Men's Style Books -- Your favorites and mine!

Greetings from Surf City, USA (Two girls for every boy!).  Yes, I'm back at the bagel shop/Wi-Fi hotspot, otherwise known as Home of the Golden Oldies.  

Home internet service remains an elusive dream and did I mention our ground line phone is out too?  I try to look on the bright side:  I can no longer troll eBay in search of more Ken dolls which is probably a good thing.

Readers, despite our being unarguably post-Guy Week, I wanted to focus on men one more day, and more specifically, to tell you about an excellent men' s style book I picked up recently that I recommend highly.



The book is Gentleman: A Timeless Guide to Fashion by German author Bernhard Roetzel and it's extraordinary.

Gentleman covers everything the well-dressed man needs to know, in both written and visual detail.  It's bursting with beautiful color photographs and the text is highly readable, despite being translated from German to English.

You'll find most everything here --

From shirts...



to shaving.



From shoes...





to sunglasses.



Even how to tie a bowtie!



To be clear, this book's definition of a gentleman is a traditional one, based on the classic English model.  There's nothing here about harem pants or leopard-print jeans and fans of skateboard style should look elsewhere.  But if you or someone you love aspires to classic style in the original Ken Doll/Sartorialist mode, you won't do better than this book.  There's even a fascinating section on Beckenstein's fabric store.

Another extraordinary thing about Gentleman: A Timeless Guide to Fashion is its price.  It's currently available on Amazon for just under $20 and if you want a second opinion (or third or fourth), just read the glowing reader reviews. 

I suppose you could call this a coffee table book -- it's heavy for sure -- but it's a truly serious guide to classic men's style and not just something to thumb through while you're waiting for the phone to ring or your Wi-Fi to kick in.  Bathroom readers please note: it will leave marks on your thighs in just a few minutes due to its considerable heft.  (It will also make you want to spend a week's pay on shoes.)

I don't endorse many things here on MPB, but this book is a keeper and would make a great gift.  More pics of Gentleman can be viewed in my Picasa file here.

Friends, if I said, Black is black; I want my baby back, would you know what I was talking about?  After about half an hour in this bagel place I feel like I am losing my mind -- and not the song, either, the real thing.

So I'm going to close now and ask about your favorite men's fashion and/or style books.  You don't even have to be a man to have an opinion.  Oh! -- I noticed there was a Men's Fashion of the Times supplement today and maybe we'll cover that weak tea later on this month.

Where does a man go for style advice?   Can you learn more from watching a Thin Man movie than you can from thumbing through the latest issue of GQ?  I think so.  Of course it depends on how you define style.

I must head home now and void my colon which is rather a gentlemanly way of putting it, don't you think?

Put on your Sunday clothes, and have a great day everybody!

Men's style/fashion book recommendations?

GUY WEEK EXCLUSIVE! -- MPB Men's Grooming VIDEOS!

Readers, you spoke, I listened  -- or was it the other way around?  Regardless, in our continued celebration of MPB Guy Week, today I debut my first-ever men's grooming videos!

If you've ever wondered about my regular (weekly) grooming routine -- and who hasn't? -- I have the answers for you here.  In Video 1, you'll see me clip my hair and beard with Oster clippers (which I refer to as a razor in my video but nobody's perfect).  In Video 2, you can watch me shave my beard with real shaving cream and badger brush and discuss my simple skincare routine.  In Video 3, showered and freshly shaven, I instruct you how to tie a men's bowtie!

Rest assured, if you can handle the sight of me with no shirt on (only Cary Grant shaves in a satin bathrobe), you won't be shocked by anything revealed on these videos.  My clipper technique might raise a few eyebrows, but thankfully not shave them off.

