Finally, the Man

Menswear is definitely growing in popularity and relevance, probably because nowadays men are more attune to what looks good and what works for them. Gone were the days when only a few of us cared about what we put on our backs (I started out young...and foolish. I cared but cared for the wrong things. hahaha) and now, almost every man I know, straight or gay, has at least a pinch of knowledge about things that concern fashion and style. 

While I'm waiting for jobs to call me back and weighing out the pros and cons for some of them, it did pass my mind to take up a design course, menswear specifically. I didn't dream to become a designer when I was young, but now I see the importance of great quality clothes, especially for us gents, since not everything out there is worth the money we work hard for and it's not like women's fashion that they have almost limitless options that would suit their styles, their budgets and the lot.

I was thinking of doing a menswear line that sort of bridges the gap between formal dressing and sportswear, something like an Ermenegildo Zegna/Ralph Lauren meets Alexander Wang's Menswear line and Adam Kimmel. Those are the type of clothes I see myself wearing and as of the moment, I couldn't find myself any brand here that could afford me that. As they say, if you can't find any story you like, it just might be yours you're looking for...So why shouldn't I take up classes in menswear right? Well, not now for me. But I've considered it and will plan to do so in the near future.

For those of you who share the same predicament or are just driven by a passion for men's fashion and style, why not be your own tailor/designer and stylist and get learned from the country's finest fashion school: School of Fashion and the Arts. When my friend AJ---who works for the institution, told me that SoFA was offering menswear courses, it excited me. Finally, the Philippines is focusing on the man. Learn the ropes and be your own Menswear designer and stylist with these awesome and very useful courses: pattern-making and sewing & styling for guys.

Hey, if Luis Espiritu's your professor, why not?! The hell that's a major deal

This one I'm really looking forward to attend soon...hopefully

If you have the time, the passion and the money for these courses, by all means take these courses. And while I wait it out here, you could be the designer/stylist I've been waiting for, so get stylin' gents! Check out their website for more information, or better yet visit the school in Makati.

Thanks AJ for the heads up and the photos.

- Gerard

(Always) About Love

A Moment in Time by Stuart Kirby

Last night, just like every other Friday night, I couldn't believe I was holding myself back from tearing up.

Go on and smile, cause this is me, investing emotions over a night class for my course. The Foundations of the Humanities ended last night and though we still have a 3,000 word paper due on Monday (October 18), it saddens me that meetings with Dr. Mariano has finally ended.

I might have frowned at the time slot of the subject, Fridays, 5-7:30 pm, but I have learned more than what I paid for.

If you're a student of the University of Asia & the Pacific, taking a class under the president of the university sounds scary, but believe me, fear, is the last thing you'll feel when you've settled yourself in the Arts Lab in the CAS building with your ears open and your mind empty, ready for 2 and half hours of mind bending, learning and unlearning.

I hope I make a good last paper because it's my last chance at showing the president that I've learned and that all his hard work and sacrifice were worth it. I also want to prove to myself that I am capable of doing papers that are legitimately philosophical that does not involve, fashion or people from the olden days of Hollywood. And of course, to put into writing what I believe is the truth I've learned from the class.

Anyway, aside from Dr. Mar being the best professor I've ever had in my entire life (believe me, taking a class under him is like seeing and knowing humanity), he's almost always going to make you cry. That's me. He says things in simple words, words understandable at the age of 12 and yet he strikes you because what he shares in class are things universal and true and very human. He's unconsciously talented at stripping you down to your soul and you're metaphorically laying out your beating heart and your stuffed mind on the table for him to whip them into better, human shape.

He's compared us to songs, how we're not all at once in one and how beings like us ought to spread out in time and space. He's mentioned how at the end of all time, when we do get to see God face to face, we'll find the truth and the beauty and the good. And just like what I've told Jamie Dio before, he's also mentioned that people ought to be treated like paintings, that the best way to treat a person is to contemplate them, possess them in a way that allows them freedom and growth. He's also taught me that there are definitely more things in life. That the deep seated questions we travel the world over for, the ones Eat, Pray and Love tell you of are all answerable when one desires to answer them. He showed us that the secret to life is no secret at all, that these things are usually the ones we take for granted, the simple and bare essentials that we grow blind to because we're careless beings. He taught me, during those grueling hour-long consultations, about the importance of language and being careful about the words we use.

He's also taught me about art and science and how things in this world are connected.

But the best thing I've learned from Dr. Mariano and from the voices he's been talking in and from taken from the greatest minds of all time, is all about love (always about love).

Last night, he ended our course with the question: "What is more important in this Earth? To know or to love?"

