Fashion Monday with JJ Lee

What should he do? I speak to owner and operator Diane Thomson of Diane's Lingerie on South Granville about what a man should know before buying lingerie for his partner...or a few things about thongs.

Here's an interesting piece I came across in Luxist about the optics of timepieces and the US presidents who wear them.

The hip, hot new thing in fashion is going for the old. Apparently, recycling last year's dress for this year's New Year's is just the right pose to strike in the year of the Recessionista . While wearing vintage is not new, the twist this year is how to update an old dress and make it few new again. Part of this year's trend is to keep the old and bring something new to the New Year's outfit. The best way to do that is to add accessories that hit dead-centere a few of this year's hot trends: sequins and beads, metallics and shine are great, opaque black leggings and coloured legging high-heeled peep-toes and ruffles are all spot on. For sequins and beads: There are three great ways to bring this to a black dress. I saw a sequined clutch, a big one, at Zara for $70 (I would link to them but HATE their website). It's a great party bag and let's you leave a purse at home. I also found at Zara a beaded shrug to bring a bit of lustre that will draw the eye t...

You know the scene. Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman gets iced-out by a snobby shopkeeper because Roberts' character is a, well, a hooker. Mark Startup, CEO of Retail BC, calls it the Pretty Woman Syndrome. That's the belief among people will experience poor service at a luxury boutique if they appear they can't afford many of the items. Well, today, I tested the idea by alighting through some of Vancouver's most elite stores. Starting at Waterfront Station, I wandered through Plaza Escada and Leone at Sinclair Centre, Alfred Dunhill at Howe, Harry Rosen at the Pacific Centre, Gucci and Louis Vuitton at the Hotel Vancouver and, finally, Salvatore Ferragamo on Robson. My goal was to declare I was looking for cheap or affordable designer stocking stuffers for an office gift exchange. My budget was $100-$200. I was pleasantly surprised. The service was excellent and super-accommodating. With the exception of Gucci where sales staff were swamped, I found the shop keepers super...

Sometimes, I worry that I'm wasting my time writing about fashion. Then I realize, there are few men who actually have a feel for writing about menswear. Case in point - this little here article from the Calgary paper...what is it? The Herald? Anyway, I'll assume it was filed by a disgruntled crime beat reporter whom they are torturing into retirement by making him write fashion pieces. I personally like writing about fashion and see it as a pure joy. Tell me if you detect any joy in story . Is this a beauty or what? The whole mess reminds me of something the very fine fashion thinker and sometimes literary pornographer Russell Smith wrote about Indian blog content mills . Both the Herald piece and the example Smith offers share an impenetrable cluelessness, a total quality of daftness... "Watches have hands. They are called analog. Ironically, even though "digital" watches are called so, they have no hands. In Latin, digit means fingers. Fingers are attached to...

My most recent article on leather made it to the National Post . I'm not sure if it's hitting the print edition. Either way, it's nice to know the stuff is getting out beyond Vancouver, once and a while. Lately, I've been wearing a brown leather jacket in a denim cut. It hits two inches above a lower waistband but hits just right with my GWGs. Ah, my GWGs. I've set out to wear them nearly everyday and abuse them as naturally and often as possible. I bought them at the Army and Navy in New Westminster for $29.99. This summer, I swam in the Pacific with them on twice. And I've only washed it once. I've had them since June and only now are they beginning to show some nice whiskering. The experiment continues!

If you're looking for Measure of a Man - my Ideas documentary on the history of suits - you'll find it online here .

Receiving a sweater as a holiday gift can be a big let down. Really, how many of you have had enough with those light, v-neck pullovers of cashmere or mohair that dress well for work and evening-time play? Yes, they are comfortable, contemporary and they do look nice underneath a good sports coat but they also lack surface detail, drama and a sense of substance. Sometimes sweaters like that feel too much like t-shirts. They just don't have enough gravitas and perhaps this holiday there can be nothing worse than another one of its ilk lurking in wait beneath the boughs of a decorated tree. If you have such woolen trepidation, fear not. The winds of change are a blowing. Cut this article out and let your gift buyers know sweaters are manning-up this season. Knitwear 2008 is sturdier, chunkier, and, strangely, kind-of paternalistic in a hip kind of way. It draws inspiration from male archetypes such as navy fighter pilots, rugged outdoorsmen, the Amerian G. I.'s that flooded campu...

Crazy. But all my recent stories about fashion and politics (Palin, sweaters and May's green wardrobe woes) has ignited my interest in politics again. So much so I've started a new political blog called: liberalparty20.blogspot.com I'm not a card-carrying Liberal. I vote differently but I think a strong Liberal Party is good for the country and good for political stories. Look for original interviews and views and maybe one day guest contributors on the site.

