Remaking Robin, part 1.

Listen: Heidi Montag - Fashion (click to download)

A few days ago my ex-housemate and kindred spirit Robin came to me for some help. In the spirit of finishing his degree and becoming a legitimate person he wants a totally new look, but given the dismal state of menswear on the high street for anyone not into logo t-shirts and strip-bleached jeans he wasn't exactly inspired. Luckily for him, it was men's fashion week at the end of June, so I have ideas.

This is Robin. For the last year or three he has ascribed to the 'hot mess' style of dress, mainly consisting of baggy flannel shirts, oversized hoodies, thrifted t-shirts (preferably with some sort of native american theme), jeans and hi-tops. He works it amazingly well, but it is definitely time for a change. I am mostly motivated by the promise of his cast-offs, not gonna lie, but I am fully committed to the project.

I think I'll start with some overall looks and break it down into garments when my thoughts are more collected.

Firstly: Burberry Prorsum A/W '08

I am a big fan of layering; this is essentially my style if I was a man. I thought it would be ideal until I saw the YSL A/W '08 collection...

(all images from men.style.com)

I love EVERYTHING about these clothes.

The colours (complimentary but not matching), the loose, slouchy fit, the unusual length and shape of the jackets, how the suede boots barely reach the ankle-bashing trousers and the effortlessly co-ordinated layers. They are just perfect in every way.

Realistically, much as I will encourage him to do so, Robin is not going to buy the whole YSL collection, and so my next challenge is to find a way for him to re-create this look for less than a million pounds.