I'm an Outsider.

This brand of semi-casual wear is based on the 1964 New Wave French crime drama, Bande à part (Band of Outsiders). This brand is highly influenced by the Beatnik movement originating from my hometown, which explains why it'd be part of my personal style. The essentials include: wool suiting, plaids, stripes, mix of form-fitting and loose shapes. To be honest though, the line is a little too "hipster" for my liking. While I do like their alternative and vintage-inspired designs, sooner or later, their vision is going to get old. It'd be a good idea to modernize it while they can.

Vintage Movie Poster

Doing the famous "Madison" dance

It has been speculated that double-breasted suits are making a comeback. Many trend forecasters also say that short suits are coming back in Spring 2009. This look is cool and all, but the appropriateness is hard to figure out. If you wear this to work or an event, people would probably have a hard time taking you seriously. The only place I see this look headed is to church. And for someone like me who is not Christian, it would not be wise to invest in a short suit.

This look is a little too "Johnny Depp" for me. I like plaid pants, but they are really hard to wear because if they are any less tailored, they would look like pajama bottoms.

If the company used this look as a guide to designing, it'd be good for them. The proportions are modern and the colors are freshly put together; the pop of yellow really does it. I also like those black and white boat shoes; they'd probably look good a pair of dark wash jeans.

Side-stipe pants? Yup, they've done it. It used to be a fashion statement for athletic apparel, but it has finally made it to casual wear. So far, I have not seen any of these pants in store, but I'll be the first one in line when they come out. Of course, they won't be Band of Outsiders pants; I don't have money. Oh, and I like those suspenders too.

Band of Outsiders has created a line for women called Boy by Band of Outsiders. I find this collection a lot more inspiring than their main line because they throw in a lot of color and different fabrics in there.

I absolutely adore this look because it creates a sort of confident sexiness without really revealing anything. The skirt is very interesting with the ridges. I'm not sure if they're printed or textured, but they look cool either way. It's also nice to see how the yellow shoes balance everything out.

Let me tell you, this is by far the "coolest" sweater dress I've seen. It's just that a lot of sweater dresses look just like long sweaters and look weird when people don't wear pants or tights underneath. Anyway, the loose shoulder thing is a little 80s inspired, which is interesting to see because the 80s was known for bad fashion. This, however, was a good move for the design.

This look might be a little too mature for people in their 20s, but there's an air of youthfulness about it. You can also see the beatnik influence in the stripes on the skirt.

Somehow, short suits seem to look a lot better on women than men. My guess is the cut of the shorts really matter. That might be the case because a lot of men hesitate to wear shorts that are shorter than knee-length in order to "keep their masculinity." I beg to differ, but the market caters to what people want, and apparently, I am outnumbered. Anyway, the muted plums and grays really do the design justice.

Courtesy of Vogue (Style), Telescreen.org, Broken Projector