I for one am 90% sure of my answer and that is why I'm doing my paper on love. The love that I have only realized last night. The love that we all are built for.

I hope you know the answer as well.

You think it's obvious---and maybe it is---but it takes more unlearning, learning and mind bending for this question.

Well, I'm still praying I get a good grade from this subject, one that would hopefully qualify for a master's degree. If I do get a good grade, I'll meet the president again for another subject of philosophy. I will forever be grateful of the millions of things he's taught us and one day, I hope, I'll be able to face life in his own cool, unstudied yet wise ways.

Thank you Dr. Mar.

-Gerard

Men's Health

Check out the new cheek bones. The tip is to bite. Hard.

(something I learned on the radio. Don't laugh. It's true)

Photo by Lesley Choa

It's this close to 12 midnight and I am still stuck on research.

Welcome to the life. But it's best to keep doing things before the deadline hits you.

Well, I look like tired wearing a fatigue jacket (that's double tired for you). The rain was mad this morning, but around lunchtime I was sweating like a pig. Philippine weather is really like a prospect lover, you know? One day it's all over you, pleasing you to bits and then it goes mad bipolar and you're scratching your head, asking, what have I done wrong?

They say you'll learn to love it, especially when it's summer and all you think about is getting drunk on the sight of an azure beach, well I say, I've been living here for most of my life and I am still confused. And usually, when I'm almost evaporating under the sun, I curse the weather and the country for being this...odd...Then again, if the weather cursed me, I'd be dead. So I guess I just have to live with it.

Did you know that when you don't get to sleep for some good 8 hours (I think), you're prone to Type 2 diabetes? And that adding cinnamon to your breakfast sort of prevents your sugar from hitting the ceiling? Men's Health reports. People, have this odd reaction whenever I bring up medical stuff taken from magazines, I don't know why (doing a bimbo face). No but seriously, I brought up this Men's Health tidbit I know in class today, discussing beautiful, confessional poetry. The topic was about a divorce and the question was something like, how do you know that the persona's relationship is about to end. The poem read like it was about to end since the writer penned something like "...lost the meaning of we..." Obviously, that answers the question.

So I told the class that according to Men's Health, when your partner starts saying "I want my space, my time, I want to do this on my own, etc." and suddenly you don't seem to fit in her/his picture anymore, it's a sign that it's about to hit rock bottom. You don't need Men's Health for that, right? It is so obvious, but for the sake of it, I mentioned this in class and they all laughed. I just smiled. I also read this article on VOGUE, years back that one cause of vertigo is the loss of fine crystals found in the ears. My friends laughed at me when I brought this up. Probably it's cause they think magazines don't have much use, other than making you look expensive cause magazines are hell expensive. And that reading about, say, dizzy fits on American VOGUE is like a blonde woman saying she knows the cure to cancer. They could think whatever they want, but I believe that sharing information from everywhere helps. And I believe in the power of magazines and their glossy magic. Of course listening to a doctor talk about vertigo is much more credible than VOGUE, but where would VOGUE get the information anyway? I think they're no Shattered Glass.

Anyway, so when I managed to calm them down, they all stared at me when I told them that those were the signs (according to Men's Health) of a soon break-up and most of them agreed. It is funny though, once you think about it, how random it is. But I bring it up cause I know that---after all, we are humanists---such writings come from experience and we, study just that. Plus of course, it makes people laugh at how absurd it is to read poetry and then Men's Health comes in.

So before I went to school, I decided I'd give my jacket a spin, thanks to my confusing partner, the weather. I love it and how you could actually put so much stuff in it cause of all the surprise pockets and compartments. You could even stick a pen on the left sleeve. I'm actually running low on sneakers, or, basically footwear to pair such casual looks with, so I went on to my trusty, 6 year old pair of Adidas Superstars. I couldn't get myself---at times---to wear them cause they're turning dirty yellow at the bottom and I know the Japanese don't like that. I don't too. But I love how easy it is and comfortable it feels. I survived walking 60 blocks from downtown to uptown Manhattan in these last year and all I complained about was not getting that H&M sweater. It's rare to find good shoes and these ones are beyond good. Most obvious reason why it's a classic, anyway. So there...The moment I took it off, stared at it, I had this Carrie Bradshaw moment (where all you could hear is her airy, baby voice), just gazing at the shoes like it was a sleeping lover. See, I am that mad about them. So I decided that I'll wait for them to just fall apart before getting myself brand new ones to love. Scott Schuman said, on his book, that women love to parade around in new purchases, while men take to the streets their oldest and storied pieces. That's some stylish food for thought.

