Umbrella in Style

People who know me know that I love accessories both for home and clothing.

Chic accessories personalize your style and make your look unique. I particularly like umbrellas (also love bags and scarfs), not only are they useful in Thailand’s rainy and hot climate, but they also look sophisticated and gentlemanly.

My favorite umbrella-themed movie is the Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy, 1964). Catherine Deneuve was (and is still) so beautiful in this movie, and the interior set, especially the umbrella shop, looked stunning.

At the Bangkok Film festival several years ago, I had an opportunity to watch this movie on the big screen and attended the Q&A session with Catherine Deneuve's present. I was so excited to see her even in distance.

Who else are my umbrella lady icons?

Of cause my first one has to be Carrie Bradshaw. I am sure the SATC fan would remember the scene when she was wondering around Paris with that red umbrella (of Plaza Athenee where she stayed with Alexsandr Petrovsky), and she failed at Dior and spilled the Carried necklace.

In the fourth season, she carried a vintage white umbrella that went well with a basic white summer dress.

Nicole Kidman was so stylish in movie Australia. The opening scene when she arrived with navy blue and white suit with a black-trimmed white umbrella. She looked stunning.

I also love her elaborate set of Prada luggage.

Victoria Beckham also needs a cute umbrella when she is hanging out by the pool.

Rihanna and her pink umbrella on red carpet.

And I am ending this entry with classic Audrey Hepburn and her beautiful umbrella.

Good night!

Inspirations: Red Lobster

My last trip to New York in August, I was inspired a window display at Bergdorf Goodman and a fresh seafood display at Chelsea’s market both of which made use of the color lobster red. I would really love to have that color in my wardrobe.

Maybe this red and black sailor lonsleeve from Michael Bastian will go well with a pair of white linen and white flip-flops.

Wish List: Sport Gears

This weekend I am away from my regular yoga routine because of a back injury. Yoga is fun, it makes me calm, but it is not a type of sport you can socialize with people as it goes. I have been thinking about picking up tennis, the thought accessories crossing my mind.

My wish list:

About me: Bino on Fashion

Who am I in the world of fashion?

I am nobody. I am just a regular guy who lives, observes, follows, avoids, breathes and sometimes eats fashion as a form of art. I believe in one’s unique sense of style, and love having one of my own.

In terms of my sense of style and fashion, I credit my mother who, when I was a child, always dressed me in all-white tennis outfits. To this day, I like sporty, preppy styles and I trace that appreciation back to those tennis whites.

In my culture, there is a lot of pressure to fit in and not to stand out from the crowd. My desire to be unique and to stand out started to show in high school, where I was the only boy wearing black leather shoes with the school uniform. Everyone else was wearing sneakers. When I showed up at school wearing my leather lace-ups, I received disapproving looks from other students. Why should I be the same as others when there is room to express who I am?

As for my name, “Bino” is my nickname. My mother spent two years studying in Italy before giving birth to me. She chose Bino, short for bambino (“baby” in Italian) as my nickname. Since my nickname has twice the syllables of my given name, Tawn, others stopped using it once I entered grade school.

To this day, I regret that as I always liked the name Bino. Having an unused nickname is like having a key to a secret box. Using the nickname, I can unlock different possibilities and different personalities, imagining and re-imagining myself living various lives different from the one I lead every day.

Now, I am sitting in my own little corner in my hometown Bangkok documenting what’s running through my mind in terms of style and fashion. I hope that one day these ruminations about style and fashion will unlock one of those imagined lives and open up different possibilities for me.