In other news, you're probably wondering about my internet service and friends, so am I.  The good folks at Verizon assure me that service will be restored by March 17.  That's right, March 17.  So it looks like I have a lot of bagels in my future.  The good news however, is that my local bagel shop/Wi-Fi hotspot has a lightning-fast Internet connection that allows me to upload videos in 10 minutes instead of 10 hours -- a big plus and so what if I have to sit through endless oldies like The Beat Goes On (currently playing), Mellow Yellow, I'm a Girl Watcher, and every hit by The Mamas & the Papas?

With no further delay, here are my videos, made exclusively for you  As always, your questions and comments are welcome but please be kind -- grooming isn't exactly my strong point but with your encouragement, I'm working on it!

Enjoy!

P.S. - Check out my latest article on BurdaStyle -- and don't forget to say hi!

VIDEO 1



VIDEO 2  (skincare at 7:25)



VIDEO 3

Beards -- yea or nay?

Friends, how do you feel about beards?

Facial hair is one of those things that go in and out of mainstream and alternative fashion regularly.  (When it's "out" in the former it's usually "in" in the latter. )

We seem to be witnessing a major beard resurgence where I live, especially among the hip and hirsute.

Through the decades I've tried all kinds of beard variations.  About fifteen years ago it seemed every man was sporting a goatee.  And being the fashion conformist I am, I jumped on the bandwagon.



I've tried all kinds of variations: just mustache, mustache with soul patch -- you name it.





Ever since I started shaving my head ten years ago, I've believed I look better with a few days' scruff.  Sometimes I even leave it for weeks.  After a while though, it usually feels heavy and looks a little "patchy" and I clip it back. 

Some people look strange without a beard.

Others look like they're trying just a little too hard to toughen up a pretty face.  I hope I don't fall into this category, folks.

And then there's Sean Connery.  Perfect, right?

It definitely flatters (and balances) a bald or shaven pate, no?

As I mentioned yesterday, I've gotten interested in old-fashioned shaving rituals of late --  the double-edged safety razor, the badger brush, the soap, the mug, etc.  We'll see how that works.  But until it gets under way, I'm looking like this...

Readers, what's your take?  Do you like the way beards look or are they simply too Grizzly Adams for the modern world?  Do you like any facial hair or do you prefer your men clean-shaven?  Can you live with a mustache and well-groomed soul patch?

Male readers, do you have a beard?  Have you ever had a beard?

How about on me?   I like it in theory but I'm not sure it truly flatters.  Cathy, on the other hand, says that as long as I have a beard, she's outta here. 

I want to hair from you!  (Any beard memories you wish to share?)

How should a man smell?

Wise readers, how do you like your man to smell?  If you are a man or man-identified, how do you like to smell?

I'll be honest with you: I don't wear cologne anymore.  I do have some old bottles around the house, accumulated over the decades, however.



I decided a few years ago to eliminate as many chemicals from my home environment as possible and I certainly didn't want to put them on my skin.  But for nostalgia's sake I've kept most of what I had.

I bought this bottle in Bologna in 1984 and I still haven't used it up.  I don't think they make it anymore. 



I bought a bottle of Acqua di Parma a few years ago and after deciding to ditch the cologne, sold it on eBay.  There's gold in thar medicine cabinet!



Most mens cologne and aftershave ads seem geared primarily to women, who probably buy most of it as gifts for the men in their lives.  Actually, I'm not sure who the target audience is...







With very few exceptions I hate standing downwind of a man wearing cologne.  I think the cheap stuff smells cheap and the expensive stuff smells worse.  And it can be very strong.  From time to time I do like a dab of geranium oil behind my right ear but that's a whole other thing, don't you think? 

Tonight is my dreaded event.  The pants are hemmed, the shirt ironed.  You've been such a help to me through these last few weeks of sewing and self-improvement -- I feel like a new person.

But how should I smell?

Global opinionmakers and others, what should a man smell like?  (Oh, if only I could blog in Smell-O-vision!)

Do you like your (or anyone else's) man scented, or do you prefer his natural aroma: tobacco, wood shavings, 3-in-One, that sort of thing?

In short, Mens cologne: yea or nay? 

Please hurry -- I have no time to lose!