Shail Upadhya

occupation: artist in the medium of clothing

“People are very insecure as far as fashion is concerned. It’s just something they do to look good and not be criticized, so a quick answer for them is to buy for the brand. I am my own brand.” Shail Upadhya

Shail is in the process of becoming “honest with himself” and finally fully discovering the artist within. He was born in Kathmandu to a family of politicians – three of Shail’s uncle’s were Prime Ministers of Nepal. Though he has always loved dressing up, his parents wanted him to have a “respectable” job, so he became a diplomat at the UN rather than following a creative pursuit. Despite working in politics, Shail’s inner “Lord Gaga” has gotton lots of attention, including meeting Andy Warhol at Studio 54 in the ’80s and numerous features in Bill Cunninghan’s style section of The New York Times. He has always been driven to put his own personality into his wardrobe, as you can see in the witty layers of argyles with sweater upon sweater (I love this look with the knee socks!) and in his whimsical but chic interpretation of a white evening suit covered in polka dots. Shail is taking his self-expression to new heights by designing his own collection of clothes that are hand-painted, based on the designs of the grand masters like Miro, Kandinsky, and Picasso. He says that his ruffled shirt with gold embroidered jacket is his Beau Brummel version of the classic tuxedo, and that he wouldn’t wear it to the UN, but he would wear it to a party given by the Fame Monster herself.

Cator Sparks

“[London] is such an amazing place. Period. I’ll never forget riding the subway one day when I saw a man in a bowler, a bow tie, a cane, and a wax mustache. He just looked at me and winked. And I just [thought], ‘This is it kids. This is what I want to do.’” Cator Sparks

occupation: writer, blogger, and dandy

Cator loves the Auntie Mame quote, “Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death,” because for him, you have to live it and breath it all in. And he does – this man is all passion. We recently emailed him to let him know that his post was coming up, and we received an automatic response saying, “Greetings! I am away for a wedding in the depths of Africa, therefore I have no internet access, only tribal drums and smoke signals.” Cator was inspired to become a writer on a trip to India in his late 20’s, but not a “yogacentric nirvana trip. It was a boozed out wild party with a bunch of English people,” where he met a renowned British journalist that recognized his vivid imagination, well-bred sophistication, and ability to put “pen to paper” or “fingers to keyboard.” Today, Cator is a leading authority on men’s fashion, an interest that stems from his aesthetically Anglo-infused childhood in Atlanta, surrounded by people like his grandfather (who was “a bit of a dandy”), his great-grandfather (who wore only “white suits in the summer and wool tweeds in the winter”), and his mother (who let him set the table with lavish place settings every year for Christmas dinner). It’s all about visuals for Cator, and you can see it from his red room (an ode to taste icon Diana Vreeland) to his impeccable three-piece Brooks Brothers suit with every detail intact down to the Etro shirt, Vivienne Westwood tie, and antique watch fob. (It’s absolutely wild to think of Cator in his rave days, with stickers on his face and glitter everywere.) Appearance is so imperative that Cator writes in an Egyptian dress and Turkish slippers in order for his genius to flow.

Be sure to check out Cator’s website and blog.

If you like Cator, you might also enjoy John Wellington, Andrew D’Angelo, or Michael Arenella.

Michael Arenella

occupation: bandleader, musician, singer, composer, arranger, and events producer

” Style is a celebration of individuality while also a gesture of decorum and humility unto others.” Michael Arenella

So precisely fine-tuned to dressing as the consummate gentleman from decades long gone, it is an ironic twist on generations that Michael’s dad was a hippie and prefers rock and roll, while his son has dedicated his life to the performance and lifestyle of ’20s, ’30s, and ’40s jazz and swing eras. Michael only wears jeans to work on his car and would never go out in them. He is indignant about what the present day mania for casual attire has done to formality, respect for romance, and pride and to the celebration of life. For him, the idea of going out in the evening in jeans or athletic clothes is depressing. When I was shooting him, we got into the conversation of the dummying down of style. And it made me think of standing at Thomas Jefferson’s home, the monumental, Monticello, and thinking how important it was for the third President to create this kind of noble aesthetic for the world and then looking at the sad juxtaposition of everyone there taking it all in wearing the ubiquitous Crocs and track suits. It seemed like a total unconscious disconnect.

