It’s no surprise that surrounding yourself with nice things will make you feel pretty damn good, but a recent study has revealed that immersing yourself in beautiful architecture can actually make you a better person.

Researchers have found that the kind of environments that produce positive effects on people aren’t necessarily neat and tidy, either. Apparently, the human brain craves intricacy and variety, so we tend to respond to buildings that have lots of interesting details and varied, lively environments. Think less your little brother’s 10-person Surry Hills share house and more a city block with lots of restaurants and shops.

Neuroscientists Colin Ellard came to this conclusion by performing a series of studies about the way urban environments affect people’s moods. Centred around an expansive Whole Foods grocery store that occupies an entire block of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, participants were lead through the neighbourhood wearing sensors that measured skin conductance, which is a physiological response to emotional excitement.

Skin conductance plummeted when walking by the Whole Foods store, but climbed on surrounding blocks that featured a combination of restaurants, shops and bars, creating a vibrant environment. Participants even verbally described their experience passing Whole Foods as “bland”, “monotonous”, and “passionless” and apparently these feelings of boredom can actually make us more stressed.

In another study, participants were faced with interesting, sad and boring videos. The boring videos produced higher heart rates in the participants, and higher levels of stress hormones than those who watched the sad videos. That means a bland physical environment will not only have you feeling rather uninspired, but could potentially stress you out.

It’s all an indication that urban beauty isn’t just pleasing to the eye, it’s pleasing to the soul. Time to move to greener pastures, perhaps?

The post Surrounding Yourself With Good Architecture Will Make You Happier appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

You’ve spent plenty of time and money on the surface appearance of your bachelor pad, but what about where you stow away one of your most prized possessions? Your car, of course.The garage isn’t just an abyss beneath your house to store that unused tool box you reluctantly inherited and dusty gardening equipment yet to see the light of day. These days, the garage is a place to showcase the range of your rides, and to escape. Yes, that’s right. Many magnificent bastards around the world consider the garage to be a ‘man cave’ of sorts.As such, we’ve put together 15+ masculine and stylish garages to spark some man cave ideas and inspirations for the next time you feel a wave of DIY decoration come over you. Click through the slideshow and start getting crafty with the whereabouts of your automobiles.

The post 15+ Masculine & Stylish Garages That You Will Want To Live In appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

If you’re a fan of impeccably tailored suiting and classic French style then here’s a heads up: luxury Parisian-based bespoke tailor Cifonelli, renowned for their impeccable technique, high quality fabrics and innovation, is coming to Australia for a series of trunk shows presented by The Cloakroom.

Available to magnificent bastards residing in Melbourne and Brisbane, Cifonelli’s trunk show appointments will give Australian men of style the opportunity to access the esteemed brand’s made-to-measure ready-to-wear collection and order pieces, without the expensive plane ticket to Paris.

Not familiar with Cifonelli? Well, it’s high time you get acquainted. For more than 130 years, Cifonelli has been at the vanguard of luxury tailoring, combining impeccable technique, the finest quality fabrics and a homogeneity of French tradition, Italian lightness and English structuralism.

Put simply, Cifonelli is a family business that is all about prestigious tailoring and a bespoke experience favoured by some of the world’s biggest names including Cary Grant, Fred Astaire, Charlton Heston and former French President François Mitterrand. More recently (between 1992 and 2007) Cifonelli collaborated with Hermès on the luxury brand’s bespoke line.

It’s a one-off chance for Aussie men who care about their suits to get stuck into some of Cifonelli’s amazing hand-made craftsmanship and elegantly tailored silhouettes. See below for the dates and locations of Cifonelli’s Australian trunk shows, presented by The Cloakroom:

The post Cifonelli Is Bringing Bespoke Tailoring To Australia appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Professional athletes aren’t always known for their subtlety and good taste, but legendary New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez displays both in his Florida home. Architectural Digest recently went inside the 11,000 square foot pad and here are some of the highlights.

Architecture firm Choeff Levy Fischman designed the house, while Briggs Edward Solomon deployed the decoration and Christopher Cawley Landscape Architecture transformed the grounds. Outside, the stand-out features are the James Perse furniture in the barbecue cabana (yes, barbecue cabana) and the artificial grass that was used to conserve water.

Inside, A-Rod’s mansion boasts Rick Owens furniture and a shockingly varied art collection – including works by Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. There’s also an angora carpet because, well, when you’re one of the world’s biggest baseball stars, why not?

