Fashion Felicitations: 80s Ralph Lauren

Photographs by Sean Gin

Dear Fashion Diary,

A while ago while snooping through my father’s closet, I found this amazing vintage Ralph Lauren shirt. I fell in love with its crazy 80s plaid pattern and it’s lovely purple undertones (side note: for the past few years everyone has been saying purple is a thing, and I keep waiting for it to be a thing, and it’s never a thing. WHAT IS HAPPENING???). Because this shirt is so crazy I decided to pair it with an awesome New Era hat I bought for Coachella last year (yes I am one of those douchebags who buys stuff to go to Coachella. Actually I buy stuff every time I go to the desert. I hate myself). In real life, the shirt actually looks a lot better open with a white tank underneath. However, I also love it buttoned up like it is here.

Below I’ve outlined how you too can get a similarly graphic/crazy/casual look just by using your eyes, fingers, and the internet. Happy shopping!

1. New Era Palm Frond Hat, $35 from Ebay
2. Graphic Button-Down, $240 from ASOS
3. Needle Narrow Jeans, $215 from Levi’s
4. Chuck Taylor Classics, $50 from Converse

No go enjoy your weekend. And BUY EVERYTHING!

Love,
Orlando

Throwing a Glamourous Birthday Party with Kitchensurfing

Photographs by Sean Gin

Dear Gorgeous Interior Designer Matthew Lanphier,
You had a birthday recently and you didn’t know what to do about it. Birthdays are fun when you’re little because your mom throws you a huge party and invites all your friends and everyone gets candy. But once you hit your 30s birthdays start to get annoying. You can either get one of your friends to throw you a giant party at their glamour mansion, or you can force your friends to go out to fancy dinner somewhere and then everyone will secretly resent you while pretending they want to pay $250 to have the privilege of singing happy birthday in public, which, coincidentally, you also resent.

A few weeks ago, we ran into each other at the gym and we were going over birthday party plans [because I am *such* a good friend] and I had the genius idea to call Kitchensurfing. I’ve become familiar with Kitchensurfing through working with Homepolish because Kitchensurfing basically does the same thing we do but for personal chefs. Just as Homepolish is revolutionizing the interior design industry by making everything more streamlined and accessible, Kitchensurfing is doing the same thing for the personal chef/private catering industry.

Kitchensurfing‘s Kyly, Matthew, and me.

Being a designer, Matthew naturally has a beautiful home, so we decided to host the event there.

Because most normal people living in urban apartments don’t have 16 chairs lying around, we mixed my 8 dining chairs with Matthew‘s 8 for an eclectic mix. We also mixed up the placemats and napkins so the whole setting felt playful and sophisticated.

At some point in his life, Matthew figured out how to fold a napkin restaurant-style. This is probably the reason I can never stop being friends with him (what if I have a party and I need fancy napkins?).

When setting up for a party, it’s very important to stop and take a minute to pose for a completely natural LOL shot. This will ensure you have happy memories of your party. You’re welcome.

Kitchensurfing really impressed me with the chef they sent. Our chef, Laurent Katgely, specializes in French cuisine. Being that Matthew is a totally insane francophile who is learning to speak French and loves all things French and pines daily to move to Paris, we knew we needed a French chef.

We had a lively group of gay guys (and two lovely ladies) at our party. Just a bunch of designers, models, actors,  entertainment executives, etc. You know, the kind of people who make you feel totally inadequate and scared.

One of our lovely appetizers. Asparagus with truffle sauce and a tomato garnish. It was delicious, as was all the other food.

A few of Matthew‘s Gay sculptures and some of his Gay wine. I don’t know why I think they’re so Gay, I just do.

On top of the incredibly gifted chef, Kitchensurfing also provides servers and assistants to make sure you don’t lift a finger. They pretty much allow you to be the laziest possible human while you enjoy your delicious food.

Our experience with Kitchensurfing  was amazing and I would recommend it highly to anyone who is looking to host a large dinner party and doesn’t want to deal with cooking or wants to provide their guests with a type of food they aren’t adept at cooking (which is, for me, most things). And it’s perfect for something like a birthday, where you don’t want to force your friends to spend a million dollars to eat with you but you also don’t want to pay a huge dinner bill.

Love,
Orlando

Full Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. Kitchensurfing provided their services at a discount in exchange for an honest review. I truly recommend the service for anyone looking for a personal chef or event catering. 

