Höst restaurant in Copenhagen

Höst (means autumn in Danish), is a new entry in the restaurant scene in Copenhagen, DK, that was designed by Norm Architects, together with Menu. The focus at Höst will be on organic, locally produced New Nordic cuisine. In the basement, instead of the traditional wine cellar, there is a jam & preserves cellar. 

Norm have ventured into sustainable interior design by implementing details such as cut-up Euro-pallets, vintage lamps and even windows from an old hospital. Norm and Menu have designed and produced New Norm Dinnerware exclusively for Höst. On several levels modernity and interaction become evident in New Norm Dinnerware.

In their design for Restaurant Höst, Norm aimed to create an organic environment in an urban setting, using "materials that age gracefully: recycled wood that has washed up on the west coast, granite in uneven pieces, concrete with clear structures and deviations, old cast iron and dented zin and offseted by soft wool rugs and lambskin throws."

For those of you that are eager to taste it, here is the newly offered menu.

Photo credits & Read more :

http://www.scandinaviandeko.com/blog/norm-menu-cofoco-host-a-new-restaurant-in-copenhagen/

http://www.dezeen.com/2012/11/21/host-restaurant-by-norm-architects-and-menu/

http://remodelista.com/posts/the-viking-table-reimagined-restaurant-h-st-in-copenhagen

http://www.chorusandecho.com/articles/view/be-our-guest-high-design-images-from-cphs-hst_94602

Takeo Kikuchi street culture

Takeo Kikuchi is well known as a Japanese designer in both industry and fashion. His work includes the acclaimed Takeo Kikuchi clothing line as well as a wide array of eyewear frames and time pieces. Kikuchi’s role in the design of his clothing brand ended in 2004 when he stepped down from his role of head designer, handing over the reins to Taishi Nobukuni. Nobukuni has since gone on to start his own label but the time spent at the head of Takeo Kikuchi introduced a vintage/contemporary cross over style that rejuvenated the label both commercially and critically. The success was largely attributed to the uniquely Asian style of the cuts that combined the luxury of European styles and brands with the sensibility and fit of the domestic brands. After Taishi Nobukuni took over the creative lead at Takeo Kikuchi, the design changed to reflect the current streetwear culture in Japan, bringing in a sense of retro style that was previously unseen in the otherwise conservative label’s designs.

Editool was an addition to the Takeo Kikuchi label. Editool is a standalone boutique that sells accessories such as watches, wallets, handbags, and ties. While Takeo Kikuchi stores have always carried these items, the new Editool stores are designed to offer more products and only offer these items.

Recently the brand opened its Global Flagship Store in Shibuya, designed by Schemata Architects to offer a richer experience than online shopping, with spaces for relaxation as well as display.

Faraday Bicycles

Great design makes all the difference. At Faraday Bicycles, a young bike company in Palo Alto, SF USA, design is about much more than just appearance;  it’s about the entire rider experience. Despite its extraordinary capabilities (it’s electric!), they designed the Faraday Porteur to look and ride just like a familiar, high-quality bicycle.

In their own words: "The Faraday Porteur looks and feels like a premium city bike, but it performs in a class of its own. Most importantly, the Faraday lets you work as much, or as little, as you want. Want to get there without breaking a sweat? No problem. Want to break a sweat AND break your record time? You can do that too. Faraday goes where you go, no matter what your mood or what your destination."

"Inspired by the classic European delivery bikes of the 1940’s and 50’s and updated with state-of-the-art components and construction techniques, the award-winning Faraday Porteur allows novice and experienced riders alike to go farther, faster, with ease. It’s impossible to tell it’s electric until you ride it – and then it’s impossible to imagine riding anything else."

Ermenegildo Zegna 2012/13

Today there are more than 560 Ermenegildo Zegna stores selling luxury clothing by the leading Italian fashion house in more than 80 countries around the world, and in 2010 Zegna celebrated its 100th anniversary with total group revenues reaching 963 Million Euros. But the company’s chairman, Paolo Zegna, is equally proud of the fact that despite a century of growth and innovation, Zegna remains a family-owned business with the same values of quality and respect for its workers that were his grandfather Ermenegildo’s guiding principles. [1]

Zegna put great effort into less-formal clothing through its Upper Casual collection of refined sportswear, the Zegna Sport collection, and the more fashion-conscious Z Zegna collection, while maintaining the premium allure of its handmade Couture collection, its traditional Italian Sartoria range as well as its Su Misura (made-to-measure) service.

