Men’s Fashion Roundup With My Fashionable Friend, Stylish Steve Pauley

Hi guys. I love to hang with the fashionable crowd and surround myself with those in-the-know, and of course I am always anxious to introduce you to my friends in the field. Steve Pauley is one of my closest inside connects for fabulous insights in both beauty and fashion. He knows what’s up way before it goes down, with an intuition that’s notably on-point.

Here he is, pictured above with Olivia Newton-John, on a recent trip to Vegas. A little FYI on Steve…just like me, he is no stranger to sacrificing necessities for luxuries, and he is into fashion in a big way. I asked ‘Stylish Steve’ to record his fall fashion roundup for men–a 2014 style forecast! Now, for all you women shopping for your man for fall, and for all you men wanting to know what’s completely hip and on-the-scene…Steve is in the house! Read and enjoy. You’ll adore him.

Hello fellow fashion fiends in Beauty-land! It’s me, your fashion sleuth on the beat, reporting everywhere from the penthouse to the street! Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Steve, and I’m just another appreciator of all that is beautiful in life, and for me, some of the most beautiful things fall under the category of men’s fashion. Yep, I’m obsessed with it and have been pretty much all my life.

But enough about me…let us get on with it. Today I am here to give you all my little take on what’s up in men’s fashion for fall/winter 2014. (Applause, applause!)

Men in Blue

Now, being the visual artist that I am, let’s first talk color. To my roving eye THE color of the season is blue, baby. And I don’t mean baby blue–I’m talking electric blue, majestic blue, bright, deep and dark blue–you know that hue! Oh yes you do, it’s everywhere.

Everything’s gone blue from shoes to sunglasses and everything in between. If you want something new, get yourself into some hot blue.

Put down your accessories in black and brown; we’ve all got enough of that, and right now, blue is where it’s at!

Fendi is staying true to the trend offering an overdose of blue in the collection including a divine men’s leather suite of matching blue leather clutch, messenger, wallet and keychain! Why choose and lose? Get ’em all and be set.

Beyond blue, colors are popping all over the place, but in sharp punctuations rather than taking over the whole space. I’m seeing that so many collections this season are based on solids in darks and a good amount of beiges or traditional patterns like plaids and checks accented with a bright blast of color–at the cuff, waist, chest or at the collar.

Gucci is sporting vibrant neon colored sneakers and and belts in every color of the rainbow to give your ensemble that essential kick.

The Fact is Fur

Also in, in a big way, is fur–in all forms such as scarves, vests, jackets and coats. Kanye wore a floor-length rabbit coat to the Givency fashion show at Paris Fashion Week…And Givenchy, one of my fave designers of the moment, does in fact have it; so does Valentino, whose coats and scarves are TDF!

Check out the colorful options by Dries Van Noten, above…and Louis Vuitton is also rocking some awesome items including a decadent fur vest with a monogrammed chest that I would love to put myself into and forget the rest.

In fact, luxurious, textured fabrics are all over the runway and in the shops. In that respect, thin is not in. It’s the chunky fabrics that are ruling again! Two wardrobe staples incorporating this aesthetic that are thriving right now are the long coat, as seen above left in houndstooth at Saint Laurent and above right at Dior…as well as the chunky, fuzzy sweater, as seen at Louis Vuitton, top. Who doesn’t love sumptuous weaves and blends of wool, cashmere, mohair, alpaca, angora and others? You could never have too many of these!

Just For Kicks

Fanciful footwear has captured my soul! Wow, have I seen some exciting shoes this season. High-top sneakers are still stepping high! If memory serves me correctly, I seem to remember Kris Van Ashe doing high-tops when he took over for Dior, and that’s no lie. With today’s appreciation having grown out of that, and that was a relatively slow-growing process, but here we are today when every designer under the sun is pulling a high-top out of his hat. Those Giuseppe Zanotti’s are pretty rad with all the fur, jewels, metal hardware, crazy, unexpected colors and every kind of doo-dad.

Rapper Ace Hood sports $875 Zanotti’s in crisp, clean, white crocodile, pictured above and below. Worn with white jeans and a white T-shirt (and we will get to the best T’s later…!) the look is, oddly, urban and simultaneously elegant. Rich. Of course you need not be a rapper to wrap up these shopping acquisitions; they also adapt brilliantly for the modern Everyman.

But the design house that gets my vote for coolest high-tops is Maison Martin Margiela. I love this fella!

I love the style (highly coveted and appreciated by the legion of fans, of which I am one) known as the Replica, which comes out every season in different fabrics and leathers with subtle modifications, perfect for home life and vacations! Celebs love the Replica, too…from Kanye West to Orlando Bloom. They’re just so simple and effortlessly hip.

Loosening Up

The silhouette I’m appreciating right now is the relaxed one. I don’t want to rant, but I sincerely love the big, baggy, wide-leg pant. They seem so nice now after so long with all the skinny stove-pipe cuts I’ve been rocking for so long. I am all for getting back into this pant with its higher waist with the fabric flowing like a song.

Givenchy’s runway trouser, above, is one of my favorites with its interesting dual flaps along the front. They really are a little different and daring but at the same time classic and blunt. Louis Vuitton also has a gorgeous wool drawstring trouser in grey that I think I could make great use of this day. And what to wear with the voluminous trouser? How about my fave sweater of the moment, the long cardigan, a sensual arrouser. Damir Doma, Ann Demeulmeester and Rick Owens among others, know how to do some great longer-cut cardigans correctly.

To A Tee

The T-shirt is often an underestimated item, but it is oh so important, though so often we hide em. T-shirts should be chosen very carefully, because the right one can liberate you, while the wrong one can obliterate you! Well, sort of! It’s definitely Rick Owens for me when it comes to the T. I think he makes the best T-shirts hands down.

They are the softest, most comfortable I have ever worn, and he makes them in so many different styles. I adore the standard T’s of cotton and silk with the extended hem because they are great for layering beneath and beyond something worn over them. I have these in both long and short sleeve styles and don’t even recall how I ever got along without them, but now I’m all smiles.

And don’t think I’d leave you all hanging. I don’t do this all the time, but since we are in Beauty-land, I will pass on to you my top 5 most-shopped web sites where many of the items mentioned here, and so much more, may be seen and purchased (and they all feature items for women too!)

And in no particular order they are:

Luisaviaroma.com
An incredible array of fashion, ships straight from Italy, free shipping and free returns via DHL, duty and sales tax free…does it get any better!?

Ssense.com
Great, great stuff, ships from Canada, free shipping usually, duty and sales tax free, though returns are paid by buyer.

Thecorner.com
Excellent selection of merchandise, often free shipping, free returns, ships from US so they do charge sales tax.

Farfetch.com
A network of independent boutiques spanning the globe! Fantastic selection! Ships from the boutique that is listing the item, so shipping costs vary, though all returns are free. If shipped from within the US there is sales tax. If shipped from outside the US, there is no duty nor sales tax.

Yoox.com
I’ve watched this site grow over the last 14 years into what it is today…great fashion at some really good prices! Stock is usually from previous seasons but it’s all new and you can find some incredible deals on items that you may have originally missed or those you thought were gone forever. Often free shipping, always free returns. Items are shipped originally from Italy and then distributed from the US. Yes to sales tax, but no duties.

All of these sites do have end-of-season sales and promotions, so get on the mailing lists and keep your eyes peeled!!

Well, that brings my chat to a close, my little beauties in Beauty-land. Now, if you take all of this information and put it together within reason you will have the ingredients for an absolutely well-dressed man this season! Now go out there and get something great…or work hard and save for sale time…it’s never too late!!!