Alan Ilagan

This is difficult for me to admit, but I don’t completely abhor the idea of David Beckham doing a suit collection. He’s looked rather dashing in the last few suit pics I’ve seen of him, so he knows how to wear them. And it’s not like he’ll actually be sewing them himself… (To be honest, I don’t know how big a part he’ll play in the actual design of them either – I find it hard to believe that these vanity labels give all that much free reign to their namesakes. Do you really think Madonna was drawing out sketches for H&M?)

Of course if given the option, I much prefer Mr. Beckham in his underwear to any sort of suit.

With the possible exception of this bathing suit (which might as well be underwear).

The wedding coat was finally unveiled, indoors to protect it from the rain, and I had the honor of standing beside the woman who sewed it, Marline’s Momma. As can be seen, she did an amazing job, and I owe her more than a few bottles of wine.

With all of the chartreuse and aqua, I wanted something to stand out, so I found this astounding hue, somewhere between fuschia and violet, in dupioni silk, then added a train of ruffled silk and organza roses (each hand-sewn by yours truly), filling in the rest with a ton of tulle.

{Skip is totally jealous, and pissed that he chose to change into that golf shirt.}

{With cousins – Bobby & Kate}

A hug from Marline.

With Jen’s husband Mike.

With stylist Jeff.

With Gin-Gin.

And with Jo-Jo. 

This was easily the most fun item of couture that I have ever worn in my life, and if it wasn’t exactly conducive to walking, it certainly lent itself to photographs (and this is likely not the last time you’ll see it somewhere). It was worn for the briefest of moments, which had always been the plan, and then it was back to our barong tagalog shirts that worked out well with the stifling heat.

The barong tagalog is a traditional Filipino shirt for men, usually worn at formal events such as weddings. It is designed to be light and breathable, successfully serving its purpose on this humid evening. Our flip-flips (mine in lime green, Andy’s in turquoise) matched the color scheme and kept our little piggies cool.

{More family – Erin & Paul with my nephew & niece, Noah and Emi}

{Sherri, Jim, and Maria – Jim is such a ladies man.}

{Rick, Guy & Eric}

{Jo-Jo, Paul, Mom, & Bobby, stepping in as bartender}

{Rob & Jason}

{Dan, Rob, Scott, & Laurie}

{The Cape Crew – Lee, Wally, Carolyn, & Kim}

{The stunning JoAnn MacKinnon, a.k.a. Jo-Jo/Josie/J-Bop/BOOM}

{Crazy, Noreen, & Marline}

As the evening was winding down, there were still cupcakes to be had… so stay tuned.

Final installment of The Wedding Party coming up…

I think people wanted to see The Wedding Coat more than anything else at our reception, so without further ado, here it is.

Extra special thanks again to Marline’s Momma, who made this coat of dupioni silk. She really crafted an amazing work of artistic couture.

All I had to do was add some organza and tulle to finish it up.

(I can’t wait to wear this to the market now that it’s had its wedding premiere.)

The new Dolce & Gabbana campaign featuring Madonna has been out for a while, but I think it’s such a major improvement from her last outing with the Italian designers that it deserves to be seen again. The first one above is my favorite of them all. The one below reminds me of her photo-shoot with Mario Testino for Vanity Fair heralding the release of Ray of Light in 1998.

And finally, the requisite “Madonna Holding a Cock” shot.

Images courtesy of Madonnatribe.com.

Here is a simple riddle for you: What takes 25 yards of dupioni silk, 80 yards of tulle, and 50 yards of organza to create? If you guessed my wedding reception coat, you’d be correct. I won’t even begin to calculate the hours of labor that went into it between myself and Marline’s Momma, who did most of the sewing. (She is amazing.)

For my part, I created the train and immense tulle underlay (all 80 yards of it). The hundreds of organza ruffles had to be individually hand-sewn by yours truly, but with customary diligence and planning I finished them all a while back, filling four large bags with the whimsical frills before applying them to the train.

The only problem is that it’s not quite conducive to walking, not so much because of the weight but rather the immensity and bulkiness of all that tulle and fabric (it actually requires that I be buckled into it.) Basically, I won’t be wearing it for long. However, it practically stands on its own, so I don’t even need to be inside it for people to enjoy its beauty.

It was, as it always is, a labor of love.

I’ve been given the chance to carry my catty snarkiness to PinstripeMag.com - where they promote, “Genius. Gear. Girls. Gadgets.” I guess I’m contributing to the “Gear” part with a few fashion reviews (because I’m certainly not hitting any G-spots).

I started with a blurb about the Prada mesh vests that I was on the fence about and most recently gave my take on the new Calvin Klein campaign starring Kellan Lutz (whom I had not heard of before this). The site is sort of an online Maxim, but looking beyond the scantily-women there is some useful info on men’s fashion and accessories, and this is the part that interests me.

And for those who know and care, here is Kellan Lutz in all his Calvin Klein glory:

It has been my unfortunate personal experience that fashion – both good and bad – is invariably contagious. When I find out about a sale or an outlet that I didn’t know existed, I get very, very excited. (Frenzied is not an exaggeration.) The unfortunate part comes when I start entering the monthly AmEx charges into my admittedly-nerdy spreadsheet of credit card charges (if I didn’t do it this way I’d be in debt; to date, I have yet to miss a full payment, so cry dork all you want).

There are moments, however, when the monthly budget must be thrown out the window, such as when a Burberry outlet closes its doors and starts offering insane sales on top of outlet prices. A few things in this life are absolute, and a classic Burberry raincoat is one of them. It will never go out of style, it will last a lifetime, and it’s not just for the rain. In this case, it was lined (with a removable wool lining in the traditional Burberry plaid), it was the perfect size (not too long, not too short), and it was (just barely) under $200. The stars rarely align so perfectly.

I had to beg, plead and cajole both Andy and my boss to make the trip to Manchester, VT happen – for the former, I had to promise to fill the gas tank and buy dinner; for the latter, well, she just rolled her eyes. Actually, this was the exchange:

Me (in a dramatic, serious tone): Marline, there is a huge emergency and I need to leave at 3 o’clock today.

Boss: What, is there a sale at Bergdorf’s?

Me (in an earnest, surprised tone): No, at Burberry.

If blame must be placed, it cannot fall solely on my shoulders. I put the brunt of it on Kristi Gustafson and her own inspiring trip to Burberry, so tantalizingly posted on her ‘On the Edge’ blog. She made out like a bandit, and that sort of fashion/financial savvy is pure inspiration. (By the way, Kristi, I think Andy wants to talk to you…)