F*!K Conformity!!!

         Hey fashion friends, omg its been like ages since I had something for you guys right! Well I'm back with some things that should interest you all. Like I mentioned to you all in the last post that I  did I found a designer that caught my eye with his collection. It was interesting to me because it totally pushed the boundaries (which I LOVE to see and do) by taking trends from women's fashion and appropriating them into a men's line. Too often I feel like menswear designers do the same thing over and over, I mean really how many times can you do a navy suit? As the saying goes; "if it ain't broke don't fix it" well in my opinion it is broken and needs to be fixed and a designer by the name of James Long has done it.

        I don't believe women should be the only people who its acceptable for to wear amazing garments. I love when I see guys taking risks and pushing the norms with their style. James Long for his SP/SU 12 line put his men in really short shorts, color-block jackets, exotic prints, and even had them carrying handbags and clutches (all things going on now in womenswear) and styled them in a way that still portrayed a sense of masculinity. I feel that gender norms were definitely pushed and even set aside for this line and I find that to be a big step forward. I think too often menswear designers stick to being safe and style their men in a very "normal" fashion.

        When styling myself I definitely look to push the norm, being a conformist is for people who have no sense of who they are and need to "fit-in". I often look to things going on in womenswear and menswear and try to build a bridge. I love accessories, specifically jewelry, and I don't see many accessories for men other than the normal stuff like; glasses, scarves, brief-cases etc so. I think menswear would be more interesting if designers played around a little more and made some things more genderless because I believe there is a clientele for everything. Just the other day I purchased an AMAZING hand bag that I believe could be styled masculine enough to be sent down any runway, it would just take the right designer and stylist (maybe me one day) to pull it off.

        Check out the pics below of Christopher Long's line, my new bag, and a look that I did for a night out, my friend gave me the word VAMP and told me to style myself accordingly.

-K. Michael

New jewelry and style inspirations

        Hey fashion friends!!!, I'm back with another post after what feels like forever ago since I brought you all something new. I have fabulous news, I just finished another piece of jewelry!!! I love it and I know you guys will to (or else lol). This piece goes down in the book for having the longest production time thus far about ten and a half hours, not all in one sitting though, dear god could you imagine? I'd be writing this from a hospital bed due to a terrible case rigamortis. This necklace definitely has more reference points and inspiration than past ones a lot of it coming from my current style influences as well as a lot of imaginary things from the world of K.Michael. I have a crazy obsession for people or things that exude a darker representation of beauty and seduction. I also love natural things that need little to no extra bells and whistles to be beautiful.

        For this piece I chose to use colors of real stones those being; Sapphire, Onyx, and Topaz. I must say these go so well together. Looking at Egyptian jewelry gave me alot of inspiration because the Kings and Queens (specifically Nefertiti in this case) of Ancient Egypt would wear all of these stones and it was beautifully crafted and so elaborate and the colors were gorgeous. Of course I was an Egyptian prince in a past life (or so I like to think) so I have a taste for this kind of jewelry. I have an awesome completely beaded necklace that I found at a thrift-store on one of my many journey's there and I love it and have always wanted to make one like it. For me there is a greater quality in things that are hand made, because if ever two were made there will always be a unique difference in each one and that's the thing I look for in jewelry and strive for when I create my own pieces.

        Also I went out to a club called Axis this past weekend in Columbus, OH and had a blast. I wore an outfit that reflected my style inspirations that I grab from. This necklace would have looked amazing with the outfit had it been done, or even started for that matter lol. I definitely incorporated  my love of black and leather, mysteriousness and seduction as well as the jacket shapes from the SP/SU12 collection of Balmain to create what I felt to be a very chic and edgy look.

NEWEST NECKLACE

 NECKLACE INSPIRATION

OUTFIT INSPIRATION 

          P.S. I came across another menswear designer who was not afraid to take the trends from womenswear and appropriate them into his menswear line, omg I LOVED it! I will spill the beans in the next post.

  -K. Michael