Male Lapel Flower Fashion

The origin of the modern lapel flower stems from the traditional look of a wedding boutonniere. The wording coming from the French was often referred to by the British as "them button hole flowers". Traditionally, the flower was placed in the button hole of the man’s suit or tuxedo however, these days, most boutonnieres and lapel flowers are pinned directly unto the man’s lapel.

Curiously enough, the boutonniere and the bridal bouquet were created for similar reasons: to ward off bad smells, disease, and evil spirits (A little knowledge for you today---lol)

The reason most of your vintage and thrifted jackets have small inserts in the lapel is because many gentlemen pinned a flower on their jacket almost daily which sparked interest in garment makers to design small hidden vases built right in the lapel to refrain from damaging their work on the detail of the jacket. 

For you old cinema and vintage fashion lovers you may recall the likes of Fred Astair or Cary Grant wearing a boutonniere just to go out on a Friday evening. 

Today, however, bouts are primarily worn only for proms, homecomings, and weddings where the reoccurring "flower lapel" can be worn any day of the week. 

One could argue that the lapel is the most crucial part of a jacket's personality. Whether notched, peak or shawl, that folded flap of cloth is the eye of your blazer drawing immediate attention.


As powerful as these folded edges are alone, we always look to see the way Europeans take accessorizing the lapel to the next level. Whether flipping up the collar  or sticking a fresh flower into the button hole as pictured above, they put the "effortless style" back into the lapel that we Americans have so well adapted.


I recently blogged about a "Look for Less" in adapting the newly reinvented trend in my 

[Styling Tip] "DO" Try this at home: H & M Floral Clip x Men's Lapel Accessory post. 

Feel free to check it out and gain some new inspirations from the visuals listed below. 

If you are wanting to try this out or update your current collection, I've listed in some great websites you can get unique, fashionable lapel flowers from. 


Hook + Albert Lapel flowers


These kits are absolutely perfect to wear with your day-to-day blazers and jackets. Handmade in cotton, each flower adheres to your jacket lapel with a shell button (easy to stitch on, ask somebody if you don’t know how!). Made of soft mercerized cotton fibers, the H+A lapel flower is secured through the buttonhole of the lapel. 

etherealflowers' shop

Here you can find handmade flowers accessories with a minimalist style to fit the modern man.
Discounts are offered for bulk purchases.

WormeWoole's shop

Eco-friendly accessories handmade from reclaimed upcycled felted sweater wool. Created in Northern Wisconsin wool is worn year-round this product is sure to warm up some fashion conversation at your local coffee shop.

Rashon Carraway (a.k.a Mr. Goodwill Hunting) Big Cartel Shop


These one of a kind uniquely designed lapel flowers are bold, fresh and stylish. With an array of vibrant solid colors to shuttle strips, Rashon's handmade lapel flowers pendants define style effortlessly. 

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10.Deep unveils: Deliver 1 Spring 2012 Look Book

10.Deep NYC  releases their Deliver 1 Spring 2012 men's lookbook. The pieces are an array of lightweight outerwear, button-downs, tees, pullovers, caps, and even a few baseball inspired jerseys and sweatshirts. The bottoms include bleached denim, khaki pants with denim cuff, camouflage and your everyday dark and light denim jeans.

Check out the rest of the lookbook here:

I really like this line and it's very affordable and trendy for everyday wear. Less traditional camo patterns seem to be the go for the spring and 10.deep stays true to the color wheel by layering pieces to accompany their dramatic fatigues like blues, reds, yellows and neutrals. They even throw in a few tribal options into the mix to be paired with their flashy denim pieces. I appreciate collections where you can mix and match and it honestly helps men who may need help in personal styling to know that everything is versatile. 

Deliver 1 from the 10.Deep Spring 2012 collection is now available in its entirety via the brand’s online store. Check it out here.

Car maker Aston Martin & shoe designer John Lobb design men's driving shoe

How many times have you worn your new favorite shoes and after driving the sides have dirt on them from the car mat? Or what about all those times when you've driven in your socks in fear that you might wrinkle your new favorite kicks. We've all seen promotions for driving loafers, but are they really comfortable? What if I told you that there just may be a solution to fashionable shoes that are meant for comfortable driving. Well that's exactly what shoe maker Aston Martin and John Lobbs have created. After a shake of hands from Aston Martin’s Director of Design Maerk Reichman and John Lobb’s Creative Director Andres Hernandez, a new addition to the Winner Sports Shoes collection was birthed. These shoes are made of full grain calfskin lined with supple sheepskin, using soft padding for ankle, metallic eyelets and a rubber sole for the sporty feel. Graphite Grey, Winter Wheat, Frost White and Saddle Tan feature the Sport Stratos White rubber sole, while Storm Black, Bitter Chocolate, Westminster Green and Aurora Blue come with the Racy Fire Red rubber soles, a marsh-up drivers would appreciate. These shoes will be available for purchase this May. Who says your most fashionable shoes can't be made especially for driving?

Blogger Spotlight: Rip The Runway

The Breakdown 

 In honor of Spring I wore a bright orange suit from H & M that retails for a mere $150 to BET Rip The Runway. 

 There is a lot you can do with a bright colored suit. At 1st my mind went to color blocking and I was going to wear a fitted green crew neck tee and some colorful Cole Haan brogues, but decided to tone the vibrant color down with earth tones. Already in my closet, I paired the suit with this Target lapel vest, J C Penny hounds tooth printed shirt, and a thrifted tie. I decided not to opt for my usual mixing of assorted bracelets because of the other accessory elements I wore, so I just wore a single beaded bracelet. The handkerchief is a piece of material I got at a fabric store. I actually reversed its original pattern to get the hue of a muted green color to complete this look. With a simple folding technique and an iron I placed it in my jacket pocket for a crisp tailored look. Read my post of dressing up while dressing down that goes more in depth on the topic.

 To carry my importants, I toted a Louis Vuitton briefcase. 

 Again there are a lot of choices when adding elements to a bright suit. I decided to keep it simple and rock a pair of distressed Clark desert boots to tone down the look. To add a few styling elements, I cuffed my pants and threw on a pair of stripped socks I got from Urban Ourfitters to bring in all the colors. The socks actually inspired this color story. 

 Again to keep it causal, I wore a fedora hat I got from Forever 21 Men. The khaki fabric strip added to the earth tones of my attire. 

Due to me wearing a vest, I decided to play with time periods and rock a pocket watch. Ironically I've had this watch for years and have never worn it. I got the face from an estate sale back when I was in college. On the day of Rip The Runway taping, I went to a hardware store in Harlem, NYC to purchase a key chain to link the watch.

 To get the watch to stay in place I used a past item of the week to attach the chain to my tie.

 This was the ending result of the look I was wanting to accomplish.

Time is indeed money but as you see you don't have to spend a lot of money to look rich.


The After Party
I switched up my after party look slightly by taking off my vest and adding a house key tie clip I made. I also switched my bracelets. 

Selita Ebanks and I 

Mobile Uploads

 Selita is a character 

Pooch Hall and I 

My date for the night, publicist Trina Page.

Great minds think differently but with similar goals. Suit Inspiration Kanye West. 

All and all I had a great time that night!