Grow A Pair | A few of my favorite couples

Some things in life are better in two’s! Shoes, socks, pants and even eye wear.. they all come in doubles and they are all on trend for fall! Here’s a few of our favorites!

SHOES

Yea, I know… You thought I was going to share some crazy army boots as per my usual favorites.. but I’m in a summer mood.. I just can’t let go! Vintage | Artisan has given us a damn good pair of 100% authentic woven leather shoes. I remember having a pair similar as a child that I was sad to outgrow but I haven’t seen a pair since then. Then I spotted these bad boys and I couldn’t take my eyes off! Cut just right so I can roll up my favorite pair of jeans and give my ankles some breathing room, and you’ll want to show them off! This sexy company boasts of the 3.5 hours it takes the maker to hand weave each pair.  They come in 5 great colors and offer a few other cool products as well! At $165 a pair, it’ll set your shoe budget on fire, but its handwoven leather.. what do you expect? I love you A Huarache, get on my feet!

SOCKS | the can’t see ’em kind |

When it comes to a pair of socks.. I hate them. No one would describe me as a sartorial suit guy. I’m a Floridian at heart.. The world is lucky I wear shoes at all! A pair of socks strangling my legs leaves me angry and sad. But a pair of no shows is basically part of the inner fiber that makes me who I am! I’ve been wearing them for years, before they were cool, and when everyone thought I was stealing my grandma’s socks! TAFT has created a line  of no show’s like no other! They’re comfy, stylish and simple! No, I don’t like to see the socks, I love shoes.. just pay attention to them.. but when the shoe comes off these socks will make you wanna dance around like Tom Cruise (underwear and all)! They come in great colors and patterns and promise not to slip off the heel, which in the no show world is incredibly important! The feeling of a sock balled up under your foot, inside your shoe during a meeting, well it’s bad. The Hampton Pack is my favorite.. I guess I’m just an east coast kind of guy! Take a look and pick up a pair! Or don’t, just don’t let me catch you in a pair of shoes and a naked foot.. gross!

PANTS

I’m not ashamed and I don’t care what you think! I can appreciate a sexy pair of fancy jeans, have I told you of my Imogen + Willie obsession? But it’s a fact, Levi’s 511’s have always been and will always be my favorite pair of denim. It’s just something about them. They fit so great, I feel good in them, and that’s all that really matters folks’! Also, I don’t fall into a black hole of depression if I get them dirty! They’re Levi’s, I can afford a replacement pair! That’s all I have to say about my 511’s. I hope you can understand my loyalty! Get a pair.. they sell them most places.

MORE PANTS | because why the hell not? |

“Loogha” clothing brings me lot’s of Instagram style envy. From pants to tee’s and even some great patterned blazers, this company is one to watch! Though I can’t quite figure them out, they have no official website and thus no online store, it appears all communication and sales are being made through Instagram. I’m hoping it’s all legit because the over 24,000 followers are LOVING the various clothing items they are putting out. If so, you’ll see them on the runway soon! I’d like to pay special attention to Loogha’s insanely cool pants. Exciting fabric choices and unique details coupled with stellar tailoring, we all need a pair! (As mentioned above) my favorite fit is slim, low and just above the ankle. It appears Loogha and I have a lot in common! At just $79 a pair I’m gonna need an online store soon as to make my purchase(s)! Check them out on Instagram and see for yourself! And as for you Loogha, if you see this.. keep me updated, I’m a big fan!

EYES

 Yes eyes! I thought I’d keep it simple and cost effective when it came to this accessory. Yes I’m mostly a RayBan groupie, but every now and then I like to switch it up, and you just can’t always afford to do that with RayBan! That’s where Knockaround comes in! I’m sure you’ve all at least heard of them, or maybe your’e a devout Knockaround lover.. either way this company perfectly understands it’s target and exactly what we like. Cool eyewear and accessories at a great price. I mean really where else can you find a pair of polarized sun glasses for 19 bux? YOU CAN’T. A look around the shop and you’ll find tons donning the perfectly tailored Knockaround logo that is totally worthy of it’s cult following. Bags, belts, whatever you want, it’s all cool, it’s all cheap! You can even become a campus rep and spread the love all around. Look around yourself, you won’t be dissapointed!