Michael grew up in Georgia, where the woods, streams, and rivers he played in are now strip malls. His nostalgia for the past permeates not only his music and clothes, but his way of life. It was a first for me to meet someone who finds his refuge from urban New York by canoeing the Gowanus canal from his home in Brooklyn to Staten Island (where he has found a bird sanctuary) and walking the old railroad tracks where he has discovered many hidden treasures including forests. His most casual attire while doing this is typically WWI boots, WWII jodhpurs, a pre-WWII British army vest, a Russian military striped shirt, an original Woolrich jacket, and ’30s German motorcycle gloves. And of course, he’s ecstatic about the 1945 Hagstrom map which enables him to uncover forgotten areas (the new ones don’t have the old train routes). When listening to Michael’s excitement over the bend of a railroad track (and its historical context) or the tailoring and quality of a ’40s suit inspires him to be and feel his highest self, it makes one wonder what the generation of comfort first (at all costs to design and craftsmanship) will inspire for future decades – a “banana republic”?

Check out Michael Arenella & His Dreamland Orchestra here.

If you like Michael, you might also enjoy John Wellington-Simon, Ebeneezer Nii-Sowah, Dylan Trevelen, or Raymond Chu.

Jey Van-Sharp

occupation: Creative Director of MyUberLife, a consulting firm that offers marketing strategies and creative direction to fashion, music, and art-related companies

“A human being feels fulfilled when you’re creating and you’re adding, not just consuming. There’s nothing wrong with consuming, but what are you adding? That’s the question I ask myself and that keeps my integrity higher every single day. When I can’t give myself an honest answer, I know my ego is going to do its dance. I think that’s what ego does – it allows us to lie to ourselves when we don’t want the truth.” Jey Van-Sharp

If I had to post a video that expressed the most definitive message of this site, it would be Jey’s. Not just living outside of the box, but smashing it, is what he consults his clients to do if they are going to be relevant in the twenty-first century. He goes on to say that if we don’t, we are heading for the dark ages and if we do, a cultural Renaissance. Like that period of rebirth in the sixteenth century, Jey feels that the internet has manifested the possibility of a comparable period in time of enlightenment with the connectivity of knowledge, language, culture and productivity in a matter of nano seconds. Among the many rigid and pretentious notions that the proliferation of information has suddenly made seem passe are the ideas in certain magazines that things are only wearable by the age of your decade, or need to be a designer head to toe, or that a jacket needs to be right side up or that men’s clothes are for men and women’s for women. Jey walks the walk and talks the talk. Self-confident and politically incorrect, he sees “clothes as dynamic art” and values how they reveal the way your mind works, how you are perceived, how they allow you to be creative, and how important the “feminine” side is to a one’s artistic vision (he is unabashed to the “gender” label of his clothes). He believes in a fine-tuned wardrobe, where you can wear a jacket five days in a row different ways and he is fluid with ideas like pairing loafers with sweatpants. Jey sent us a quote by Norman Mailer, which I think relates to something I have been wondering while doing this site: why are the innovators and creators considered “crazy” or “not normal” in society and why isn’t it the other way around? “Hip is the sophistication of the wise primitive in the jungle, and so it’s appeal is still beyond civilized man.”

If you like Jey, you might also enjoy Milton Puzy, James Fils-Aime, or James Ott.

John Wellington-Simon

occupation: producer, stylist, choreographer, and dandy

“I’m very classic. I call myself a dandy. I live my life as a dandy. I don’t ever leave the house in jeans and a t-shirt or sweatpants.” John Wellington-Simon

John refers to himself as a dandy and he takes it very seriously. Charles Baudelaire defined the dandy as “one who elevates æsthetics to a living religion.” For John, being “impeccably clean” (always with his shirt tucked in) is heaven on earth, and he lifts off the ground into a mean hip-hop, jazz routine when referring to Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly as his “fellas” because of how they wore a suit and tie. Back to Baudelaire: “For the perfect dandy, these things are no more than the symbol of the aristocratic superiority of his mind.” How you dress does create a certain state-of-mind, and for John, “it’s a language that he is speaking to the world in the best possible way he can.” I love the language that he speaks and can only guess that seeing him in his top hat with plume on the subway would send me into a trance. His family is originally from Jamaica, once a colony of England, and thus, where English culture and the traditions of being “the gentleman” were handed down. His mom became a doctor when she and her family came to NYC in the ’70s, but the “the rounds” that John does are in the East Village at Metropolis, Union Square at Rags-A-GoGo, and Brooklyn at Beacon’s Closet. And there is definitely a sense of euphoria when he points to the corduroy detail on his shoe, how he scored the Bentley pants with the feathered pattern, or how a bow tie and pocket square can transform the day.

Check out John’s blog and styling portfolio.

If you like John, you might also enjoy Raymond Chu, Ebeneezer Nii-Sowah, or Carlyle Hanson.