Introducing French Style Experts Geoffrey and Benoit

Recently the Kinowear team has become great friends with two style experts from France – Geoffrey Bruyere and Benoit Wojtenka. These guys are top class with helping men build a uniquely killer style, and run the best men’s style blog in France (bonnegueule.fr). 

What’s exciting is that we‘re teaming up with them this year to bring you guys the greatest style guide in the form of an e-book within the next couple of months!

Geoffrey and Benoit wanted to write for Kinowear – so here’s a special post by them on how to approach the use of color in your outfits without all the fuss: 

 

A Beginner’s Guide to Colors Without Headaches 

In today’s society, men have grown more aware of how colors can play a vital role in assembling a killer wardrobe. Men are also aware that this is no simple task and quickly become overwhelmed.

The starting point to mastery is being mindful of your natural features. The next time you choose an outfit, try to keep the main tones you wear similar to the tones in your hair and eyes. 

The easiest way to get comfortable doing this is with neutral color tones such as black, white, and gray.

Take a look at Ryan Gosling below as an example. Notice that with his blonde hair and blue eyes, he looks best using soft color tones that match his naturally soft features.

Left: More contrast in the outfit (black) than his naturally blonde hair and blue eyes overpower him.

Right: Matching his soft hair and eye colors with the neutral gray and white makes him look much more attractive.

As you get comfortable matching neutral color tones to your natural features, start introducing non-neutral colors like blue or brown into the mix. These colors are essential to every man’s wardrobe and easily pair with neutral colors such as white, gray, or black - just make sure to match the most prominent tones in your outfit to your natural tones.

Following our previous example above, Ryan Gosling would look way better in a clear navy blue blazer or camel colored suede jacket rather than the black leather one he’s wearing on the left.

Once you feel confident in putting together neutral tones as well as colors like brown or blue, create a stand-out outfit by adding a noticeable color such as red, green, purple, or yellow.

One noticeable color is usually good enough to do the trick, but we won’t stop you from using more. Still, it’s recommended that you don’t use more than three bold colors in your outfit – otherwise the outfit looks too busy.

(No more than 3 noticeable colors!)

In Conclusion

1. Match the strength of the colors to your natural features (e.g. If you don’t have black hair, avoid wearing too much black).
2. Start with neutral colors like black, gray, and white.
3. Advance to easy-to-match colors like blue and brown – still matching the tone strength to your natural features
4. Introduce more noticeable colors in your wardrobe!

That’s it! We told you it was a simple process!

Hope that was helpful! Look out for our style e-book that will be available through Kinowear in a couple of months!

Until then,

Geoffrey Bruyere & Benoit Wojtenka

Kinowear Shopping Tip: Sale going on at Debenhams.com for everything from jeans to accessories. 

Inspirational video featuring Giavanni Ruffin (running back for East Carolina).
Speech by Eric Thomas (AKA ET the Hip Hop Preacher).

Whatever you’re working on achieving, this video will pump you up to be better than yesterday.

Share one of your favorite inspirational videos in the comment section!

I stay in the studio sometimes 12 hours a day, staring at a light…and me staring at a light, designing it, shaping it… affects millions of people.”

Ryan Gosling is first up on Kinowear’s list of successful men to follow this year.

Here’s a fun clip of him looking sharp and acting smooth in Crazy, Stupid, Love:

Just last year, TIME Magazine’s Joel Stein dubbed him “Coolest Person of the Year,” and while some may vaguely remember Gosling from The Notebook many years ago, Gosling is now a household name after his most successful year as an actor.

He starred in the widely praised Drive (superb acting), and co-starred alongside George Clooney in Ides of March – being nominated for best actor in each movie. He’s also been called New York’s real-life “Batman” after randomly being spotted breaking up a fight in the city streets.

It’s been almost impossible to go a full week without hearing a female friend swoon over how “hot Ryan Gosling is in Crazy, Stupid, Love.” There’s even a website dedicated to women who are obsessed with him called F**k Yeah! Ryan Gosling with photos of him and tongue-in-cheek captions.

While the famously funny Steve Carrel was the lead in the movie, Ryan Gosling stole the show with his charm, incredibly fit body, and magnetic style.

Many of my clients and friends also seem to keep bringing up Ryan Gosling’s role in Crazy, Stupid, Love. Particularly asking what brand of clothes his character wore in the movie.

(2011, Warner Bros., screen capture)  

Where exactly are his character’s clothes from?

Many of his suits worn in the movie were designed by The Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. and Ilaria Urbinati, co-owner of L.A. boutique Confederacy. Wardrobe stylist Dayna Pink says she used Parisian brand Gossuin’s custom-made shirts and some pieces from designers like Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, and Simon Spurr to pull together Gosling’s wardrobe. The sunglasses he wears are specifically Chad Sunglasses by Selima Optique.

Here are some style tips to steal his look from the movie:

1. Try custom-made suits/shirts and get a perfect fit like Ryan

2. Choose custom details like:

• a peak-lapel instead of the typical notch
• double-vents for a suave European look
• a customized colored lapel buttonhole (a small detail that stands out)

3. Lose the tie and leave the second button undone

4. Get a pair of masterfully-crafted Ferragamo dress shoes

5. Add tasteful accessories (e.g., classy leather-strap watch, masculine ring)

6. Try his iconic haircut from the movie

Want to wear something more casual?

Get yourself a henley shirt like he wore in the movie (which looks great on him after he bulked up for the role):

Still, what makes women so attracted to Ryan Gosling is not model good looks, but a uniquely charming personality, style, and overflowing charisma.