As for couples I’m sure I’ve left many out. For instance underwear.. that’s a pair, but I’d say that’s better left to GQ & Esquire. They love telling us all what kind, what color, and all about what they’re doing for our love life. I’ll stay out of all that.

Just grow a pair. 

Thirst in Style | S’well Bottle

A while back I discovered S’well Bottle while surfing my instagram feed. Like you are probably now, I wondered what in the world it was, and how I could get my hands on one! On the surface it looks like any ordinary bottle. Something you may pick up a Target in hopes to store your beverage in a stylish way, with low expectations on the actual quality or technology behind it. S’well Bottle is the exact opposite of that. This innovative bottle of the future is designed to keep your beverages cold for up to 24 hours and warm for up to 12. Sounds impossible right? It’s not an empty promise.. S’well is insulated, with a double wall of the highest grade pure steel available. This grade of steel holds the temperature and also protects the bottle from any falls or accidents. It also rids any metallic taste you may find while consuming your beverage from aluminum bottles. 

While that would probably be enough for most people, S’well decided to bring a bit more to the table.. Style! As you take a look at the brand you’ll fall in love!  A website that draws you in and gets you involved, and sends you directly to tour the many incredible finishes and sizes available. From matte to stone, shiny, and even glitter. Then there’s my favorite, the wood collection. That’s right, wood! The S’well bottle is available in 3 sizes, from 9-25oz and all fit right in your cup holder. They even designed a bottle, the 250z that will fit a whole bottle of wine! Perfect for an evening in the park!

What does a bottle like this mean for the environment? It means a lot. Just using 1 of these bottles means we save 3,000 plastic ones from ending up in landfills, and cuts down on the over 60 Million that we use every day in the US. And in perfect S’well character, it means even more! The brand decided to make an even bigger difference by partnering with WaterAid to provide a portion of the proceeds to provide clean water around the world. Even further, they also decided to select a few more charities.. Keep A Child Alive, to aid families in Africa & India affected by HIV. American Forests who give back to the earth by planting 1 tree for every bottle in the wood collection sold, and Drink Up which provides healthy alternatives and awareness right here in America!

These high fashion bottles are sure to become a trending accessory this year.. just take a look for yourself! Already the bottle has been featured at big hollywood events and has been a fun part of staple fashion showcases. Proving further that S’well is part of the fashion world, you can pick up a bottle at J.Crew, Nordstrom and even select local fashion boutiques! 

S’well bottles are priced between $20-$45 depending on the size and finish you choose.

I’m so excited to pick up one for myself soon! You should too!

Interactive review to follow!

Be sure to follow S’well!

Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Youtube | Pinterest

All images used in this post were taken directly from the S’well Bottle website or social media. The Trendy Photographer takes no ownership of these photos.

The lowdown on the 20!

Alright! So here it is, the scoop on where in the world The Trendy Photographer has been! Its been 10 months and 4 days since my last post.. but not without good reason!

The past 10 months have been spectacular, magnificent, a season of change and pure delight! I’ve spent the past 10 months (and more) figuring out who I am in this new place and learning to call it home. Moving to Charlotte, North Carolina or as many call it The Queen City, has been the happiest, most exciting experience of my life. I’ve learned so much about myself and the world around me. I’ve gained a great sense of independence and freedom, and with that comes a whole new level of personal growth.

I have gained professional experience and found out exactly where it is i’d like to go in my career, and made so many connections with truly good and successful people along the way. I’m now a senior in college, which is by far the happiest thing I could type.

I’ve also found great solace and spiritual refuge in joining the local church. This church is rooted deep with passion and love and I’m so happy to grow in it.

The people I’ve met and friendships I’ve made have added so much to this experience. I think that’s usually the hardest part of finding a new way.. but I’ve been so lucky.

All in all.. I’ve just been happy.

