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Keith Richards for Louis Vuitton

Fall essentials...?

It seems most kinds of magazines, blogs or things that talks about fashion include seasonal lists of items that they recommend readers should buy. I always love when they include $1200 shoes or the $5500 Balenciaga scarf (ok, if the funds existed I'd be all over it...even if it is "women’s"). So, rather than tell you what you should be wearing, I'll tell you what I'm wearing. It's cooled off a little here, so I've finally been able to bust out a few of the things I've been buying since August and been waiting to wear. Here is my fall uniform.

1. Clarks Wallabees. I actually bought these earlier this summer, and was waiting until it seemed right to wear them. At my summer job we had to "dress seasonally" beginning in August, which meant it was at least appropriate at work to wear them. They are easily among the most comfortable shoes I've ever owned. And they look great every with nearly everything. I got the dark brown leather--the suede is a bit cliché, and you have to worry about water spots, etc. I feel like these bad boys give me enough of a "boot" without being too heavy or too military. I wish I had bought them years earlier.

2. Dark, dark denim. I've been a fan of dark denim for years. I bought my first selvage pair last fall. Since then, I've lost some weight and my body's different so they don't exactly fit. This fall has been about replacing my old, giant ones with ones I love, and that fit better. I loved the fact that I could wear/break them in myself, without the aid of the weird things Abercrombie does to get all those holes, or whatever people do to "whisker" the denim. I want every crease and stain to be my own! If I find a pair that fits the way I want, I tend to buy them. I have two pairs I'm giving major play to right now: Ralph Lauren's Riverside Wash original fit (the slim fit is insane, i.e., I was protruding...a lot) and this random pair I found at the Gap on Saturday, the Morrison Slim Fit. They are a "slim" but not RL slim. I've been narrowing and narrowing down my pant legs for months, getting slimmer and slimmer. The Gap Morrison denim is about as slim as I can go without looking like I'm wearing running tights. The dark denim work for dressy or dressed down times. I wear them with t-shirts or with blazers. Totally versatile, totally awesome.

3. Button-up oxfords. I have been wearing these for years, but like my denim for this fall, I've taken to getting shirts that fit a bit more snug. These shirts fit better, and actually look much better. Last January's GQ featured an editorial on good fitting shirts. It's true--when it's too big, you get that blousy thing going, with miles of fabric pouring from the top of your pants in the back. I really think if you get a shirt one size smaller than what you actually think you need, you are in great shape. It might be a little uncomfortable, but the ladies suffer to look good all the time. Trust me, if it's at all uncomfortable, think about how fly you look. I'm big into the tartans and ginghams right now. And I've never been wronged by a solid blue or white one, either.

4. The right sunglasses. I'm all about the aviators this fall. I had some a few years ago that I really liked, then everyone else started wearing them, and they lost the cool for me. Well, the cool is back. Between the Tom Ford Farrah and Persol's 2813, I think I'm set. Both pairs are in brown tortoiseshell, and both are fly. The look is very classic, but not like metal-frame Rayban classic. More like, quite literally, Tom Ford classic (his version of classic at least). Steve McQueen rocked some Persol, not the same style, but Persol. Between the two of them, I feel quite justified.

5. The Peacoat. Men's fashion magazines have for years touted the peacoat as a coat we all need. I'm on the short end of things (around 5'8"), so peacoats don't exactly work for me because they end up looking kind of long. My search ended the day I found a Marc Jacobs peacoat on Yoox.com. It's got the fit of a classic letterman's jacket, with the kind of military styling many coats are featuring right now. It hits right at my waist--right where I want it. I debated about getting Philip Lim's version, but I do not have enough dough. MJ's version cost about half of what Lim's would have set me back. And honestly, I like it a whole lot more. None of those giant white buttons. And the elastic waist gives it a very fitted, and finished, look.

