Why?

I emerge from my long sabbatical to ask - why is it that I really enjoy rolled-up sleeves on a long-sleeve dress shirt, but think short-sleeve dress shirts are an abomination? I can even go with untucked dress shirt with rolled up sleeves, and think it dressyish (in a business casual sense) but short sleeves? Yuck.

Why is that?

And I'm gone again. For now. Pictures to possibly follow.

Why I love fashion/style illustration

Fashion and style illustration can be an odd thing - in so many ways, it does present an idealized world, in which there is always that perfect breeze which floats the tails of your coat without endangering your hat. More than that, one always has the perfect wardrobe - well dressed for every occasion, in items that actually fit. What a novel concept. At the same time, the pictures are oddly less idealized than much modern fashion photography. The people here come in many sizes, and some of the men seem positively chunky under their overcoats. Complexions range from brown to pale to red, unfortunately never including anything darker than brown... and, oddly, the rumples in the clothes are not always perfect. Look at the suit in the upper right. I would not describe these rumples as "idealized" in fact, the back is realistically tight with the arms crossed. I enjoy this odd mingle of idealization and reality, and find it more compelling than many of the modern airbrushed and frankly, all too normal photos in which the most that changes is, perhaps, with more drama than necessary, the cut or color of a jacket.

I want that suit... no wait... those suits...

no, wait... that club... I want to be part of that club.

Another wonderful apparel arts illustration. I enjoy the mid grey-blue sweater (or is it a sweater vest?) under the lightish gray tweed suit. And are those brown suede shoes? Delightful. Also notice the black shoes and blackish bowler on the man in the left in navy. It's a grayish navy (I'm seeing a theme) so the black seems more than acceptable. At least to me.

Apparel Arts

Men's Flair this week found this link to a Fedora Lounge scan of Apparel Arts images. Apparel Arts was a magazine which presented to men in the first half of the twentieth century the styles of that day, and is one of the best records of the ideals of men's clothing. The beautiful illustrations still inspire, and, at times, present timeless clothing in timeless art.

The above illustration, for example, makes me want more tweedy suits, and a fedora with just that curve in the brim. Look at the contrasts in pocket squares, and the way they balance each suit. The peak lapel model on the right sports a square linen whose material speaks of a casual nature unlike that of the suit's cut. The student on the left wears a silk pocket square, well-contrasted to his dry-looking tweed suit, with single-breasted cut and flexible informality.

Gary Cooper is consistently wearing clothes I wish I could pull off. In the previous image, it was the white shirt, in this, its the white turtleneck. It's obviously thin, in colder climes one could begin to wear it now, especially in the evening. Look at the shine and vibrancy it adds to his face, the way he stands above it, and the eyes are set aglow by the white turtleneck, but you are still drawn to the face more than the sweater.

Though one could debate that.

White Shirts

Some days, I wish I had dark hair, just so I could carry off a white shirt like this.

Cooper and wide pants for summer

Gary Cooper seems to many truly one of the great early heroes of film style, and for many good reasons. Here, I use him to uphold my argument that wide pants are acceptable, even elegant for summer.
A few things to notice:

Though his pant legs are wide, his sleeves are not.

Along with that, if anything, the width of his pants emphasizes the slim lines of his coat.

Though there is obviously a bit of texture to the suit, Cooper eschews a tendency towards pattern (as Alan Flusser noted, his height allowed him to wear large patterns). However, patterns generally add width, and enough of that is added by the pants as-is, besides this, the solid attracts less attention to the leg width and thus allows the pant width to be subtle enough to be classic.

There's a reason.

There's a reason they were trying to look like Gary Cooper.

And the tweed

David Tennant is connected with his Scottish heritage, and as a part of that, he certainly wears plenty of Tweed. Here he is in a Doctor Who episode in which the Doctor must teach school in early 20th century English countryside. What else but tweed, and wonderfully brown, mixed tweed at that.

Just a great outfit.

Here's an image of the whole Doctor Who outfit, as done by David Tennant, and I must say, it's just a great outfit. The coat matches his hair at times, and compliments the suit colors very nicely, matching intensity. The loosened, reddish tie is a good compliment both to his scottish complexion, and his very cool shoes, which, if I'm right, are the classic Converse Chuck Taylors. His pants (ahem, trousers) have just enough break to look young without looking sloppy, and everything is along somewhat slim lines. The loosened tie, as a side note is a classic signal of playful rebellion.

Off the set

Hmmm... why do all my pictures of David Tennant somehow include a woman? This time, he and she have switched up on the usual man-woman contrast, with David hoisting all the style and color with a very interesting combination of brown and black, and the girl in classic white and black. Notice how the brown is a bit green, so it doesn't hurt looking at it with the black, and how the brown and black mimic his hair tones. Also note that way the patterns on the body match the sleeve. Very well done. Very Scottish.

