Throwing Pitbull to the Dogs

The rapper/hop hop artist Pittbull usually performs in either a suit and tie or at the very least, a blazer.

I cringe a bit most of the times I see him, but I don't know why. Maybe it's because he resembles Dr. Evil a bit too much.

Sure, there are a few things that I can point to, such as the poorly shaped Windsor tie knots, the stuffy vests, the ugly dark-on-dark shirt/suit combinations, but at the end of the day, I can't quite put my finger on what exactly it is about the way he dresses that makes Pitbull look so awkward in his suits.

He looks like that mail-room guy forced to wear a tie, or the 21 year old guy at the hotel front desk that just hasn't grown comfortable wearing his cheap suit and tie, or the Woodbridge kid wearing a poorly fitting suit for the first time at his high-school Prom. I thought the same thing about Eminem when he wore a suit during the Encore tour (ca. 2004).

While I give the guy credit for trying to add a touch of class to his often shabbily dressed craft, most of the times he misfires.

I suspect that  part of the problem lies with the fact that  a suit and tie is not the most appropriate attire for a hip-hop performance. Sure, it can work well for other musical genres such as jazz or big band, but for hip hop, a suit and tie comes off as overly formal and/or stuffy.  If a suit is to be worn at all, it ought to be somewhat more theatrical than the businesslike attire favoured by Pitbull.

Time for Pitbull to put his suits to sleep.


-The Scandal

Smarty pants

I bet you've never seen pants like this:

The photo is of South African golfer Gary Player, who wore these pants at the 1960 Open Championship to show his support for ending apartheid. Player stated the pants were ‘a quiet protest, of bringing white and black together".

Actually, I've previously commented on a pair of hideous Duckie Brown Pants that reminded me of Batman villain Two-Face's ensemble. Player's pants would've been perfect this Star Trek pair:

I'm typically a fan of two-tone clothing and accessories, whether they be dress shirts with white collars, or two tone shoes.

The pants however strike me as a little too bold. I certainly couldn't pull them off, but that doesn't mean there isn't someone who could.

-The Scandal

Faux-hawk Faux-pas

I typically restrict all of my posts to the topic of men's style, particularly clothing. I never wanted this blog to be about say, some great sushi that I had last week,  or a fascinating article I might've read in the paper about Indonesian currency policy. But this post is a bit off the beaten path.
I'm sure you're all familiar with the faux-hawk hairstyle, made famous by David Beckham at the 2002 World Cup. The haircut became wildly popular in the ensuing years to come, especially in Europe.

There are many variations on the style but essentially, the hairstyle is shorter (if not shaved) on the sides and thicker/fuller in the centre of the head.

Obviously, the word "faux-hawk" is a not-so-clever play on the word "Mohawk", implying that the hairstyle is a sort of false Mohawk.

I've begun to notice a disturbing trend of guys sporting fawx-hawks even though they're balding in the crown of their heads.  These poor saps have no idea how foolish they look. If you're going to shave the side of your head and leave the middle part thicker, you will obviously draw attention to the centre portion of your head--and it better not be bald.  Also, if you're balding, you're probably too old to be sporting a faux-hawk anyways.

I saw some putz at the gym guilty of this offence and I couldn't resist surreptitiously snapping a photo of him (although admittedly it isn't very clear).   The sides of his head are actually shaved in a diamond pattern --this doesn't show up in the picture-- but you can clearly see that he is thinning in his crown. As Mr. T says: "I pity the fool!"

To me, this haircut is almost as bad as those bald guys who sport mullets as if to say "Ladies, I may be balding, but I can still grow a sexy mane of hair!ROARRR!"

I don't mean to pick on bald guys, just those who make poor choices. Pick up any men's magazine and they'll be chock full of suggestions of how best to style a balding head whether it's a receding hairline or a thinning crown.

-The Scandal

TED ED

One of my favourite youtube channels is the TEDTalks channel. TED stands for Technology Entertainment and Design, and the conference offers the widest array of speakers one can possibly imagine. I myself have watched dozens of videos on a variety of topics, and have recommended numerous videos to friends and family.   


Every once in a while, I'll stumble upon a video that has some relevance to this blog, so I figured I'd present a small list and description of those videos:

1. In one of my favourite videos, model and athlete Aimee Mullins describes how she uses prosthetic legs as sexy fashion and beauty accessories.




2. Designer Suzanne Lee discusses the uses of microbial cellulose as a fabric for garments.




3.Charming and likeable oddball Jessi Arrington describes how she creates her all outfits from used clothing stores.





-The Scandal

Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition

Ever hate a piece of clothing so much that you just wanted to blast the thing to death with a shotgun? The truth is that for years designers have been shooting at clothes, except they have been using this as marketing gimmick to give their clothes the  ultimate distressed look. In fact, there is even a patent for a method to distress a garment by shotgun.

The Canadian label Dutch Blonde (not to be confused with Von Dutch) offers simple but handsome men's t-shirts that have apparently been shot at with real bullets.

 In fact, the t-shirt includes the actual (I assume) empty shell casing that was used  to blast the garment.

My legions of fashion loving NRA members will correctly note  that the casing is a .308 Winchester.  I would've thought that the birdshot pattern of puncture holes could only have been made by a shotgun shell. Maybe some of my readers can illuminate me whether a .308 shell is capable of producing the scattershot pattern seen on the shirt.

The shirt itself  fits quite nicely and I find the birdshot  pattern to be rather interesting, although the retail price of $125 (CAD) is a bit steep. As for the brand itself, it seems that (based on their website) Dutch Blonde focuses mainly on women's clothing, most of it having little to do with bullet holes.

-The Scandal