Runway Rave: Ermenegildo Zegna Spring 2012

I haven't been to Milan. Rome was lovely when I was in Italy but I still yearn for a trip to Milan. Every year I wait for the Milan Menswear Collections and aspire to be in one of the shows.

Ermenegildo Zegna opened the menswear for this year's Spring 2012 Milan's Fashion Week to great reviews. Thank God for the advent of Youtube and Style.com - it's easy to view the collections in just minutes after the show. The show was ethereal like heaven was a stylish walk on the beach. It deconstructs the strong suits Zegna aesthetic providing a softer but luxurious casual to formal look. I've included photos of what I deem were the best looks from the entire collection. Click on the photo to view the look better.

I fell in love with the play of cotton and linen fabrics combined with washout pastel colors. Light summer scarves completed the slim fitted cotton and linen suits. Color variations were also prominent in the collection.

Casual wear included suede, trench and rain coats continuing the different color matching. In true Zegna fashion, everything was tailored to perfection.

The highlight were the silk suits that came at the last part of the show. It came in different hues completing the texture variation of the entire collection.

Completing the collection were the bags. I personally adored the doctor's bag and the knapsack.

To view the complete collection, go to: http://www.style.com
Photos were taken from the same website.

Lifestyle Choices

I always tell people that nobody will love your body more than yourself.

I underwent this simple test to find out my biological age. The biological age test shows the true age of one's body. I'm currently 25 years old and my biological age is the same. I was a little concerned because with the lack of exercise in my system, I might somehow be deteriorating. Still, everything turned out ok.

I'm writing this for a friend. The last time I saw him, he was working constantly and dealing with some stressful issues. I had to advice for him to find time to relax and hope that he can eventually unwind. I remember telling him that if all these things gets to his health, that's going to be really bad news.

There are 5 lifestyle choices that I totally agree with. I'm sure these have been stated before but I still want to share this since the benefits are crucial. We should always take consideration for our actions and how it affects our health.

1. Eat What's Right
The food we eat serves as the fuel of our body. Vegetables and fruits are the best sources of vitamins and minerals to combat different illnesses. We also need to eat a good amount of meat to give energy to our bodies. What concerns me is that there is a proliferation of processed, instant, or canned food that contains all these chemicals that don't help the body. What happened to a more natural diet? We need to watch what we eat and maintain a balance in our diet. In recent years, a lot of researches and diets, and the benefits that comes with it, have been published. This is a chance for us to know more on what we intake and how it can help us.

2. Water in the System
To prove how crucial water is in our system, water comprises more than half of our entire body. Water cleanses the body, regulates body temperature, and rehydrates the system. In this heat and with all illnesses around, drinking lots of water can really help us become healthier. It's advised to have 2 - 2.5 liters of water a day. We lose water when we sweat or urinate and we need to always replace the lost water in our system. I read that around 1.8 - 2 liters of the water we intake (roughly around 6 - 7 glasses) should come directly from the beverages we drink, while the rest from the solid food we eat like fruits and vegetables.

3. Moving the Body
Having an active lifestyle can do wonders for the body. Exercise enables blood circulation which helps our body to remove impurities in our system. Our physical activities make us sweat and takes out the impurities inside the body. Also, exercise invigorates the system, and helps lessen situations when we get easily tired or feel fatigue. We should bare in mind that the consistency of the exercises we do is more important than the intensity of the exercises that we do. Religiously doing even simple exercises like walking has more impact than 3 hours of gym workout done when we feel like going to the gym.

4. Good Night Rest
In our active lifestyles, we need to give the body enough time to slow down and get some rest. Getting 8 hours of sleep is needed to recharge the body for it to be at its peak performance. We also need to consider the quality of sleep that we get. It is advised to have a deep, relaxed, and undisturbed sleep for our body to function well the next day. We surely do not want to wake-up with a headache or in a bad mood because of not sleeping well. As with exercise, our slumber patterns should also be consistent. This means that getting more than 8 hours of sleep in one night to make up for the lack of sleep in the nights before does not count.

5. Cheery Disposition 
I can't help but believe that people who always have good vibes live a happier and longer life. We're always told to stay positive amidst the negative aspects of life that we deal with. Honestly, we work through issues or challenges better when we have a positive outlook. It's easier for us to find solutions and it shortens the time we spend dealing with problems. Feeling empowered complements how our body works. Our health is weighed down if we carry a lot of emotional dramas or think of a lot of problems. It's a given fact that we are able to do more productive things in life when we are happy. It's best to have less stress to balance our health.