Interesting materials

Now I don't like everything David Tennant does stylistically. He has a tendency, for instance, to wear his clothes (jackets especially) a bit large for elegance (which is forgivable when he's the Doctor. One has enough trouble saving the universe without restrictions on arm movements...) but generally he's one of the best young examples out there, especially for mixing casual and formal.

That said, I find myself wondering and wondering what his suit is made of. I've heard it suggested that it's a very lightweight wool, and that makes sense, I suppose, but at the same time, the look and rumple just isn't quite right. I've thought about cotton, but then the colors seem wrong, and I've thought about linen/cotton, but then the rumple seems off... it's strange. It seems like a very natural material, synthetics certainly don't rumple that way...

It's curious. I suppose this makes me odd. Oh well.

The Doctor Styles

BBC's Doctor Who has always been a style hero, or at least for the last forty or so years. Long Scarves, now a meme of adventurers everywhere were pioneered by Tom Baker as the Doctor, and Peter Davidson sported a fedora. David Tennant carries on the proud tradition, and looks smashing in a tux, not something one sees often in Sci-Fi, I think.

Cary Grant, Summer weekend style

So much is said against dressing nicely in the name of dressing comfortably. Cary Grant shows clearly here (as he so often does) that there need be no difference.

Those socks! Yes!

Like so many people fascinated with fine clothing, I love a good pair of socks. Today, I happened across this picture of Cary Grant. Those are some of the most beautiful socks I have seen in some time. Clocks are my favorite pattern. Now, of course, the socks don't quite match perfectly, but who cares?

Cary Grant and the Summer Suit

It's clearly summer. He's tanned, and his shirt is therefore white, to show it off all the more. His suit, even, moves to the lighter direction, as does his tie. Flusser thinks that keeping a similar shade throughout an outfit looks modern. I agree, and Cary grant looks modern, even in black and white, gray and white, really.
Look at the details. The tie dimple. The rumples in the suit sleeves. The way the collar shows itself, the roll of the suit collar. The hint of a pocket square. The tie is woven enough to show. It's a simple look, surely. One wonders if the jacket is a suit or a sport coat. I think it's a suit, but that's just my suspicion. It could go either way.

Cary Grant and Summer buisness.

Sorry about the absence yesterday, Blogger wasn't uploading pictures, and I just left this unposted.

Cary Grant is everyone's style hero, and while he is best remembered for the simple, straightforward black tie, gray suit, he was not afraid to experiment. Let us not forget that he has been credited with the creation of "business casual" by, I believe, no man less than Bruce Boyer - who said it was, perhaps, that moment in Monkey Business when Grant slips out of a suit jacket and into a cardigan at work.


The light gray suit is a summer classic, especially with boutonnière. Perhaps better for spring, especially when double breasted, but for the cool day of summer. Try to ignore the yellow couch.



Another summer classic - the khaki suit. Of course, Jimmy Page would look classy that close to Audrey Hepburn...


The summer sweater- for casual days, or very unbusinesslike business. Especially with those socks.


And another classic. I meant Cary Grant's outfit. Light, loose pants, dark sport coat. Unbuttoned shirt.

Fun to look at: StyleForum contests

Styleforum old hand Manton showing the possibilities of green, especially for summer.



Stunning texture with sparkling colors (in my book, they match well without matching too well - though, honestly it would be too much on a worsted. The houndstooth takes it down a notch) from TheHoff.

Great coordination of five! patterns by Baron. They create a subtle blend - and I love the colors.

One of the most enjoyable things I know of about style is the multitude of options - and one of the best ways to discover these options is to see how people wear what they have. To meet this need: Styleforum contests. So good.

Astaire for summer

Astaire is a great style hero for summertime. Clothes can grow lean and baggy with winter, but, with the possible exception of linen pants, summer clothes seem to me to look best lean.

The Wisdom of Fine Dress

I've been thinking a bit about Solomon recently, Solomon and his proverbs. Now, you don't have to be a neo-puritan to recognize the guy had some smart things to say. His words about diligence, intelligence, the value of knowledge and hard work are well worth reading. He also might surprise the uninitiated with some thoughts rather unlike those of modern mainstream Christianity.
For example: it is interesting that, while Proverbs warns against the dangers of many of the "finer" things of life - wine, women, fine beds, fine foods, etc... but it does not warn against fine clothes. In fact, it encourages fine clothes, and encourages the wise woman to clothe her families in the finest style of the day.
It seems obvious that the writer of Proverbs understands better than many how important fine dress is, even in his day. How much more are they important today, when we have become so much more highly visible, and when the demands of modern life encourage quicker judgments of character.

Picture taken, with all the greatest respect, from the Sartorialist.

