Monochrome and Grunge

For good or bad, I known for my sense of dapper style which, to be candid, is a result of my urgency to rescue some sort of lost elegance which I believe is long gone in our society (at least for the day-to-day and the society that I live in everyday).

Well, in order to give a different spin on the ‘how to wear’ and ‘what-to-wear’ tutorials, such as my own bow tie post, I decided to do something which I have not done for a while, and model/collaborate with my great friend and talented photographer Simao Salvador Melo. We wanted to create a series of images related to two very different points of view, using two tendencies that are quite far apart in the world of male fashion. This editorial also pushes the boundaries of the compositions to an extreme of an editorial work and maybe wearable by some, the two tendencies are:

• Monochrome
• Grunge

Monochrome or Monochromatic – simply speaks for itself, is the use of the same color throughout the ensemble. Most of the times the same tone, or similar hues, but always from head to toe. My personal take? It simply reminds me of a uniform, any uniform of any sort. Many of the dudes, I spoke kindly about this issue state that is a “make-life-easy” kind of look . No fuzz with the matching and pairing, no need to sort laundry, no investment on time when heading out. Well, I think people will think the same every time, they see you. They may forget if they saw you yesterday or last week.  

Amongst the many reasons I heard from the dues include:

• It is less time-consuming.
• It is easier to dress, as you have no other option than coördinate the same color.
• It is a style (when it comes to black  – this came from a man in London, living in Soho)

In thinking about this, it led me to believe that sometimes perhaps it is the lack of knowledge of how to mix and match colors, or the inability to actually mix colors for some reason, or simply there is no interest on learning how to create a palette in their body. In any event, I think there are multiple ways and options to create a consistent look when it comes to using color and monochrome is one of them. Or at least this is my interpretation.

My take on this and true believe for monochromatic looks?, is that simply should be use and applicable to those moments they are solemn or serious (mostly in black), or as a uniform (depending on the requirements established) or to rest (when is white) and must lay to low linens and comfortable shapes

To this particular “off-the-box” editorial, my first thought was to use the Mechanic Orange, a tone that is now in use widely in advertisement, a color that was for many years overlooked. Here I am posing with all of my own clothing, and at the moment of the shoot, I  was mesmerized about how much orange I do own in my closet, even down to the sunglasses!

As an alternate to orange is perhaps one of my favorite colors, red. There is a seduction for me to use red as an accent and break in color as I also tend to wear a lot of black and white. I’m not sure why I do, but I think, perhaps because I am a child of the 80’s and the postmodern era was in full swing when I was in architectural school – and red was used widely at the time. In any event, once again, I own many red elements in red and here is a clear example of how just digging in my closet, I was able to pull together a complete ensemble in red.

And now my standby Black. Well this time, the black has a greyish tone to it. This Armani privee suit that was a gift from a friend of mine has a shark skin sheen that is quietly seductive, then I opted for including it into this sequence.

Once again, not only the color, but the shape and the material has to do with the ensemble, perhaps I even proved to myself that those have/ought to be present no matter what. Silhouette, material,  and color – three principles I keep talking about in my workshops, and one that defines our wardrobe.

Then, there is  other side of the spectrum.

A collection of patterns and colors, which combine into an  irreverence to almost everything. A style that basically picks-up what others left, the ability to just dress and dress and dress with a lot. In this tendency, more is best. The grunge style is very present in the Northwest weather and arts-centered cities in the USA and is one widely used by musicians, painters, writers, and Bohemians at large, as a reaction to a budget issue. It is not easy to survive with latest fashion and being an artist at the same time.

And so I decided to spin the look by bringing a pair of shorts, which brings the bohemian feeling a little further to a more fashion or chic look.

With all the mixes and matches, I never abandoned my bow tie.

Once again fashion is the armour or everyday, as Mr. Bill Cuningham once said on an interview, and in this case, even if the fashion is monochrome or grunge,  these two styles has something to say.

This was an enlightening experience, which reinforces my fashion beliefs, and  reminds me of my sense of style and have curated one for many years.

Look into your closet and define yours, none else has the same look as you, even though we can all tend to grouped by a certain interest.

CREDITS

Photography; Simao Salvador Melo

Makeup & Hair Style; Geo Baddyside for  Geo Baddsyde – MUA

 Stylist; Oscar De las salas – “O Productions”

www.whatwouldoscardo.com

 

DISCLAIMER:  All ideas, photography, styling and media on this blog photography, written or video  are exclusive for the use of  Oscar De las salas under www.whatwouldoscardo.com blog. Any use, copy, crop/paste action, or any similarity of this material is strictly prohibited unless authorized by http://www.whatwouldoscardo.com or by Author. All Copyrights laws for internet or media use are applicable. If you want, need or require any of this material for any reason please contact my agent – Always in style – Oscar.)