The Scent of Norway, By Way of New York City

Fragrance has a language all its own, with so many personal associations it's a marvel we find ways to describe it at all. Some men loathe heavy scents, others live for amber and musk, and many people–Americans in particular–obsess about smelling soapy and clean. At FA2L, we're always looking for something special and, perhaps, a bit disconcerting. We like colognes that remind us of warm skin (not vanilla-laden crème brûlée), and Kristiansand New York does that. The press kit mentions olfactory building blocks like white lavender, mandarin and clary sage, but we smell a hot sauna, fluffy towels and warm white sheets. Add snow, and you've got Scandinavia in a bottle.

ARAKS Will Dress You Up From the Inside Out

When shopping for lingerie, women are faced with unfortunate extremes: comfortable-but-dowdy or sex-kitten-silly. A happy medium (underwear that's practical and feminine) often seems to be hanging on a rack somewhere just out of reach. For years, FA2L recommended Cosabella, a favorite of supermodels and fashion editors–and we're still fans–but now there's another option: Araks. It's designed by a woman, Araks Yeramyan, who adds pretty details (shirred seams, silk panels and eyelet trim) to soft cotton bras, hip briefs, camisoles and tap pants. These could be the underpinnings of a brand-new year.

Shu Uemura: Hair Today, Not Gone Tomorrow

After far too many years of military buzz-cuts and shaved heads, men are literally letting their hair down. The first sign was a sprouting of mustaches and beards on every twenty-something male in New York City's trendier neighborhoods, followed by a parade of young models from around the world brushing bangs out of eyes before turning to gaze at the camera.

One of our favorite groomers, Lorenzo Martone (sent to us by Link NYLA), is a hair stylist extraordinaire with an almost-frightening knowledge of beauty products: call it an occupational hazard. To create effects as varied as the sweeping locks and modified Mohawk of these handsome lads (dna models Michael Elmquist, left, and Michael Whittaker) Martone recommends Fiber Lift Protective Volumizer, Shape Paste Sculpting Putty and Sheer Lacquer Finishing Spray by Shu Uemura. If you hurry, there's time to stock up for holiday fêtes. Assuming, of course, you've already grown out your hair.

Photograph: Michael Stratton. Grooming: Lorenzo Martone. Michael Elmquist and Michael Whittaker: dna models. © Fashion As a 2nd Language & Michael Stratton.

Shimmy On Up: Sara Battaglia's Lunatic Fringe

Diana Vreeland had strong opinions about most things fashionable, not least the all-important subject of fringe:

How I miss fringe! Where is fringe today? The fringe was there in the twenties–as it was there in the sixties–because of the dancing, the dancing...the music! I've known two great decades in my life, the twenties and the sixties, and I'm always comparing them because of the music. Music is everything, and in those two decades you got something so sharp, so new.... (Diana Vreeland, DV, 1984)

Sara Battaglia picks up where DV left off: her eponymous handbag collection plays with shimmering leather strips, adding excitement and movement to smart pocketbooks and trim totes. They're easy to spot–super-stylish Giovanna Battaglia, above, L'Uomo Vogue's fashion editor (and Sara's sister) is a much-photographed fan–but hard to find (try Luisa Via Roma, in Florence). Perhaps 2010 will usher in a new decade of music, dancing and festive fringe.

Photograph of Giovanna Battaglia by Tommy Ton for Jak & Jil Blog.

Checking It Twice: Something For the Daredevil

Anyone obsessed with the combined glories of speed and style will appreciate a pair of handmade, limited-edition sunglasses by Dita Eyewear. Frame no. PS-003, above, from the Los Angeles-based company's Lancier collection (inspired by men who race cars, boats and airplanes) serves up serious luxury with a shot of testosterone: quick-release titanium temples, a polished white-gold frame, field-quality lenses. In other words, perfect for maneuvers of all sorts.

Mikimoto's Pearls Have That Age-Old Black Magic

Just as so many of today's words have their Greek or Latin roots, rare jewels carry echoes of a very ancient language: that basic, primal urge to adorn our bodies. From era to era, around the world, men and women alike have lusted after goods made of silver or gold, gems, ivory, wild animal skins and bird-of-paradise feathers. Some cultures believed these things held magic and used them to ward off marauding tribes or evil threats; others valued the more...shall we say...practical qualities of instant status, powerful clout and sexual allure.

It's the 21st century, but not much has changed: we still wear birthstones, believe copper bracelets relieve pain and carry rabbits' feet or coral branches for luck. (Not to mention our ever-present fascination with status symbols.) Mikimoto's spectacular earrings speak to this part of our psyche. There's a potent glamour to black pearls, which, far from being truly black, range from stormy grey to peacock green, with iridescent violet highlights–like soap bubbles. These particular 13mm stunners grew inside Pinctada margaritifera, black-lipped oysters from the South Seas. Not only do they look like luxurious little Christmas ornaments but, crowned with diamonds and set in white gold, they also suggest pageantry (they're fine enough to hail from royal portraits by Velázquez). They could easily turn any grand entrance into something verging on the operatic. Deck the halls, indeed.

Shopping Suggestion: Something For the Dandy

We like so many things made by WANT Les Essentials de la Vie and would be thrilled to find this handsome little leather case tucked under the tree or inside a Christmas stocking. It holds two collar pins–one silver-plated, one gold-plated–and is only available through the company's website (click on the name above for the link). Then check back often with FA2L for more gift ideas.

Denim, a Love Story: Where the East Meets West

Before jeans were fashion, they were work clothes, made of tough cotton selvage denim woven on shuttle looms and dyed with natural indigo. Such pants were extraordinarily durable, and molded to the contours of each wearer's body while gradually softening, creasing and fading. Today, of course, designer denim products run the gamut from crisp stovepipes to torn, "whiskered," even paint-splattered versions (which can cost many hundreds of dollars per pair).

Denim came from Europe, where French and Italian communities made work pants from the stuff centuries ago; but the quintessential blue jean–the Levi's 501–is an American product through and through. That said, Japanese culture, with its keen appreciation of authenticity, has greatly influenced what can only be called denim connoisseurship. Case in point: in the late '80s, a gentleman named Hidehiko Yamane worried so much about vintage denim's scarcity he decided to make his own. He found a 1950s shuttle loom, supervised the weaving of selvage denim and hand-painted Levi's-style arcs on the back pockets of finished pairs. The process was painstaking, but his product resonated with denim aficionados around the world. This was the beginning of EVISU. By the late '90s, though, Yamane's original vision had gained such momentum it was no longer a small company turning out handmade jeans–it was a worldwide brand selling everything from t-shirts to outerwear. Along the way, it lost some of its insider charm and became one more name in a sea of products.

Recently, EVISU went back to its roots: it cleaned up distribution, narrowed its focus and relaunched a tight collection for Spring '10 (some of which is available at Barneys New York now, and at Barneys.com December 14). FA2L isn't overly fond of denim "effects," but a few pairs in the lineup speak fashion loud and clear: a slim, dark jean; a bleached-out, beachy-looking pair; and the SHINGU (above), which takes distressing to an artful level. Any would make worthy additions to denim collections everywhere, so get them while you can.