.couture collection

Sartorial excellence hangs on the finest silk thread and requires a perfect orchestra to follow a luxury notation in harmony. Exquisite hand-finished mother of pearl or horn buttons give the cue to utmost sophisticated Egyptian cotton or the finest cashmere. Couture plays to perfection the bars of the modern man’s taste.

.the 2012/13 fall/winter collection

There’s a new creative director in at Z Zegna, and change is afoot. Paul Surridge’s first collection, shown in Milan in January, established a new path; and the future for Z Zegna is the future itself. To kick things off, it’s all about contrasts: A high-breaking jacket with skinny suit pants; unexpected colour combinations like teal and midnight blue; and techno fabric elements like stretch mesh in a wool jacket or a nylon hood added to a blazer.

Inspired by the colours found at Oasi Zegna – wood brown, hazelnut, snow white, the okra of dry leaves and midnight blue – each garment comes to life in a patchwork of plaids, checks and chevron patterns, with tartan dominating throughout. Zegna’s take on the Scottish classic comes in all shades of brown, with accents of walnut, charcoal and inky blue, tailored in suits with softly shouldered jackets and slender, barely cropped pants.

Men should exude masculinity, with a certain level of refined ruggedness in the winter. A simple way to accomplish those qualities are owning a go-to jacket, a nice pair of boots, and layering. Toss in some camouflage to add a military and utilitarian vibe and you are well on your way. Having a go-to jacket or two in your closet is a must. Black, brown, navy blue, and army green are excellent options because they have the ability to anchor nearly any outfit. Functionality is a key characteristic that these jackets should possess. When the weather gets cold, you need to have the ability to move around in your clothing.

[1] Ref. http://www.businessday.com.au/executive-style/style/zegna-keeps-it-in-the-family-to-expand-its-retail-empire-20110921-1klbu.html

Product design showcase #2

Product design is the process of creating a new product to be sold by a business to its customers. It is the efficient and effective generation and development of ideas through a process that leads to new products. In a systematic approach, product designers conceptualize and evaluate ideas, turning them into tangible products. The product designer's role is to combine art, science, and technology to create new products that other people can use. Their evolving role has been facilitated by digital tools that now allow designers to communicate, visualize, and analyze ideas in a way that would have taken greater manpower in the past. Some examples follow :

Silent machine tea set

Eunjae Lee, South Korea

http://eunjaelee.kr/

The handcrafted matte pieces from Eunjae Lee's "silent machine" tea set, are based on the components of an engine, with details resembling cylinders, pistons, nuts & bolts

Duit Barcelona

http://www.companyandcompany.net/

Barcelona, Spain

The Duit Barcelona is an ingenious DIY flatpack furniture collection that can easily be constructed or deconstructed by the user without the need for tools. Each piece is composed of nordic birch plywood laminated with formica, produced locally in Barcelona. Different functionalities but a cohesive, modern aesthetic make this series a great bundle for a quick and simple furniture solution.

11+ case

http://www.elevenpl.us/Felt-Case

South Korea

The 11+ felt case can house various portable PCs such as the iPad, MacBook Air, and Galaxy Tab (size ranging from 9.5" to 11"). Its Simple and minimal design requires only a small space in your bag, yet still achieves its purpose of protecting your PC. It is furnished with pockets for a memo pad, business cards and cables.

Edwin by Natalia Coll

http://cargocollective.com/nataliacoll/Edwin

UK & Spain

Edwin is a fully repairable and sustainable fruit squeezer. Edwin is an electric squeezer made of wood and ceramics. Its components are easily replaceable in case that it needs repair. This way, it is the user who can make Edwin to become everlasting. In case Edwin needs to be disposed, its components can be disposed separately for their proper disposal. Edwin is made from basic geometric shapes, making it formally neutral and adaptable to any environment. The relation between the user and the product is really important, making the user help to make the product’s working life longer.

