According to Chris Torres, there is a new dandyism. Perhaps born of his own creation, perhaps a child of necessity, his renewal of the term, like its predecessor, defines a gentleman. A particular type of gentleman, to be sure – a dandy, by eighteenth century standards, was a well-spoken, well-dressed, well-mannered, revolutionary; a tireless rabble-rouser, threatening in his premature acceptance of the world to come. To paraphrase, he was a gentleman of the sort that — were you a lady falling prey to his guises — your father might wish to shoot.Today’s dandy, so it seems, bears certain resemblances to that gentleman. He is daring; he is respectable; he is a tad fearsome; he is the closest representation of idealized manhood since Clark Gabel. And, according to Chris Torres, the man behind the online men’s clothier/lifestyle brand, NewDandyism, he exists.

The question we leave you is this: New Dandyism — lifestyle or fashion statement? Like those who debated the term in the eighteenth century, you may find that the answer to that question is muddier than first imagined.

Joshspear.com: How did you become involved in the men’s apparel industry?

Chris Torres: It was actually through footwear. I have an industrial design background and have spent my whole career designing footwear, most recently at Reebok. My involvement in the apparel industry, professionally, came through the friends and connections I’ve made throughout my career. I’ve worked with people behind really great labels, like 6876, Call of the Wild, Maharishi, and even RVCA.

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Losing the battle against errant cables and cords? Industrial designers Ett La Benn have enlisted the help of a pig and a codfish to help you fight it, transforming it into a fun fight — like one you’d have with, say, nerf guns. It’s just one piece in their portfolio which stretches from molded Corian desks and stamps crafted from bottlecaps to retail space and LED streetlight concepts, and are amassing a rather large client base in Europe. Check them out!

Via Designspotter

If you’re looking to infuse a little bit of vintage into your art collection, look no further than Raydel Photography; the simple, elegant and whimsical mixed media prints from the Florida-based self-taught photographer are not only incredibly affordable, but totally not that Target print you bought and are attempting to pass off as something you found in a thrift shop somewhere, whose whereabouts you’ve conveniently forgotten. Which, in our opinion, is always a good thing.

Good news for Triko fans: The Fall 2007 collection is now up for grabs at their online store. The bottoms are good, the tops are better, and the hoodies - which by some act of God, have remained, for the most part, blessedly untouched by current industry trends- are classically Hector Estrada, designed with soulful creativity, not hype, in mind. Overall, Fall 2007 makes another bangin’ success of a season for Triko, and will soon be followed by next months Holiday 2007. If you’re desperate for a look-ahead, a video of the holiday shoot, shot in Brooklyn by the illustrious Fubz of Beautiful/Decay, can be found here — but those in search of a quicker fix can just cast their gaze upon this crispy trench coat. I’m thinking, yummy.

Porcelain seems to be all the rage these days. We’ve already talked about porcelain gun designer Charles Kraft. To compliment Krafft’s AK’s and other big guns, the guys at Complex have pointed out the work of Chinese artist Lei Xue.

Xue has created a 5-pack — yes, a 6-pack would have made more sense to me too, but whatever — of porcelain beer cans complete with crush marks and pull tabs. Xue’s cans are decorated in a traditional Chinese motif that creates a rather jarring juxtaposition between medium and subject. Either way, they’d look great next to one of Krafft’s big guns over the mantle. Now that we’ve got guns and beer, what else do we need in porcelain?

People look funny. We all have the same basic facial features, but even then, it’s incredible how even just a slight size difference in someone’s honker can set them oceans apart from the next Joe Schmoe. Wilfred Wood noticed these curious anomalies, too. Part caricature, part figments of his imagination and part ideas gotten while working out, his sculpted interpretations of people, animals and creatures are his personal examination of the world’s individuals. Ordinary people on the street, contortionists, the obese — the British artist doesn’t have a prejudice. Wood first sketches his idea before shaping each rotund character from polymer clay and then painting it. The final piece is amusing, bringing with it a dab of innocence we recognize as a winning childhood quality. With Wood’s work, you learn to appreciate all our differences, which leads me to believe that having a big nose isn’t so bad after all. OK, well, not so huge.