I thought five was a nice number to end on, as opposed to six. But I've also bought an inordinate amount of sweaters for F/W07. It'll be about layering the sweaters with the oxfords, underneath the coat, with the jeans and the boots--all about creating my own version of a classic man's work uniform. Or something! I think as long as you buy things that fit, you're golden. Keep it classy, fellas.

Attention Hipsters...!

To those who are trying to make the most out of the Wayfarer's recent resurgence in popularity and the subsequent doom that all things cool eventually come to, the Wayfarer's time is up! As there is nothing unique and/or hip about southern sorority girls, you know something has become ubiquitous when they pick it up. So to my dismay (basically because I thought Wayfarers required skinny jeans, striped shirts and Kirsten Dunst at your side), I saw them everywhere this weekend during tailgating for yesterday's football game. And they are apparently filtering across other campuses as well. The pic below is not from my school. So even if it's only two campuses (which I doubt), the Hipsters of New York would be having an emo-cow.

There is something off about how these glasses have been worn for much of the past year and how these girls are putting them with sundresses and flip-flops that's giving me a bad case of cognitive dissonance. If this continues, it's Risky Business all over again (and we know how that turned out). Fashionista predicted the Wayfarers demise a few weeks back, and it now looks like it's oh so true.

Photo: No one I know--just an example of the Wayfarers new market. Chloe Sevigny would be so upset.

Thank god. I kind of hated them anway!

Farrah, pimps, and Barneys

I ended up ordering the "Farrah" sunglasses. They are massive. I feel a bit like Kanye West when I wear them--but the thing is, I am no rapper so the look he rocks is a bit lost on me. Part of me feels like I should be wearing a dyed-fur coat when I wear these shades. Tom didn't say anything about that!

I think the size of Ford's aviators work for some folks, and not others. I may just wear them ironically--they don't necessarily go with my button-up and chino uniform...but they could.

Despite their hugeness, I think I will be keeping them. They do still look good, and they step up my accessory game. They're a high on the "bla-dow" effect--something neither of my other pairs of sunglasses have. I'll be in NYC next week, so I think I'll test them out for real then.

Speaking of NYC, Barneys' warehouse sale starts Thursday. I've never been, but I'll be there for sure next week.

Picture: not the Farrah on 'Ye, but something like it. You see what I mean about how they look good on some people. I had trouble finding a bad picture of someone in large aviators. I'm hoping they'll look differently on me later as I just recently buzzed off my hair. Maybe when there's more of it, my head won't be dwarfed by my sunglasses.

Tom Ford is crazy insane.

I am a bit obsessed with Tom Ford. Not so much with his clothing, or his days at YSL and Gucci. But really, just him. I think that Ford, Ralph Lauren and Thom Browne represent the best, while the rest of the US menswear game is somewhat meaningless. Ford represents, for me, what well styled American men should look like.

I saw him on Martha Stewart a few weeks back (re-run), and was kind of entranced. There is something magnetic about him--I think he'd be fun to hang out with. Oddly enough, he seems like a "guy's guy". I imagine him whipping up those things he made with Stewart in preparation for a Knicks game...or something. Anyway, like I said I'm not really obsessed with his clothes, but who wouldn't love to own one of his made-to-meaures?

I am, however, quite enamored with his eyewear line. The Farrah aviator glasses are the ones I like best. Last August, GQ featured some similar looking Marc Jacobs' aviators, and told us that large-lensed sunglasses were a look we needed for the fall. I bought some Blindes this past January; it's now Fall 07, and I think the large plastic aviators are still a nice choice, and are something I want/need. At this point, metal-framed aviators just remind me of something like this. So while the aviator does remain a staple of many men's accessories, I think going beyond a simple Ray-ban style, with its ubiquitous gold or silver frame, or one you find at the grocery store (ok, I did once own some gold aviators made by the good folks at Polaroid) can take a look one step higher. And while the cost is somewhat prohibitive, I've had good luck getting designer glasses from eBay. I still don't want to spend $200 on them, but they are kind of awesome, and I think I need them right now.

Photo source: Some dude's myspace profile; Saksfifthavenue.com.