New threads. Newer Treads: Go to Pedro for new belts and shoes.

According to a much loved fashionista aunt of mine, Chinese New Year is a 15 day affair, that gives us many good reasons to continue shopping. Thanks to Pedro, looking for new accessories to complete our new looks is going to be less pain and a lot more pleasure.

Here are our top 10 picks

Spring/Summer 2010 collection from Pedro.

1. Conjure the reality of a nautical soiree evocative of the French Riviera onboard a luxury yacht and cavort in style this season with the Spring/Summer 2010 collection from Pedro. This season, grey is back.

Spring/Summer 2010 collection from Pedro.

2. Embark on a superlative voyage in fashion and discover the panorama of enchantment that awaits at your style destination. In this particular case, notice the Bally-alikes for those that love the look of Fiorio but not the $900 price tag.

Pedro tie and briefcase accessories

3. Deftly brought together to form an amazing amalgamation of texture, the effect is a sublime creation which has come to encompass the very essence of Pedro. Notice the attention to detail on the necktie.

Nothing says 'practical' like a dual purpose bag that doesn't look out of place in office or pleasure boat.

4. Unleash the perennial iridescence of metallics which spread the Midas touch alongside a sensory interpretation of the stalwarts of taupe and ebony.

Trophy girlfriend not included.

5. Blue loafers for that 'lady-killer' playboy look.

Look out for our "How to wear Colours" guide on at augustman.com

6. The Angry Ho says it's too much. I say, if you're man enough- Go Fuschia.

Spring/Summer 2010 collection from Pedro.

7. It's odd how they've focused on his shoes and ignored what I believe to be a patent leather patchwork briefcase.

Really.Starting.To.Hate.This.Guy's.Abs.

8. Call attention with a pair of striking blue trainers.

Belt from Pedro

9. Details on the belt that people are bound to notice.

Look out for the reptile skin design card holders.

10. Ratty, tattered looking wallet? Get a new one.

From belts to wallets to shoes, Pedro provides some of the best looking designs I've seen this season sans heavy price tags. -JH

History of the Shirt

The article of clothing often symbolizing elegance and refinement but also an expression of liberty, the shirt for centuries has accompanied and characterized the life of men. Worn by emperors, generals and by common people without distinction, with the passage of time it assumes different roles and meanings.

Until the time of the Italian Republic (1860s), as can be deduced from Latin sources, known by the term "subucula" the shirt had the function of modern undergarments. His historians report that Charles the Great "...wore directly on his person a shirt and pants of linen cotton." Men and women in the city and the country dressed in the same manner: shirt and long tunic with sleeves of different dimensions. The popularity of the shirt continuously increased and it became a gift object for both the privileged and the needy.

Beginning in the 1300s also art and literature give prominence to this top garment: in the canvases of many painters among which is Caravaggio, or in the literary works such as Boccaccio's Decameron, where often men and women wore shirts. We suppose therefore that its wide adoption was above all for reasons of hygiene.

Many cities became famous for their shirt production, such as Venice, where for the wedding of noblewoman Lucieta Gradenigo a "shirt of gold" was created. In the 1500s the true protagonist was the collar: from the small flat collars called French to the Italian version that took the form and name of "frill", to the "giorgiera" that required an enormous expanse of fabric up to 11 meters (36 ft.).

In 1843 at Montevideo in Italy the famous red shirt of the Garibaldini was born.
The shirt, its success constantly growing, began to alter its style according to the occasion: white without a collar and with wide sleeves for the painter, white and at times without a right sleeve for the sword duel, or well hidden under the jacket for pistols. In the 20th century it was above all the American cinema that popularized different types of shirts. Pure white shirts with flowing sleeves worn by Rudolph Valentino, the "Oxford" of Humphrey Bogart, the type suited for the hard life of the far west worn on screen by John Wayne, or to finish, the mythic Hawaiian worn by Tom Sellek in the cult series "Magnum P.I." of the 1980s.

Of the many types of shirts, how can one forget the "button down", in particular for the varying accounts of its true origin and authorship. The most memorable suggests that the founder of this most famous American shirt industry, the cult following of this leader of shirts, was inspired in England at a polo match where the players had their collars attached to keep them from flapping in the wind. The more credited version however is another in which its anonymous inventor found himself on a pier in the New York harbor during a particularly windy day and, annoyed by his collar blowing in the wind, attached it at the ends with buttons made of mother of pearl. Whichever is its true genesis, the "button down" is found in formal settings, with the collar open, in moments of relaxation, and dressed up with a tie or bowtie for important occasions, demonstrating that it is the most versatile leader of the many models of shirts.

With this brief voyage through the history of the shirt we can see that from its first appearance in ancient times to today man has never stopped producing it in new shapes and fashions, wearing it in different ways and loving it with an immutable passion