Homepolishing for Fashiontoast

Photographs by Tessa Neustadt, Courtesy Homepolish

Dear Fashion Ladies,

Do you read Fashiontoast? It’s the beautiful fashion diary of Rumi Neely. Do you know who Rumi Neely is? She’s the cute girl that’s so cute it will make you want to scream and tear out your eyeballs and cry blood until you die. Homepolish recently hooked me up with Rumi to redesign her living room and dining room to reflect her elegant, minimal style. Here’s me excusing her beauty while we looked at magazines together:

DINING ROOM

For the dining room, we started with a large-scale French country-inspired table from AllModern (who sponsored the project). They also provided the lovely rug, chair, bench, and chandelier. Rumi likes to choose her colors wisely. She’s really a minimalist in that sense. So instead of bringing in a ton of color I decided to bring in texture. One thing that surprised me about her is how into animal skins she was. I mean, the girl has fur all over the place. I imagine that she spends her weekends murdering animals just so she can luxuriate in their skin every day. As beautiful and demure as she is, I can tell she’s secretly a warrior princess. The furs were great because it helped me bring in texture and natural color. To finish off the space I added my favorite go-to that’s guaranteed to add life to a space: plants.

This gorgeous vintage textile, glamourously framed in a simple lucite frame was exactly Rumi’s style. It’s from St. Frank. They have a huge collection of amazing, one-of-a-kind textile pieces and I want all of them. Just a really beautiful way of bringing pattern and color into a room whilst also bringing in an object that has a tremendous amount of history.

Rumi already had those beautiful moss brass candlesticks. I love them with all of myself and would die for them if it came to that.

The plants and planters come from Mickey Hargitay Plants in West Hollywood, where I go once every 25 seconds. I spent $175 on that beautiful fiddle leaf fig and about $80 on the succulent arrangement.

Sources: Chairs, Rug, Chandelier.

BEDROOM

Here’s another picture of Rumi being obnoxiously gorgeous. We bonded over the fact that we were both from Northern California and have hippie names. She’s such a sweet girl and I had so much fun staring at her whilst breathing heavily, sweating. I mean working with her. Awkward silence.

We kept the color palette in the bedroom minimal, just like the rest of the house. I used one of my favorite go-to colors for the walls, Benjamin Moore’s Half Moon Crest. It’s a beautiful grey that is just warm enough but not so warm that it starts to look beige and gross. Sidenote: I might be starting to like beige. Is that weird? I have hated it for my whole life, but it’s starting to grow on me when used correctly (like in some warm, Mediterranean adobe home). Anyway, it’s kind of blasphemy that I don’t hate it anymore but I’m dealing with it so please, no judgements.

Most of the bedroom was sponsored by AllModern, where we got the bed, bedding, and bedside lamps. The pillow comes from Ninespace (have you checked them out? I love them). And the side tables are from, GASP, Target.

Sources: Bedding, Lamps, Pillows.

The photograph in a simple white frame is by Matin Zad, who is an incredibly talented young photographer winning ALL THE ACCOLADES right now. The piece is available from Tappan Collective and I highly recommend you buy one. I have the same one hanging in my bedroom and looking at it every day makes me so happy. It went perfectly with the theme of the rest of Rumi’s house. Clean, simple, minimal. I’m so relaxed I’m going to take a nap now. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

Love,
Orlando

If you’d like a space as calming and lovely as Rumi’s please contact Homepolish and set up a consult with me or one of our ridiculously talented designers. It’s likely that we are in your city and we’d love to help you with your space. HURRY!

Special thanks to AllModern, St. Frank Textiles, and Tappan Collective for the beautiful things found in this home makeover.

Fashion Felicitations From My Father’s Closet: 70s Bird Shirt

Photographs by Sean Gin

Dear Fashion Diary,

One of the most exciting pieces of clothing I’ve taken from my father’s closet is this ridiculously awesome bird shirt my mom made for him when they were in their twenties. Shown are my parents, my father in the glamourshirt:

It’s not something that you’d wear to, like, a job interview or anywhere fancy. But every once in a while, when you want to wear something luxuriously 70z, it’s great to put on. I love that it looks like a gorgeous Japanese watercolor painting.

I remember in high school, like freshman year, all the cool kids were into 70z stuff. Like seriously bellbottoms, etcetera. And I just saw a little spread in LA Magazine about how bellbottoms and 70z nonsense are coming back again. Don’t you kind of feel like everything is aways coming back all the time? Like as soon as something falls out of popularity someone is like “oh my god ironic 90z Tommy Hillfiger jeans are SO cool” and then you look at them and you’re like “wait, that is kind of cool.” Maybe fashion is just an endless cycle of getting sick of stuff, forgetting about it, and then remembering it again and getting excited. Which basically means we’re all idiots with the brain capacity of goldfish but whatever. Anyway, all this is to say that I’m into this shirt, even though it’s so 70z.