In that, I did lose something. Time. I notice beautiful and inspiring things all around me here.. buildings, landscapes, people, experiences, but outside of noticing those things on the surface, I lost the motivation to write about them and share. I think when we get truly happy, somehow we get lazy as well. We value the little extra time we have so much that we actually end up doing nothing with it. We want to be in our place and shut ourselves off. (or at least I have)

I’ve said many times at the end of a long week how I wish I could just find the time and inspiration to get back to the blog. After an incredible summer of adventure.. I’m going all in!

Thanks for sticking around..

-Brian

 

A few things |from Pinterest| that make me whole

Since the grand introduction of Pinterest, finding inspiration in the form of photos and links is easier than ever. I decided to share a few of my favorite recent pins with you all, my awesome readers. If you haven’t stumbled across my ramblings by accident, you have come here to find something interesting and maybe even my opinion. I encourage you to follow my boards on pinterest.

Disclaimer: I only pin awesome stuff.. it’s true.. you won’t find any of my boards obnoxious or annoying like some of those other pinners. So if you’re in to being awesome, and I think you are, you’ll check it out for yourself!

Visit TheTrendyPhotog on Pinterest

MANTRY | The Modern Man’s Pantry

          One of my favorite things about blogging is the exciting fact that there’s so much cool crap out there. I guess that’s true for the world wide web in general, if there’s something to create, someone awesome will create it, and it will find it’s way to us through the web. My absolute favorite site The Dieline, is an advertising/packaging lovers dream. Not only does the site showcase incredible designers & design houses, like a perfectly packaged gift the site opens our eyes to what good design & packaging can do for an idea. All the while turning us on to some of the most amazing companies and products available. The shit you don’t find on the shelves, true artisanship. The worlds most famous packaging blog has brought me many happy discoveries over the years and today I’ll share another.

TheMANTRY is basically a gift to us from some other insanely awesome foodie, man dimension. An entire company dedicated to discovering and sharing true food artisanship. The creators scour the globe to find items that are worthy of “THE MODERN MAN’S PANTRY“. As the company presents itself in a very masculine way, it doesn’t give up any style or dapper points along the way. Though I’m sure any food loving lady would love to find this box on the doorstep! Aside from incredible branding, MANTRY is making it easy for us to have artisan foods without having to stumble upon them in a fine foods store. With a monthly subscription you can feast on some of the tastiest goods available by simply stepping outside your front door to pick up your, handmade in Brooklyn, wooden crate and opening it up so feast on the carefully chosen, not easy to find products inside. With such incredible products like, my favorite Wondermade marshmallows, Vermont Sausage, Blackberry Farm foods, Smith teas, and The Jam Stand Jams the box will send your taste buds into gourmet overdrive.

While the price of the box is a bit steep for my poor college student bank account, the folks at My Subscription Addiction can provide us all with a thorough monthly box review. For the most part it looks like it’s worth it, A box O’ American gourmet goods arriving at the front door, I’d say thats almost priceless. Incase you need some extra incentive here are some visuals to jump start the salivation.

Cool Shoe Scramble

The arrival of Hurricane Sandy, and the blast of downright icy air that has followed has left most of us, style enthused, scrambling to find our winter clothes! Record breaking snowfall and lows across the east coast caused a fury of folks to pull out the bug guns. That’s right, prepared or not, WINTER IS HERE! During my time living in the mountains of the Blue Ridge, I haven’t seen air this cold, this early. Being from sunny Florida, it’s also really amusing to hear FL friends Facebook status’ and tweets crying out for the God’s to take this “freezing” cold elsewhere! While the temps may vary over the coming weeks, the fact is, winter is here to stay, and we had better style ourselves accordingly!

Shoes are one of my favorite things to buy and winter shoes are by far the best. They call for more coverage and with that comes an array of exciting materials like Italian leather’s, rubber, suede, knits, and even denim. Just like with winter clothes, adding layers is the biggest trend of the season. Not only layers of different materials, but also of stitching techniques, colors, and even styles. The goal really, is to find the shoe with the most exciting detail, while staying within the realm of style. Here are a few of my absolute favorites for the season..

