Editor's Note | ...And We're Back!

Sorry for the (involuntary) hiatus. Somewhere at the end of December we encountered some computer troubles, resulting in a crashed hard-drive in which we lost a number of posts, pictures and documents, along with a bit of our motivation. The result is that we haven't posted anything since but that's about to change as, after three months of silence, we're finally back and more determined than ever to bring you quality content.

Behind the scenes our work on a project that will take this concept to new heights continues and until it's ready to launch we'll continue posting about our favorite pieces, news and thoughts here. So to those who have been patient with us so far, thank you! 

Advent Calendar | #9 Dries Van Noten - 'Robbins' Wool Coat

As many options as there are out there when it comes to outerwear, if you wan't to look truly sophisticated and grown up,  there's no way around it, there's only one option: the wool coat. The mother of all outerwear. The classic.

And since it's a classic you should try and keep it that way. That means no crazy experimental details and stick to basic colours like dark grey,navy or black. 

My own personal favorite comes from the noted minimalist Dries Van Noten who definitely has got it nailed down. Small notched lapel, single-breasted, three buttoned. Two jetted pockets, one breast pocket and three internal. A slim silhouette and a single vent in the back. That's all it takes to perfect a classic.

Advent Calendar | #4 Patrik Ervell - Formal Pants

When it comes to online shopping, pants are tricky. Often they don't have much design-wise that distinguish themselves from another similar pair, so what it all comes down to is fit and the feel of the fabric. Unfortunately, both are hard to say anything about until you are face to face with the product. That's probably why we haven't written very much about pants on here. There just isn't that much to say about a pair of pants.

With that said these ones, from Patrik Ervell, looks perfectly nice to me. The fit is slim without being claustrophobic and knowing Ervell this is definitely a quality product through-and-through. Dark grey pants are always welcome in the winter and the melange effect adds some interesting texture to the garment.

Editor's Note | Advent Calendar

Christmas is closing in, so in an effort to improve our post rate we figured we'd do something everybody else is doing too these days; a christmas countdown. Every day, from now until Christmas Eve, we will feature an object that is on our respective wishlists. Of course we will keep up our regular posts; this is just a little holiday bonus from us to you. Enjoy!

Editor's Note | Lazy Summer Days

Apologies for the lack of updates lately. We've all been enjoying a perfect week (or so) spent at E's summer cottage. Lazy days filled with nothing but sun, swimming, sailing, good food and some really nice catching up. Thanks E, and everyone else.

The idea was to keep posting during our stay there, but after a minor incident at the beach we were left with a malfunctioning keyboard which is the reason why we've been absent late. However a lot of good ideas came to light during our little vacation and some of them we hope we'll get to share with you further down the road.

Anyways, we took some much needed time off from our daily life's we're back and we promise we'll get right back to posting

/T

Dèja Vu | June 2009

Here it is, somewhat late: the latest Déjà Vu, where we sum up the past months posts and pick out the best bits. We apologize for the delayment and hope you'll enjoy!

Inspiration | Garden Party Rebels
Because sometimes it's not what you wear, it's the attitude you wear it with.

Behind The Label | Richard Chai
In our first post of the month we took a look at the up-and-coming designer Richard Chai, who has been steadily delivering great collections since his menswear debut last year.

Video | Melinda Arrive Ce Soir
Yves Saint Laurent's video for their SS10 collection, made by Samuel Benchetrit and starring his son Jules became an instant hit among the fashion-interested.

Inspireation | The Kennedys
No, not that picture that we've all seen all over the internet a thousand times. Just a similar one.

The Man With The Suitcase
Max Vadukul's film for Coming Soon AW09 is a mysterious and dreamy vision about a magician and his suitcase.

The Objects

Jacket

Cricket Sweater

Shirt

Shorts

Boat Shoes

Déjà Vu | May 09

Okay, so for those of you who have just joined us or those who have missed out on some of our previous content, we know just how hard it can be to try and catch up, sifting through the archives. Trust us, we've been there. You find something interesting on the web and decide to check out the rest of the site. Only thing is, you wind up spending way to much time trying to separate the good stuff from the rest and sooner or later you end up getting lost in the vast torrent of information (We actually haven't written that much yet so don't worry, no chance of getting lost here).

But we figured we'd make it easy on you anyway. We've decided to cherry-pick a few of our own favorite pieces from the past month. So, without any further presentation (or any form of excuse for the blatant self-promotion), here's a short list:

Personal Style - An Expression Of You, The World And How You See It
Some musings on the importance of personal style and what it means to be stylish. What does it really take?

The Style Is Right | Studio Homme - Casual Tie
We continue our crusade to increase the awareness of shops about the importance of proper styling. French store Studio Homme leads the way with some impeccable looks.

Style | Western Shirt
One of the timeless styles of America get the attention it deserves, after having spent some time in the shadow of the chambray shirt.

