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.