These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things...

For the first time in months, I'll get to immerse myself in some reading. Here's what's waiting for me:

1) Mr Porter Post - Menswear site Mr Porter isn't just a website but also an extremely well curated lifestyle site as well. Want to see cool? Check them out.
www.mrporter.com
2) Monocle - Amazing how a monthly magazine can be so current with important world happenings. These guys have your bases covered.
www.monocle.com
3) Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research - Because once you stop learning you start moving backwards.

4) Man About Town / Fantastic Man - The only two menswear magazines that do it well ALL the time. Classic and simultaneously forward thinking. If they only came out more than twice a year...
www.manabouttown.tv
www.fantasticman.com

If I thought I'd have more time to read, I'd include more, but that research journal is dense...

Merry Christmas!!

Tom Ford List. Part 1

Tom Ford.

Designer. Director. Parfumier. Jay-Z song title. Best Smelling Man in the World.

Seriously, this man is the shit. I had the pleasure of working for him the first season he had his men's collection after leaving Gucci and I have to say, the man has an aura so enthralling that you begin to wonder if the perpetual cloud of proper masculinity that surrounds him is laced with some sort of drug. So if anyone has a list of things that every man should have, Tom Ford's is the one to read. Here's how to obtain it:

You laughed. Don't deny it.

     1. A SENSE OF HUMOUR - Rent these: Blazing Saddles, Groundhog Day, The Big Lebowski, Young Frankenstein, Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Anchorman. Extra credit: Major League, Coming to America, Eddie Murphy's Raw and Delirious, and any stand up from Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Richard Pryor, Louis CK, Ricky Gervais, George Carlin or Bill Hicks. And if you still are as cold as stone, throw in a healthy dose of The Simpsons, Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Extras and Seinfeld. If you aren't at least in touch with your funny side now, you don't have one.

See also item 1

 2. A DAILY READ OF THE NEWSPAPER - This doesn't mean the sports page and the comics. Everyone is glued to their devices on their way to work. Make that time well spent and educate yourself on the world around you. No, TMZ doesn't count.

Nuthin' but a number...

 3. A SPORT YOU ARE LOVE AND ARE GOOD AT... -  AND ARE WILLING TO BETTER YOURSELF IN. That one wasn't quite complete in my opinion. Of course, this one resonates with me. I've worked with elite teenage athletes, but also men in their 40's who want to continually better themselves in their sport of choice. Work and kids aren't an excuse...invlove the kids and make it something you both can enjoy together. Whether chess (yes, its a sport), polo or a quick round of 3-on-3 at the local Y, immerse yourself into the game.

 4. TWEEZERS - If you wonder why, you are one of three things: 1) Married (and your wife would agree with Mr. Ford), 2) pre-pubescent, or 3) extremely hirsute. In which, tweezers can be substituted with garden shears. By a pointed pair and a slanted pair and use them for God sakes.

5. A GOOD COLOGNE THAT BECOMES A SIGNATURE - I've searched your the past few years for this one and after courting worthy suitors like Commes des Garcons x Monocle Hinoki, Tom Ford Oud Wood and Byredo Accord Oud, I've finally found the one. November 24th 2013 at the Elizabeth Street location of Le Labo. I know this because it is printed on the label of my Vetiver 46 bottle of perfume oil. The oil makes the scent feel as if it is seeping into the pores of your skin as opposed to the misted alcohol based spray that simply lays on top. It's warmer and lends itself better to the masculine yet not overpowering scent. Immediately I knew...yeah, I'd found my signature.

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Numbers 6 through 10 coming Monday...