ADD-ON by Rasmus Kjær

http://www.addinterior.dk/page/products/24/#

Denmark

ADD-ON is an unique and modular shelving system designed to meet the highest demand for flexibility. The modules in three different sizes can easily be combined according to your needs – and every module offers several possibilities of function. ADD-ON is very easy to assemble, move and expand - without screws or tools. ADD-ON is available in oiled oak or black lacquered

The Pages chair by 6474

http://www.6474design.com

Tokyo, Japan

6474 is a Design Unit established in year 2011 with four designers based in Tokyo. Inspired by books, the Pages chair allows the user to adjust the seat height and backrest cushioning simply by turning its colorful padded pages. The imaginative design encourages interaction with the user and has a unique, fun and colorful aesthetic that is sure to be a conversation starter.

theoatmeal : at the gym

original post from "theoatmeal" webcomics site, to be found here.

If you want to do your own thing

Life or business wisdom ? True or fictional quotes ? No matter what they are enough to motivate you, and keep you going, whenever things seem tough. Use them before you start or for the first period. Then you'll probably have enough of your own  :)

1. “The man who has no imagination has no wings.” – Muhammad Ali
2. “In the business world, everyone is paid in two coins: cash and experience. Take the experience first; the cash will come later.” -Harold Geneen
3. “I will tell you how to become rich. Close the doors. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful.” -Warren Buffet
4. “The greatest reward in becoming a millionaire is not the amount of money that you earn. It is the kind of person that you have to become to become a millionaire in the first place.”  -Jim Rohn
5. “Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.” – Richard Branson
6. “I want to do it because I want to do it.” – Amelia Earhart
7. “Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” – Mother Teresa
8. “Tell everyone what you want to do and someone will want to help you do it.” – W. Clement Stone
9. “If you can DREAM it, you can DO it.” – Walt Disney
10. “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is like a broken wing’d bird that can not fly.” – Langston Hughes
11. “Life without risks is not worth living.” – Charles A. Lindbergh
12. “If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough.” – Mario Andretti
13. “As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, think big.” – Donald Trump
14. “Freedom is actually a bigger game than power. Power is about what you can control. Freedom is about what you can unleash.” – Harriet Rubin
15. “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”  -Thomas Edison
16. “The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not a bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.” Jim Rohn
17. “Nobody talks of entrepreneurship as survival, but that’s exactly what it is and what nurtures creative thinking.”  -Anita Roddick
18. “To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business, and your business in your heart.” – Thomas J. Watson
19. “I couldn’t wait for success, so I went ahead without it.” – Jonathan Winters
20. “I’m not going to limit myself just because people won’t accept the fact that I can do something else.” – Dolly Parton
21. “What a pity that so many people rather believe their doubts and doubt their beliefs… Why don’t we just decide to have no doubts, and believe our beliefs! Fear and worry is just the misuse of the creative powers we originally got to dream.” – Jannie Putter
22. “The most valuable thing you can make is a mistake – you can’t learn anything from being perfect .” – Adam Osborne
23. “A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.” -Henry Ford
24. “If you want to get somewhere you have to know where you want to go and how to get there. Then never, never, never give up.” – Norman Vincent Peale
25. “Nothing happens unless first a dream.” – Carl Sandburg
26. “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” -Les Brown
27. “Continuous effort — not strength or intelligence — is the key to unlocking our potential.” – Winston Churchill
28. “You can’t make someone else’s choices. You shouldn’t let someone else make yours.” – Gen. Colin Powell
29. “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” – Zig Ziglar
30. “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
31. “No one is going to know or care about your failures, and neither should you. All you have to do is learn from them and those around you because… All that matters in business is that you get it right once. Then everyone can tell you how lucky you are.” -Mark Cuban
32. “I don’t pay good wages because I have a lot of money; I have a lot of money because I pay good wages.” – Robert Bosch
33. “You don’t get to choose how you’re going to die, or when. You can only decide how you’re going to live. Now.” — Joan Baez
34. “Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.” -Jim Rohn
35. “Luck is when preparedness meets opportunity.” – Earl Nightingale
36. “Begin somewhere; you cannot build a reputation on what you intend to do.” – Liz Smith
37. “My formula for success is rise early, work late, and strike oil.” -Paul Getty
38. “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
39. “The people and circumstances around me do not MAKE me what I am, they REVEAL who I am. ” – Dr. Laura Schlessinger
40. “Work and play are the same. When you’re following your energy and doing what you want all the time, the distinction between work and play dissolves.” – Shakti Gawain
41. “Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.” – Jeremy Kitson
42. “The thoughts we choose to think are the tools we use to paint the canvas of our lives.” – Louise Hay
43. “What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters to what lies within us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
44. “Be awfully nice to them going up, because you’re going to meet them all coming down.” -Jimmy Durante
45. “You learn in life that the only person you can really correct and change is yourself.” – Katharine Hepburn
46. “I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” – Michael Jordan
47. “There is no better opportunity to receive more than to be thankful for what you already have. Thanksgiving opens the windows of opportunity for ideas to flow your way” – Jim Rohn
48. “The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.” – Vidal Sassoon
49. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain
50. “It only takes one person to change your life – you.” – Ruth Casey
51. “Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.” – John Wooden
52. “As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” – Marianne Williamson
53. “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” – Ambrose Redmoon
54. “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
55. “I think there is something more important than believing: Action! The world is full of dreamers. There aren’t enough who will move ahead and take concrete steps to actualize their vision.” -W. Clement Stone
56. “Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain.” -Mark Twain
57. “The time is always right to do what is right.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
58. “If you are clear about what you want, the world responds with clarity.” – Loretta Staples
59. “A real entrepreneur is somebody who has no safety net underneath them.”  -Henry Kravis
60. “If you are serious about your goals, drop the conditions. Go directly to your goal. Be your goal! Conditions often disguise strategies for escaping accountability. Why not just take charge and create the experience you are looking for?” – Eric Allenbaugh
61. “In order to achieve something great, you’ll have to sacrifice something great.” -David Harley
62. “Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
63. “I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you…we are in charge of our Attitudes.” – Charles Swindoll
64. “The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” – Dolly Parton
65. “Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself, and know that everything in this life has purpose. There are no mistakes, no coincidences. All events are blessings given to us to learn from.” – Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
66. “God gives talent, work transforms talent into genius.” – Anna Pavlova
67. “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face… You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
68. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. -Joseph P. Kennedy
69. “Realism is for pessimists. An optimist creates his own reality.” – David Harley
70. “No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave.” – Calvin Coolidge
71. “In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.” – Bill Cosby
72. “Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstance.” – Bruce Barton
73. “If you don’t quit, and don’t cheat, and don’t run home when trouble arrives, you can only win.” – Shelley Long
74. “You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.” – Winston Churchill
75. “If you want to reach a goal, you must ‘see the reaching’ in your own mind before you actually arrive at your goal. – Zig Ziglar