If you’re my mother, you can make this thing by hand, otherwise, check out the similar pieces I found online:

1. Chambray Shirt, $139 from Scotch & Soda
2. Slim-Fit Emerald Chino, $115 from Scotch & Soda
3. Brogue Leather Boots, $95 from ASOS

Now go buy this stuff and dress up like me dressing up like my dad.

Love,
Orlando

Nate Berkus & Jeremiah Brent Have Gone Bananas

Photographs by Mikael Jansson

Dear Gay Diary,

This isn’t exactly hot-off-the-press news, but I discovered recently that everyone’s favorite design powercouple Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent are part of a new Banana Republic ad campaign. Thus, I had to share the totally cute pics of them canoodling, cuddling, and just generally making every other couple on earth look like moldy dog food. Thanks guys! Of course these images fill me with the normal amount of jealousy, bewilderment, and outrage. But they also just kind of made me glad to see a cute gay couple in an ad like it ain’t no thang. The images were shot by Mikael Jansson and are beautifully done. It appears that they were shot at their totally ugly house, which I would love to break into and live in until I am dramatically removed by violent police force.

They’re so cute, right? Someday, when they die, I plan to taxidermy their dead bodies and put them in my living room as the ULTIMATE interior design accessories. That’ll teach them to keep their out-of-control dimples and get-lost-in-me eyes to themselves.

Love,
Orlando

Felicitations From My Father’s Closet: Mad For Madras

Photographs by Sean Gin

Dear Jenna von Oÿ,

I loved your work on Blossom, where you played the plucky sidekick to Mayim Bialik’s beloved character. She grew up to be kind of a weirdo, right? Oh well. Anyway, I’m doing this series where I take outfits I found in my father’s closet and show the world how they can buy new versions of them using nothing but their brains, the internet, and, like, tons of money. Below is an outfit I plopped together to go with a madras shirt with which I am in love. Madras is just classic. I feel like every year all different brands are like “we’re bringing back madras!” And everyone is all “you just did that, like, last year.” But to quote a wise band of musicians, “I don’t care, I love it.”

Now that I’ve forced you to look at me waddling all over the beach in my dad’s clothing, I’d like to tell you how you can get the look yourself. You’re welcome.

Madras Shirt, $70 from Orvis
Slim Fit Jeans, $43 from Levi’s
White Tank Top, $60 from Sunspel
Skate Shoes, $40 from Vans
Socks, $0 from Nowhere

Go buy something. Tell them I sent you.

Love,
Orlando

PS: Sorry I’m so squinty in these photos. It was really REALLY sunny at the beach.

Fashion Felicitations from my Father’s Closet

Photographs by Sean Gin 

Dear My Father’s Closet,

Thanks for always providing me with some fun when I can’t afford to go shopping. I can always count on finding something cool in you. My dad has always been a stylish man, mostly classic American brands like Levi’s, Pendleton, and 80s Ralph Lauren. Also those brands that we all used to be totally embarrassed by until we grew up and realized how classic and comforting they are (Lands’ End, L.L. Bean, etc). My dad’s style has been a big inspiration to me. So I’m starting a new mini-series about clothing items I like that I found in my father’s throwaway pile and how you can find things with a similar. This week I’m showcasing this controversial sweater:

 

Yup. That’s me. I’m looking into the distance wondering if my sweater is completely ridiculous and ugly. I think I’ve decided that yes, it is a ridiculous sweater, but no, it is not ugly. I admit that it looks like a Cosby sweater, but to me that’s not a bad thing. If you don’t like Bill Cosby there’s something wrong with you. He’s one of the people who you’re just not allowed to dislike. I decided to pair this sweater with some of my favorite Levi’s pants, some Jack Purcell’s, and some Warby Parker spectacles (yes, I’m one of those poser ass people who wears fake glasses sometimes, mainly to see if I can trick people into not recognizing me – it totally works).

I feel much the same way about fashion as I do about vintage – it’s good to mix vintage with new to make sure the look has some complexity. If it’s too much vintage from one era it looks like you’re wearing a period costume. Which makes you seem like you’re one of those people that wishes they lived in a different time period. And those people are totally annoying. Do you know what I mean? Like when a Gay guy is all “God, I wish I lived in the 1950s. All those cute rolled up white t-shirts and tight jeans and everyone looked like James Dean all the time!” And you’re like “If this was the 1950s you’d be in a mental institution getting shock therapy right now.” Don’t yearn for the past, because the past was totally gross. Anyway, I command you to ogle my sweater again:

Unfortunately, we do not have the same dad, you and me. This is sad for a few reasons. Firstly, because that means we will probably never hug and squeeze each other at Christmas. Second, because it means you don’t have access to my dad’s glamourcloset. So you have a few options. You can go out and seek a vintage sweater like this one (I love Jetrag in LA or What Goes Around Comes Around in New York). Or you can just do what I’d probably do and buy this stuff on the internet:

1. 80s Style Check Sweater, $67 from ASOS
2. Huxley Spectacles in Tennessee Whiskey, $95 from Warby Parker
3. Peacock Blue Pants, $40 from Levi’s
4. White Jack Purcells, $60 from Converse

Now stop what you’re doing immediately and go get your Cosby on.

