The Discerning Brute: fashion, food & etiquette for the ethically handsome man

Etsy is for Dudes, Sundance Fur Fest & Futher Spillage

• We have green souls, right? Rachel Comey is back with more Vegan Spillers. This time, the cap-toe oxfords are in a beige canvas upper with a green sole. $208 at Steve Alan

• Planet Green weighs in on, the horror!!! - living without your Blackberry. “I was like Gollum in the Lord of the Rings, devoted to fondling My Precioussssss.”

• SUNDANCE FUR FESTIVAL : Heartless or Stupid? We know it’s hard for celebs to express how rich they are, but you’d think the creators of the The Green would have an anti-fur policy at their festival. Sundance has become known for it’s unhealthy association with fur-drenched celebs strutting around like idiots, literally. I mean you either have to not know how it’s made, or not have a heart. Usually the ladies are taking heat for wearing fur, but check out these images of some less-than-men I’d like to sic Mac Danzig on: Ashton Kutcher, Wesley Snipes, Nick Cannon, and Nick Hogan, all from the Sundance Film Festival in 2010. Find out what you can to help end this archaic industry.

• Six Reasons for Dudes to Hit on Etsy

1. Shoot dirt dead with gun soap scented with black tea! Practice your best Dirty Harry while scrubbing your hairy-dirty areas. vegan glycerin soap base and scented with black tea. $8.50

2. Yes, it’s OK to embrace the murse. But call it a portfolio and you’ll sound so much manlier. UNI-LAP portfolio case, vinyl $125

3. Find great one-of-a-kind vintage like this Vintage Tan Faux-Suede Jacket $40

4. Don’t Hurt the Bean Curd! Clever and/or offensive Organic cotton items like Tofu Never Screams and Small Hanging Wang Underwear! Also Skeletons and wings always make gentlemen happy.

5. Find rebellious ties and bow-ties from Toybreaker. Silk-like microfiber and nontoxic water-based inks, $10- $40

6. Stinky Bomb Lip Balm! Place some explosive kisses on your lover: candelilla wax, coconut oil and sweet almond oil, 5$

4 Comments

joshuakatcher, February 23rd 2010 | Tags: Ashton Kutcher, blackberry addict, bowtie, etsy, faux suede, gun soap, lip balm, Mac Danzig, Nick Cannon, Nick Hogan, organic cotton, rachael comey, rachel comey, silk-free ties, skinny tie, tofu tee shirt, Underwear, vegan spiller, Wesley Snipes
Posted in activism, animal rights, celebrity, cruelty-free, design, fair trade, fashion, green, grooming, news, organic, sale, Shoes, social responsibility, Underwear, vegan, vegetarian

Looking Trashy, Recycled Kenyan Cowboys, & Vintage Ties

Kilakitu shirts come in 58 styles. Floral prints are big for 09, and these bold cowboy-cut tops are made from second-hand fabrics from the Kenyan marketplace. At 75$ a pop, a portion of the proceeds goes directly to a lunch feeding program for school children in Rongai (video). Also, Kilakitu plans to start a community cleanup & recycling business that will receive 10% of profits from Kilakitu – staff will work on cleaning up the environment in Rongai.

“Kila Kitu is a swahili saying meaning “everything” – our garments reuse discarded clothes from around the world and lovingly bring them back to you”.

What are the top 10 worst zoos for elephants? Find out if your city made the list HERE:

You will look totally trashy carrying this handsome messenger bag made from the plastic trash that litters New Dehli’s streets. The company, CONSERVE also provides a sustainable living for the poor women that make these bags, in addition to continually working to solve social, economic and environmental problems in the city of New Delhi.

$49.95 at Original Good.

Giorgio Armani has broken his promise not to use fur. A new video narrated by actor Gillian Anderson (X Files), shows rabbits kicking and screaming during slaughter. After the skin is ripped from the rabbits’ bodies, it is sold to designers such as Giorgio Armani—who uses rabbit fur in his new designs.

The selection of vintage neckties and bowties at ties2pillows.com is amazing. Everything from the classic skinny black tie, to high-contrast-plaid (big for ’09!) to narrow bowties can be found here. Most ties are only about $15 and you get 10% off your order just by giving them your email. Here’s a few of my selections:

A Little Bit Of Everything - 1970s Wide Necktie Penneys Towncraft Fat 1970s Fashion Necktie 80s Pierre Cardin Vintage Skinny Peach Necktie Solid Pink - 1980s Vintage Skinny Necktie Rooster Brand Mens Cotton Plaid Pattern Tie Robert Talbott Plaid Straight Edge Bow Tie

If I had a bit of money to burn, and I wanted a gorgeous, rustic, recycled dining room set, this is probably the one I’d choose. It’s made from reclaimed railroad tie wood. $1468 for the table and 6 chairs, at VivaTerra.

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TheDiscerningBrute, January 16th 2009 | Tags: african fasion, armani fur, bow tie, bowtie, cowboy shirt, eco fashion, fair trade, floral print, green fashion, india, kenya, new delhi, railroad table, reclaimed wood table, recycled bag, recycled dining room set, recycled fashion, skinny tie, street trash, sustainable, trashy fashion, vintage tie, viva terra
Posted in Uncategorized

Bow & Narrow

I have something to admit. Until four days ago, I only used clip-on bowties. Then I stopped by Odin, one of DBs fav shops (and rumor has it, according the hot, vegan gal ringing me up, they have a no-fur policy!), and I picked up a real-life, grown-up, plaid, cotton bowtie by Engineered Garments. As fate (or necessity) would have it, I had to learn to tie the damn thing properly!

My Engineered Garments Bowtie

So, why do we love bowties? They’re not just for Pee-Wee or tuxedos anymore, and they’ve been rescued from the pits of nerd-dom. They are geek-chic, intellectual-sexual, and unlike the long tie which draws attention to the mid-section, they say “my eyes are up here!” One word of advice for the bow-tie adventurer: steer clear of over-sized bow-ties unless you make appearances at childrens’ birthday parties. The narrow and smaller ones are quite fetching.

Thrift stores are full of ties and bow-ties, but if that fails you, ASOS (who has a no-fur policy) has a pretty good selection of narrow cotton bow ties.

I’m smitten for the bow tie necklace at Topman (also, with a no-fur policy), as well as their very affordable metallic, poly bow ties:

How to tie a bow-tie:

3 Comments

TheDiscerningBrute, January 5th 2009 | Tags: bow tie, engineered garments, narrowm tie, odin, runway, skinny tie, spring 2009
Posted in fashion, trend report, Uncategorized

Fresh Friday Finds

1. Tying not to use silk? Thanks to DB reader Pierre for this, we’ve been informed of the all Vegan Ties made from satin and cotton at: www.jaanj.com

2. Give Leather a Smack-down. More Vegan Mixed Martial Arts gloves! I still think there should be an official “Mac Danzig signature vegan glove”. Hey Mac, get in touch!

3. Suits made from 100% recycled post-consumer material! ECOGIR from Bagir Global Innovative Tailoring also features organic cotton, bamboo and tagua nut suits!

4. FISA vote sends us into 1984.

5. Organic Hemp B-boys from THTC. From organic growing, to processing, treating and dying the hemp and cotton fibres, to labor practices – THTC is a leader in ethical fashion. With it’s heart in breakdancing, graffiti art, Hip Hop, Reggae, Breaks and Drum & Bass, the designs coming from this collective is making waves in the urban scene, with fans emerging like Morcheeba, Asian Dub Foundation, Goldie and the Mad Professor.