Casting Couch

Every day, we have our roles to play. Are costumes part of playing your role? Oscar Wilde said that wearing costumes are necessary to win the part one vies for. If that’s the case then, are the threads we use a reflection of our ambitions? Or is it a foil for the things we want to hide? It boils down to what kind of performer you are.

Fashion is an art that elevates the daily routine of life into a stylized oeuvre of living. Like caviar, gulfstreams and private islands, life’s luxuries make man’s fundamental needs into anything but basic. It evades the commonplace and becomes an elusive illusion of utopia.

Men have been notorious as a majority to be idle in their way of dress. If billionaires escape the realities of the world with golden trophies like jets and expensive women, regular Joes have their way of having fun, too, without causing a stir in Forbes magazine.

A portrait of the modern man is relaxed and multi-tasking while seated in his "personalized" couch (check out the recessed bum marks!) flicking on the most absurd programs possible.

Yet in the zeroes, with grunge past its heyday, he sits on his throne in style. With a wardrobe that is easy and versatile, modern and cutting edge with contemporary colors, combinations and detailing. Yet he is not so jarring that he is mistaken for a runaway Cirque de Soleil dancer.

Felipe "Ipe" Cruz IIII shows summer ease in styles where prints mingle (stripe on stripe or plaid on plaid, just be sure colors complement one another) together and is solid when it comes to solids. A financier by profession, Ipe leads a pretty mellow life outside the office. His easy and low-maintenance style remains elegant with clean cuts, dyed in refreshing shades. He buys them in the size he is meant to wear (i.e. no shirt corsets or potato sacks). It really is easy to be fight even if you’re all testosterone.

For summer, let shades of pink, buttercup yellow and peach court their way into your closet, to keep the blues from becoming too blue. Pants also have a Jay Gatsby flair to them (poplin cotton and linens with little luxurious details) with a rugged and sharp Spike Jonze edge to them (straight cut and slightly rumpled) as they travel through shades of pale and your skin conforms to a golden tan. The shoes follow suit as well sans socks with light buttery loafers (very Euro-trash chic). Keep hair well groomed with a bit of wax – now is just not the time to have melted hair gel dribble on your eyes as you seduce your way to a summer fling.

Save that for the winter ball.