[ MAUKA MAKAI ]
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
The olive cargo pants from Krush Clothing ($88) and the 4You Jeans shirt ($65) did not make the shopping cut.
Maintaining
the makeoverKeeping up appearances
means a lot of shopping
'Who'd have thought that a hair cut and a pair of DKNY glasses could have such an impact," I mused as Sherry Chock Wong -- slim, chic, fashion-savvy -- joined me outside Macy's last Monday. Less then three months had passed since I'd undergone a makeover in the manner of the "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" television show.
I was single, didn't have a girlfriend to check with, and figured I had nothing to lose. Little did I know that I'd be embarking on the most life-changing event since puberty!
Ralph Malani at the Aveda Lifestyle Salon & Spa in Ala Moana Center changed my hair color from peroxide-albino blond to "dark blonde, just with a lot more gold," and cut it shorter than I'd worn it since high school decades ago.
Fashionista Danny Munoz then selected three new "looks" that he felt would fit the various events I cover for the paper. But the story on my makeover didn't come with a budget, so his contributions were transitory -- except for a pair of DKNY glasses that "spoke" to me. I bought them knowing cheaper knock-offs are available, even though it had been years since I'd worn any types of glasses other than basic mirrored sunglasses.
The impact was overwhelming -- and almost universally positive (although one elderly curmudgeon who on a good day looks like death warmed over hrrumped something about how he didn't need to dye his hair).
Being told that I looked good made me feel good. I had more energy, found myself eating less, sleeping less and being more productive. That made me feel good too.
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
John Berger's "peroxide-albino blond" before look and basic black "uniform." He's since lost the facial hair.
All the positive reinforcement persuaded me that a makeover should not be a one-time experience. I returned to Aveda at my own expense (about $65) to keep up my haircut and color. I lost almost 20 pounds by eating less, cutting out late-night fast food and through the stress that came with a possible new relationship. I visited a fitness trainer and received a list of things to do, supplements to take and foods to either eat or avoid, preparing for a structured work-out schedule IF I could follow this basic regimen.
In the meantime, Sherry and Joey Caldarone promised they would take charge of the second phase of my makeover. Joey, a partner in Hassman Caldarone Interior Design, would teach me the basis of skin care and accessorizing my basic wardrobe. Sherry, a schoolteacher with a fabulous sense of style, would help hone my sense of clothes being about fashion rather than function.
"I look for color and texture and cut, nice fabrics and nice lines," Sherry said.
I discovered that I was already committing a no-no by wearing trousers with pleats. "(Pleats) add bulk at the waist and hip area, and create a silhouette that's wide at the top and narrow at the bottom," she explained.
Balance and proportion are the ideal, she added. Pleated trousers and a loose-cut long-sleeved shirt didn't create that.
We'd be taking "baby steps," Sherry explained, as we began combing through racks of shirts and trousers. I'd made it clear that I was more open to different styles and cuts than I was to brighter colors. This wasn't about how I'd look in pastel.
"You make modifications in steps." Sherry said. "You can't take it to extremes. You have to stay in your comfort zone."
We looked at monochromatic black-on-black fabrics -- pullovers instead of traditional button-fronts, semi-sheers instead of cotton. She vetoed a fabric that looked too shiny, but did pick out some shirts with velvet flocking and embroidery.
Sherry also passed on a jacket that caught my eye. She liked the fabric but said it was cut too long to be flattering.
A pair of trousers with "tuxedo-type pin-tuck detail" down the outer seam met with her approval ("It can elongate the look of the leg"). We looked at several items in denim and added a couple of pairs of cargo pants to our list of "possibilities."
I thought the cargo might also make me look bulky. "It's all about pocket placement and pocket width," Sherry replied. "If they're placed on the wrong spot of your leg or your hip or your thigh, it can add a lot of bulk, but if it's properly placed for your body type it can look slimming -- strangely enough."
