100 Years of Menswear - inspiration for a trainee man of style

Being on a search for style in middle age it occurred to me that I ought to take a passing interest in men's fashion so I looked to see what books are available to educate me. The result was Cally Blackman's One Hundred Years of Menswear published by Laurence King in 2009. 

Blackman is a fashion historian and her book contains a fascinating selection of photographs, illustrations and commentary tracing the history of menswear since Edwardian times - highly recommended whether you're interested from a historical perspective, or are simply after inspiration.

Note to Sir Paul Smith - if you no longer want the dusky pink needle-cord jeans you're wearing in the last picture, can I buy them from you please (I'm 32 x 32)?

Men dressing well - just relax

One thing I'm learning in my search for style in middle age is that if you feel self-conscious in your clothes you won't look relaxed and, as a result, will not look well-dressed. See what I mean here? The artificially posed "I know you're looking at my suit and hair" look.

Relax man!

Below we have examples of  the natural well-dressed look - Steve McQueen,  relaxed, at home in his clothes and self confident. I make no apology for also showing pictures of Prince Charles; look how at home he is in his clothes, even in the ultimate formality and discomfort of military uniform; that's true style (although maybe a minus point for the unbuttoned double-breasted jacket?)

Dress for your personality. Look for classic clothes you feel comfortable in, don't feel you have to dress as a peacock if you don't want to.

The older man - the secrets of dressing well

In my post of 23rd January in which I commented on The Sartorial Geniuses - aged 60 plus I showed a picture of the colourful gentleman illustrating the Telegraph article. 

It isn't necessary to go to these extremes of colour and style to be a stylish dresser.  To illustrate this, here are some shots showing the confident and unselfconscious use of more muted classic styles by older men.

I suggest that they succeed because they are dressing for themselves and not to follow latest fashions. Years of doing this has given them a confidence which is clear from their attitude and bearing. Compare these to the sometimes uncomfortable-looking younger men snapped wearing the height of fashion at the recent events in Milan and Paris and you'll see what I mean (I don't show any of those below). Is it possible that they, in their race to follow catwalk fashions, have forgotten the importance of expressing one's own individuality when dressing well? 

Let me know what you think.

The Sartorialist

Photo The Italian Cut (I think)

The Sartorialist

The Sartorialist

The Sartorialist

The Sartorialist

Be inspired by the well-dressed man

In arriving at our own fashion tastes we are inevitably influenced by a wide variety of experiences.  In a future post I will talk about the contributions to a sense of style of close relatives and friends.  Here I acknowledge the influence of famous people, living and dead, whose pictures we see in magazines, newspapers and on-line.

James Stewart

To me, one thing unites the men in these pictures.  They all look totally at ease, often while dressed quite formally.  What makes them look so comfortable in their clothes?  I wish I knew, but I'm going to guess that they all enjoy dressing well, they are totally confident in themselves and know what they like, they choose their own clothes and take an interest in them.

They are all dressed in a classical fashion and wear the clothes without any sense of self-consciousness - quite unlike many male models or men photographed in street style blogs who often appear overwhelmed by the clothes they are wearing.

Can we find inspiration here to help in our search for style in how we dress?  What do you think?  What gives a man an outstanding dress sense?

Edward, Prince of Wales

Cary Grant

Steve McQueen

Charles, Prince of Wales

David Beckham

Vintage wrist watches - Omega Speedmaster - history and technology

My love of watches was sparked in the early seventies when, as a schoolboy, I had a few weeks work experience at a lawyer's offices.  One of the people I worked with wore an Omega Speedmaster Professional chronograph.  I recall his showing it to me and telling me how this model was worn by astronauts on the Apollo programme.

Grey Fox photo

An Omega Speedmaster played a vital role in timing the re-entry engine burn that enabled Apollo XIII to return safely to Earth after the near-fatal explosion on board.  The Speedmaster was also the only watch worn on the surface of the Moon.  It has been used in space from the mid-sixties through to the days of the Space Shuttle.

It was many years before I owned by own Speedmaster.  I have owned, worn and sold several , but my favourite is a 1968 model identical to that worn by the Apollo astronauts.  As with other aspects of my taste in clothes and possessions  (see for example my Nigel Cabourn Tenzing jacket), the history and tradition represented by an object plays a major part in my choosing it.  The Speedmaster is a lovely watch and is a genuine tool watch - robust and beautifully made.

Photo courtesy of Ming

Spot the Speedmasters in these photos below (courtesy of NASA and the Russian Space programme).

Neil Armstrong wears a Speedmaster during training

On the Moon

Leather buttons - how our memories influence our tastes in style and fashion as we age

A sense of style, fashion or taste is inevitably bound up with childhood memories.  I remember being fascinated as a small child by the leather buttons on adults' tweed coats and jackets.  This memory has stayed with me and has no doubt influenced my taste in clothes as I've moved into middle age.

Grey Fox photo

I have always wondered how such buttons are made and was about to get out my Swiss Army knife to take one apart (in true boyish style) when I thought it might be less destructive to use Google to find the answer.  It appears that the genuine articles are braided from leather thongs.  Here a link to some instructions should you wish to make your own!  Unfortunately many are now made from moulded or braided plastic.

My love of of tweed is enhanced by these wonderful buttons, sometimes called football buttons because they resemble an old-fashioned stitched leather football.  I have seldom seen them used with any  fabric other than tweed, although they are used on Aran knitted woollen clothing.

I recently bought a vintage Harris Tweed coat with huge leather buttons about 3cm in diameter with leather shanks, similar to those on the coat below containing both Audrey Hepburn AND Mel Ferrer.  The buttons are thick and generously domed, unlike newer buttons which have thin metal shanks and are much slimmer in profile.  

