To tell you the truth, I even had to save up for it because let’s face it – they’re not cheap and I don’t have the luxury to buy anything I want right away.

The pair costs 3,295 Pesos. I picked the red/white/navy mixed color variant because it will be certainly easy to match up with almost any pair of shorts/jeans – whether blue jeans or even ash gray jeans.

The shoe is made up of canvas and there is some sort of cushion inside that makes it feel so comfortable to wear.

And look, I tied it using the trademark barrel knot. Boat shoes won’t be boat shoes if they are not tied this way.

It was my first time to wear this shoe yesterday. Photo below shows me sporting acid wash pants from Antifit, shades and Coast Guard shirt from Bench as featured here and Sperry Top-Sider Bahama Men’s Boat Shoes.

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I seriously thought he was wearing some sort of Malong shirt but silly me, I did not realize that these shirts – which are more precisely called “Aztec shirts” – are actually a trend nowadays.

This topic even came up at the PGG Forums. History tells us that the colorful abstract patterns printed on these shirts originated from the Aztecs and Mayans. They were the people who lived in ancient times in the Americas and who prophesied that the end of the world would be in 2012. If you come to think of it, perhaps this is the reason why we are seeing Aztec designs in men’s fashion in 2012. End of the World? I hope not.

Now if you are wondering where to get them, you can find them at Topman and Markus at SM Department Stores.

Though these shirts are eye-catching to wear, I just have to be honest that it is not really my style and I don’t think I can pull them off. Maybe you can but not me.

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I have this feeling that Gatsby is introducing different products to different regions and instead of Moving Rubber, they opted to introduce Gatsby Styling Clay and Styling Mist here in the Philippines. Pretty disappointing, I know. But these two products have something up in their sleeves that would interest a lot of us guys.

Gatsby Ultra Hard Styling Clay

Like Bench Clay Doh, this one from Gatsby is Ultra Hard. The material is just too rigid making it a bit of a challenge to apply to your hair but hey don’t get me wrong – the end-result after putting some on your hair is awesome! We all know for a fact that if you have short hair it would be easy to spike up your hair with just the standard hair wax. But if you have longer hair and want to twist and spike it up, only Gatsby Ultra Hard Styling Clay can probably do it. The cost? 150 Pesos.

Gatsby Super Hard Styling Mist

Now look what we’ve got. Styling Mist? To be frank, I am clueless on how to use this product. So how is it supposed to be? Do you style your hair first then spray this on or do you spray this on then style your hair? I am not exactly sure. It actually reminds me of a woman’s hairspray, the only difference is that this one is for us boys.

Gatsby says that this product will keep your hair intact and glossy even if the weather is humid. Great right? However, the manufacturer also indicated in the instructions to not re-style your hair after spraying the liquid as it might produce white specks (flakes?) on your hair. Confused? Me too.

But after doing a little research on the net, I discovered an eye-opener – something fascinating about these two products. The reality is that they are actually meant to be used together. Gatsby says in their website that you need to style your hair first with wax or clay then afterwards, you should spray the styling mist for a long-lasting and shiny hold.

Although I am not fond of putting on too many chemicals on my hair, I’ll have to check out and experiment one of these days how these two products work together. Let’s see. Has anyone tried these before? How did it go for you?

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Like I said in my previous post, vibrant colors are a must-have every summer. See what the guy wears below.

And summer won’t be summer unless you wear shorts. Levi’s has men’s shorts available in denim or in plaids.

I could not help but notice the picture below that shows that long-sleeved dress shirts still look good when paired with shorts. This one is a must-try.

There you have it, the latest men’s summer fashion by Levi’s. Which get-up do you like among the three?

*All images were provided to Pinoy Guy Guide by Levi’s.*

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*Image credit: Snobmodels  | Creative Commons

Last week, I went to Mall of Asia by myself to buy a shirt and to hit the gym. On my way home, I rode a jeepney in front of SMX heading towards MRT Taft station where I’d ride a train back home. While inside the jeepney, I handed over my payment. “Bayad po.” I said. I was sitted at the far end of the jeepney, at the back, and none of my co-passengers seemed to care about handing over my payment to the driver. Except one. A girl. A very hot girl who smiled, extended her hand to receive my payment, and passed it on to the driver. I was stunned, struck in awe of what I saw. In my mind I was like, “Wow, who is this gorgeous girl?” I just smiled back to her and said: “Thanks”.