I decided I'd trust her on that one. I should have asked for the formula for determining proper pocket placement, but a sheer-black Custo Barcelona shirt with orange-copper "Aztecy" embroidery distracted me. Sherry said it would have been perfect for Ala Moana's invitation-only Red Party that we'd attended the night before. The embroidery was continued on the back of the shirt, another point in its favor.
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Sherry Chock Wong helps John Berger comb the racks at Macy's.
After about an hour, I understood why women say they can shop for days. Sherry and I had planned to start at Macy's and work our way down the mall, but after almost 90 minutes in one department at Macy's I had tried on just half of Sherry's choices. I'd already found a number that I liked and more than I could afford. At this rate we really would be shopping for days!
Moreover -- and maybe it's a guy thing -- after trying on all those items, I felt I had to buy at least some. A gentleman could not spend all that time trying on clothes, then just thank the clerk for her time and walk out! I knew that if Sherry took me to another department -- or store -- I'd easily spend thousands on stylish duds that could be totally "last year" in a few short months.
We culled a bit. Then we culled a lot. Did I like this item? Would I be comfortable wearing it? By the time Joey arrived around noon we'd settled on eight "probables" that Sherry said could be mixed-and-matched into six outfits. I could wear the tuxedo pants with the Aztec shirt, or wear jeans with almost anything.
"That's why I really personally love jeans so much. You can have a dressy top, but if you pair it with jeans it's a 'high-low' look, meaning you're dressing it down with jeans. Or you can dress up (the top) with nice trousers."
In the end I spent about $450 at Macy's on four new shirts and two pairs of pants, plus a black leather topstitch belt ($34.95) that Joey helped me find at Armani Exchange.
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Berger purchased this Kenneth Cole pair -- pin-tucked black tuxedo pants $39.50 (marked down from $85) and sheer black shirt with gold stripes $66.75 (from $89).
Two days later, we met at Joey's residence for the next phase of the project. My mustache and most of my beard are naturally blond, and it had occurred to me that while blond facial hair had matched my old peroxide-albino mane, dark hair and a blond goatee weren't working. Joey wanted to dye my hair darker and dye my eyebrows to match. He said I would look younger if I got rid of the mustache and goatee entirely. It was gone when we met on Wednesday.
Clairol for Men ("Natural Dark Brown") was Joey's choice. I could do it myself and the product wouldn't be as harsh as a women's hair-coloring formula, he said, adding that dying eyebrows is tricky, and some stylists refuse to do it. My hair came out darker than it's ever been and my eyes appeared an even deeper shade of blue.
I'd used Frederic Fekkai's conditioner for color-treated hair, along with an exfoliant to clean up the areas around my eyebrows. Joey added two more Fekkai products, Protein Reparative spray and glossing cream (a mixture of olive oil and caster oil) and just a touch of another product ("the name doesn't matter") that contained petrolatum and hydrogenated castor oil.
"If you mix them together they give your hair just a little gleam, but without making it greasy," Joey said.
Time was running short, but Joey had a few more ideas to share. Most Americans still consider a tan to be "healthy" even though it is in fact your skin's attempt to protect itself from potentially lethal cancer-causing ultra-violet radiation. The healthy alternative for people who want to look as though they've spent hours in the sun? Bronzer.
Joey mixed up an iridescent moisturizer with Clinique Bronzer for Men ("the best on the market"), added "just the slightest little dab" of another item, and suddenly I was just dark enough to look "healthy" -- or at least not as vampire-like as usual.
"If you're using bronzer, you want to be sure to be clean-shaven, because when you don't shave it looks slightly unnatural. You also want to make sure to do your eyelids, and to extend it far enough down your neck and up to your hair line."
Joey and Sherry had more tips to share, and promised we'd go shopping again soon. I knew that my makeover was far from over.
Tomorrow: See what happened to the winners of our "You Look FAB-ulous" makeover competition.
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