Well, I have to get back to work...or sleep. I had been talking to myself, in my head, hours ago for a spankin' blog entry and now I think I flushed it down the toilet. This is frustrating. If you haven't bought yourself a copy of ROGUE magazine for this month, please do. It is one for keeps (you damn well know why). I especially love BJ Pascual's work with style editor L.A. Consing Lopez on their spread of new fall, classic essentials. Makes me want to buy designer trainers...(if I had the money that is).

P.S. Photographer and friend Lesley Choa's back on track!!!! She's now healthy again and ready to snap some life into Salt.

.Gerard

Mr. President

I could see you, slacking off Gerard---JFK

Again, penciling in what you're supposed to do don't always inspire you to do it.

This is me, practicing free will. Man, do I feel troubled. Suddenly, everything I've known from Day one as a human being just went zerooooo....

Cindy and I went for consultation hours ago with Dr. Mariano for our report (cause up to now I couldn't spell dispo-something) and were we blown away.

In simple terms, talking to Dr. Mariano is like experiencing Inception first hand. It's amazing. And you don't need 3-D glasses.

You get to see and learn so much when you talk and listen to a man who's so brilliant, it's out of this world. The best part about his style of teaching is that he keeps reminding his students that life is not about the loftiest things, but actually is as simple as a sheet of clean paper.

I aspire to be someone like him. He's one to look up to. And though he talks a lot, shares a lot, you want to know more about him. Like his birthday, his age, where he went to high school, his favorite color and all those interesting things. And he seems almost always patient and excited about a student figuring out that one plus one is damn two, and that there are THREE dimensions in space.

I look up to him so much that I seriously want that tattoo inked on my wrist..."Lift". Well, I hope I'll find me the courage to have it done---because knowing me, I'd rather run from Ortigas to Baguio than feel pain....Or maybe not.

Point is, he's probably one of the brightest men I've ever met. And being a student of him is a real honor. I hope all professors in the world would be like him. Even if we know so little of him, I'm sure that he deserves (even more) that beautiful spot in school...as the President of the university. The moment he looks at you through his glasses and asks you anything such as "Is the red you experience the same red that I experience?", you feel like your soul is being tested or your mind is being purged of all its superfluous knowledge. Well, I hope he'd appreciate our report on Wednesday.

I do have enough time to read two to three readings for my two tests this week. I just have to lift myself off my cold, cold bed (I know, I know, beds are supposed to be warm, but I really like it when my bed is cold...Especially when it's cool under the pillows) and grab my bag, shuffle through papers and readings.

I just spent hours clicking through Carlos Concepcion's blog. I like his style cause it's incredibly different from mine and he's very interesting. I don't know him but I see him a lot in magazines and dropping by his blog sort of gives you an idea about who he is and what he does. Anyway, check his blog out. And just like every other style, culture, movie conscious guy out there, he has a post or two on James Dean. It's true that James Dean has to be one of the most iconic men in the world. Count me in as a billionth something among his dead and living fans.

I am also a HUGE fan of JFK (great segway?! And that's the reason why I started and will end this post on "Presidents"). Whenever summer comes and the sun just kisses you too much, I think of JFK. He is one of American style's most prominent arbiters and also one of the world's most famous presidents. It's such a rare occasion for a politician to influence style and JFK's one of them. And if I may, categorize my style, it'd be JFK trying on 90s grunge. I know, it's so vain, but hey, that's how I feel. Respect (hahaha). And as a closing quote for today's long-enough-for-this-generation post, I conjure the spirit of the late and great JFK for inspiration:

"We must use time as a tool, not as a couch."

Back to my responsibilities.

.Gerard

The Humanist

I'm done with my Antigone essay for tomorrow's Greek Plays class and all I'm waiting for are pictures for Institution of Style. I also read George Elliott's essay about the tragedy, and what with all these readings on literature and art and history and philosophy, I suddenly realized something more---better even---about my course of studies.

I'm currently taking Humanities in the University of Asia & the Pacific and if there's one great thing I've learned in my senior about my course it's this:

You ought to shut up, open your damn ears and wait, and wait, and wait, and wait, and wait until you finally have the best words to say.

Before humanities I'd just blabber and care less about its weight on people, things and the world. Now, whatever comes out of my mouth is definitely NOT silly noise. I make sure that whatever it is I have to say about anything it makes damn sense. Even jokes. Nobody jokes jokes that aren't funny...And in the humanities that's what they teach you.

They teach you to make smart jokes, utter things that are relevant and could always be discussed in intelligible discourses and most of all, open your ears and mind to what the great world has to offer about millions and billions of sensible things.

And that's just one great thing about my course...

.Gerard