[Ref.] original post http://brandmakernews.com/features/lists/4997/75-powerful-quotes-for-entrepreneurs.html

Emporium pies

Megan Wilkes and Mary Gauntt have a wish. They want to make Dallas a pie-friendly city. Emporium Pies, their child, is a specialty pie shop in the heart of the Bishop Arts District in Dallas, USA. They make and sell handmade pies that change in accordance with the seasons and the ingredients available. Their pies contain no preservatives, hydrogenated oils, dyes, or corn syrup. Emporium Pies is open 5 days a week (Wed to Sun), and they have an online ordering form, where you may order up to 5 pieces, to be ready for youi to pick up from the store. Read a review at DailyCandy (dallas).

Cafe Racer Dreams

CRD is a boutique motorcycle garage operating out of Spain, short for "Café Racer Dreams". CRD has been fast developing a reputation for turning out beautiful, minimalist and functional bikes with a Spanish flair all of their own, based mainly on old Hondas and BMWs.

The design presented above is called “Brownie”, and it is a 1980 Honda CB750 "revisited". It is a fine example of the mods that custom bike fans are looking for in 2012. The electrics are hidden, even the batter, to throw focus on the mechanical components. The brown, gold and black color scheme is low-key but luxurious, like a fine piece of leather-work. All products of CRD are similar in quality, craftsmanship and aesthetics. Take a look at some more examples :

Google power searching quick tips

Several times a year, Google offers its "Power Searching with Google" class, which consists of six 50-minute classes split up into 5 to 10 minute YouTube clips, and one of the first things you learn in those classes is that, if you know what CTRL+F can do for your searches, then you are in the top 10 percent of all searchers.

If on the other hand you do not want to take any classes, then try this list of the offered used tips and tricks that you can apply for your google searches. For a more comprehensive template in accordance to the task that you have at hand is here.

Google has expanded on the user experience and offers also a blog, where you get more in depth knowledge with regards to the search tools and techniques you can apply in your searches, as well as a Search Playground, where you can feed your curiosity, test your search skills and explore topics in a whole new way.

