You know when something’s so offensive it doesn’t even register? Or, to paraphrase Dave Chappelle, something’s so racist that all you can say is ‘that was racist!’ That’s what happened to me when I read the ‘black black’ paragraph in US Esquire’s Jay-Z profile. Before I even get into it, let’s take a look at the quote.

“Jay-Z is black black. He is old-school double-dark-chocolate-chunk black. He is black the way Labatt is blue. He is not white black, Barack black, like our president. Or the kind of black that doesn’t curse and deplores the n-word, the genteel black, like Oprah. He is, arguably, the first black-black guy to cross over into Oprah-land and Bill Clintonworld without making the Oprah-sized no-look-back forward flip that means you’re selling not necessarily your soul but perhaps something fleshier, a little more external.”

Let’s start with the quote ‘Old-school double-dark-chocolate-chunk black’. It’s a phrase so offensive I can’t believe it made it into print. Did no one read it and think that rating blackness on a chocolate based Richter scale could be viewed in a negative light?

Without breaking down the quote word for word, The main gist of it is that not there are levels of blackness and cultural traits that can be considered white or black. Barack Obama doesn’t fit into these, so he’s ‘white black’ – an offensive phrase whether it’s referring to his mixed race heritage or character traits. Oprah doesn’t make the cut either, as she’s one of the ‘genteel’ blacks. Never mind all she’s achieved, she doesn’t swear or call people nigger, so therefore isn’t black enough in the Taddeo’s book.

It’s rare that people call things racist nowadays, mostly because it’s become a slur on par with paedophilia, but the above quote is a racist one. I’m not saying Lisa Taddeo is a racist – I’m sure she has black friends, maybe even black black friends – but what she wrote is undoubtedly racist.

It’s rare that I look forward to anything on the internet, not because I’m a curmudgeon, it’s just that the flow of new things is so constant I don’t have time to get excited. An exception to that rule is Street Etiquette’s ‘Genesis of Style’ project. While I am excited about the project itself, what I’m really excited about is the shift in menswear blogging it represents.

Last year was all about craftsmanship; we got treated to endless factory tours and studio visits. Somewhere in all this gusset and yoke talk, the relationship between wearer and clothes became secondary. Don’t get me wrong, I like the details, but there was a point where it all got boring. I love music too, but I don’t want to know how Thom Yorke tunes his guitar.

It goes without saying that workwear took shit over last year. Chambray shirts, indigo denim, brogues and a hastily grown beard was the unofficial uniform of the new workwear aficionado. An annoying side-effect of this rise was the increased amount of negative comments on anything that was deemed as feminine. I wouldn’t mind this if we spent all day featuring frilly skirts and dresses, but the idea of feminine clothes stretched to anything that wasn’t blue, grey or black.

While these comments annoyed me for a few reasons - ignorance, homophobia and general stupidity to name a few - what really ground my gears was that comments like these totally ignored the relationship between clothes and wearer – the most important factor in clothing. As a wise man once said, it’s never what you do but how it’s done. Maybe we’ll get back to that this year.

Has there ever been a worse time to be Nigerian?

Being Nigerian has never been as cool as, say, being from the Caribbean (I was reminded of this constantly as a youngster) but it’s taken a few serious knocks lately. Firstly there’s the whole online scamming thing – I’ve no sympathy for the numpties who fell for that nonsense – but this wannabe bomber has taken it to new depths.

Aside from the obvious issues here, what country wants to be known for a failed bomber? At least if he’d pulled off he’d have shown some initiative, and drive – but he failed and he’s forever tarnished his country as the one that made the guy who stuffed explosives into his boxers.

The news reports haven’t helped either. I know they have to report the news, but do they have to mention that he’s Nigerian in every news report? That’s negative reinforcement on a grand scale. Before you know it the BNP will start talking about Nigerians in the same way they do about, err, every race, gender, colour and creed different from themselves.

And that’s not to mention how hard it’ll be for any Nigerian to board a plane. We’ll be subjected to those random checks that were carried out on anyone vaguely Middle Eastern. I’m lucky I have the double whammy of a British passport and an English sounding name (which, as the old joke goes, shows that my parents wanted me to have a good career). Any Olufemi Adeyemi’s out there might not be so lucky.

2009 has been the year of the blog. Bloggers are getting front row seats, flown to Japan and hanging out with designers (although that’s just Tavi doing all that). But one thing people just can’t seem to get right is how to approach us in the first place. So here are some do’s and mostly don’t’s.

Do offer a slightly personalised approach: Obviously you don’t have to read the entire archive before sending over something, but I get far too many inbox-clogging emails about shit I’d never write about. A little research goes a long way.

Don’t send news you’ve given to another blog weeks ago: In case you hadn’t noticed, blogging is all about newness. And chances are I’ve already seen it and have no interest, hence why it’s not on the site already.

Don’t say ‘I love your blog’: Even if you mean it, I hear this phrase so often it’s in one ear and out the other. It’s the blogging equivalent of telling someone they’re beautiful (and lord knows I hear that enough).

Don’t send us a press release about a party without an invite: Why the hell would I want to write about an event you don’t even have the courtesy to invite me to?

Don’t CC emails: BCC’ing isn’t that hard to do.

Don’t tell me you stock Nom De Guerre: So what? So does everybody.