Jimmy Stewart and the Double Breasted Suit

Last week, I watched "The Shop Around the Corner" a delightful old film, with plenty of delightful winter clothes. I know it's not winter, but I want it to be, and just about August is a good time to start thinking about what clothes one wants to wear in winter, as, if he's going to get any sort of deal on them, he must get them now.

One of the little interesting details in this movie is (you can just barely see it in this picture) that Jimmy Stewart wears a double breasted suit with vest. Some cry fowl at this, but I think it a quite allowable point, especially since the vest, always covered by the buttoned front, will always be subtle. One could even, had one the tendencies of a dandy, wear a colored vest, perhaps in a knit or even in silk.

Also, watch for the shopkeeper's fur-lined coat. There's something that looks warm and cuddly inside, yet without the buisness-inappropriate nature of fur on the outside.

You can read my full review of The Shop Around the Corner in my other Blog, kingdom of information.

Daniel Craig

When Esquire made the announcement that Daniel Craig was Esquire's best dressed man for 2008, I heard a lot of crap about "just because he's Bond." those people haven't been paying attention.







There you are. Proof enough for me, and there is more.

The T Shirt

As much as there are times when a the best, even the only thing a man can wear is a suit. There are other times when the best thing to wear is a t-shirt.

When these times come, as they often do with summer, the two best to turn to are (obviously) James Dean and Marlon Brando. Note about Brando and Dean - their t-shirts are solid, or, in this rare Dean moment, have a small logo. Also note, when they wear them, they are lounging or moving, not doing business. Or wearing a suit jacket.

The t-shirts are also not emblazoned with a humorous, pithy slogan, which, while fitting for a college t-shirt, is far too loud for a man. If one must indulge (and is young enough) I highly recommend picking a favorite quote from literature or film and having it affixed to a t-shirt. Not terribly difficult or expensive, but, at least, unique.

In Search of History: Heroes of Style

Perhaps what every orphan searches for is a history he can believe is his own.

And so, I too, will try to find a history, by speaking of people I admire when it comes to clothes.

One of whom: Charlie Chaplin.

Chaplin may not be the first thought on the mind of so many today in whom there is a proper return to elegance. Chaplin was the dark side of elegance.

It is quite possible that few understood the clothes of his age as completely as Chaplin. To begin with, he consistently used dark suits and white shirts to highlight his high-contrast complexion, furthered by the washed-out effect of early black and white film, as well as the darkness of his mustache. The mustache itself accomplished the effects of good clothing - focusing and refining the emotions of the face. We are constantly drawn to his face, and he constantly draws us there, only rarely by the obvious means of the close-up shot, more often by the way he looks, the way he dresses. This faciocentrism (face-centeredness) is an effect many others can only hope to accomplish.

Even more, Chaplin's most well-known creation was born in clothes, and midwifed by the sartorial urge: Chaplin said: "I thought I would dress in baggy pants, big shoes, a cane and a derby hat. everything a contradiction: the pants baggy, the coat tight, the hat small and the shoes large." In these clothes he birthed that clown who is "higher than a politician" and as elegance's dark side, revealed the true elegance of witty self-depreciation.

Orphan: A perspective on the history of clothing

I've been reading a few books on clothing recently, Esquire's Man at his Best, and Boyer's Eminently Suitable. While both of them are excellent, they seem repetitive. They share the same stories about blazers, about Harris Tweed, about Cary Grant. What I feel we need, and perhaps desperately, are not new styles, but new perspectives to add richness to the old styles. New stories, new memories. Unfortunately, to this I can add very little.

Some of the best writing about clothes I can remember is writing about one's father's clothes. The smell of his tweed. The strange, unearthly shine of his shoes. I have none of these. I was not interested in clothes when I was young, and, on top of that, my father had no aged Edward Greens. He dressed well, certainly, and wore suits regularly, but there was no age there, not enough money for rich style. He made do. He made do very well, but it was, ultimately, making do, at least, from what little I remember. Even if he had a strong sense of style, it was not a lesson he taught me. He taught me better things. And so, I feel like a sartorial orphan, with strange, adoptive parents, Gary Cooper, or James Dean... adoptive parents who were never personal, and have all the strange, otherworldliness of a shining screen.

Amazing man

Everybody who hasn't been there today (and if you read this blog without reading that one, shame on you), hop on over to the Sartorialist for this post:

http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/search?q=when+first+we+met

(at least the Pt. 2 section) It's such an interesting transformation, and his carriage shows so clearly how confidence and spirit can transform a look which could only be imagined as hideous to one that can only be described as pleasantly riveting. He's breaking so many "rules," even rules I love, and wearing so many things I'd hate to see on anyone with less style. Contrast collar, pink shoes, cargos with tie, camos with vest, big belt buckle. Yet I love his look.

