On The First Fall Post

Good day my fashionable readers! Let me begin by painting a picture for you...

Teal men's skinny jeans from H&M (I've mentioned them numerous times), charcoal gray button down from H&M, brown/black/yellow diagonally striped vintage skinny tie, and gray Converse. Business casual with a flair I would call it. It is a Wednesday, I am excited to leave the apartment in this outfit, ready to take on the grueling and often times very un-stylish world of immunology...

Now let me paint another picture...It is Boston, Massachusetts in the end of August, and as with any respectable New England state, a change of seasons will not come easily. It is pouring. Pouring. Alright, well I'm the Boy at Sea! A little rain can't dampen my sartorial spirits! Fabulous white rain slicker (from TopMan London) on and let's do this! Skip ahead thirty minutes to my arrival at my lab. Completely soaked. I have to strip down to just my jeans and the white tee I'm wearing so that everything else can attempt to dry while hanging over the backs of various chairs.

Alas, even the best laid plans of fashion and queers cannot stay dry against the fickle weather of Boston. So, when I began writing this post I was in my lab (it was a quiet morning folks! Do not think I was neglecting serious science!), sitting at my desk, in the bare minimum trying to not only maintain my core body temperature but also thinking about many exciting things concerning fashion - despite my very damp appearance I was not going to let a little pre-fall rain dampen my excitement for just that - FALL. 

People, seriously, I cannot emphasize this enough: Autumn is fast approaching and as any good gender-bender knows, that means layers, and layers mean being able to better hide what you want hidden, it also means opportunities for even greater and bolder styles (in my opinion). Layers mean the chance to pair button downs with various styles of jeans, and brightly colored ties tucked in military-style between the third and fourth buttons, and you can add a hoodie and a fitted leather jacket, and perhaps also a hat or a scarf or a...okay, I'm getting carried away, but you understand my point.

The options become greater, more nuanced, leaving you more room to experiment with a few pieces that otherwise might not be worn together. That is when fashion becomes really interesting. And while the approach of fall does also mean the inevitable approach of Massachusetts winter, I think we can all agree that layering is next to godliness and we, as people living outside the gender binary, often have to preform fashion miracles everyday.

Well my dear readers, that being said, I have already started to pull thin brightly colored sweaters over tees and I have brought out my scarf collection and wait with baited breath until the temperature drops. 

Get excited. 

And I suppose this post was really meant to be my preliminary fall post just to make sure you are all getting in the mood for a lovely New England autumn and everything that comes with it.

That being said I realize this has been all words and no pictures and there is a good chance that by now you have become bored of my ramblings and returned to more important matters. If I still have your attention though, lucky you! Here's a fun picture of me in that H&M beige striped sport coat:

Now, I was in this particular outfit for a friends party with the theme of "as gay as possible", so there are aspects of this outfit that I wouldn't necessarily recommend on a day to day basis. 

For instance, the sleeves of the white botton down I'm wearing (monochromatic paisley from H&M) are too long for me and I decided to just fold them over the cuffs of the jacket once. It worked for this party where I was trying to be a bit more outrageous, however, I recommend instead that you just find a shirt that fits, or get it tailored. 

The cuffs on your button downs should fall at the break of your wrist. 

Missing from this picture was the black and gold tasseled vintage ascot that I was wearing tucked into the button down. That was overkill, but again, worked with the over-the-top look I was going for. But the ascot with the purple silk pocket square, unnecessary, so just choose one my dears. In this case, I would say the pocket square works to give the outfit a little flair but still keep it within the realm of "dapper". Lastly, that jacket fits me almost perfectly - no tailor necessary. Thank you H&M for being awesome.

A couple other points of interest before I leave you in peace...

1. I have become increasingly fascinated lately with the ways in which the strict purpose of the tie and the bow tie have altered. The tie is no longer just a formal addition to a business outfit. It is not longer only meant for dressy occasions and the bow tie is no longer relegated to the the likes of chemistry professors and old men. We are seeing neckties and bow ties everywhere now, on everyone, in every occasion. They can be hip, classic, vintage, and dapper. They can be seen in bold masculine colors and patterns or light pastel shades with a bicycle print. They are being worn to the office, on the weekends, tied askew, tucked in, or thrown on as an after thought. It is brilliant, edgy, and the perfect accessory for any queer. If nothing else my endorsement this fall goes to ties and bow ties. This particular look that I came across on GQ, I found particularly invigorating:

Credit due

I plan on writing a much more thorough post on neck wear in the near future, so stay tuned. But in the mean time to get you started, I stumbled across this website while I was (again) perusing GQ - so thank you GQ online. And again just to be clear where I spend my time. The site is called The Tie Bar and as the name suggests it has a wonderful variety of ties, bow ties, ascots, cuff links, tie bars and more all of which are offered at awesomely reasonable prices. FYI: All of their ties are $15, trust me, that's a great deal on ties this nice. So, check it out and begin compiling your wish list of dandy accessories that you can ask for when your birthday rolls around.

http://www.thetiebar.com/index.asp

2. I was very recently given an absolutely gorgeous digital SLR camera by my dad (this is your first shout out Dad, thank you!). Therefore my fine folks, you now can look forward to even more of my own pictures of outfits that I put together. And hopefully all in better quality than what I was offering you previously with my little tiny old school digital. 

My plan is to have some new pictures and new outfits ready to go for you the next time I post. So, if you found yourself questioning why you're still reading this time around, JUST WAIT MY FASHIONABLE FRIENDS! I will return again soon with pretty pictures, classy outfits and more thoughts on how to make male fashion work for the female-bodied genderqueer.

