything, I’m saying this spells L-A-W-S-U-I-T. (Freedom of expression anyone?)

I asked our fashion assistant Conor Hogan for his thoughts:

“I’m concerned for the young men who could end up in jail for breaking this possible new law. I don’t know much about prison, but I know that entering with your pants around your ankles is just asking for trouble.

“If you’re going to outlaw certain fashion trends, I’d say we should start with a ban on fanny-packs. They have ravaged this country for too long, and they need to be stopped.”

Rocky Rakovic, junior editor and lover of women, volunteered his thoughts on women in low-riders:

As far as women wearing low-riders, I am normally for that, unless they shouldn't be wearing low-riders (unfortunately not all you ladies know who you are), are part of a whale watch or are exposing that gross tramp stamp.

In public the coin slot (female version of plumber's crack) is an awful look, but showing a little butt cleavage (?) in the bedroom is very enticing to men.

If this mayor can bust the saggers, can’t he also do something about muffin tops?

Throughout human history, people have been funny about their hair. The ancient Egyptians, for example, hated hair. To show their disdain for it, they shaved it off. All of it—eyebrows, the whole deal. But that wasn’t enough. To further display their loathing, they began wearing wigs and fake goatees, the phonier-looking, the better. The worse the hair looked, the more clear was the wearer’s contempt.

In our culture today, there is a fashion among women for a closely barbered, if not completely depilated pudendum (See All Roads Lead to Brazil, by Sloane Crosley, in our August 2006 issue.) But in the way that nature abhors a vacuum, many people dislike open space. They want to fill it.

Which brings us, unexpectedly enough, to Kansas City, Missouri, where the Pi Gallery this month is presenting an exhibit called Intimate Apparel. Intimate, indeed. It is an exhibit of merkins—pubic wigs. Twenty-three artists from around the world created 37 merkins made from a variety of materials ranging from velvet and silk to pine cone scales and lichen. Some are beautiful, some witty, some aggressive. Who knows—soon merkins may become the fashion accessories of the year. Soon we may see high-end merkins from Prada, budget merkins from Kohl’s, and novelty merkins with an imbedded chip that plays "Touch Me" when it’s poked. For more information about this possible harbinger of an exhibit, visit the gallery’s website at PiArtGallery.com. Click below for a few more examples.

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