It was Bowie’s birthday yesterday, so happy belated birthday to him. It’s also a great reason to share images from this 1993 issue of Arena. Which covers his entire career and has a great feature on how his career faltered post ‘Let’s Dance’.

I’ll keep this one short and sweet. Esquire’s Chris Jones hosted a talk at Harvard with Gay Talese at the The Harvard Writers at Work series and any fan of writing, reading or Journalism should take some time out of their day to read it. It’s long but worth it. See it here

I know how Ray J feels. Seriously.

Like him, I’m also tired of being humble.

I’m about to put on my E. Tautz jacket, jump in the whip and smack fools who talk nonsense about me. And if I don’t do that, I’ll show some pictures I took at the Touba showroom and menswear day, which I did over at my site.

This place has been rant free for months now. It’s time to rectify that.

I’ve attempted to write about this before but it descends too far into vitriol. So to stop this, I’ll look at the times where a black Vogue is needed. (I’m talking about Vogue Black, which is part of Italian Vogue’s website)

1. Hair and makeup articles

I ignore all hair articles in magazines for obvious reasons, so these articles in Italian vogue are genuinely useful.

2. Fashion weeks

I suppose if, say, there was a fashion week in South Africa, it’d nice to feature this in Vogue Black.

3. Errr, that’s it.

The rest of it can easily fit into the main Vogue. Especially in a website, where space is essentially limitless. I don’t see being black as a niche and, more importantly, I think ‘black style’ is the most meaningless term since ‘honest fabrics’.

Anyone who’s had the displeasure of meeting me in person will know that it doesn’t take much to get me to go on a rant about the term black style. Aside from being ridiculous, I’ve always found it incredibly limiting.

I don’t see how style gets chopped up into separate races, when it should really be judged on subcultures. How does me wearing the same sort of brands everyone else wears (I’m wearing a sunspel shirt and some chinos, since you asked) become black style instead of just style? Does black style mean only other black people can take influence from it? Or does it mean I’ve dripped the outfit in my magic black swagger juice?

What annoys me about the term is that it leans towards the whole ‘black people just have it’ theory that’s a little degrading/annoying. No race ‘just has’ style, we grow, develop and get better at it like everyone else. And while this theory is used for good when we’re assumed to be cool, it’s not so great when people are using it to denigrate us in other areas. Ever notice how white athletes are called things like ‘hard working’ and ‘deceptively quick’ while black ones are usually referred to as ‘naturally athletic’. I know sports is a whole different kettle of fish when it comes to race but they’re connected by the general ‘they just have it’ theory – which is why I reject the notion wholesale, as tempting as it is to use it when it suits.

Bringing this back to (Vogue) Black, my problem is that the vast majority of the features could easily just be added to the main site. Features on prominent bloggers? put it on the main site. Features on musicians as popular as Janelle Monae? put it on the main site. Street style? put it on the main site.

But my other issue is that, while I’m sure vogue would say it functions as a ‘great destination for black style’ or some other guff, it actually makes it harder to be featured in the proper vogue. Why would they feature any black person in the main vogue when they can be chucked into Vogue Black? And, as we’ve seen happen before in the world of music, this is the way ghetto are formed. I don’t have statistics but I’d take a wild guess that there’s less people clicking on vogue black’s section than there are for the main part of the site.

There’s also less chance of anyone ever wandering onto any of Vogue Black’s articles, judging from my highly unscientific test. Let’s assume you come onto the site and start scrolling. both Vogue Black and Vogue Curvy are featured at the bottom of the site, where you’re unlikely to accidentally scroll all the way down to. Elsewhere there’s no mention of any articles on Vogue Black, so unless you click the button, you’d never know it existed.

Honestly, this is a selfish rant. If I ever get featured/write for Vogue, I don’t want it to be off in some ’strictly for my black people’ section that no one reads. I want everyone to see it. If I’m influential (that’s a whole different argument that I don’t have the time/inclination to get into) then surely I should be influential to everyone, not just other black people? We all live in the same world, take inspiration from the same places, look at the same fashion shows and wear, for the most part, similar clothing. To quote the great philosopher Ginuwine, tell me what’s so different?

The end result of  Vogue Black is that it’s even harder to get into Italian Vogue than it was three years ago. It all smacks of someone pissing on me and telling me it’s champagne.

I’d like to say that Fresh was an underrated film when it comes to style. I’d like to, but it’s actually a film that very few people have seen. Made during the great gangsta film rush of the early ’90s, Fresh is about a the tales and woes of a 12 year old drug dealer. Surprisingly for a film made during this period, there’s a surprising amount of nuance. There’s also some amazingly stilted slang being used, but that’s par for the course. Hey, it was 1994, the rapper-actor movement was just getting started. I remember watching this when I was about 10 and being utterly terrified at a death scene. Now? I just look at the patterned shirts.

Look at the guy in the oversized shirt in the background on the right. I don’t know if it’s that visible, but he’s got a very Our Legacy-esque patterned shirt. Or maybe Our Legacy used this as research? Probably not.

And it’s not all patterned shirts either. Take a look at Sam Jackson in this film.

And keep an eye out for the chest pocket tee and the washed denim.

Rules, rules, rules. Everyone’s got a set they want to hand out and the internet is chock full of sites where people tell other people what to do. I wanted to fight this, instead I’ve decided to make my own absolute definitive guide to being a gentleman. The only problem with this is that it might be too much good advice. I’d like to thank here, here and here for inspiration. So, without further a (gentlemanly) due, here’s my list:

01. One must always walk in a straight line. Zig zagging across the street is undignified.

02. Always ask a girl out first – even when she asks you out first.

03. Learn how to cross the road. It may seem silly now, but it’s a vital life skill. Trust us.

04. Travel to a third world country. When you see the smiles they have on their little deprived faces, you’ll see how much you have. Which you’ll promptly forget when you’re back home and start complaining about the battery life on your iPhone.