This girl was a sure standout. She’s tall, fair-skinned and has a really beautiful face. She was sitting on the opposite side of the jeepney’s bench but is somewhat nearer to the driver. She dressed sexy but not too revealing. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a 3/4 sleeved shirt while having her earphones stuck in her ear while she’s listening to her iPod. She looked tired but still she’s so attractive.

“Okay, let’s test some man skills and see if I could strike a conversation with this hottie.”, I thought.  I wanted to have some chit-chat and maybe introduce myself but I just couldn’t find the right words. It seems that my torpe mode went on. What even made it harder for me is that I couldn’t think of something witty to say. To make things worse, we have arrived at the MRT station in Taft Avenue even before I could utter a word to her.

Before I knew it, I was already going down from the jeepney and heading towards the stairs of the MRT station. In my mind I said: “WTF! Missed opportunity!”.

As I was climbing up the stairs I was startled when I saw her again beside me going up the stairs too.  So is she going to ride the MRT too or is she just going to use the overpass to cross the other side of the road? I have no idea. There’s just so many people at that time and with a blink of an eye, I lost sight of her.

So I just moved on and told myself “forget it!”. I rode the train, listened to my Zen and just headed for home. End of story? Not yet!

Forty minutes later, I reached the MRT North Avenue Station. As I exited the train, I noticed a familiar-looking face. That’s her! Unbelievable. I followed her as she went to buy some cellphone e-load at a loading kiosk in the station. I said to myself that this would be an easy way to get her phone number. Picture this out: As she was writing down her cellphone number at the loading kiosk, I sneaked behind her and copied her number on my cellphone. You’d think: What a loser way to get a hot girl’s number right? It’s pathetic. I couldn’t stand it either. It makes me look like a creep.

So although I already have her number, I followed her down the stairs because I wanted to prove to myself that I have the balls to introduce myself to this hot woman. And as if I was being lucky that moment, she dropped her wallet while she was walking and she did not even notice it. “Bingo. Now’s the time.”, I said to myself. So I hurried to pick up her wallet, ran behind her until I caught up with her and said:

Me: “Miss, nahulog yung wallet mo.” Then I handed it over to her

Her: “Uy, thank you, thank you. Saan mo nakita?” She said with a cute smile on her face.

Me: “Doon oh. Nahulog sya habang naglalakad ka kanina.”

Her: “Thanks ulit ha.”

Me: “Sure.”

So as we walked together side by side, I started to talk to her more.

Me: “Miss, parang kanina pa kita nakakasabay. Mula Mall of Asia pa”.

Her: *Grins*. “Oo nga eh. Mula dun sa jeep hanggang sa MRT, tapos dito.”

Me: “Oo nga eh. So, nagwowork ka pa or nag-aaral?”

Her: “Nagwowork na.”

Me: “I see. I’m Chris by the way. And you are?”  I extended my arm for a handshake.

Her: “Just call me Nikki” she said while shaking my hand

Me: “So, going back Nikki – san ka pala work? Sa MOA?”

Her: “Nope, actually more of part-time ako ngayon. Pero napunta lang ako sa MOA kasi may event.”

Me: “I see. So paanong part-time? Call-center, BPO or Sales?” (Note: These are the few jobs I know that accept part-time.)

Her: “Naku wag na baka di ka pa maniwala” she said laughing.

Me: “Sabihin mo lang, maniniwala ako. Seryoso.”

Her: “Uhm ano… part-time model.”

 

Fig 4.19.12 – We guys love to date trophy girls a.k.a models

For a brief 5 seconds there was dead air. I did not speak. I was a bit astonished. So now I know why she’s damn hot. She’s a model! Damn… why did it not even cross my mind? Maybe because I didn’t know that models ride jeepneys and trains too.

So I just continued our conversation so that I could finally ask for her number. Now if you do recall, I already have her number (after sneaking in a creepy way earlier at the loading station) but I just wanted to test if she will trust me enough to give me her real number before she rides the shuttle at the terminal.

Me: “Ayos ah. Model? So… what’s the best way to reach you? Phone or email?”

Her: “Phone na lang.”

As I readied to enter her digits in my phone. She said, “Chris, I can type it on your phone if you like.”

Me: “Sure”

So I gave her my phone and she started typing her digits. As she was doing that, she started laughing.

Me: “Bakit?”

Her: “Di ka naman natatakot na baka itakbo ko phone mo?”

Me: “Hindi naman. Di ka naman mukhang holdupper eh” I said laughing.

And so after she handed back my phone to me, we said goodbye to each other. I told her I’ll give her a call so that she’ll know my number too and she said: “okay, sure. Nice to meet you Chris and thank you for returning my wallet.”

