Style Conscious, not brand conscious

I first heard these words from my uncle, who was know to be the artist/stylish/hip guy in the family. When we were vacationing in Hongkong back when I was still in college. He took me to the TST and Mongkok factory outlets and taught me how to shop for clothes that fit and suited me (my wardrobe at that time was jeans, shorts and shirts), and then he said "Be style conscious and not brand conscious"

That's basically what guides me up to this day in buying clothes for me. Let's face it, clothing brands are not so easily obvious, cause if it were, there would be no need to ask celebrities what or who they are wearing during red carpet events. How it looks is what matters.

I was actually out shopping for a nice fitted shirt since I just realized I didn't have a lot, and this is the challenge for men. I like my shirts with a little design to them, plain shirts and polos are everywhere and there's nothing special about it. Maybe it had something to do with Valentine's because almost every store I went to had something on sale.

I then walked into the Memo store and started looking around and saw this short black shirt with an asymmetric gray stripe that looks like a false pocket. I grabbed the medium size and tried it on. I loved the fit and the shorter than usual sleeves, plus it was on sale as well.

I then did a little browsing in the Dept Store just seeing what they have. Besides a row of Angry Birds shirts, I saw these dark brown orangey jeans with copper colored stitching. I picked up a pair and read "Hibalder" Hmmm never heard of them, but I decided to try them on because I liked how it look especially the weird extra long belt loop on the side as well as the stitching on the back.

 The slim fit was perfect, I now wonder how in world did I thought baggy hip hoppish jeans looked cool before.

These Dragon Sea leather shoes I actually got a couple of years back from a mall in China, the orange stitching actually matches the one on the jeans.

Here's that weird cool looking extra long diagonal belt hook and the fancy stitch work on the back pocket.

Of course love you own! This my everyday wear EMO men's bracelet, incidentally this design comes in a matching pair for couples.

The "S" doesn't stand for Superman but Sydnee! Hahaha. Honestly, belts are one of the most under appreciated articles in a man's closet.

And here comes the fun part, how much does it cost? The Memo shirt I got it at 10% off which comes out to P990, and the Hibalder Jeans are a mere P799, Superman belt from Greenhills is P250 and my EMO bracelet is a mere P2,400.

Be style conscious, not brand conscious. And no I'm not wearing my Spanx underneath!