Mr Porter.

Online giant net-a-porter now has a menswear website! The website launched in the UK this week and has some great designer labels to browse through including Balmain, Lanvin, Gucci and my all time favourite Burberry. Check it out: http://www.mrporter.com/

Impeccable packaging from Mr Porter. 

Perhaps my favourite part of the website is the FAQ page. Questions such as 'What do I wear when the dress code is smart casual?' are answered so that even the most reluctant male shopper will have some idea what to wear to what occasion. But the FAQs don't stop with clothes, there's questions answered on footwear, accessories and even how to store all your clothes.

Not only is this website a great online retailer and help point for the struggling male shopper, it also features journals that are regularly updated by industry professionals. As well as a journal written by 8 men in different professions including a perfumer, an artist and a poet/author, there is a journal discussing a 'style gene'. John Brodie writes about useful things he has learnt in his on life to pass on to his son Nicholas. Brodie jokes that the three useful competencies he has learnt are drinking martinis, eating grilled meats and tying a tie, and only the last he feels he should pass onto his son. He goes onto explain why he dresses his son how he does:
'I started Nicholas out with the classics for two reasons. First off, I suspected that some day he would rebel and want to create his own looks, so the best thing that I could do was to give him a solid foundation. If he were going to be an artist, I'd want him to have mastered life drawing before he became an Abstract Expressionist. Same thing with clothes.'

Like father like son.

But I do think the article fails to answer the question: Is there a style gene? Surely, when you are old enough to dress yourself, you choose your own style? I remember being young and day after day being dressed in a different colour United Colour of Benetton sweatshirt, Black denim pants and Caterpillar boots. As soon I grew out of my rainbow of sweatshits, I wanted something else, something other than what my mother had chosen for me. So, from a very young age, I wanted to have my own style. Making me question this 'style gene'.

Back to Mr Porter, I really recommend all guys checking it out, sure the designer stuff is expensive but get inspired! Look at the style advice page, see trends then hunt them down on the high street to get 'the look for less' 'til you're in one of the 8 professions and can afford the real deal!

Also guys check out the 32 items every man should own. Ladies hove their capsule wardrobes, let's get started on ours!