The Sartorialist

Problem solved!

I can understand black jeans being longer and with more crumpled break but I like my dark blue denim to be hemmed more like my pants. These jeans also , to my eye, have just the right amount of taper to the leg, they are slim and not skin tight.

I love the idea of casual tennis shoes with a silk scarf at the neck

The only thing better than shooting a person “one year later” is shooting sisters six months apart.

Of course I have to get them together for a shot soon.

if i am not smiling it is becasue I had just realized what I had gotten myself into – crap! my fingers are typing checks my lens can’t cash!

I love the umbrella over the handle bars

I asked this young gentleman , Michael Haar, what movies he watches for inspiration.

“The Marxs Brothers” he says.

I’m off to B&N to buy a new DVD box set

I love that the trim was all navy and not black.

The other day I really watched “The Awful Truth” for the first time. I have seen it before but I was always distracted by something either in the movie itself (the clothes) or in the house (kids).

“The Awful Truth” has to be Cary Grant at his very best. In this movie Cary is soo funny, so physical, so charming and so stylish. When you watch the whole movie and everything that leads up to that famous scene when he falls backward off his chair, well, it is genius and ,to me, the very essence of the Grant persona.

Surprisingly, even though this is Grant’s most stylish feature (just beating “To Catch A Thief”) the actual best look of the movie goes to the topcoat and tux Ralph Bellamy is wearing in his introductory scene (below).


Bellamy’s topcoat is killer – I love the bit of white shirt cuff showing at the sleeve.
This is not because his arm is bent because it also hangs that way when his arm is straight.

When was the last time you saw some shirt cuff under a coat sleeve?
I see it rarely if at all.

Also notice the white pocket square in Bellamy’s coat and compare it to Grant ,below, in a similar look from the same movie.
The pocket square and slimmer fitting coat gives Bellamy’s look even more refinement than Grant’s. (in this case I do think you see cuff on Grant because his arm is bent)
In comparison I think Grant’s coat looks a bit boxy and drab.

I do love that they are both wearing a white scarf. Do you think it was cashmere or silk?
I also think it is a toss up on the hair. The strong side-part is making a major comeback (and it is not due to that Mad Men series)

Bellamy also played a similar character in another extremely stylish Astaire movie called “Carefree”

I never realized that one of the old guys from Trading Places was such a fashion plate in his day.

I long to see more women on the street wearing real jackets not just those high-hip, shrunken jackets that overflow the racks of Banana Republic and Ann Taylor.

I also long to see more women wearing their jacket sleeves at the right length. This young model has a great sleeve length which would be more obvious if she were wearing a long-sleeve blouse underneath. This is a simple alteration and you don’t need to be a model for it to look great.

Often I read comments on this blog like “Shouldn’t clothing enhance a woman’s form and femininity? ” or something of that nature.

I think this is a very narrow view of what clothing should/could do for a person.

Clothing only needs to keep you protected from the elements, past that what you do with them is your option.

This young lady is a great example of self-expression and intellectual dressing.

Nothing she is wearing really speaks to WHAT she is physically ( fat or skinny, tall or short, male or female) but her look speaks volumes about WHO she is mentally.

Is this fashion? I don’t know but it surely is an extremely evolved version of self-expression.

Bravo!

Vest are the one item that I (and most men) simply cannot buy at retail.

They are always too long on me and cannot (or rarely) be shortened the same way a carefully chosen sportcoat can be shortened an inch.

If you really look at most guys that are wearing a vest often the vest is just too long and bunches up or too short and looks like a flac-jacket.

My first truly bespoke suit I buy will be a vested suit. More than just looking so elegant it makes the whole shirt-meets-pant area look much smoother than without the vest. Like I mentioned in a recent post, this is why I like to wear a cardigan or double-zip sweater under a jacket.

Also I bet if you lined up 5 guys of different sizes and put them all in a CORRECTLY-fitted vest and pants they would all look 5 to 10 pounds thinner.

I think men think of a vest like a modern corset but if they calculated how much more beer they could drink and then just pull in the gut with a vest…well, maybe Corona needs to look into a product extension.

Anyway, Carlo again looks superb and endlessly elegant.

I can’t stop looking at the dress, tights, flats combo.

I bet she is carrying her “real shoes” in the red bag. This is a pretty chic way to have your heels and still make it around town.

Yesterday several people commented that the young lady in the shorts looked sooo cold and underdressed for the weather.

The truth is, it was one of those curious days when it was neither too cool or too warm.

My point yesterday was that there seems to be a sweet spot temperature-wise when a person can pretty much dress anyway they want.

For me, that temperature is 60-65F.

I love that range because people really have to get creative with their look, especially if they will be running around all day with no chance to change or add/drop a layer.
I love seeing a young lady grabbing the last chance to wear her favorite Marni summer dress under her newly purchased favorite Fall knit or ,as I was simply suggesting yesterday, a Fall look that still shows some leg.

For me, it might be shorts with a cashmere cardigan.

I usually disagree with people that say “if it is cold enough for a ____ then it is too cold for a ______”

All the images below were taken at the Miu Miu show.
In the top image I see a women in a fur and in the background a women wearing very open sandals. In other images i see some people wearing coats and some are wearing tee shirts.

