From 7:00-10:00 that evening, the recently opened Masa 14 was ground zero for many of DC’s best dressed and most fashionable. OTC was there to check it out and report back to you.

Celebrity blogger Scott “The Sartorialist” Schuman was there to schmooze and do a special book signing for the attendees. His official book signing began at 10:00 p.m. and by the time I got there a crowd was already gathering outside Masa 14.

I chatted with Scott for a while and asked why is it that Europeans in particular always seem to pull together great, classic looks that are always in style. Without hesitating he replied, “American men have too many choices. We have all these brands and labels that just pile up and encourage American guys to “be” a certain look. Who am I today? Am I a Ralph safari guy or an Abercrombie pretty preppy boy?”

He noted that Europeans – Italians in particular – “tend to have a single, classic silhouette with a few variations in color, fabric and cut. Milan, style-wise, is deep but narrow, so you have this amazing depth of knowledge and style and everyone tends to refine a common look.”

“American men also have an issue with fit. We are so focused on getting something right now that we forget to make sure all the details fit – basically we are pretty lazy about looking good.” That said, Scott was wearing Ralph Lauren Purple Label head to toe – and it fit just fine.

He added that “American guys need to utilize and appreciate tailors – that is a big failing of ours.” Lastly, Scott pointed out that we should not necessarily try and be Europeans; American style, especially the American Preppy/Ivy League look, is our heritage when it comes to fashion. We should be proud of it.

Philippe and I compared our Kobold dive watches. Of course, while I am a huge fan of my New Arctic Diver, Philippe was wearing the watch he designed with Kobold – the Large Soarway Diver – a portion of the purchase price goes to help fund his organization Earth Echo.

He was a very nice guy – look forward to a more in depth discussion with Philippe in the coming weeks.

It was a great event that really did highlight a fashion community on the rise – no complaints about that!

Here are a couple of shots from the FW party:

With Scott Schuman

With Philippe Cousteau

General shots from FW’s night out:

Stay tuned for more red carpet reports, as I’ll be in Las Vegas shortly and covering the opening of John Varvatos’ new store at the Hard Rock Cafe.

This is no ordinary flea market. With carefully selected items from great brands like leathermaker Billykirk, vintage finds from J. Crew’s vault and handmade ball caps from Hatten, I only wish I had the spare time to zip up I-95 and check it all out.

Even the poster is awesome.