Paul Stuart Phineas Cole Spring 2011

A year ago, my fellow columnist Stephen Pulvirent wrote an interesting piece about Phineas Cole, the fictional ‘errant son’ of the Paul Stuart brand; a jet-setting dandy with a penchant for plaid ties, unmatched pocket squares and loud(ish) suits.

A year on and young Phineas is still as delightfully affected and alternative. The new spring collection (pictured above) is a powerful advancement of arguments for pattern mixing, colour variation and avoiding dullness in suiting.

I recently indicated in an article, an abidance of my own ‘pattern triangle’; patterning no more than two items in the ‘Holy Trinity’ – shirt, tie and pocket square. Cole dumps such fearful thinking in the wastebasket with aplomb. Stripes, checks, paisley – a spice mix of incredible variety. The refreshing thing about him is that he flies in the face of modern ‘fashionable caution’ – a trend that has seen men restrict their wardrobes to plain navy neckties, white linen pocket squares and mid-blue shirts. He is all that is professional and personable about contemporary attire with the added raffishness and creativity of a ‘green carnation’ dandy.

There is a nod to Edwardian formality in the white double-breasted waistcoat look which, as an ensemble, is decidedly out of place; instead of the winking, knowing, Martini-olive-stick chewing nattishness of the others, young Phineas is restrained, conservative and curiously ceremonial – one assumes he is attending a serious, uptown matrimonial function and is being forced to downplay the jazz. Apart from the odd few plain examples, the spring lookbook is a stripe and window-check frenzy, an orgy of pattern; you can imagine such a man rushing into his tailor in January with a Dean & Deluca coffee, driven to unattractive irritation by the awful persistence of winter, demanding swatches of purple plaids.

As an example of having fun with serious clothing, there are few better. The looks are colourful, inventive and artistic but still elegant, presentable and aesthetically logical. The only problem is that such men are rarely taken seriously; Phineas would have a hard time convincing sourpuss venture capitalists that he has a cause other than himself, a calling higher than simply ‘having fun.’ Cole is memorable, certainly and utterly charming but universally liked? Respected as well as loved? It’s difficult to say.

To my eye, the look is still that of a well-dressed boulevardier, in command of colours and cut and wonderfully oblivious to the coughs of derision from elders and betters but to many, he is the personification of an overworked aesthetic fantasy.

Sartorial Love/Hate: The T-Shirt And Scarf

One of the favourite pastimes of the English is to mock those we consider, euphemistically speaking, ‘inappropriately attired.’ This ranges from light taunting and regional stereotyping to harsher critiques about upbringing and class; though it is all perceived to be harmless – considering the superficiality of dress – the latter provokes tension and discomfort and can sometimes be unfairly discriminatory.

The former type, thankfully, is more of a widely accepted and much-smiled-upon national sport. A classic example is that of Englishmen from the (generally colder) north chuckling with derision at ‘southern softies’ in their October overcoats; the ‘softies’ respond in kind, ridiculing their goosepimpled, t-shirted accusers.

Despite this divide, I am convinced some of the, supposedly desirable, ‘northern hardness’ has worn off on the softies of the south, albeit in a peculiar and paradoxical way; in the freeze of November, December and January – when I could be found stamping my feet on the Strand, trussed up in an overcoat, scarf, gloves and usually a felt hat – a few of these contradictory examples would pass wearing a pair of trousers, shoes, a deep V t-shirt and a chunky scarf.

No overcoat, no jacket, not even a cardigan. Their hands, rigid with cold, were plunged deep in their trouser pockets and they walked in that fast-paced manner that attempts to convey a lack of urgency, much like that of a Hitchcockian criminal wishing to flee the scene without blowing cover. They were clearly uncomfortable, and yet the weather was no mystery; it had been cold for some time and these gentlemen were not Twistian scamps unable to scratch together the required cobble for a covert coat.

Their necks were warmly ensconced but their arms were exposed. It was bizarre and yet when I relayed the story to a fashion-forward acquaintance, he simply remarked that he wished he had the arms to ‘pull if off.’ It was another case of sartorial love/hate.