Pushing It | Casual Cummerbund
Playing with the idea of making the cummerbund more than just an accesory for black-tie events. Is it possible to make it work with just a shirt and a pair of pants. We take a look.

THE collection by (y): Duffle Bag
H(y)r Collective has taken their concept one step further beyond the existing magazine and blog and launched a small capsule collection consisting of oxford shirts and duffle bags.

Style Icon | André Benjamin
The famous artist André 3000 is widely known for his sense of fashion, but he's also designing a line of his own.

Personal Style - An Expression Of You, The World And How You See It

"Fashion fades, style is eternal"

Often people keep saying that you should have your own personal style instead of blindly following the current season's fashion trends. The standard conversation of this kind usually includes somebody citing the classic Yves Saint Laurent quote above. But the question remains: what is style, and how, if possible, do you obtain it?

This is of course a very individual question and the answer probably varies from person to person. But here's my two cents on the matter: Style is who you are.

Let me explain. Style is unique for everyone, it's dependent on who you are, where you live, where you grew up, your worldview and your thoughts, experiences and opinions. In short; style is the outwards expression of who you are. The image you try to project and the perception others have of you. The clothes is just one part of that, although an important one, together with other things like your walk, way of talking and gestures.

As such, there are no given rules for being succesful when it comes to style. It's not a constant, not a formula that can be calculated or set criterias to measure up to. What works for some, looks malplacé on others. The only advice I can give you is the following: Don't try too hard and always ask yourself; is this me?

Oh, and it doesn't hurt too have a personal quirk or a signature look either, like Yves Saint Laurent with his amazing square glasses. Just don't turn it into a gimmick. It should come naturally, or not at all. Like I said, when it comes to style, looking like you're trying too hard is a mortal sin.

Editor's Note | Maintenance

I'd like to take the time to apologize for the inconsistency of Tristan of Awos at the moment. We're pretty new to the game and the site's been of to kind of a rocky start and is still in it's cradle. It is our ambition to regularly post high-quality posts on a daily basis. The internet provides you with the opportunity to reach out to a much wider audience than usually. Once you post it, it's out there for everyone to see which means you want to do your best each and every time. Unfortunately, this also means that sometimes things move a little slower. We're perfectionists, and we apologize for that.

All of us have a life on the side of Tristan, which sometimes mean we can't spend as much time here as we would like to. At the moment there's a lot of projects going on, some of which you will notice further down the road. Hopefully you will enjoy this as much as we do. This is our passion and we want that to show.

For now we ask you to bear with us. We're still learning but we promise to pick up our pace and continue to improve. If you have any comments, thoughts or suggestions, please let us know.

Sincerely yours,

T

The Future Of Workwear

The discussion about the future of the workwear-trend has begun to spread on the internet and, although reporting trends isn't the purpose of this site, I'd figure I'd give you my take on it as it's an interesting topic to discuss. I haven't fully embraced the whole workwear-style, but I have, like many others, enjoyed the comfortableness, durability and quality of many workwear-related pieces.

First of all I'd like to discuss the quality aspect of it. Reading what people says about this, it seems that they think that the workwear-trend is about quality over quantity, about craftmanship. Well, it is and it isn't. Craftmanship may often a big part of it, but workwear doesn't have monopoly on it. Just because we move on to something different doesn't mean that we have to, or will, set aside quality.

Fashion is just an expression of the human nature. We are, by nature, experimental and restless. When we've gotten tired of one thing we move on to the next. The globalization and the internet has only speed up the process. Today, things are on their way out, even before their in. But we are also nostalgic. We like to remember our past and think about how good things used to be. Therefore fashion is not only changeable, it's also cyclical. Trends get big, die away, and then come back a few years later. Maybe not exactly the same, often re-interpretated to better suit the new times, but they do come back. So even if this is goodbye to the workwear-trend for now, it will come back sooner or later. Take my word for it. But it is going away for a while.

A lot of you are probably thinking "I have my own sense of style. I'm not affected by trends. I wear what I wear because I like it, whether it's 'in' or not." The truth is that we ARE affected by what others think . Maybe not the fashion world as such, but we draw our inspiration and taste from somewhere, even if it's just from our closest friends. So let's face it, our preferences will change and we will start looking for new things. The only people who are likely to completely stick with the workwear are the ones who wore it long before it started getting the attention of the fashion-world, the ones who actually have practical use for it. As for the rest of us, if you live in a city there really isn't any practical sense to wearing it. It's purely aesthetic and therefore many will drop out when the trend becomes (even more) exploited and wide-spread than it is now. Others will drop out when they realise that most others have moved on and that the reason that they're alone wearing workwear is no longer because they're ahead of the curve, but behind it.

So finally to sum it up for you, here's my personal opinion, the short version, on the matter: Is workwear as a trend on the way out? Yes, probably. What will replace it? There's no way of knowing, only the future can tell. Will it come back? Sooner or later, definetely. So maybe it's time you put away those Red Wings in the closet, but you better make sure you know where to find them..