Spain vs Italy - the style match

Spain Home Jersey

Italy Home Jersey

SPAIN vs ITALY - This coming Sunday 2:45pm EST the soccer national teams of these two countries will play each other in the final of Euro 2012 soccer tournament Kyiv Ukraine. Both teams are exciting to watch (although are different in their style of play) and packed with talented players and as a soccer fan i look forward to the match.
But the battle that i wanted to highlight is the battle of the uniform - who is the winner on that end? who has the more stylish, cooler and exciting uniform???
Until recent years the Italian style was carried into the soccer field, Italy always had the most stylish uniform, they were the first to sport a tight jersey, the first to have the longer shorts etc. But in recent years things changed and globalization had its impact in that arena as well and teams like, Spain France and even Portugal had their share of style in soccer uniforms.
I went on Footballfashion.org to compare between the two finalists, what do you think who is the style winner???

Italy Away Uniform

Spain Away Uniform

P.S. my winner in this category is Spain...although i have a feeling the winner on the field will be Italy...we'll wait and see. good luck to both teams and as a soccer fan i hope for a super entertaining match....

Style icon of the week - Pep (Joseph) Gaurdiola

This week's style icon comes from the sports word, not even 40 years old Pep Gaurdiola considered to be one of the best football (soccer) mangers in the world today coaching for the first time a pro team and not just another team but probably the best team out there -  Barcelona.
Following his career as a player for Barcelona's dream team in the early 90's ((that was when i fell in love with Barcelona) 2 years ago he took over the top job and in his first year they won every title (6 of them) they were competing for, his team includes star players such as Messi, Xavi, David Villa,  Iniesta and much more but on the side lines there is only one style star and its Pep Guardiloa. Under his management Barcelona plays the most entertaining, attacking and inspiring football out there or what we call "Sexy Football" ...Just like his personal style!
On the field  he usually sporting  sleek fitted suits in either black or Grey with a  fine European touch in the form of  white fitted shirts with skinny collar and skinny ties, and for colder times an addition of a thin V neck sweaters or a cardigan under the suit... always with either one hand in his side pant pocket or scratching his bold head...

Designer of the week - week two Burberry/Christopher Bailey

Milan Men's fashion week for the Autumn/winter 2010-2011 season ended on Tuesday. I was browsing through the collections on the GQ site while contemplating who should be this week's designer of the week???? it all than clicked as i watched the Burberry Prorsum show with the amazing outwear pieces! A category that in my opinion, is the house's best and as a matter of fact the one that this British (i don't mean to brain wash you with Briticism.....) legendary, luxury fashion house was build around in 1856 by Thomas Burberry . Piece of info: Not a lot of people know but in 1881 Burberry invented Gabardine - a water-resistant and breathable fabric, in which the yarn is waterproofed before weaving and that is used to make suits, trousers and overcoats. Although that by itself is a great contribution to fashion and definitely one to be known for, its distinctive trademarks are: The tartan pattern in black, tan, and red (known as haymarket check or the "Burberry classic check") that was widely copied, and the Trench coat! In 1914 Burberry was commissioned by the war office to redesign it's officer coat and that resulted in the trench coat which in 1920 was lined with the famous iconic tartan print and the rest is history..... (check out The art of the trench coat).
During the 1970s, the brand became popular with the British football (soccer, which is my favorite sport for those of you out there who don't know me....) casual cult, leading to it being associated with hooliganism by the 1990s. In 1998 The Burberry Prorsum (meaning forwards in Latin) ready-to-wear collection was launched, introducing a youthful and sexy image of the Burberry conservative, quintessential Briticism. This major resurgence was elevated in may 2001 when Christopher Bailey (who is currently the chief creative director) joined Burberry and transformed the fortunes of the company. Christopher was faced with the challenge of forging a hip and fashion-forward identity for an old British company. He was able to successfully merge Burberry's venerable English heritage with the punky vibe of London street fashion! And to that I say......Hallelujah!!!
oh.....and on the way he grabbed few British designer of the year awards as well....
Going back to Milan fashion week....it was all about heritage and simplicity (apparently there are some advantages to the global financial meltdown....), and Burberry did it best with artfully crafted wool overcoats that took over the whole look ...at times Hulking and blanket-y and at times fitted and smartly simple, all seasoned with a touch of Russian, militant feel! Craftsmanship in it's best.
I tend specifically to not write about future seasons because we live in the NOW, but this one i just couldn't resist... so the bad news are that all the beautiful overcoats below are available only a year from now, but the good news are that for those of us who can't afford them we have a year to work hard and save for them......




Pics by GQ