What does Ryan Gosling have to say about all his recent success?

You know how sometimes department stores have these things where, if you win, you get 10 minutes and go in and take anything you want from the store? That’s basically what I’m doing. I’m running in and just trying to grab as many characters as possible before they pull the plug on me.” 

Ryan Gosling is definitely a man to continually check in on, inspiring us in both success and style.

What’s your personal opinion on Ryan Gosling? 

Also, what other actors or celebrities would you like us to write about on Kinowear?

Leave a comment below!

Happy New Year!

We’re excited to share with you where we’re going in 2012.

Over 4 years ago, Kinowear began its journey as a simple men’s fashion blog. Thanks to all of our fans, it has grown into one of the top men’s fashion sites on the web.

Kinowear has been through it all – from countless facelifts to even a hiatus. We give thanks to our large community of fans for great feedback, and sometimes a good kick in the butt with comments like “C’mon Kinowear! We miss you!”

WHAT WERE WE UP TO? 

While focusing on our styling business, Kino Image Consulting, we promised our Kinowear readers we were brewing something much bigger and better than Kinowear ever was – and we were.

As we look forward to Kinowear’s next chapter, we want to continue to be your friends that inspire and motivate you with highly informative and inspiring content.

SO WHAT’S NEW AND WHY?

All of our readers are ambitious men who want to improve every area of their lives. With our core fans in mind, Kinowear will continue to deliver the best fashion advice, but also expand its scope to topics on success and lifestyle.

Our mission is still the same: to be a resource for men who want to be their most attractive, influential, and effective self. 

These changes will give us the freedom to post more content that you and your friends will love. Motivating you to work hard towards your dreams, and look amazing while you do it all.

You’ll begin to see our evolution in 2012. We think you’ll like what you see.

Until then,

Stay sharp. Make moves. 

The Kinowear Team

If you’re pressed for time, take a peek at the trailer:

Here are some noteworthy quotes from the documentary:

Fashion is a business. Fashion is something that is deemed by popular culture to be the thing that you ‘should’ be wearing or you ‘should’ have… Style for me, is something completely different. You can be, what we would consider in our culture, unattractive, and have great style. You can have no money and have great style. You can have a lot of money and have great style. More often, you can have a lot of money and have terrible style and you just plaster yourself in what you’re supposed to be wearing and you’ve lost yourself. Style for me is someone who figures out who they are, what works on them, what they feel good in, and develops that, develops their character, and the outer expression of their character is style.”  - Tom Ford.

Nothing, nothing lasts. And that’s in a way the beauty of it all…once you can accept that nothing lasts. And at this point in my life I’m not going to do anything that’s not fun. I only have 30 years left, if I’m lucky, 40…maybe only 5, maybe tomorrow. So if it’s not fun, I’m not going to do it.” – Tom Ford

I believe in an enhanced reality with fashion. Fashion creates a bit of a dream. That’s the whole point I think of dressing up…is you feel better about yourself. It’s an enhanced version of who you are.” – Tom Ford

Watch the full documentary:

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All the holiday shopping can take a toll on your finances. If you’re not a stickler for designer labels, but still want to look fashionable, shop smart!

Take your pick:

Burberry Check Cashmere Scarf $375.00 compared to Old Navy Tartan Plaid Scarf $8.00 (was $15.94)

Get it online today by clicking on the link. Happy shopping!

Quick Kinowear Shopping Tip: Looking for a fresh new shirt to accompany the scarf? Scotts offers a nice selection of Henri Lloyd tailored shirts that we think go perfectly together. 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

We’re most thankful for all of our fans who read Kinowear! Thank you so much for your support!

In light of the holiday season, we have a one-time only 40% OFF SALE going on for style consultations!

The promotion ends on November 30th, so take advantage of it today!

If you’ve enjoyed all the free content on our blog, and have always wanted to take get that 1-on-1 guidance towards your best style, now is the time to sign-up! (Register today and lock in a spot for December or a date in 2012).

Registration is quick and easy here:

http://www.kinoimageconsulting.com/

If you have any questions, e-mail Jae @kinowear.com

Have a great Thanksgiving with family and friends!

I normally hate “hybrid” sneakers.

I mean, just take a look at the atrocity above. It’s probably one of the ugliest hybrid sneakers in existence.

Seriously Cole Haan? What were you thinking?

I’ve hated these type of shoes for a long time because most guys will buy them in place of real dress shoes, and nine times out of ten they’re just hideous.

What bothers me the most is when guys wear them with their suit to work, thinking that it passes as sophisticated. I understand that you want to be comfortable, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a horrible choice.

I’ve never seen it make a man look great, so I would always tell my clients to choose classic dress shoes like a real man, and to find a stylish sports shoe for their casual outfits. None of this in-between nonsense.

That being said, I’m not going to argue that sometimes a man wants a classic and sophisticated shoe with the comfort that a sneaker brings. It’s just that I haven’t been able to find one that I would ever touch with a ten-foot pole.

Until recently. 

That’s right. Somebody invented a hybrid sneaker that doesn’t suck. 

This is the one that caught my eye:

It’s made by a company called RYZ – a relatively new brand from Rob Langstaff, former president of Adidas Japan & U.S. Rob has created a truly unique fusion dress sneaker in the market where nothing like this existed. 

I’m tempted to wear them with a full suit like Justin Timberlake, but I’m not J.T., so I’m just going to rock them with a blazer and jeans. This one is perfect to dress up or down when you’re going out with friends.

Like it? Check out more of their shoes at www.ryz.com.

What do you guys think? Are there any other brands of stylish “hybrid” sneakers that you like?