Because of my undying love for dark denim, quality Leather, and “slim” style, my first choice for the seasonal shoe is Reid, by HELM handmade. Its unique lines, exquisite attention to detail and top-notch materials is one that cannot be duplicated. This boot features denim panels made from U.S. Cone Mills raw denim from Raleigh Denim in Raleigh, NC and Chromexcel leather from Horween Tannery in Chicago. A Leather sole with infused non-slip rubber, six brass eyelet shaft, roundcap toe, white HELM signature midsole, and Blake Rapid Stitch construction round out this classic boot, which comes in Carolina Brown in sizes 7-12, including half sizes. (killer description from the HELM shop)! Though these boots are on the steepest side of the pricing realm, at $399, they are a purchase that will pay off in full. With a little preventative maintenance, your pair of leather HELM boots can easily last 15 to 20 years… or longer.

Be sure to visit the HELM shop and make your purchase, or at least salivate for a while!

Here is a great example of the many choices you have in winter shoes. Though I could not find the source for this photo, and also the reason my search for a flannel/leather boot continues, this shows the realm from one end to the other. A sneaker that with the right sock, would do just fine in the coldest conditions, and the warmest of boots all the way down the line.

The 3 shoes shown above are great examples of a completely versatile shoe for all-weather. The skinny lace up leather is one that looks slim enough to wear almost anywhere but is still warm enough to wear in the coldest conditions. The last 2 shown are what I would describe as the perfect office winter shoes. They will both go with almost any color, dressed up for the office or, as shown, dressed down for the streets. They are not too heavy, and not too light. While staying on trend with fabrics and buckle, these two are choices that I would have on hand all the time. Bring them along in the suitcase with your heaviest boots, you never know when the winter weather will surprise you, the sun will shine through the snow clouds, and a lighter outfit and shoe will be the perfect choice.

If I have anything at all to sum this post up, it is that while shoes and shirt are required in most places, the choices you make fulfilling that requirement is totally up to you!

I would also like to say that my heart is with all those affected by Hurricane Sandy on the coast, and also in the mountains.

A Welcome Back & Dapper Babies

I have to apologize for my disappearance over the last few months. While I can’t say I have had too much going on to give you my take on things lately, I have just not been feeling it. The photography biz has been severely slow and among other stressful things to deal with, blogging has sadly gone by the wayside. Attached to this blog is my personal style. When I shop for new things for the seasons it inspires me to write about other peoples style, as well as things happening with trends. I have to think that everyone goes through times like this, but for me, not having the money to shop has stunted my inspiration! Alas, I have a solution! I will be traveling to my home in Florida for the next few weeks, and I plan on bringing an element to this blog I have never explored before. Thrifting! While I have found it to be a bit harder for guys to thrift and still stay on trend, fall & winter may be the perfect time to do a bit of research. With the recurrence of past trends, and coats galore, I think the thrift store is the perfect place for the trendy photographer to get lost in!

In the meantime here is a buffer post. A happy sort of “I’m Sorry” post to make you smile! Babies that are more dapper than I could ever dream of! Famous baby Mason Dash Disick included! Enjoy! 🙂

The Shops at Target:Fall Edition

As you all very well know, I am a huge fan of small business’, boutique’s in particular. I just love how no matter what is being sold, each of these small brick and mortar’s have a unique style to call their own. The shops at Target pay homage to just that. It makes me happy that a retail giant like Target can realize the uniqueness of these special shops and give them a chance at making a big stamp on the world. It is a great thing when a small business that wants to remain small has a window to make lot’s of money. In the end it helps all small shops everywhere because of how they are portrayed. If people go to Target and see a unique boutique pop-up, they will have more excitement over actual brick and mortar shops on main st. After the first round of shops were a huge success, I expected nothing but greatness from the second. A group of carefully selected boutiques that could hold their own in the big store. Here they are…