Of course there is always the advanced search option that you can use, apart from the main google page. The basic how-to search information can be accessed here, while the use of operators and semantics is covered here.

My favorites are :

·        Use quotes to search for an exact word or set of words in a specific order, without normal improvements such as spelling corrections and synonyms. This option is handy when searching for song lyrics or a line from literature. (eg.  "imagine all the people")

·        Include "site:" to search for information within a single website like all mentions of "Olympics" on the New York Times website. (eg. Olympics site:nytimes.com )

·        Use an asterisk (*) within a query as a placeholder for any unknown or "wildcard" terms. Use with quotation marks to find variations of that exact phrase or to remember words in the middle of a phrase. (eg. "a * saved is a * earned" )

A nice filtered list for power searching with google that I came across, can be found here. Access the offered google classes here.

By the way, if you don’t know the CTRL+F combination, then by pressing CTRL on Windows or ⌘ on Macs and F at the same time will prompt you to enter a word or series of words that your browser will then highlight on the browsed page.

KEEP CALM AND GOOGLE IT.

Vee Speers kids photography

A series shot by Australian photographer, Vee Speers. She first came up with the concept of “The Birthday Party” series after watching her own children and their friends play during a fancy dress party. In creating her own series, choosing the outfits and creating a ubiquitous tone throughout, Speers evokes conceptual contemporary concerns, such as the suggestion of adulthood coming prematurely to children of the new generation.

Vee Speers is an Australian artist living in Paris. She studied fine art and photography in Brisbane which was followed by a five year career in Sydney with the ABC television as a stills photographer. A short stay in France in 1990 became a permanent move to Paris, which for Speers is a place with ‘unlimited potential and endless creative inspiration.

In 2002, her passion for life backstage in the cabarets of Pigalle inspired her to revisit the smokey, 1920’s world of les maisons closes in Paris, using the backdrop of actual opulent locations which still remain intact today. During this period, Speers also began photographing eccentric people she met along the way, satisfying her attraction to those who dare to be different. But it was not until she turned towards her own childhood and family for inspiration that she became established in the art world for her hauntingly beautiful portraits of children in The Birthday Party. Her ability to blur the line between autobiography and fantasy, the bizarre and beautiful, is the key to these timeless portraits.

New Zealand Opera

NZ Opera is the face of professional opera in the islands. They strive to bring human stories, glorious music and the passion of opera to all. They produce two or more main stage productions annually which are performed in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. For 2013 the operas to be staged will be "Madam Butterfly" (Apr-May 2013), "Don Giovanni" (Aug 2013) and "the Flying Dutchman" (Sep-Oct 2013). For more info on events and performances see here. Tickets booking here.

The company was formed in 2000 with the merger of the National Opera of Wellington and Opera New Zealand (Auckland), forming New Zealand's first fully professional national opera company. Head office is located in Auckland with a second office in Wellington. The company also runs a Technical Centre in Auckland which has a large rehearsal space, and houses many costumes and sets from previous productions along with the wardrobe and set building workshops.

Older "Macbeth" & "Figaro" promotion shots, New Zealand Opera, (photos by Alexia Sinclair)

[Ref.] "Madame Butterfly" info & story http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madama_Butterfly

[Ref.] "Don Giovanni" info & story http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Giovanni

[Ref.] "the Flying Dutchman" info & story http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flying_Dutchman_(opera)

Lapka

Lapka is defined as a PEM device ; PEM standing for Personal Environment Monitor. Essentially Lapka is a bacteria, humidity, radiation and EMF detection device, with bundled software, for iPhones. Lapka is in final production stage. Their update states that they will be able to receive orders by the end of this year.

Here is part of the company brief :

Lapka is a tiny, beautifully designed personal environment monitor that connects with your phone to measure, collect and analyze the hidden qualities of your surroundings. It is highly sensitive and responds to the invisible world of particles, ions, molecules and waves, so it can analyze your surroundings and smartly combine the results into guideline values for your comfort.

On the street, at the office, inside your child’s bedroom, or on an airplane, Lapka compares it’s results to average target values for each individual environment and suggests respective tolerance ranges. In other words, it doesn’t only precisely quantify, but also qualifies its measures.

