Shit its raining

Most of the people here in Vancouver can relate to this expression on a very regular basis. We don’t have the nickname “Raincouver” for it for a reason. Especially in this time of the year, we can experience a very generous amount of rain coming our way. This doesn’t mean that our sense of style and our rain gear should suffer. I notice that most people here in Vancouver stick to the very safe and simple black umbrella to protect themselves from the rain, but I have a solution for you.

“Merde Il Pleut” – Shit it’s raining (in French) umbrella

When life gives you lemons, you make lemon juice. So when it rains, why not make the best of the situation and throw in some sense of humour while you’re at it.

Why just stick to the norms of a black umbrella when you can make someone’s day with a funny yet still stylish and classy one.

The strong wood handle, wood shaft, ferrule, and wooden tips help prevent wind damage. I haven’t tested this guy against strong winds yet but with the feel of its construction I can say it stands a good chance of handling the occasional winds of Vancouver.

Let me just say, it does look good when matched with a pair of tan coloured shoes and brown belt because of the wooden accent on the umbrella. It just gives it a very vintage yet modern feel.

So the next time you buy an umbrella for yourself or even as a gift for someone you might want to consider this umbrella. I got this at Kent Street Apparel which is a Vancouver based online store.

If you guys like these kinds of content please leave a message. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Ramir

The shirt that gives back and inspires.

As we all go through our busy lives, day-by-day we sometimes forget that how we dress up can also affect the people around us. If you dress yourself up with clothing that says profanity on it, you know you could offend some people. You have this strong influence in others to either offend or inspire, so what would you choose? There are clothes that are made from recycled materials and which help provide jobs for poor families in third world countries. These companies spread positivity and help the good cause. With this being said I’m very happy to say that i’ve been given a chance to collaborate with a company that does something similar.

LeMotto

Spreading good messages through inspiring quotes.

When I got my package here’s what I got:

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An actual personalized handwritten letter

It’s awesome that even on this digital age, you actually still get a handwritten letter from the owner of the company. It makes me feel all warm inside and actually getting a thank you for helping spread positivity!

IMG_0748 IMG_0753I choose this slogan because it hits me close to my heart. I like to think that I will always have this little kid in me and that will never go away no matter how old I get. I also like to think that we all are actually cool kids. No discrimination, just love for everyone.

So what brought about the brand?

Here’s an excerpt from the “about” section of their website and I truly think the message is awesomely positive!

Hi, my name is Vaiana. My story and my brand revolve around something seemingly benign but actually powerful: words.

My life started on the island of Tahiti. It was a beautiful place, but I had to endure harsh words in my own home that often led to violence and abuse. As a student, words were central to all my studies, as I eventually earned degrees in language, law and international relations. As a mother I became even more aware of how words on the playground, in the mall, on the bus, on TV and even in schools can bombard our kids with toxic ideas. I also learned how comforting kind words can be for a suffering child.

Vaiana - Le Motto - SheSheBonBonThe trigger for Le Motto happened when I noticed a girl at Disney World with a t-shirt that said, “I want to be like Barbie because this b*tch has everything”. Really?!

Hey, I’m not trying to tell you what words you have to wear, but I am definitely giving you a positive alternative: meaningful words that point us in the right direction.

I create clothing that “speaks” to people whenever and wherever they see it. I believe the words on your favorite “statement tee” should be able to make a stranger flip a negative attitude to a positive one and pay it forward. The best statement tee should make strangers come up to you and say, “I love your shirt! Thanks for wearing it. You just made my day!” It works – just try it! Who doesn’t want to be a billboard for good vibes in a world that can sometimes be ugly?

The Bully Project - Le Motto - SheSheBonBonWhich brings me back to my roots. Words hurt me in my childhood. Today, they galvanize my desire to inspire people. Words do have power, and Le Motto is a way to share good messages with the world.

Words must be followed by actions too. Change the world, one word at a time…and don’t stop there. When people purchase Le Motto apparel, we donate some of the profits to causes that help kids who are suffering from violent circumstances. Our current focus is helping fund programs that confront aggression in the form of bullying helping “The Bully Project” that educate over 1 million parents, teachers, kids and entire communities to deal with bullying.”

It doesn’t just inspire, but it helps a very good cause.

So finally here are some photos of me rocking the shirt!

So always remember, what you wear could make a difference. You can choose to influence people in a positive way just by even wearing a t-shirt!

If you would like to find out where I got this shirt from you can check out the LeMotto Site.

I would also like to thank my friend Cyrus Wu for taking photos of me wearing the shirt.

 

 

The vest in the west

So fall is now here and there’s no escaping it. Cold weather is upon us bit if you are not in the mood to wear a big overcoat just quite yet and want to stick to just wearing your suit jacket, adding a vest usually does the job. It helps with keeping you warm without adding much bulk to your outfit. It doesn’t hurt either that having a 3 piece suit outfit looks classy. When you’re outside you’ll be warm enough and if you’re indoors and find that it’s a bit hot, then you can just take out your jacket and still look styling with your vest. Never forget one of my favourite accessory to any outfit as well, the socks!

Tripods make good wingmen…

Bold statement, yes. Is it justifiable, yes, and here’s why.

All these photos were taken by me, with the help of my trusty tripod. No selfie sticks here. So if it weren’t for the tripod I wouldn’t have gotten the chance to be in the photo with my beautiful and talented friend fellow fashion blogger Samantha. So the background story here was, I was only supposed to take photos of her then I would feature her on here but the nice lady that she is, she wanted photos with me as well. Who am I to turn down this opportunity anyway? (Give you some time to think here)

EXACTLY…

So I went with my tripod and self-timer to the rescue and these were the results of it! Not too shabby if I say so myself (brushes shoulders off). It was quite the fun experience as Samantha and I would run back to the camera after each shot to see if we got the right shot or if we blinked or not. The occasional *high five* was present as well when we were both on point as we waited for the shutter to go *click*.