Do stock pieces other stores won’t have: If you are gonna stock the likes of NDG, at least take some chances in the buying stakes. It’ll pay off in terms of blogging coverage. You can always sell the ‘guaranteed sellers’ in store.

Don’t tell us about your online store if the pictures are awful: This should go without saying. Why would I feature a badly shot piece from your store when I get a great shot from elsewhere?

Don’t stock brands that established online stores already stock: No one will buy the piece from you when it’s already available from a retailer they trust.

Don’t follow our lead: This is at odds with the previous point but consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. I’m starting to see stores that are stocking things on the basis that they’re ‘blogging favourites’. Words can’t describe how boring this is. Surprise us sometimes.

The Graduate, Deer Hunter, Bullitt all share a common thread -they’re all stylish films. And they’re all obvious choices for stylish films. Having rewatched this a few weeks ago, I’d like to nominate Home Alone two as a style inspiration. Yeah, I said it, I meant it, bite my tongue for no one (© Notorious B.I.G). Before you turn away in disgust, take a look at the above cable neck crew neck/plaid shirt combo - guys are paying good money to get that look nowadays.

Take note of the autumnal hues, especially the green coat - looks like something straight out of Garbstore.

Oversized glasses, button down collar striped shirt and plaid check vest. Size up on the model and he could easily be straight from a Band Of Outsiders lookbook.

Camel overcoats, every designer has one out this season. Also, note the wine red scarf and denim shirt.

Backpacks are back and Kevin had one of the best.

Overcoats (again), Corduroy jackets and cardigans.

Polaroids and patterned accesssories - two things that are making a comeback.

Burgundy’s always great in autumn.

Playing with texture in an overcoat, chunky scarf, workwear-esque waistcoat, striped shirt and fingerless gloves. Size down on the cuts and you have a lookbook worthy shot.

Do I even need to say anything for this picture?

Everything’s relative. While I wouldn’t balk at spending more than £200 on a pair of well made shoes, I wouldn’t spend £12 on a DVD. Sound crazy? Well it is a bit nuts. But think about it. Ever since I started obtaining all my DVD’s via my good friend Mr. Rent (first name: Bitto), even spending the most miniscule amount on a DVD is too much for me. My mind says, “£3?! You could go home and download it for free ask your mate for a copy”.

But sometimes my relative cheapness comes back to bite me. Last week, I came across a film by Shirley Clarke called ‘portrait of Jason’. The first thing I noticed was that this dude was quite a snappy dresser, the second was the price - £12 - so I passed. Went home to ask my good friend Mr. Rent, but he didn’t have it. And the now the cheapest price I can find anywhere is £12. Just my luck.

I might have to just spend the money though, the film looks to have far more going for it than just his dress sense. The film is basically one long interview, something never done before at it’s time of release, focusing on the life of hustler Jason Holiday. Holiday was also black and gay, two things which really weren’t looked upon favourably (to put it extremely mildly) in the sixties.

I would tell you more, but I need to cough up £12 first.

Call this a pit stop post. I’m just tying up a few loose ends before I start updating this once a week. Or whenever I get the time. I’m making no promises. Here’s some loosely related topics that were all too big for a twitter but too small for their own blog post.

Like Monocle, Man About Town also had a predecessor. I could bore you with the particulars, but Magforum has all the info. Just take a gander at the amazing covers they did back then.

I’ve developed a real hankering for big, thick soled boots lately. An odd obsession to get in July, but you can’t control these things. That’s also the reason you’ve been seeing so many boots on the main blog lately. Right now these Lodger desert boots are my weapon of choice, although I’ll probably add this pair of Grensons to the team when they ‘drop’.

While I know my boot lust is workwear related, the workwear love is spiralling out of control. People are genuinely talking about wearing sandals and socks, ferchristsakes. Everyone loves a heritage story, but there’s nothing wrong with just looking good.

Here’s what’s been keeping me going these past few days.

For all the detail-aholics out there, the Cardigan is COS, the Jeans APC new standard and the desert boots are by Lodger. The book down there is ‘writing for journalists’ by Wynford Hicks. I’ve had this ever since I studied Journalism (about three years ago now, I’m getting on) and I still use it as a reference when I need to polish up my grammar. Without firing shots, there are plenty of blogs who could do with giving this book a read. I know building an empire is the thing to do nowadays, but there’s a lot to be said for focusing on the fundamentals.

It’s no secret that workwear is in right now. And with that, comes a certain degree of macho nonsense. Seeing as I’m quite the contrarian, I’ve decided to flag up the amazing style in Prince’s Purple Rain. It’s about as far from workwear as you can get, but it’s probably just as inspirational.

What may be surprising for some is that they do have some workwear staples in this - the white vest, for instance - but they’re worn in a subversive manner (as in teamed with studded trousers and high heeled boots). Classic menswear fanatics should enjoy the tie clips, pattern clashing and pocket squares worn by Morris Day and anyone looking for inspiration on how to rock a bow tie should look no further. I’m still not advocating ruffles though.

This is the first in a long line of personal, one of one collaborations. Well, not really. These are the new Timberland custom boat shoes that they’ve just started doing and they were kind enough to send me a pair. To be honest, I was a little surprised at how well they turned out.

Because I have no imagination, I basically went for a tan version of those Band of Outsiders deck shoes that’s been all over the net lately. I’m still not sold on boat shoes being popular for too much longer, but if you wanna rock a unique style of boat shoe before they jump the shark, this is the way to go.