Logically, the combination is ludicrous. A scarf is no replacement for an overcoat. The chaps may have been challenged by the prospect of leaving their coats in the cloakrooms of the night’s venues; after all, a sweaty dancefloor with sticky drinks is no place for a Chesterfield coat. The problem with that is that it is no place for a chunky scarf either.

Aesthetically it looks strange because it is always illogical; why would a big, buff hard man not need a coat but need a scarf for his precious neck? I can understand his desire to show off the results of hard work in the gym but the overall image is not of a gruff hard man who can take whatever the elements throw at him but simply a muscled metrosexual who needs the same creature comforts as the rest of us.

An Alternative View of Style

This is a slightly different article to the one I’d intended to write. Originally I was going to highlight a rather unfortunate, and extremely irritating, problem with new online retailer Mr Porter. However, on the brink of having to take them to Court they did what they should have done in the first place and all is now well. Come on guys. It was a credit to a photo, I wasn’t asking you to splice DNA together!

But it got me thinking. We frequently talk about style on this website, and attempt to define it. So many people, media folk and retailers bandy about the word ‘style’ as though merely saying it often enough made it so. Slick expensive advertising campaigns mean nothing to me. A retailer may stock some beautiful clothes but its ‘all the gear, no idea’ if they can’t conduct themselves in a manner that matches the rhetoric.

I’m sure we’re all familiar with the famous quote by Mark Twain that “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society”. No pun intended, but Twain was very wide off the mark.

When British actor, raconteur and man of style David Niven died the porters of Heathrow Airport sent a wreath of flowers to his funeral. Attached was a note that read:

“To the finest gentleman who ever walked through these hall’s. He made a porter feel like a king”.

True style is as much about behaviour, or attitude, as it is the clothes you wear. Some of the most unpleasant people I’ve ever encountered had wonderful tailors. Take, for example, the famous photo above of Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra arriving at Heathrow Airport. I’m sure we agree both men look suburb, and their talent, exploits and dress are celebrated. They are adored, and both are regarded as icons of style. But by all accounts Frank Sinatra had a fierce temper and would frequently threaten hotel porters and the like with a visit from his gangster mates when displeased. Conversely, Dean Martin - that womanising drunk we all know and love - drank apple juice on stage and slipped away from parties early to watch TV in his bedroom, like the happily married and faithful man he was. Changes the nature of that picture doesn’t it. Well it does for me; one has style the other is merely a pretender.

Too often when we talk about ‘style’ our terms of reference hone in on the kit and that alone. It is an affliction shared by individuals, magazines and retailers alike. That’s why, for example, I’d rather read The Rake magazine over GQ, or shop at an independent retailer.

Last week I visited Erlend at Stephan Shirt’s. He really is a lovely man of infinite good grace, for whom nothing is too much trouble. Everybody who comes in is made to feel special and treated with the utmost care and attention. I’ve recommended him to friends and they all share that opinion. For me a visit to Stephan Shirts is a pleasant hour spent discussing men’s clothing and world affairs. Something similar could be said of Nino Santoro and his sister Angelica at Nino’s Shirts. Such things are easier for bricks and mortar businesses, but online retailers could certainly take a leaf out of Adrian Herring’s book at Herring Shoes. He, for example, likes to handle complaints and queries personally, despite selling shoes all over the World. Each pair of shoes is cleaned before posting and arrives complete with complementary shoe horn, bags and polish. People who care about people, selling beautiful things fairly priced. The way it should be done.

I suppose what I’m saying is that in my view ‘style’ is and must be the tangible and intangible; and it isn’t something you can buy, sell or fake.