Each of these shops are probably a great treasure in their own respect, so what I am about to say is all based on my own personal in store experience on opening day. Being a fashion forward guy, I headed straight to the mens section of the store. I normally buy cheap t-shirts from Target and don’t really give any of the other styles the time of day. It’s just not a place that I feel you can get really in to finding a great outfit. The shop for ODIN, New York had been set up on a single shelf, front and back. To get a bit off subject, though I do pay much respect for Target in the initial idea for the shops, you can really tell that the retail giant hadn’t lost its corporate roots. Being that they more than likely sat down and discussed, down to the centimeter, how much floor space they would give for each different shop. Turns out, not very much. ODIN stuffed 4 or 5 different fall dress shirts, sweaters, scarfs, and pants, in to what was maybe a 5 foot wide shelving unit. With the exception of a scarf and a sweater, none of these styles really made me jump, though I could totally see some people making them look great. Just not me. My second stop was near the interior decor, at PATCH NYC. I really have to visit PATCH when I visit NYC (if that dream ever comes true)! A few really great plates and serving platters made me jump for joy. Though I do have to give it to Target, the aisle the PATCH end-cap was on had its own Target designed set of excitement. Lamps, plates and pillows, all top-notch, in a way I do believe that took away from some of the greatness that PATCH had to offer. My last stop was at the shop I had been most excited about, the Curiosity Shoppe. My favorite kind of main street shop is one that carries all kinds of things. Kitchen, bath, decor, fun odds and ends, that is what I love. So when I saw the fun array of stuff that the Curiosity Shoppe had to offer I was excited to say the least. Though the kitchen selection was not really my cup of tea, (no really, I didn’t care for the tea cups) I could totally see someone with the right style buying up the whole set. I did however enjoy the heck out of a smaller end cap located just down the way near the stationary. Toys, notebooks, reading lamps, all sorts of vintage inspired goodies that I could really appreciate. To these shops I say congrats. you guys made A lasting impression on a guy who lives in North Carolina and I will be visiting you soon. To Target I have a bone to pick. If it were me I would have given the shops a proper celebration. A “real” pop-up in the center of the store. I could just see it right when customers walk through those power sliding doors, being welcomed to a mock boutique straight off the streets, plopped right in the middle of select target stores.. it could have been great! Though I guess you don’t make billions by inviting the little guy in and making them appear better, but I just feel these unique shops deserved a better shot. An end-cap is a bit underwhelming. And while were on the subject, an end-cap stuffed to the gills would have been better than the sad amount of product made me wonder if I was too early, maybe they were still setting them up? No. I encourage all of you to stop in the shops and judge for yourselves, and at the very least give these great shops some support in the real world! Here’s a better look at the kinds of greatness the shops have to offer!

Kirna Zabete for Target

I just have to get to San Fran soon. Too much greatness!

ODIN NYC for Target

Inspiration lull & a fall preview

You guys rock! After a few weeks in a true inspiration hole in the ground, I am back in action and feeling very motivated. It’s one of those cause and affect kinds of things… blogs are something that keep me inspired and feeling creative. When I don’t follow my normal routine, I fall in to a deep sad lull. It’s a real problem. I’m back now with a fall preview like no other. I think another thing that keeps me inspired is cold weather. Ok, I am from Florida, so I cannot say no to a steamy beach, but there’s something about the cooler weather, and style of fall that just makes me want to jump for joy! So let’s get in the spirit of preparing our closets for the festive fall weather, (a few months early) just for fun! As you may know by now, Urban Outfitters and J. Crew are among my favorite places on earth. Here’s a look at what J. Crew presented for fall fashion preview…

What can we do with all of this enticing fall inspiration? Spring trends this year taught us to pour color over our entire wardrobe, and fall has something similar in store. For my favorite fall trend, color will be added.. but only in small doses. Let’s be honest, nobody wants to see a guy in bright blue pants, and an equally glowy shirt for fall. It’s about darks, denim, and earthy tones. But this year, add those pops of color in your accessories. A nice colorful jacket over your dark sweater, a bright sock underneath a darker shoe, or a punchy scarf over layers. It’s all very easy, and personally, being a huge fan of the new sock craze, will give me a reason to load up on colorful fall figured socks! Whatever trend you decide to follow this fall, may the next 2 months flash before our eyes, and welcome us all to a brand new holiday season!

What were listening to: FUN – Some Nights

I usually don’t do this but I just felt like this just goes with what I’m feeling today! Enjoy yourself. Here’s Some Nights by FUN!