Laurence Fellows, Illustrator: Inspiring a Return to Sophistication and Style

In these days when few older men appear in menswear advertising it's refreshing to look back at the illustrations of Laurence Fellows (1885-1964). His evocative and stylish drawings of men's styles from the thirties and forties show mature and sophisticated men, rather than the youthful models of modern catwalks and advertising. 

It's no accident that as menswear advertising became youth-focused over the last forty or fifty years so looking dapper and well-dressed became secondary to following fashion. For young men, their clothes show that they're different from the previous generation; for older men, clothes are (or should be) the vehicle by which they express their self-confidence and personality. In very general terms, the young man follows fashion, the older finds style. In Fellows's time fashion existed of course, but style remained the ultimate aim.

I find Fellows's illustrations rich in inspiration, especially now that vintage styles are beginning to influence menswear. The last few years have seen a revival in interest in suits, hats, brogues, tweed, looser fitting trousers. Details like shawl collars, floppy tweed caps, waistcoats, pin collar shirts, braces and double breasted coats have been inspired by the likes of Suits, Mad Men, Peaky Blinders and even Downton Abbey. These have encouraged men and women to return to a more sophisticated, sartorial age where style was more important than fashion.

As older men, we should applaud the return of vintage-inspired styles. Suddenly we are once again in the position of being able to show the younger man how to dress properly, just as our grandfathers often helped our fathers. Young men are increasingly to be seen in tweeds and brogue, albeit with a contemporary twist. If there weren't this return to heritage, we older men would no doubt still be having to put up with the fading trends of skinny fits and truncated jackets.

I should acknowledge the inspiration of my fellow blogger, Mark Hollingsworth, whose piece entitled How to recreate classic summer trousers inspired this feature.