Q. What would you do with $150 000 to spend on clothes as a vice-presidential nominee? A. Nadine Spidla of Imaginary Friend : I think it worked for Sarah Palin...She is definitely pulling off the business-person blazer. I think that's working for her. And she's choosing red which works perfect with her complexion. While Nadine of Imaginary Friend recommends a long great coat, your spending spree could put Imaginary Friend's swing coat on the shopping list. And it won't cost a million bucks or even $150 000. Q. What fashion item would you get with an unlimited budget if you had to run as VP? A. I think a great coat polishes up any look. Even if you have to run to store and pick up a carton of milk - you put on a great (over) coat - you look like a hundred bucks, a million bucks. A. Megan Dengerink of Imaginary Friend : You want it to be tailored because the camera adds ten pounds. But for us, while it's not a long coat, our swing coat because it's shorter will ...

I am fascinated by the story. Not because I think it's appalling that someone running for office needs a makeover - but I'd love to know how she dressed before the GOP makeover. Next time around, I'd like to be picked to run as VP. The Republican party has spent $150,000 (£92,000) on clothes and accessories since late August for Sarah Palin and her family, according to records of party spending. ( more from the Guardian ) In my run, I'd buy the Fitzgerald line of suits from Brooks Bros. I'd get knitted ties from JPress. I would still cut my own hair. Admittedly, I wouldn't wear a bow tie. The world may have a US president who is black but the ugliness of prejudice still remains against bow tie wearers.

( Ocean Drive Leather's B-20 and B-18 jackets make fit and proportion the secret to looking good in leather. Courtesy Ocean Drive Leather/Gordan Dumka.) Besides crimson leaves and pumpkins, is there any surer sign of autumn than the arrival of leather coats and jackets? Leather warms against chilly winds and can shed water. Leather also captures perfectly the seasonal melancholy of rain-slicked streets, longer nights and the sense of rebellion a man feels when he leaves behind the summer of childhood and is forced to embrace the cold hard reality of adulthood. As fashion historians Richard Martin and Harold Koda once wrote in their book, Jocks and Nerds, leather is 'wild' and 'the essence' of men 'who sign their defiance of civilization by wearing black.' Leather is totally cool or should be - and it can be if men know how to wear it correctly. Too bad many don't.These last few weeks I've identified a number of atrocious leather faux-pas and found a...

Tonight, Sir Paul Smith presented a slide show about his 30 years in fashion at Holt Renfrew Vancouver. Starting with a 12' x 12' shop in Nottingham, which he rented for 50 pence a week and opened only on Fridays and Saturdays, Smith has built an empire that wholesales to 35 countries and owns 14 shops in England. Smith's talk combined autobiography, fashion philosophy and retail pointers and really underscored the importance of finding inspiration in art, architecture and travel and appreciating colour found in everyday objects. Smith draws ideas from Lithuanian churches painted in aquamarine to seed packets (leading to floral patterned shirts) to tomatoes on a vine. Here are a few of the things he said tonight: On his Spring 1996 cerulean blue suits - "I like to pretend they were Yves Klein blue but the colour really came from a security guard uniform." On his Guatemalan inspired collection - "I didn't go to Guatemala. I went to the library and opened...

JJ Lee - our man of style - brings us little simple items that have stood the test of time and will hold their value no matter where the market goes. Levi's 501 reissue brings back an iconic jeans for women. Q. What will bring fashion dividends regardless if it's a bull or bear market? I think they should be affordable. I see classic iconic style as a form of austerity measures because you're buying something that never goes out of style. Q. The idea is to go from head to toe. What do you have for the top? People are willing to pay $300-$400 for glasses by Gucci, Prada and Calvin Klein. Then, there are hipster brands like Moscot - which do nerd glasses for a hefty price. Instead, I recommend a true stylish frame: Ray-Ban Wayfarers . This style of frame has been worn by the likes of Buddy Holly, Elvis Costello, and Audrey Hepburn. Wayfarers have been in production for the last 55 years. For $140, you can pop out the tinted lenses and have a true fashion frame. Q. What d...

I'm going to do it. Buy a digital camera. I will buy a Nikon D40 at 6.1 megapixels because megapixels don't matter. It's enough. To have a leap in quality one would have to use a 24 megapixel camera to double the resolution of an image. Not needed. And my suspicions were confirmed by the New York Times tech columnist, David Pogue . Now why do I need a digital camera. Well, it seems Vancouver designers are under-served by photographers. Certainly it can be expensive. Also, it's hard to get the shot you want for the articles you are writing. If I had Kris Krug or Fiona Garden in tow with me all the time, that would be different. I would shutter up and let them shoot. But we all can't be graced with such lovely company and artists...so I'm doing my own thing. So I may catch what I catch. I'm going digital. To check out my film stuff, go to my photo project: Everybody in New Westminster . Nikon D40 here I come.