So would you have guess that these photos we’re just taken by me with a tripod or someone else was taking the photo?

Lastly, please check out my friend Samantha’s fashion blog.

Fedora for a bad hair day

This line is often uttered by women “bad hair day” but us guys have it as well. I encounter it more often than not especially when I haven’t gone to the barbers for a while and my curly hair gets way too unruly. Here’s the quickest and most often used trick to compensate for the dreaded bad hair day, wear a hat! If you want to do it in style though, you can’t just wear any snapback or hat, you want to add some flare to it so why not use a fedora?

This whole outfit was inspired by the first fedora I could get my hands on in my room (lazy, I know, but I like to live dangerously). I slowly worked my way down which led me to my trusty black v-neck shirt (you could never go wrong with a plain v-neck). Black leather belt with a nice simple metallic accent from Danier Leather and black pants from Zara. I shortly realized that I was just wearing all black and someone might think i’m going to someone’s funeral or I turned gothic all of a sudden (nothing wrong with goths and nothing wrong with all black, but It’s still sunny and I still want some color also so how do I make up for it? Socks!!! I gotta have some fun and add color to this ensemble so I went with a puzzle patterned sock and partnered it with some classic style Cole-Haans. To tie-up the whole outfit together, I added one of my favorite suit jacket from Sisley. I just love how it adds some “umph” to the simple yet strong ensemble I have put together.

As you can see from the last photo, my hair was a mess, haha, but it’s ok since I have my fedora 😉

Here’s the round up for the items used in this outfit

  • Fedora – no brand
  • V-Neck Shirt – Zara
  • Suit Jacket – Sisley
  • Belt – Danier Leather
  • Pants – Zara
  • Socks – can’t remember
  • Shoes – Cole Haan

So always remember, it’s not the end of the day if your hair isn’t cooperating or you’re too lazy to fix your hair, you can always style it up with a fedora.

Everyone’s A Model

Shooting for the Stars (Go Loud or go Home)

Sometimes you just want to wear something that’s loud and basically stand out without being “too much”. Here’s one that I find that works well. Pick one element of your outfit that has big prints or pattern, in this case I chose a sweater that has stars all over it. The rest of the pieces just fell in place. I chose a black cap to match the color of the stars on my sweater and paired it up with some bright red pants to go along with the bright and loud theme. While we’re at it throw in some red suede shoes and match it with a comics themed pair of socks by Punisher. As I always say, its all in the details. (Details do go a long way) As for the watch, can’t go wrong with a G-Shock to go along with the black and red theme.

If you like what you see, please subscribe to be updated with my latest posts and don’t hesitate to ask questions or give suggestions on what you would want me to feature.

Always Remember,

Everyone’s A Model

Guess The Name (Kyle and Kyrie)

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So I went to the beach with a friend yesterday (April 9, 2014) to just hang out and enjoy the nice RARE spring weather that Vancouver has blessed us. I had no intention of taking photos of people and just wanted to take some nice scenery shots and maybe some timelapse photography. I was sitting on the grass and had my tripod set up for my phone for some timelapse when I noticed a couple sitting on a bench shouting out peoples’ names while they were walking pass by them. I quickly realized that the couple we’re trying to play a “guess the name game” with others.

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So the next logical thing was to get involved, LOL. My friend decided to ask them if they wanted to guess our names. So one thing led to another and it was GAME ON! They tried to guess our names and we tried to guess theirs. I actually managed to guess one of their names and they couldn’t guess ours. (I guess i’m psychic!)

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After I have guess Kyle’s name (the guy on the right) they both decided to shake my hand.

We all started to talk with one another and shared stories and our backgrounds. His name was Kyle and her name was Kylie, a very cute and energetic couple. It’s hard not to get infected by their super friendly nature. After our conversation my friend suggested that I should take some couples photos of them and send it to their e-mail and I obliged. They we’re a good sport and we just decided to do a very quick shoot by the sand.

So here they are…

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What a very lovely couple and I wish them all the best in their future. They find joy in the simplest things and make the best out of every situation, even as simple as guessing people’s names on the beach. Their photos could easily be used in a lifestyle magazine showing how people should be living and just having fun.

Everyone’s A Model

Iris M.

Cheers to seeing old friends and feeling like nothing has changed at all. Iris has been a long time friend of mine since my high school days, has been on hiatus for a while and a really close friend of mine bumped into her while she was on a vacation in Asia. (Very small world) Its scary, haha!

Anyway, going back to the topic of “everyone’s a model” I mentioned the idea to her and she was very excited about the idea and we decided to give it a go. The shoot was quite last minute and we both can’t decide on how I would shoot her and where. Thanks to the unpredictable Vancouver weather, it started snowing in the middle of the shoot and light suddenly became dark. We were both freezing our asses of, trying to keep it cool (literally and figuratively). Iris suggested a park near her place and that’s where we went.

So here are some of the shots!

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She really wanted a photo with the swing and might I say it turned out pretty darn well.

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Candid smiling shot, did someone fart? LOL!!!

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Staring into somewhere, can make a great stock photo.

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Last two photos could be used for an advert for boots.

So as you can see, this was a last minute shoot, nothing really planned, weather was against us and we still managed to pull off some amazing photos!

Everyone’s A Model

Start again!

So here we are, I tried to start a mini project but I haven’t gone quite through with it. But now, I do promise to be a bit more consistent. I will start with my own photo that I took a while back when I was bored.

Poser

I am not the most photogenic person in this world, which just goes to show that everyone’s a model.