Series 4 Colognes by Comme des Garcons

I always look for something interesting - I'm not contented with the usual; I strive to look for what's special.

I use perfumes but I'm not the type who goes to stores to buy one. I'm not really particular about perfume or cologne scents. In all honestly, all the perfume that I own are given to me as gifts. But, don't get me wrong. I do appreciate the scents and the very complicated ordeal of mixing the smell of various things around us.

Comme des Garcons is known for its extraordinary combination of fabrics and cuts in its collections. When I view their collections, I immediately see the attention to details to complete the cohesion of the different looks. The people behind the brand was able to channel the avant garde look of the brand with the peculiar combination of scents for their perfumes and colognes. Oddly enough, their very unique line of cologne totally captured my olfactory.

The Series 4 Cologne of Comme des Garcons consists of Anbar, Citrico, and Vettiveru. Although this has been in the market for a couple of years already, this line is not easily available in a lot of countries. These might just be eau de colognes but it has a strong concentrate that will linger longer on your skin. I hope my memory serves me right but a 125 ml glass bottle is at an affordable price of around P2950. The refills (as seen in the photos below) come at 500 ml for around P4,950, with all these being sold exclusively at Adora in Greenbelt 5.

To give you an idea, here is the description of the scents.  
Anbar: Bergamot, Orange, Lemon, Clove, Sensual Musks
Citrico: Bergamot, Rosemary, Lemon, Orange Blossom, Neroli
Vettiveru - Italian Bergamot, Cardamon Oil, Neroli Oil, Vetiver of Haiti, Cedarwood, Musk

Personally I love Anbar. At first sniff, you can smell the citrus that is quite strong in its composition. After spraying, it leaves this dry and clean scent on your skin. It provides a subtle masculinity that invigorates the senses. For someone who's not a cologne or perfume fanatic, I really fell for this one.

 

photo taken from: http://comme-des-garcons-parfum.com

eShave: Shaving with Style

I love lingering around Adora in Greenbelt 5. It gives me a sense of relaxation just being inside the store. One thing I always do is to look around the exclusive things that they offer. Walking around one afternoon, I found this interesting shaving razor that really caught my attention.

These shaving razors are from eShave. It comes in different colors perfect to match your preference and personality. The best thing is it's perfectly reusable. The Gilette Mach3 refills, which can be bought from the local grocers, fit in these eShave razor.

 

There is also a shaving set complete with a stand for the razor and the lather brush.

I really like the blue among all the colors. The downside is Adora only carries a limited number of the razor and set. Go and check these out if you like it at Adora.

Visit the eShave site for shaving tips and info on the products: 

http://www.eshave.com/how-to-shave-for-men

Diversion @ Time

Saturday night... Channeling my party mood after a week of hustle and bustle. What do I need? Outfit's rocking, camera and cellphone in my bag, and guestlist confirmed. I was on my way to Time to attend my friend's event.

Diversion. Apt to what I need. Coincidentally, that was the same name of the event. 11:30 pm and I was already walking through the doors of Time, transported to a state of trance with the loud beats in my ear.

Time is located in front of A Venue in Makati Avenue. It has three floors with the dancefloor on the first level. The second level is filled with couches to accommodate people who prefer to just lounge around and drink with friends. I found the second level bar amusing contrasting the flashing lights of the first level with candles for a more cozy feel.

The roofdeck is the open air space. It had a different DJ providing guests with the more relaxing less party house grooves. This is the only area that provided guests with more opportunity to chat.

Diversion is organized by the people behind Wreck'd Productions. The group is responsible for slowly spreading the beats of trance music throughout the club scene in the metro. Through Diversion, they are growing the underground niche loyal to the progressive beats of trance.

MOST: The Jail Rocks

During the Elite Fashion Academy launch, I was hanging out with Cris "Jas" Jasler and some close friends of ours. Jas is the model turned fashion designer and founder of Jail Jeans. The brand has already trail blazed in Singapore, being included in the last Men's Fashion Week 2011 Singapore.


Jas was full on rockstar chic with me possibly mistaking him as the lead vocalist of a rock band. The details of his jacket and pants really caught my attention. I really loved the read button holes and the gold buttons with the jacket sleeves and pants' pockets accented with zipper teeth.

The jacket's back is filled with gold sequins intricately brought together to form a skull.

  

 Jacket, Pants, Belt and Shoes: Jail Jeans

Look up the brand in the internet to have more info on the Jail Jeans collections.

It eventually became a joke that night that because Jas made a crossover from modelling to designing, our friend Alcs should already venture into modelling from designing. :) I'll try to get a feature on Jas and Jail Jeans before his flight to Singapore.