Grey Fox photo

Keep out the chill with classic tweeds

There was a time when I would reach for the Gore-Tex, fleece and gilet with the onset of cold weather. In the search for something a little different I sought inspiration from the more traditional clothing worn in the past by those pursuing sport and adventure in snow and ice or or on cold, windy moorlands. Here are pictures that inspired me.

Mallory and Irvine prepare for Everest 1924
courtesy of National Geographic

I've already mentioned tweed, and my first purchase at the beginning of this quest for a personal style was a Nigel Cabourn Tenzing jacket, named obviously after Tenzing Norgay, who climbed Everest in 1952 with Edmund Hillary. (It now seems to be called the Mallory jacket, after George Mallory, pictured top, second from left, before his death with Sandy Irvine, top left, on Everest in 1924).

From Nigel Cabourn

Below I am wearing the jacket on a very chilly December day, walking the dog in the local park. I have never felt cold in this jacket (layered up with woolly jumpers), it is reasonably windproof and the Ventile shoulder patches make if at least showerproof. Tweed wears more comfortably than artificial materials and is silent to wear - no swishing with every movement. I also like it because it is a natural material, why not take environmental issues into account when dressing?

It is difficult to forget the British sporting tradition behind tweed, an added attraction for me. Maybe it looks a little different and more stylish than a warm anorak?

So busy posing I haven't noticed incoming, but at least the jacket is snowball-proof......

Colour combinations - blue and brown

Being at the start of a journey towards middle-aged style I still come across colour combinations which are totally new to me.  I found these photographs recently of blue and brown partnerships which struck me as remarkably successful.

From The Sartorialist

Chocolate knitted tie

I love knitted ties and the search is on for the right shade of brown and a suitable cornflower blue shirt with which to wear it!

Grey or gray? Providing a framework for colour

One day, if this blog ever had any more readers than Grey Fox himself and his nearest and dearest, the question will be asked by a reader from across the Pond whether Grey Fox can spell.  Firstly, I would welcome any such readers.  I would then say that grey is how we spell the word over here in the Old Country, so I am sticking with it.

But grey is a very useful colour for a man seeking fashion and style in middle age.  It goes with, and provides a framework for, brighter colours.  Traditionally we wear a grey suit and coloured shirt, rather than vice versa, and this traditional approach is one I favour to feel comfortable.

I love grey tweed.  As a classic it can be worn at any age; we cannot see the age of the men wearing these jackets, but the effect is the same whatever the age of the wearer - calm good taste.

Tweed

Some seven or eight years ago, full of nostalgia for a jacket a loving grandmother bought me as a small boy in the early sixties, I bought a Harris Tweed jacket. I saw it as another brick in the wall of middle age, but loved the colours and feel of the fabric and its robust practicality. Now, of course, Harris Tweed is the stuff of legend, used in every self-respecting fashion designer's collection.

One dictionary I looked at defines the adjective "tweedy" as;
"accustomed to, preferring, or characterized by the wearing of tweeds, as in genteel country life or academia: a large and tweedy colony of civil servants and government officials".
Clearly that definition needs to be revised.

Recent years have seen a welcome increase in tweed's popularity and a resurgence of the Harris Tweed industry in the Outer Hebrides. A classic has been revived. True to the theme of resorting to wearing classics in middle age, I have added to my tweedy collection over recent months and I will return to the subject of this remarkable material very soon.

Where are all the blogs about fashion and the older man?

Before starting this blog I searched for what I assumed would be scores of blogs with an interest in men's fashion and style in middle age.  Maybe this is a reflection on poor internet search skills, but I found nothing, although I'm sure they are out there somewhere.

Does this mean that we men are all too busy to get involved in blogging, or have no interest in this topic, or that most of us are perfectly happy with our fashion and style lot?

A stunning picture from Advanced Style

One of the best blogs I have found is Advanced Style which is packed full of elegant and beautiful women, many of whom are old enough to be my mother.  There are many similar blogs catering for women (see here for example) but I am still looking for blogs looking at style and fashion in the older man.

If anyone knows of similar blogs discussing style and fashion for the older male of the species please let me know.

So what have I learned so far?

There's a fine line to be trodden between being a poseur and being subtly stylish.  Early on I realised that sticking with classics is a good approach.  For example, a man cannot go wrong with a pair of brogues.  This is an image that I liked -

I took this shot below of my own brogues last year, early on in my search for something to replace the anonymous shoes I was wearing.  A classic design, brogues work well with formal or casual wear and, for the man of mature years, are preferable to a pair of battered trainers (I'm at the age where I feel that trainers should be used exclusively for the purpose they were designed - sport!)

Middle-age man seeks style and inspiration

I have had a passing interest in style and design for as long as I can remember.  My parents were artistic and obsessional collectors of antiques.  My mother loved clothes and I remember leafing through her copies of Vogue in the sixties and seventies (in those days there was a Men in Vogue section) - I wish I still had them.

In my younger days buying clothes was easy - shops are full of styles for the younger man.  But, what to do with advancing middle age?  The three options are 1. to keep dressing in younger styles, 2. to go for a safe option or 3. to find a personal style that one feels comfortable with.  The last is the option I have chosen and it is the hardest.  This blog will show how I aim to develop a personal style that does not entirely depend on a youth-obsessed fashion market.

From The Sartorialist

A year ago I found The Sartorialist and should acknowledge the influence Scott Schuman's blog has had on my developing search for personal style.  Above and below are some of the photos that made me begin to appreciate the possibility of a stylish middle age.

Please note that these pictures were taken by Scott Schuman  http://www.thesartorialist.com/  - many thanks to him for influencing the first steps of this journey.

From The Sartorialist

From The Sartorialist

From The Sartorialist