I can't help but wonder if he a symbol of economic downturn. Two years ago, it certainly seems things were looking brighter, less militant, less like they would require ferocity.

Good Flickr Suit Finds

Flickr can be, sometimes, like a much lower quality sartorialist.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajarda/2315412313/in/pool-suitandtie

I like this guy's approach. Glen Plaid double breasted, very vintage, yet the mottled gray of the glen plaid is not unacceptable as business dress. His thin face, and the casual nature of glen plaid as a cloth makes, I think, the button-down pink shirt acceptable, and the tie and pocket square vaguely coordinate. Ultimately, it's an interesting photo where many of the sartorialist readers who love to critique on the comments could find so much wrong - button down with double breasted, loose fit on the collar, but where the general quirkyness of the outfit very much makes it work, and almost makes me want to put on a double breasted suit with a button down shirt, which would never work on me.

Ultimately, style is descriptive, not prescriptive.


found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/17675967@N02/2668478735/

Again, I can hear the complaints. Too much suit sleeve, open front? Those shoes? But for goodness sake, it's better than so many things, and he's walking. It's not a bad fit or look, the shirt sleeve keeps him from looking fastidious, the shoes actually look more quality when I look closer, and the color does a nice job of highlighting his low-contrast complexion.

From:

There. He's got sleeves showing. I wonder what his cuff links look like. I rather like the color combo. Dark Blue. Medium to light green. White. Brown. Someone definitely needs to develop pants that don't wrinkle with walking and sitting, though. Those would be a godsend.

Back, and wishing for shirts that fit

Thanks to About Teen Fashion
Thanks to Vineyard Vines


Thanks to Areostop

Thanks to Wikipedia

Does this bother the hell out of anyone else... okay, I know it does, because I just glanced through the style forum posts. The first one is what I wish shirts would fit like - the only problem is it is promoted as the "signature baggy fit" which is basically like saying "yes, you're right, you won't look like the model. - even if your measurements are the same as his." and they just get worse from there on out... I think I'm going to suggest to the style forum people that we go ahead and get some actual information on this, try to compile a list of actual numbers - chest size, waist size, etc... so that we know exactly how each line's fit actually, numerically, fits.

I'm also thinking of visiting a tailor.

And wishing I had a job (and lived in a climate) where wearing suits was normal - to cover the unsightly bulge which seems inevitable in any dress shirt purchase.

Just in case anyone is actually reading...

I'll be vacationing for pretty much all of the next two weeks.

Two weeks packing:
Four t-shirts
Two pairs pants (my favorite jeans and cotton/linen cargos.)
One Harrington jacket
One pair shorts
Swimtrunks
One pair black DVS shoes, one pair brown Chuck Taylors
Socks and underwear

I like roughing it... I'm just not sure this is... but for two weeks? :)

It'll be fun.

Vacationing

I'm off to vacation until after next week - I might post romantical nature-obsessed buffoonery intermittently, but until then, ta-ta.

Just in case anyone is reading this.

White Collar and Cuffs

A rather disappointing post on Men's Flair today. Usually, I at least generally agree with their posts, and enjoy bits and pieces of information and perspective. Unfortunately, today's post seemed both wrong and, respectfully, in bad taste.
First, I'm not sure how the poster came to the conclusion that such cuffs and collar are called "french" - I have only ever read of French cuffs being cuff link cuffs, and French collar is entirely new to me - and does not return any relevant results on a Google search. I would like to see a citation for this word usage.
Second, and on the style front, search for contrast collar or white collar on any clothes shopping site, and you will very, very rarely find a picture of the white collar and cuffs actually on a man - I think because the high contrast draws away from the face. Always beware of buying things that are not displayed where they will be worn.

Look below for a fun show of a much more casual (but still very good-looking) shirt from the Flickr suit up pool.
Also, topically, with the supreme court ruling, will guns become a major accessory?

An enjoyable movie for anglophile fashion

Beyond being a well-shot, well-felt film, The Queen is a great movie for the Anglophile in style. Since Henry the VIII and before, the royal family has functioned as one of the nation's prime style arbitrators. Beyond beautiful tweeds, the film also seems to feed upon the distinction between the tweed of the royal family and the worsted of the prime minister.

Spring and Summer Patterns

Patterns are not like colors. For most events in summer, I like to keep my colors stronger, and my patterns weaker. This may well be a result of the fact that I'm fairly easily washed out, but the marled, complex look of patterns fits better with the cloudy skies and blooming trees of fall than the open skies and emerald fields of spring. With the darker colors come complexity, with the lighter color comes solidity. It's not a rule, it's just a thought.This is a good shot of Jude Law keeping his colors rich, but patterns subtle, and matching his browns with the browns of his skin and hair.

Exception may, of course, be made for madras and a few other things. Like I said, it's not a rule.