Brown Is A Great Colour. Just Sayin'

Summer's gone and Autumn has fallen upon us. Our wardrobe is most often inspired by the seasons' colours. You look around and you see trees everywhere turn orange, red, brown and yellow.  Now is a good time to bring out your earth-tone garments/accessories and wrap yourself up in mother nature's warm cozy palette.

Let me introduce to you the brown suit. Brown is often overlooked as a suit colour and it doesn't seem to be as desirable as its navy, grey or black counterpart. There seems to be a stigma behind the brown suit: It looks dated and is only for mature people.

Okay, brown is sort of an old-person colour. I'm guilty of thinking like that. I personally don't wear a lot of browns because it makes me look more mature than my real age.  I just don't wear the hue well.

BUT, if you happen to be the kind of person who loves brown and wears it well, consider yourself lucky because you've got one more colour than all the rest of us to wear! Take my brother-in-law for example. I think he wears a brown suit REALLY well (um, yah, I indirectly called him old but he looks good, so it's all good!):

He wears his rich brown suit (made with love by Balsam Tailors!) with an airy baby blue shirt that has a white collar and finishes the ensemble off with a light grey tie. I imagine a good analogy for that is having a cup of rich authentic Belgium hot chocolate and adding a dollop of whipped airy fresh cream to it . Mmm... Cold-weather cravings. ;)

Here's another way to wear the same suit pants. I made him put on a royal blue Mandarin collar shirt that really compliments the brown pants and cognac boots. Yes, I MADE him do it. And I also MADE him put on my really cool tribal pattern scarf with tons of bright fall colours in it to complete the Fall look.

Not only did I MAKE him put on the clothes I wanted him to put on, but I also MADE him pose for me like this:

In the end, he MADE me leave his house. Haha.. 

Jokes! He's truly an awesome man for letting me dress him up and photograph him. :)

Murray's Getting Married

This is Murray. He sports a head of lush long locks and an awesome beard which I'm guessing he will not shave off just because he's getting married. It's an extremely well-groomed beard though, I must say. He'd probably look like a baby if he were to get rid of it completely--which is maybe why he even has a beard in the first place. I bet he doesn't want to look like a baby getting married. Can you imagine? A baby getting married? That is too strange for anybody to imagine. I hope you don't try to imagine that. If you're reading this Murray, I hope you don't mind this self-discussion of your beard. I genuinely think your beard is awesome! I swear, really.

I'm a little nervous about writing again which explains the babbling. I've been absent from the world of blogging and I'm perfectly aware of that, so I apologize. Summer's been keeping me nice and busy. I'm really happy to be back though.

Murray was kind enough to let me photograph him wearing our waistcoat. From what I hear, his wedding attire as well as the bride's will be unconventional. I'm a fan of unconventional. I love traditional too but being unconventional amplifies the uniqueness and beauty of a couple's wedding.

Murray wanted a burgundy waistcoat that would match the colour of his bride's dress (Isn't that cool? Step aside, boring white!) and so we made this for him:

The "how-could-anybody-resist-giving-me-what-I-want" look. It's pretty darn powerful, I'll tell you that. I had to pull $50 out of my wallet for him to take this picture. Haha!

Murray couldn't contain his emotions when I asked him about his beard grooming regimen. Err, not that I have a beard or anything...

Because my inquisitiveness moved him, he gave me back my $50.

We received a lot of stares from passers-by (especially the ladies because they were jealous that I got to photograph Murray who possibly could pass for a GQ model). So, we came up with an idea that would help deflect those stares:

Murray pretended to ponder about stuff and not know me while I pretended to take pictures of Balsam's storefront and pretended not to know Murray.

It worked and I got my picture!

This is Murray's backside. A totally unintentional shot. He spotted a man with a comparable beard and his eyes followed.

Thank you for participating Murray. I wish you a beautiful marriage. :D

Custom Waistcoat: $230 + HST (Labour and Lining)

Is This Man Possibly The Happiest Man On Earth?

I smile a lot and I especially love when my photo subjects are smiley. When everybody is smiling, taking pictures is a breeze.

So, what made Jeremiah smile from ear to ear for these photos?

A. Could it be that he was wearing full cotton underwear that day?

B. Perhaps, the sun came out after the rain and he was able to get his daily dose of vitamin D?

C. He's getting married in the Philippines to his lovely fiance?

D. He's dressed from head to toe in woolen luxury doused with fitted perfection?

The answer?

Only JEREMIAH would know.. Haha!

Jeremiah's 3-piece custom suit: $1030 + HST

A Happy Couple with Cute Smiles Brightens The Day!

This is Kahmal and he's getting married in August to his lovely Japanese fiance. He's a tall and lean guy who we thought would look best in a lean suit. The lean look offers both comfort and good style whereas a skinny suit would give you plenty of style but offers no comfort.

I heard they're having a traditional Indian wedding and it excited me! They're often colourful and always full of intense happy energy. I wish this new couple a joyous new life together!

Kahmal's Custom Made Suit: $780+ HST

David, Our Retro Hero!

Meet our new face for this month's suit modeling competition. It's David Hahlen for Balsam Custom Tailors versus all the other Vancouver males out there.

When it comes to men's style, David is like a breath of fresh air. He's got a unique sense of style coupled with a great personality. He came in with ideas inspired by vintage suits he saw online. VINTAGE! I. Love. Vintage. Anything!

I immediately spotted in this guy the potential to look amazing! Even though David had his ideas, he was still open to our suggestions about what would look best on him. He wanted a classic 3-piece suit to wear for his wedding (that is to take place next week--congratulations again!) and plus fifty other more weddings he'll be attending this year.

We like David. I like David. David is a great guy. If today wasn't the Federal Election Day but the Best Dressed Man of the Year Election Day and David was a candidate, he'd be getting MY vote ;)

I would also like to mention that I was absolutely blown away with David's modelling skills. He just got into position, at the snap of a finger, hesitation-free. If you're a modelling agency and you're reading this, David is your MAN!

In our eyes, David had already won first place. We presented him this little humble gift of retro cufflinks. I thought they matched his style perfectly. Actually, we gave him these because he had walked in with flapping French cuffs. I thought he looked really silly. He'd fractured his precious glass ones unfortunately.

Thank you David for letting Balsam Tailors share you with the world! We hope to see you again soon. :)

Custom 3-piece Suit: $1060+ (HST not included)

The Rossi's Rock! (Part 2)

While Jacob ranks high on the handsome scale wearing his new custom suit, his dad Moreno, sits solidly at the top. Moreno's suit is made out of a ribbed texture wool cloth that makes it slightly more interesting than a plain old black suit. Excellent choice, I say!

May I point your attention to his impeccable taste in hats? Tell me, who knows style more than a man clad in a sleek custom suit, topped off with a fedora on his head?

Cloth #: RKC 6022

Moreno's custom suit price: $780 + HST

Thank you Rossi's for letting me show you guys off!