Teach Your Children Well

Last week my five-year-old son asked my wife why we did not dress him in “nice” clothes. Bear in mind that much of his wardrobe is a miniaturized version of my more casual attire. For school he wears blue jeans with sweaters or simple solid-colored polo shirts. Over that he may wear a navy pea coat, a waxed cotton jacket or a bright yellow rain slicker. At church he might be seen in navy blue pants, a white dress shirt, gray cardigan and red, white and blue bow tie. So why does my son think I am depriving him of “nice” clothes? Apparently the kindergarten definition of “nice” involves t-shirts emblazoned with the latest logos from popular culture. It is also apparent that my son is feeling some pressure to conform his dress to that of his peers.

In most retail stores it is surprisingly difficult to find boys’ clothing that is devoid of decoration. It seems that every shirt is embellished with a bulldozer, a football, a rocket, a dinosaur or a pirate. Somehow, more than thirty years later, Star Wars remains a popular theme. There are t-shirts for Spider Man and Sponge Bob and countless other cartoons of which I am either too old or too out-of-touch to even be aware.

So do stores sell these embellished clothes because that is what parents want to buy for their kids? Is this driven by demand? Or do parents just dress their kids in these clothes because that’s what’s available at the local store? In this regard I wonder which came first, the chicken or the egg.

As you may have gathered, I am not a fan of logo-emblazoned children’s clothing. Our society is infected with a sloppy, lazy attitude towards dress. That attitude is being reinforced in the next generation. Habits are learned young. I, for one, do not want to one day find a picture of my son on the pages of People of Walmart wearing tattered jean shorts or a t-shirt that says “disease free” with an arrow pointed at his genitals.

Notes from Rome Part 3

This post represents the last of my notes from Rome. Things which work well in one locality don’t always travel well to work in another – just ask anybody who’s brought back a pair of cowboy boots from the US. Nevertheless, they can get you thinking in the right direction.

Things to consider and lessons to learn:

Trainer Shoes

I expected to see plenty of elegant slim welted Blake Stitched leather shoes when in Rome. Not a bit of it. It seems Italians know the limitations of Blake Stitched shoes for wet weather as well as the rest of us do. And so they pick entirely practical options with rubber soles. These came in two forms; by far the most popular is the trainer shoe – as pictured above. This half-breed footwear is one I’ve warmed to in recent years. More practical for lengthy periods of ankle work than straight shoes, but substantially more elegant than trainers and luggers. The other shoe type to be found was chukka boots, again with heavy duty Dainite Rubber soles. However, in each case the preferred material for the upper was suede, even in wet weather. Brave fellows.

Simple Colour Pallet

The prevalence of suede footwear fitted very well with the reserved colour pallet that most men exhibited; the suede being used to add texture and interest. Black, Navy and Beige – particularly in the trousering department were the colours adopted – not a lot of grey surprisingly.

Although entirely in keeping with the season, it’s not a colour pallet to excite the imagination. However, the clever mixing of texture within this limited colour range provided depth and interest. So a black shiny synthetic puffa jacket might be paired with beige moleskin jeans and brown or black suede trainer shoes. There is elegance in simplicity, and that is the fundamental lesson here.

They Know The Value of Scarves

It seems curious that a peoples’ of the Mediterranean should show the greatest appreciation for scarves. The chap pictured above is typical of what I found and saw. Take a very simple colour pallet and use the scarf to add an additional note, breaking up the monotony and effectively providing your personal style cue.

Fur Collars

I’m a fairly open minded sort, but you’ll never convince me that what my wardrobe needs is the odd fur collar. But the Roman’s wore them prolifically and so they credit a mention at least.

Layering and The Appearance of Layering

I’m a big fan of layering clothes, it’s almost an obsession. The Italians are masters at it, so it is not surprising that they’ve taken it to a different level. Whatever your size the one disadvantage of layering clothes is that, while you’re adding depth and texture you’re also adding bulk, which can thicken or straighten your silhouette. This is true no matter what size or shape you are.

The Italians have worked around this by creating jackets with zipped inlays (as demonstrated by the chap in the Photo, Adrian Holdsworth of London’s Volpe). This creates the illusion of layering without the bulk.

And there in a nutshell is my weekend in Rome – minus the hangovers.