Portugal Lookbook

Before I get into the menswear, I have something important to say.

Nothing makes me happier than interracial marriage. Okay…that might be an overstatement because well… cheesecake…. but the point is I love when love overcomes social barriers. Whether that’s love between two people of a different race, two people of the same gender or even between two people of the same gender who are different races. So when I went to Portugal this past week to attend my brother’s wedding to his now Portuguese wife you could probably imagine how over the moon I was.

I come from an Indian family where even still, cultural values preserve a guideline of the ideal life a man or a woman should live and interracial marriage is definitely not one of those. So the road to this day was not an easy one. However I could not be more pleased with outcome as they are also expecting their first child, which leads me to the next thing that makes me even happier… an interracial family. When people say love is blind, they mean it is blind to colour, geographical boundary, cultural differences, gender and whatever limitations small-minded people want to preserve. There is simply no room for that attitude in today’s society. I understand the desire to preserve a family as all one race, but if they are not does it really matter? It does not give anyone a right to discourage relationships because two people don’t share an ethnicity, especially if one is from a Mediterranean country because who wouldn’t love even more of an excuse to holiday there! So a huge congratulations to my brother and now sister in law.

This however, was not my first visit to Portugal. I explored Lisbon during the autumn previous and really wanted to blog about it but decided against it because bad weather meant my photos failed to truly capture the colourful authenticity and culture Lisbon usually exudes. Luckily enough I had the opportunity to revisit during this May for reasons already mentioned and I am so glad to have waited until now. The wedding and lasting sunshine provided the perfect opportunity to finally bring back some colour into Sam’s Outlook. For a long time now I’ve been severely consumed by a bubble of monochrome and would tailor my outfits around a black or grey base but the arrival of the pale blue suit trend this summer season triggered a propulsion of rainbows across my visual creativity… so expect a dash more colour.

Summer weddings are just the best occasions to dress for! You have an opportunity to explore brighter formalwear as opposed to the usual office navy and black’s. If you are of a darker skin tone like me, I’d definitely recommend mismatching a light coloured blazer with a trouser of its darker counterpart rather than an entire suite of one shade. Unless its well fitted and styled with an off coloured t-shirt, you’ll just look like you dressed for a Saved by the Bell costume party. With this in mind, I combined a light blue Burton blazer with River Island’s cropped navy trousers for my suit and made it pop once again with a River Island floral tie and pocket square. Who says floral is just for bridesmaids?! For the shoes, I kept it safe and went for black as I thought tan brown might be too risky and the New Look Loafers made for a perfect affordable formal shoe. With outdoor weddings or formal setting of any kind, loafers are dually advantageous in their keeping your feet cooler as well as instantly creating a look with which you could successfully pass off for a Lord.

My second look is casual and simple. Tan brown t-shirt with navy fitted shorts again from River Island. Here’s the thing with summer shorts. They should rest just above the knee and a general rule of thumb is to go a size smaller than your usual jean waist or else you’ll risk making your legs looks skinnier. I’m so obsessed with Lisbon for providing such easily available coloured wall backdrops for pictures! Literally every corner is painted or tiled a different colour and combined with the incredible gothic architecture, Lisbon definitely makes for a photographers haven. You can really understand why it is becoming an upcoming destination on ‘must see in Europe’ lists. Hope you enjoy the shots I took.

Sam.