A step up for men

You are a dude. You want nicer clothes. You want to go beyond Express’ menswear.

West Africa native Mamadou Diallo, 32, who goes by “Ben,” was a frustrated shopper when he moved to Indy from New York to go to Butler.

“I would travel to New York or I would travel internationally to get my suit and my shirt,” he says.

He moved back to New York after he finished school, but he then opted to come back — and start a men’s boutique. Thus J. Benzal, Mass Ave.’s newest addition, was born.

“I do believe there are a lot of young professionals who want to dress well,” he says. The shop’s target demo is young professionals, 25 to 50.

Diallo creates the clothing design, and then sends it to manufacturers in Europe and Asia. For spring, he recommends his favorite element: color.

“Most of men are usually afraid of using bold colors. But to look good and to be unique you have to think outside of the box and be able to put some colors into your wardrobe,” he says.

J. Benzal, 739 Massachusetts Ave., is open daily; visit www.jbenzal.com for more info. The store’s Fashion Opener is scheduled for March 6, time to be announced.

DIY

Ah, origami, from the land of the rising sun, haiku and um ….. origami.

The main idea of this paper-folding technique is that you’re creating items from geometric angles. Also, that you’re not cutting or gluing the paper. I also think the idea of origami is that these creations are finite; made of paper, fragile and likely to be swept off the table once you leave the restaurant. Origami makes me think of sand paintings in paper.

But surely these gorgeous pieces deserve a slightly longer shelf life. Why not make them of fabric?

What you need

» Fabric
» Fabric stiffener (I used a commercial spray starch)
» Iron
» Ironing board
» Origami pattern

To make it

» Cut out the shape you need (rectangle or square) depending on the pattern (a rotary cutter and self-healing board will help with this, but they are pricey, and scissors will work just as well).

» Spray the fabric with the starch, iron, repeat until you have a stiff piece of fabric. Fold it into your origami shape. In the case of my little hat, I ironed it again once I was finished to seal the folds.

Magic Three

1. Furniture can be such a pain. You lovingly acquire a bunch of coordinated pieces — then you have to move or a cat poops on it or your friend barfs on it. Bah! Fight back with Freecell Brooklyn’s cardboard patterns instructions. These free sheet patterns help you create your own cardboard furniture, which can go easily into the recycle bin if there’s an unfortunate event. Visit www.frcll.com/stacktofold.>

2. Days upon days of staring at the computer are turning your gray matter into gray unmatter. Wait — matter can neither be created nor destroyed — anyway, if you need more sunshine and happiness and UNICORNS in your daily life, visit Cornify.com, where rainbows and unicorns are on-demand. Drag the site into your bookmarks, and click on it when you check out CNN.com for sparkling equine friends to pop up on your screen.