Alan Ilagan

It may sound sacrilegious coming from me, but the most important thing a person can wear is not an item of clothing, or even a pair of shoes – it’s your fragrance. Now that Spring is here (and Givenchy’s ‘Play’ has run its transitory course bridging the Winter/Spring seasons), I’m in need of a new scent.

So far it’s come down to these contenders:

1)      Burberry Sport (until this one, I’ve never liked any of the Burberry scents, but like all “sport” versions, it’s not the least bit flowery)

2)      Grey Vetiver by Tom Ford (the scent of vetiver veers dangerously close to an old-man’s fragrance, but every time I sample this I love the way it wears on me – still, it feels more like a Winter cologne)

3)      Gucci by Gucci (unimaginative name notwithstanding, this is another one that is less flowery than their standard floral fare)

I also need to plan the wedding weekend scent, and I’m leaning heavily toward a very special bottle of Creed’s Green Irish Tweed that Andy purchased for my birthday last year (fittingly while we were in Boston).

Ever since Tom Ford wore a knit tie to the premiere of A Single Man (see above and below), I’ve been looking for that particular accessory to go on sale, and it finally did this past weekend. I picked up two, because when I’m really excited about something, I tend to go overboard.

What struck me most about Mr. Ford’s choice was the fact that he usually prefers an open shirt, sans-tie, to show off his chest hair.

In his case it works (in most others it doesn’t: See Simon Cowell).

I’m not sure how I feel about his insistence on trying to make these sunglasses work, and would rather he lose them, and everything for that matter, in favor of a simple towel for snapping.

(For those smart cookies who think this is just an excuse to post a salacious photo of my hero/idol Tom Ford naked, you may retain your cookie designation.)