The post Alex Rodriguez Shows Off His Luxe Miami Mansion appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Taiwan is one of Asia’s more progressive countries which balances its Chinese heritage with two middle fingers raised at communist China. Sandwiched between the Philippines and China, you’d be hard pressed to believe there’s anything cool and crazy to do in one of the region’s safest countries. Well you’d be wrong. We give you, 8 things to do in Taiwan.From eating penis ice cream to going to a toilet restaurant, Taiwan is the master of piss taking and not taking itself too seriously.As we take you off the beaten path, these are the eight craziest things to do in Taiwan.

The post Crazy Things You Can Only Do In Taiwan appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

The following article has been sponsored by Baume & Mercier

For most in this world a name is just something to go by as we weave through life’s trivialities. For Baume & Mercier and Shelby Cobra, a name represents much more; a name showcases an era in pure mechanical excellence.

These two are the esteemed monikers built from an unparalleled heritage of fine watchmaking and engineering spanning more than half a century. It is for this very reason that the Swiss watchmaker chose to partner with the classic American car maker known as Shelby to produce their most exciting timepieces yet, the Capeland Shelby Cobra 1963 Limited Edition.

Taking inspiration from the road icon is no easy feat as both companies possess an enduring design language that is exclusive to every finished product. Baume & Mercier didn’t shy away from this challenge and in 2015 they successfully announced their partnership with Carroll Shelby Inc. It was here that the Capeland Shelby Cobra Collection was born.

To celebrate the continuation of this special partnership of vintage motoring and horology, D’Marge brought together some of Australia’s most stylish men to experience the driving spirit behind the new limited edition Capeland Shelby Cobra range. Guests who got behind the wheel included television personality Tim Robards, suit makers Brent Wilson and Roger Shamoun, models Zac and Jordan Stenmark and beard entrepreneur Jimmy Niggles amongst others.

A scenic drive through Sydney’s lower north shore allowed the cavalcade to experience the priceless machines first hand whilst understanding the direct lineage between car and watch. As the sun glistened across the harbour, the crew made its way back to Sergeants Mess at Chowder Bay for a spot of lunch and an introduction to the Baume & Mercier-Shelby Cobra story.

This provided the perfect opportunity to explore the unique design cues which were inherited from the car and faithfully reproduced in the Capeland Shelby Cobra watches.

The art of luxury watchmaking and boutique car manufacturing may operate in different circles, but the Capeland Shelby Cobra 1963 is living proof that finer things can come from different minds with the same driving spirit.

The post Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra: A Driving Spirit Behind The Timepiece appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Magnificent bastards love a good whisky but when it comes to impressing a date or your party guests, things can get complicated rather quickly when you try something new.

The guys at Cocktail Chemistry are ensuring things don’t need to be this way with their latest cocktail concoction episode which shows off the elaborate ‘Smoke Bomb’. It’s exactly what you think it is: a ball of ice filled with smoke which cracks open over a cocktail for one spectacular show.

The ice ball itself is made using smouldering wood chips where the smoke is captured in a sphere and put on ice. Now that’s what we call a party trick. Just don’t burn down your house.

The post How To Make A Smoke Bomb For Your Cocktail appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

If you are a stylish cyclist or just admire cycling and good style then Paul Smith‘s Cycling Scrapbook is the coffee table book for your bachelor pad.

From his collection of cycling jerseys to his epic library of cycling publications and collaborations with bike-makers (Mercian and Pinarello), fashion designer Paul Smith has always been a huge fan of cycling. Unfortunately, Smith’s early dreams of become a professional rider were dashed after an injury at 17-years-old.

Despite his early setback, Paul Smith continues to express his love of the sport with the Cycling Scrapbook, a book written alongside sports writer Richard Williams that brings together the memorabilia and projects the UK designer has collected and worked on throughout his life in a visual celebration of the best of cycling.

The post Paul Smith's Cycling Scrapbook: A Must-Have Coffee Table Book appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

The following article has been sponsored by Maker’s Mark

If you consider yourself a man of style then there’s no doubt you would have at some point mastered the art of the Old Fashioned, a classic cocktail enjoyed by magnificent bastards all over the world.

In case you need to brush up on your cocktail crafting skills, D’Marge has teamed up with drinks trolley essential Maker’s Mark to show you how to make your very own Old Fashioned and impress your friends, loved ones and lady in the style and comfort of your own home.

But, what makes Maker’s Mark an Old Fashioned essential? “The great thing about an Old Fashioned is it makes whisky more approachable. Maker’s Mark is perfect for the job. Switching rye out for wheat makes for a sweeter, softer spirit and in turn, a gentle sipping Old Fashioned with a long, warm finish,” says Dale Schoon of Earl’s Juke Joint.

The post How To Master The Art Of The Old Fashioned Cocktail appeared first on DMARGE Australia.