Until then....

Keep them guessing,

BaS

On Finding Your Go-To Piece of Sartorial Sexiness

Oh my stylish friends, hello! I hope I find you all in high fashion spirits and that the brutally humid months of Boston that have been dragging on are not plaguing your sartorial pursuits too deeply. The last time we spoke I was mentioning just how evil Massachusetts summers can be to the genderqueer who is attempting to present not only comfortably but also weather-appropriately. Evil indeed my dear readers, evil indeed. And because I am a poor little 9 to 5 working boy, I have been unable to seriously scour for good summer looks that wont break the bank, will look fantastic, and will also somehow keep you cool. So unfortunately folks, I still don't have the answer for you. Luckily August is moving along and soon enough the fall months will be upon us and I love fall fashion so unspeakably much that it will be sure to be a blog-worthy season for us all. Get excited.

In the meantime, some thoughts from the mind of your Boy at Sea...

I invested in a couple Hanes men's black T-shirts. Simple. I purchased smalls, and I would later learn that Hanes runs small, so perhaps a medium would have been just fine. However, I have decided to embrace these T-shirts and their tightness because the color does a pretty impressive job of hiding my chest and I can pair it with any pair of cut-off jean shorts, or my rust colored shorts from Urban Outfitters and the whole outfit looks casual but put together; easy going, but gives a cut silhouette. ALSO I wore one of these tees with my teal-blue H&M skinny jeans and my gray Converse the other night out and I received quite a few compliments on the look. So, I would highly recommend that investment, especially in these last dregs of summer. It lets you cut back on the layers, stay a bit cooler, and still look svelte, not sloppy.

And while we're on the topic of fantastic purchases, oh goodness did I stumble across some brilliant pieces these past couple of weeks...

1. My two-tone beige striped sport coat from H&M with skinny peaked lapels and two buttons. The stripes are very thin, and even, but not pinstripe (I spent a solid two hours hunting the interwebs for patterns and their names so that I would be able to give you an exact description of this jacket - but to no avail...apparently no one has developed an online library of fabric patterns yet. If you know of one, tell me please!) The point is, the pattern and the colors are simple and light and made this jacket a wonderful choice for a garden party I was attending.

The size is EUR46 which tends to be my go-to size at H&M. Sometimes I'll choose a 44 depending on the cut of the coat, but the 46 usually fits my shoulders snugly and I can still button it. The sleeves are a fraction of an inch too long, but until I find my Boston tailor or teach myself, these sleeves are doable, and actually look quite charming when pushed up to the elbow.

It does not look nearly as dapper when hanging, and there is a great picture somewhere that I will try to find of me wearing this jacket during said garden party. That particular weekend was brutally humid and so I paired it with a light purple cotton button down, my jean cut-offs, Converse (I would have preferred boat shoes but I currently need a new pair!) and to pull it all together I added the most gorgeous vintage tie EVER that I will discuss in point 2...

Here is a detail shot of the jacket, I love the detail that H&M puts into their men's evening and business wear. Lastly, this coat was originally seventy dollars and I just waited a couple weeks until it was on sale for half off. Trust me, it is still very much in style, and I plan on getting a great deal of use out of it. The point is, your nicest clothes don't have to involve soul-bartering with the Devil, just be patient and keep hunting.

2. The Tie. Capital T, capital T. This tie is so stunningly classic and yet completely innovative that I find myself just marveling at it as it hangs from my tie rack. It was found in a vintage clothing store (somewhere in Mass I believe) by my dear friend JP. And if you remember from an older post this is the same JP that gifted me with my other favorite vintage skinny tie - the amazing brown/gold/yellow striped tie here. So basically JP wins the award for Best-Vintage-Tie-Finder-Ever. The current tie in question is a vintage Schiaparelli embroidered cotton black skinny tie:

Elsa Schiaparelli was an Italian fashion designer in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. She was a rival to Coco Chanel and was a huge figure in fashion during her time. She did a great deal of work in knitwear, and largely women's clothing, but as I found out, did design some men's neckties (thanks Wikipedia). And now I own one. BaS win. (Credit credit where credit is due.) 

 Even this Boy at Sea can appreciate fine women's fashion like that. 

The tie is delicate and yet sturdy, requires a collar that can hold it up, but the delicate knit of the material turns it into something that is so much more than just a black skinny tie. I was giddy to pair it with the light purple button down and the sport coat above. We all know how much I adore a bold combination of patterns, and this was just that. The black tie was subtle enough to not be loud against the jacket, but still noticeable enough to draw the eye.

I suppose the real point behind this post, my dear queers, is to simply say: 

There is a limitless sea of dapper, classy, vintage, hip, sexy, feel-good-about-how-you-look-in-your-clothes clothes out there. I am floating there now, quite helpless against its pull, but completely hopeful of what it has to offer, in that sea of fashion; and while it is not always friendly to the queer body, I am excited about the ways in which we can make it work for us. Start by finding just one piece - a shirt, a jacket, a pair of pants, or wing tips, or maybe even that perfect vintage tie - and wear it out, rock it out. Look in the mirror and know how good you look, how right it feels, and how now is an amazing time for those of us all over the gender spectrum to take back fashion. Break it free of its binary constrictions and let the world see it on us - a perfect fit, a perfect cut, a perfect gender however we decide. 

More thoughts and dashing looks soon, my friends. Until then...

Keep them guessing,

Your Boy at Sea