Love,
Orlando

Hello Mr Magazine

Photographs by Sean Gin

Dear Hello Mr Magazine,

I am glad you finally exist. I was introduced to  your founder, Ryan Fitzgibbons, by Richard Haines, my friend the fashion illustrator. I was then introduced to the magazine itself, which is really a breath of fresh air. It describes itself as a magazine for men who date men, but I feel like it’s filled with such great stories and such beautiful images that it will appeal to everyone. These promo graphics express the magazine’s sensibility:

For years, Gay magazines have been cheesy and gross and filled with fake tan waxy steroid dudes. It’s nice to have something that represents a different side of our culture. Ryan Fitzgibbon’s background as a graphic designer clearly came in handy in the creation of this publication – it’s beautifully designed, incredibly pleasing to ogle. Here are a few of my favorite spreads from the current issue:

Now go subscribe. Support this magazine so it will continue to exist so that I can continue to read it.

Love,
Orlando

The Best Music Videos Ever Made

YOANN LEMOINE

Dear Music Video Director/Photographer Yoann Lemoine,

You know that point in the evening, when you’ve been hanging out with your friends all night, when everyone switches from wanting to catch up and find out about each other’s weeks to wanting to show each other Youtube videos? Well that happened the other night and we started by watching the video you directed for Woodkid’s “Iron.” Woodkid is your band. Which might explain why the videos for Woodkid’s songs are the most incredible videos I’ve ever seen. Just breathtakingly beautiful, so emotionally rich, the perfect combination of darkness and light and texture and contrast. You’ve done videos for everyone from Rihanna and Drake (HAY DEGRASSI!) to Katy Perry. My favorite of your videos, however, are the ones I list below. All of them cinematic and gorgeous in their own way. Enjoy!

WOODKID – “IRON”

STILLS

LANA DEL REY – “BLUE JEANS”

STILLS

THE SHOES – “WASTIN’ TIME”

STILLS

VOGUE ITALIA & ASVOFF MILANO – “LIGHTS”

STILLS

WOODKID – “RUN BOY RUN”

STILLS

Thanks for the beautiful work! I look forward to seeing more videos from you soon.

Love,
Orlando

Whut Glamour: New Branding, New Business Cards

Dear Reader,

As you may have noticed, I’ve done a little bit of restyling to Hommemaker.com. The changes include:

▲ Wider pictures (formerly 500 pixels wide, now 700 wide).

▲ Simpler, cleaner navigation featuring four main categories: Art, Decor, Life, Style.

▲ No ads. Although this is going to change. I’m working on incorporating ads for products and services I actually like and use. When they come back they’ll be hand-selected and more thoughtfully worked in to the site’s layout.

All of these changes were made possible by my awesome web designer Forster Rudolph.

The whole redesign is a sort of mini-rebranding for me. Because I like to cover a lot of different topics, from interior design to gay body dysmorphia, I decided to simplify the categories so that people can just look at what they care about. Thus, if you stumble upon the blog on a day when I write a “Life” post, which will inevitably be a personal rant or a post the oversimplifies Gay people, you can just scroll on over to one of the other categories and see what’s going on over there.

My friend Misako, who runs the New York letterpress design studio To You From Me worked with me to develop those categories in order to help me define exactly what my brand was about. Additionally, she designed an utterly gorgeous business card for me. It’s letterpressed on both sides and printed on paper so thick and luxurious you just want to bite it. I wanted to keep the design of the card as simple and minimal as the blog, so one side features just my name and the other side features all the basic contact info. I love how it turned out. Here it is!

Yes that is a fake phone number. But that is my real area code. HAY 646! That’s my New York number and I’m never giving it up because it makes me feel 21 and reminds me of how excited I was to get a new phone number and a Motorola RAZR at the same time (remember how exciting those were when they first came out?). The font on my card, blog, and logo is Blair. I have loved this typeface forever. The “Hommemaker” logo features a hand-drawn version of that font, with pointier “M’s” and “A’s.” Oh my god are you bored yet? I’m sitting here, like, nerding out about fonts (Sidenote: I have a graduate degree in graphic design, I love this stuff!).

A special thanks to Forster Rudolph for helping me make this blog look how I wanted it to look. And to Misako at To You From Me for helping me with my rebranding.

Love,
Orlando