We have now entered the final week for SouthGate's Social Stylist campaign completing with the fantastically mildly-eccentric Edo Minott. Edo tells us how he felt about his time together...
Edo's entry pics!
"Lets face it, men are not the stylish ones of the species. Yes, we may have our James Deans and our David Bowies, but often when it comes to the crunch, women look spectacular and men often look pretty bad. Now you might think that men don't really need to be fashionable or even fashion conscious. But this is a grave error, as the way you dress allows you to be perceived differently and imply a strong sense of your own personality, opening more doors than you’d think. The trick is really quite simple, and it must be understood in the way we think of a book cover. Style must be, like the cover, simple, with a definite shape, and with enough colour and eccentricity to catch one's eye. It's really as easy as that!
I have for years now played around with my style, and I've learned that you've really got to look for something special. I favour smart and dressy clothes, as sneakers and hoodies are everywhere. Not that I don't like the casual side, as a good biker jacket and skinny jeans are always the definition of cool. The real challenge is making them work to be both simple and eccentric.
I am an avid fan of both the pages "The Sartorialist" and the lovely British blog "Fashionbeans". So when this style competition came around, I knew I'd have to give it a go, to prove that men don't have to be effeminate to dress well, (Yet it does help sometimes!) and I was chuffed to bits when I won!
On the day of my challenge, I met Emmeline, my extremely friendly co-shopper, who was to give me advice and a woman's touch of style! I had to shop for one perfect spring/summer outfit and a proper festival look. I decided I’d go for two looks that could be mixed between dirty festivals and cleaner smart events. First of all, we went to H&M. Now, H&M is perfect if you want to pick up a simple bit of style without spending a fortune. After a quick scour, I came across quite a few interesting pieces. Namely, a pair of electric blue chinos, which are perfect for bright summer days (And good to cut up into shorts on the hotter ones), a blue pindot shirt, some dark blue pindot braces, and a brilliantly colourful aztec scarf. All of this together created a very casual and simple look, but with just enough eccentricity, thanks to the braces and scarf, to give it some edge.
Next, there was Topman. Topman has always been the place to go with always a whole range of choice and different styles to mix around. This time I decided to get a bit more of a smart look going and Emmeline and I picked out a purple fleck shirt, a deep pink tie, a pair of very durable petrol blue suede derby shoes, a pair of grey chinos and of course, a really excellent cookie coloured light wool blazer. This look was full of texture and full of life, yet still kept a sense of simplicity, and would be perfect to combine with my much more carefree H&M outfit. Finally, we went to Urban Outfitters, which is always good for a few special pieces, namely a deep orange bag, to stuff any summer stuff in, and a good pair of polka dot socks, to keep the dot trend going.
In the end, having spent the insane £300 and having taken a lot of advice from lovely Emmeline, I had created two really good outfits that could be played around with, but still weren't too complex and definitely weren't dull!
I loved my day out as a stylist, and I think every man should step out of his comfort zone and indulge in real men’s style!"
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