05. Don’t play the bongos if you’re on a date.

06. Offer your seat to a woman whenever you’re on public transport. And if she refuses and say’s she’s fine, yell “sit down woman, I’m being a gentleman!” She’ll thank you for your gentlemanly forthrightness.

07. Write letters. On paper. With a quill.

08. The heart is strongest muscle in the body. Use it. To pump blood around your body. Any other use is ungentlemanly.

09. Recite fifteen romantic poems whenever you’re on a date. If your date tells you to stop, carry on unabashed. It’s the gentlemanly thing to do.

10. Don’t forgot birthdays and important events. Some people find it rude when you forget their birthday (surprisingly). Thankfully, there’s now an internet guide to tell you that these things are important.

11. Take all of these loosely related obvious common courtesies and opinions for fact. Otherwise you’re not a gentleman.

Style Salvage took a look at my coat collection (and, by extension, my style). Go gawp at it.

A week late, but here’s some shots and snippets from my foray to Copenhagen fashion week.

This burger was so damn beefy it stopped being fun midway through and started being an endurance test.

Here’s what I packed. Well, some of what I packed, I couldn’t find everything I brought into an oh-so-artful shot.

I didn’t do many shows, but Soulland was a highlight.

I’m not that into hats, but I’m sure your burgeoning hat fiends would’ve loved Petitgas.

Can’t look at that shirt without thinking Biggie Smalls.

The Taschen shop is proof that print remains the best way to show off great images. And there’s a Ben & Jerry’s right next to it, which makes it doubly good.

I never said I was mature.

But that’s not all that happened over in Copenhagen, I also got my picture taken and had it come out in the daily Danish fashion week newspaper. It wasn’t quite the perfect shot I envisioned.

And while I’m chatting, I also was asked to guest blog over at Matches and I spoke a bit about contrast collars. Go read it.

To be honest, I’ve been trying to write about the whole ‘fashion vs style’ thing for a while now. I quit most of the time, usually because it gets a bit too vitriolic. But after seeing this rant on the subject, I feel okay to throw in my two pennies on the issue. I agree with most of what is said, but I’d like to take it a step further.

The first point is that I’ve always felt that people confused the word style with tailoring. To me, style is simply the way you wear an item. Saying you’re about style not fashion is like saying you like playing basketball but don’t believe in dribbling the ball. Or like saying you like writing but not reading. Both are essential to reach the desired outcome.

And, if you see style as simply the way you wear things as opposed to a prescribed outfit, then I think the whole ‘fashion vs style’ argument looks like how it’s looked to me over the past year – idiotic.

Which leads me to the tradeshows. If you’ve been to any of the recent ones, you’ll know how silly the whole ‘timeless’ style trend has become. I joked about Red Wing boots being government issued footwear on twitter, but it was a sad sight. It’s like everyone’s had any iota of originality beaten out of them with some Viberg boots. Even some dude who was on the Sartorialist a couple of years ago looked like a shit lumberjack.

But I did do some good while I was in town, namely take pictures around Paris. I was given a Samsung Wave 2 to take pictures on and whaddya know, the camera’s pretty good on it.

Capsule Paris. It’s basically my second home whenever I’m there.

At Olivier Borde’s showroom. I’ve got my eye on their sweatshirt and tracksuit bottoms.

The view of my balcony was pretty cool. There was no time to actually stand out and look around though, it was cold out.

Yep, I’m still obsessed with magazine stores. This was another one I just managed to get into before it shut. And I still can’t afford a copy of Egoiste.

Samsung did this video to promote the now project. I don’t feel gipped that I wasn’t asked to take part in it. It’s cool. Totally cool. No problem at all.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or in a part of the world where Sky sports isn’t that important) you’ll have heard about the Andy Gray & Richard Keys kerfuffle/scandal. I’m as tired of the topic as everyone else, but the whole scenario did remind me of the time I worked at the FA.

To set the scene, I’d just left Uni and was  doing temp work to pay the bills. Somehow I lucked out and landed a job in the FA. Great, I thought, I’ll be doing keepy uppies all day. Strangely enough, that didn’t happen. This was the time when Steve McClaren was England manager and he was around a fair bit. I would’ve been starstruck but this is Steve McClaren we’re talking about.

Working at the FA was bloke dynamite. All I had to do was mention it and I’d be trapped in a hour long conversation on McClaren’s suitability as manager and how many players I’d seen. However, the main thing I remembered from it was that it was one of the most ‘old school’ places I’ve ever worked in. One time, we had a member of the board come down to visit. He was a shrivelled shell of a cockney man who was, as Richard Keys would say, unreconstructed. When he saw a workmate wearing a purple shirt, his remark was ‘Wot you wearing a purple shirt for mate, are you some kind of poofter?’

Uncomfortable silence.

‘You can’t say that anymore’, said a staff worker.

‘It’s awight, we’ve got one of ‘em in the boardroom now so they can’t complain anymore’.

Even more uncomfortable silence. Then nervous laughter. You know, the kind you feel obliged to do when an elderly relative makes a racist joke.

That, in a nutshell, was what working at the FA was like. It’d be unfair to paint everyone working at the FA as a caveman but, like most professions, the higher up you got, the more it turned into a day at the terraces in 1970. The bosses had a ‘poor love, all this football is too complicated for her little brain’ attitude towards their secretaries, regularly making uncomfortable comments like the one Andy Gray did in that video. I’ve heard the ‘it’s only banter’ argument before, but banter only works on a level playing field. It’s hard to have banter with someone who could sack you if you told them to fuck off.