Regardless of whether you’re simply curious to discover unseen details about your environment, or you specifically aim to improve your quality of life — the ability to see precise measurements and the beautiful visualizations of what lies beyond our perception is inspiring and addictive. Lapka lets you collect snapshots throughout your day in order to create a comfort diary, or share them with the rest of the planet. See the smallest details that shape your world in order to learn about, respond to and play with them.

For more info and specifications, check out the company's Lapka Fact Sheet : http://mylapka.com/lapka-set-fact-sheet.pdf

Dress shirts

The shirt, as we know it, is actually a fairly recent development. Soft shirts made of cotton became available in the United States for the first time only a few years before the outbreak of the First World War. For some time, the "boiled" shirt (so named because the linen shirt had to be boiled to remove the stiff starch from the front panel) and the wing collar were the primary accessories for proper formal wear. Eventually, the "soft" shirt with the addition of collar "stiffeners" that were built into it supplanted the starched look, with poplins and other cotton styles becoming even more popular. Today, the soft cotton shirt remains the bread and butter of the well-dressed man. [1] 

.Style

There is no such thing as "one size fits all" when it comes to this style of shirt even though manufacturers make shirts in standard sizes that will fit the average man. Depending on the look and feel you want to convey, pay attention to what cut and fit look best and work with your body type. If you're lucky enough to have a fit and trim trunk (no gut or overhang), a tailored or slim-fit shirt should be considered an option since they fit tighter around the chest and sides. Looking to reduce your gut or need some extra give throughout the day, a standard-fit or full-cut shirt will hang differently -- a bit looser around the chest and sides. If you're genetically blessed with broad shoulders and barrel chest, an athletic cut shirt which is cut wider on top and fitted at the waist, is your best option.

.Fabric

Cotton is king. While Jay Gatsby's color palette might be a bit much for the conservative-minded gentlemen, you'll want to stick with cotton shirts for the most part. Flannel is fine for fall or winter and linen will work well in the summer. But if you're looking for a basic shirt fabric that can be worn year-round, cotton is the way to go. For something a bit more high-end that wears a bit lighter, try offerings made from Turnbull & Asser's Sea-Island cotton -- a kind of long-staple cotton from Egypt that is grown in the Caribbean as well as some islands off the coast of the South East United States. If you're in search of something more durable try an oxford shirt, a cotton fabric that features a basket weave.

.Patterns

Solids: Once upon a time, professionals wore white shirts while manual workers wore colored shirts (presumably because the dirt that stained it wouldn't be quite so obvious). We still tend to divide the masses into "white collar" criminals and "blue collar" workers, even though there isn't much of a distinction today. While the classic white shirt still has its place, recently checks and stripes have become fairly standard for the sartorially inclined.

Stripes:  Nevermind the Beatles and The Rolling Stones, the bold stripes of London's Jermyn Street firms represent the British Invasion that's still going strong. If you want to go "authentic," take a walk over or go online to Turnbull & Asser. If you're simply looking to capture the spirit of the candy stripe, drop in to Charles Tyrwhitt or Thomas Pink.

Prince of Wales Check: Glen plaid or  Glenurquhart check is a woolen fabric with a woven twill design of small and large checks. The name is taken from the valley of Glenurquhart in Iverness-shire, Scotland.  This pattern is nicknamed the "Prince of Wales Check," as it was popularized by the Duke of Windsor when he was the Prince of Wales in the 1920s and 1930s.

.Collars

Turn-Down Collar: In its "forward point" or "straight collar" version, you have the standard collar for business -- but it's also appropriate for other occasions. The slings and arrows of outrageous fashion have led, at one time or another, to short and wide or long and slim collars having their moment in the spotlight, but stick with the basics and you'll always be well-dressed.

English Spread Collar: There are a variety of spread collars, but stick with the medium spread. It works well for business and casual settings. Ralph Lauren, among many other brands, offers a full English spread in the form of its Keaton collar.

Button-Down Collar: Here, the collar points are held down by a button on the shirt. In keeping with its supposed origins, this shirt remains a casual staple. While it has been said that the button-down collar originated with British polo players who wanted to keep their collars "down" while riding, it seems more likely that the button-down was created by Brooks Brothers in response to an Ivy League fad of the 1920s.

[1] Ref. http://llero.net/style/mens-dress-shirts-styles-shirt-patterns-shirt-fabrics.html