After we split up, I checked if the number she entered on my phone is the same number that I copied from the loading station. Voila, same number! I was thrilled. I went home with a big smile on my face. Awesome day.

Just in case you are curious, we already started texting each other but I haven’t taken the next step. Two important factors make me think twice before taking her out on a date:

First is that, I do think she’s too young. I found out she’s only 18 and although she’s working as a model, she still goes to school.

Second, I am not 100% sure if dating a model is a good idea in the long term. Models meet and get hit on by hundreds of guys all the time and that would make it difficult for me to have peace of mind once we take it to the next level. As I’ve mentioned in the PGG Forums, I am currently searching for “the one” (CHEESY dude, I know) so it’s time for me to get a little serious and minimize playing around.

So there – either I take this seriously or just go with the flow and have some fun. Let’s see how this unfolds.

How about you guys, what do you think? Should I date this bombshell? Would you date a model?

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Last time, I posted about bright colors for summer men’s fashion and this bag, by all means, is one example that demonstrates all that. It has the best hues of summer!

This men’s backpack is being sold at Bench stores and costs only 599 Pesos. Not bad huh? Looks really cool and stylish. The problem? Well it’s just that – for style and fashion. Not for some summer vacation backpacking.

If you really want some heavy duty bags for out-of-towns, this one’s not for you because it’s just too small. But if you’ll just use it for daily get-ups at the office or for some summer city hopping with your peers, you will find this handy. Not to mention eye-catching!

Happy Easter guys!

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Human

As you can see, bright colors are the “in” thing for summer. When I was kid, it was a mystery to me as to why people wear bright red, bright orange, bright yellow, bright blue and bright green colored pieces of clothing during the hot season. You know all those colors you see in beaches and resorts? As I grew up, I learned that the reason for that is that bright-colored clothing actually makes you feel cooler during the summer. Science tells us that bright colors reflect the heat from the sun whereas dark colors (such as black), absorb all the heat from the sun. Now that’s precisely the reason why people wear bright colors and get rid of black during the summer!

Alright, enough of the nerdy talk…

So moving on here is a great looking shirt from F’G Jeans. Bright orange with gray stripes.

Then we have these Bench Coast Guard shirts priced at only 499 Pesos. They are body-hugging with tight sleeves and are medium in length which will absolutely make summer the perfect time to show-off your body.

And of course boardshorts for men will always be there. Here’s a splendid one from Folded and Hung. Quite expensive though at around 1,000 Pesos!

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Get a glimpse on what’s “in” for men this summer. Check out these military-inspired clothing from Solo.

As you have seen, Solo played with army green, black, brown and gray hues to project that military slash army look. Pretty good actually. It’s just that somehow I think that the jackets are a little off for the hot season unless you’ll be spending summer in Baguio. But still, the clothes are fine and a must-have for this season! More info about Solo here.

*Images provided to PGG by Solo

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You probably have thought: “Could I still be stylish at age 30? 40? 50? or so on?” I’ll admit that sometimes that question crosses my mind but since I’m still young I have never given much thought about it until a few weeks ago when a PGG reader named Mike, who happens to be in his 50s, surprised me with his email below:

“Is there an article about style guide for men over 50, living in a tropical country? I have searched the internet regarding this question,and basically have found almost none. And sites that offer guides for us older gents are mostly focused on style for colder climate counties.(none for a tropical, hot and humid country like ours, really). I know that most of the viewers here are of the younger generation (teen, young adults, and generation Y), but it would be nice to see, once in a while, some articles of style, grooming, written for us generation X’ers, he he ” ~Mike

Well thank you Mike for that email and kudos to you for not wanting to look like an old, boring grandpa. It strikes me that lots of gentlemen out there, regardless of age, do really care about looking good and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Heck, I don’t want to look old school (or baduy) either when I’m already halfway to 100.

So after a couple of weeks crafting my thoughts about it, I have finally arrived with something for you Mike and for all the PGG readers out there who have this same question.

Below is a general guide on how to choose what clothes to wear without looking awkward and also some tips on how to look your best at any age. These are all based on my opinion and on what I’ve seen from all the most stylish people of different ages.

 Albert Martinez: Stylish at late 40s

Remember that fashion is not just for the young

I mean, who says that fashion is reserved just for tweens, teens, 20-something and the young? DAFUQ, that’s the biggest misconception I’ve heard. Style and Fashion is meant for everyone regardless of age so don’t think that just because you are starting to get older, your choice of clothing starts to get limited too. That’s just plain wrong. I think that at any age, you can wear anything you want, anything that makes you feel good, anything that makes you look good. Why waste your life looking like an oldie when you can still look like a hottie at any age?