So what is that “anything goes” temperature for you?
and do you have a favorite combo that you like to break out when it hits the sweet spot?

When it gets cold outside I seem to always fall back on my trusty Navy nylon parka. I love this ehtcoat but it makes me feel even more round than I already am (and remember I am consistently on the lookout for additional lank). That is why I really like (and have to remember to buy) a structured, more tailored coat like this that still looks good and not to dressy with jeans. I think the reason this looks so good with jeans is the sturdy feel of the wool and the brown leather buttons – black or matching buttons would make it a bit too refined for jeans, imho.

The post with Chloe S made me think about legs for Fall.

The weather here in NYC has fluctuated so much lately which has made dressing an adventure.

Last week almost entirely in the 40′s and this week it will be in the high 50′s to low 60′s. Just as the tights were coming out it seems we will still have another week perfectly made for cozy clothes and bare-ish legs.

Here are a few of the shots I took in Paris which are a great example of Fall legs.

I would think that much south of Washinton DC and West/Southwest of Denver that this is about as covered up as you ever need to get in the Winter. Yes?

Knit dresses can be so great IF you have perfect shape around the hips and butt. Otherwise they can often just draw attention to the area that women are most self-conscious about.

I think this young lady does a great job finding a knit dress that feels every bit as cozy and comfy as you want a knit dress to feel in the Fall and yet it draws attention to her legs and not her hips.

Misdirection most well-played.

For me, this all about the layering of the camel cardie under the vintage Norell 3/4 length sleeve jacket. (and ,of course, the scarf)

The only thing that could have made it more perfect would be if the cardie were also 3/4 sleeve (or 7/8) and was only peeking out about two inches.

I have often written about “abstract Inspiration” or the fact that I rarely shoot a look in which I like the entire look but only certain elements of the look.

I think if you look at this blog and only say “yes” or “no” to the looks then you are really missing out.

This look is a great example of this idea.

The individual items don’t really matter to me but I love the harmony of the colors and how beautifully they work together. Some readers have said that I haven’t posted as many mens images lately but to me this look is just as inspiring to my wardrobe as a lot of other gentlemen I have shot.

Are the colors groundbreaking? no
Is the mix “fashion forward”? no

Could I imagine looking at this photo and reminding myself in the morning to wear those green cords with my camel cashmere sweater and grey scarf? Absolutely!

On a typical day I don’t want to look trendy or shocking or fashion forward or even draw much attention to myself but i do want to look nice and feel like I look nice – an image like this reminds me of just another simple way to use items that already exist in my (and probably your) wardrobe.

So today this is my men’s post

You might remember Lily, I shot her in September wearing the white and black dot dress at Bryant Park. I ran into her yesterday wearing this cool skirt that she made herself (she says in about an hour).

I think a great item skirt is about the easiest and most impactful piece of clothing that most young women could easily make for themselves. Especially if you style it after those raw edge Prada skirts that have been in the shops the last couple of seasons.

When I took this picture of Tracy Taylor of Marie Claire last Spring it inspired me to make a skirt for my older girl(below).

I bought the fabric at downtown at Pearl River for around $13 a yard .
The big trick of making the skirt quickly is to use the selvage as the hem so you don’t have to spend forever sewing up the hem. I also did a very small zipper opening and actually used hook & eyes instead of a zipper (another time consuming pain). I kept the top edge raw like the Prada skirt but placed a very tight stitch at the edge so the fabric would not keep unraveling. The pleats I just kinda draped by eye before I cut the fabric.

For a fun quick skirt,$13-ish is a hard to beat price and a dramatic print can hide a ton of wobbly stitching.

I’m going to finish out the European photos this week and start catching up on NYC photos today.

It is good to be back in NYC with full focus on shooting.

Horizontal stripe shirts is not something I would do but I must admit that this gentleman carries it off nicely.

The man makes the clothes but when the clothes are made by Cesare Attolini it helps a little.

ps is the look nearly as cool without the dramatic hair?

Sometimes I luck out and find the right person standing in the right light.

Some people just have “the touch” ( and it seems they are wearing a lot of plaid flannel shirts right now – see the Paris Texas post below)

More than the shoes and more than the check shirt, I really love Hamish’s exuberant, overflowing pocket square.

I always love a check shirt with a knit tie.
The red socks are nice but they really don’t make a difference to me when I look at his clothes.
Notice the green (silk?) pocket square barely peeking out, I think that is a much more interesting use of color than red socks.

Not that this is the most beautiful photo I have ever taken but if you want to see what menswear inspires me then here it is.

Recently I have received a few concerned emails regarding the ratio of mens photos compared to women’s. I can assure it this is not a systematic shift in approach but simple the fact that I have just come out of a month of women’s collections and a lack to men to shoot in China.

I think one of the strength of this blog is it is very human and not corporately driven. It would be easy for me to take more photos just to even things out but I will never do that.

By the same token, (my dads favorite phrase) Jan and June are usually mens heavy because of Pitti Uomo and the mens collections.

thanks for you understanding.