Know your image and choose clothes based on how you want to project yourself

Are you a big boss at some multinational company? A simple professional? A rocker or musician? An entrepreneur? An athelete? You can always choose clothing depending on what you do for a living and how you want to project yourself.

For instance, if you are a professional, you can project that professional look by buying clothes from modern business attire shops like Arrow, Van Heusen, G2000, Wall Street, Daniel Hechter, Memo, Onésimus and so on. Yes, their image models are young professional men but that does not mean that you can’t buy and wear clothes from them. They just do all that for advertising and marketing purposes.

If your lifestyle is more of laidback and casual, you can go for decent casual clothing shops like Izod, Giordano or more edgy ones like Lee, Jag, Guess, Levi’s, Bench, Penshoppe and so on.

As you may have noticed, most of the brands that I have recommended are also the brands that you will see here in Pinoy Guy Guide’s Men’s Fashion section. That only means that you are always free to wear what the youth are wearing – after all style knows no age.

Fix your hair and shave

As we age, one of the most challenging part of ourselves to fix is the hair. Let’s face it: some guys go almost half-bald even before 40. Some even get gray hairs as early as 20 but as years pass by these are inevitable part of a guy’s life that we have to deal with.

If you’re starting to get gray hairs, others would say that the most logical thing to do is to dye them black. But I reckon that’s not the best solution as dying your hair midnight black can make it look fake. So I’d recommend getting some dose of medium brown or dark brown color instead of black. It will cover those gray hairs without making you look silly and unnatural.

Another thing you should pay attention to is your haircut. A couple of years back, I wrote an article on “The Importance of Getting a Good Haircut” and I couldn’t help not to point it out again here. You see, no matter what your age is, your haircut is a huge contributing factor to your looks. It can make you look older or younger, good-looking or ugly. I suggest that you get a good hairstylist or go to modern men’s salons like Bench Fix and David’s. I repeat: don’t feel insecure if you see mostly teens or twenty-something folks inside those salons. Remember that there’s no age limit when it comes to style and the fact that you are a paying customer means that there is no reason for you to be bothered at all.

In addition to the above, you have to make sure to shave those beard and mustache regularly unless you want to look like an old hermit. Trust me, it will do you good by making you look younger than your age.

Eat healthy and exercise

Although it may sound like cliché to most of us, numerous studies like this one here, have shown that eating the right food and exercising can delay a person’s aging and keep you looking young.

Exercise can also lift your energy levels, remove those stress, take away depression and make you feel happy. And happy people in general look good all the time.

Another importance of eating healthy and exercising is that it makes your body fit. That only means that you will look dashing in any clothing. Morever, finding something to wear will be a breeze and not some daunting task to do.

Be stylish but don’t go overboard

Although I’ve mentioned that you should wear what you feel like and anything that makes you look your best, you should still remember to wear only clothes which you think you can pull-off regardless of your age. You wouldn’t want to be the laughing stock if people find you wearing LED-flashing shoelaces or gold pants at age 50 would you? That’s inappropriate and way overboard.

It’s also worthwhile to ask feedback from a friend, a family member or a loved one to get a second opinion on whether your get-up fits you well or not. I still do this all the time just to make sure that the color of my shirt, pants and shoes are a good match.

_____

Final words:

To wrap-up, age should not hinder you from looking your best. Celebrity Albert Martinez is almost 50 but still dresses sleek and looks exceptional when wearing a coat. I also remember that there is this manager in our office who is already in his 40s yet he can still pull-off any type of clothing. He sports a side-swept bangs (take note: waxed with Gatsby), wears plaid shirts, slim fit jeans, and Chucks making him look like he’s only in his late 20s. Mike, if they can do it, so can you!

How about you guys? Do you think you’ll still be well-groomed and stylish beyond 40? What further advice can you give Mike?

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They remind me of the movie Step-Up where the cool dancers had all these props, clothes and shoes that flash light everywhere.

Available in red, blue, green and orange, these battery-operated LED Light Up shoelaces have three flash modes to choose from: On/Steady, Rapid Flashing and Slow Flashing. I’d say that if you are really into dance club parties and concerts – this one is a must-have.

I bought a pair for only 245 Pesos and the seller told me that they will start delivering in a few weeks time. I do hope that this will look good on one of my high cut skateboard shoes. Don’t worry guys, you’ll be the first to know once I get my shoelaces in a couple of weeks. I just can’t wait!

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