Windows on a Designer’s Mind

Window dressing performs a very different function in men’s and women’s clothing stores. In a women’s shop, its primary purpose is to showcase items that the store contains. It seeks to shows that its pieces are attractive and possibly unique.

This is not the purpose of a display in a men’s store. While there may be one or two items that attract you for their originality, the pieces will generally be too similar to those on offer in other stores to stand out entirely. Rather, it is there to display the creative intelligence of the men who designed the clothes and the brand.

The clothes are being bought for their cloth and their cut; for the subtle things that make one blue blazer infinitely preferable to another. The fact that the clothes inside excel in these areas is best displayed through the colour and texture combinations in the window. It is this that should take you inside.

Inditex, the Spanish group that owns Massimo Dutti, Zara, Pull & Bear and others, understands this all to well. No matter what the quality of Zara clothes may be, the central planners at Inditex HQ make sure that you are lured inside by the combinations, even if they are a pretty stark variation on black suits, white shirts and skinny ties.

Massimo Dutti is even better. Consciously aiming for an older audience, its Mediterranean colours and linen combinations in the summer are almost inspiring. I’ve often felt forced to record some particular detail (green silk with a tan linen suit, a purple handkerchief with a blue blazer) that I would otherwise forget and never remember to use myself.

Ralph Lauren is of course a past master at this, and staff often refer to the detailed descriptions they are given of how to dress mannequins, both inside and outside the store. (It’s all about the pop colout!) By contrast, Armani windows are often startlingly bland. They persist in using almost two-dimensional mannequins, which the suits hang off rather than drape. Anyone who has been forced to put a suit jacket on a wire hanger will be able to imagine the unflattering effect.

Armani mannequins also seem to be uniformly grey, no matter what the season. And as with many other bad window dressers, they consider it needless to keep ties done up, let alone taut.

But let’s concentrate on the good dressers. Hackett is often very good, and this season features ingenious combinations of Safari-themed outfits – a buff, linen, double-breasted waistcoat with a grey suit, for example. In New York, Bergdorf Goodman rarely puts a foot wrong, and it’s worth the trip uptown just to browse the windows. Doriani is also very good – as the double-breasted blazer opposite demonstrates.

In fact, this picture is a perfect example. All the items are plain, basic, classic. But the combination is exciting. It’s not that unusual; you may have seen something similar before, or feel you should have done. But the beautiful sculpture of it ushers you inside, convinced that everything the store sells will be of the best cloth and cut. It is creative intelligence on display.

P.S. Plaudits also for Domenico Vacca in New York, which seems to accentuate the beauty of already lovely shoes by tucking a different coloured sock or tie inside each. How the accent of lime-green sock brings out a chestnut oxford I don’t know, but it works.

One Thing: The Polo Shirt

Polo shirts are the cornerstone of any classic warm weather wardrobe and have been so for generations. Though when they hear “polo” shirt most people think Polo™ shirt, the first truly branded version was developed in 1929 for tennis legend Rene’ “The Alligator” Lacoste.

Lacoste wanted a comfortable shirt to replace the traditional, but totally impractical dress shirt and tie worn by tennis players at the time. In doing so, he unwittingly produced one of the most versatile warm weather shirts ever. Whether tagged with a little reptile or tiny horseman, the polo shirt belongs in your summer rotation.

I would suggest that the polo shirt is in fact one of the great sartorial innovations of the last few generations. With its unique ability to straddle the elusive line between casual and formal, the classic polo can carry you from the office to the country club with little stress. In today’s corporate casual world, day to day office wear can be a challenge and while I do not suggest that a knit polo shirt is right for every occasion, when paired with a sharp outfit you should be good to go.

Khakis are a traditional choice and usually fine for most situations. Just ensure that you do not pull on the going-to-pick-up-a-can-of-paint pants. Opt for a nice pair of khakis in fine cotton – the ones constructed like dress pants. Keep it less stuffy with clean boat shoes or penny loafers and a woven leather or ribbon belt.

For a more business feel, try a dressy belt with a silver monogrammed buckle, blue blazer and high grade slip-ins from Ben Silver. I’ve even seen a black polo paired with a pinstriped suit; very sharp in a George Clooney sort of way. Be careful with that one, not many men can actually pull it off.

Whatever look you’re trying to achieve, make sure to follow these simple guidelines to always be your best when sporting a polo shirt this summer. First, as always, ensure that the fit is right.

Avoid going too baggy, an annoying sin of the younger set. A trim fit across the shoulders – so the shirt’s shoulder seams actually land on your shoulder – should be your first goal. You don’t want any pulling or bunching, just a natural and comfortable fit.  The body of the shirt should lightly touch yours, but not pull or feel tight.

The sleeve should hit around mid-bicep and be fitted but not constricting. When un-tucked, your shirt should hang no lower than your hips. In no case should it cover your rear like some kind of mini skirt; that never looks good.

Regardless of how well it fits, when in the office, keep your shirt tucked in.

Even when you’re going for a younger look, say with modern jeans and some vintage shoes, a trim fit will keep everything looking fresh. Many designers have come out with slimmer fitting polo shirts, so make sure you try on several brands and see what feels best. And trim does not mean tight – unless you want it tight of course, which is another look altogether.

In my case Ralph Lauren shirts fit very well. The body, arms and length are just right. Still, I pine for a Lacoste polo but the cut is just too way slim for my build. I also have several Brooks Brothers shirts and they fit me well, but not as well as the Polo polos.

One of the best things about these versatile shirts is that they come in almost any color under the sun. Basic white to jet black; solid color or preppy stripe, you can find it.

They also happen to age very well. That really beat up old polo at the bottom of the shirt drawer - the one with the seriously frayed collar? It will look great at the clam bake with some faded khaki shorts and gin & tonic.

Balancing the Dandified and the Formal

Much of what a man considers appropriate or pleasant to wear is dependent on his circumstances and taste. But there are still rules or guidelines that can govern what he should wear. The key is to formulate a rule that includes the individual’s taste and circumstances into the equation – as a variable that is different for each man, if you will.

The best such rule is: A man should be as formal as the occasion requires, and as dandified as it allows.

This is a simple rule but more useful than one might think. It urges you to first consider what formality your day requires, and therefore ensures you never look out of place or overdressed. And then it suggests you consider what dandification (read flamboyance, peculiarities, sartorial quirks) it can bear, ensuring you are never bored by your outfit nor miss an opportunity to experiment.

It also, perhaps obviously, varies for any man in any context. If you feel that your age, seniority in the workplace or reputation affect how much dandification your day allows, this will become part of the equation.

Dandification itself is best considered to revere tradition, yet contain a persistent air of risk. To quote Nicholas Antongiavanni: “While often unusual, the dandified always follows the classic rules of dress, or else is based on a judicious breaking of those rules. It is never costume – not spats and ascots, but waistcoats and handkerchiefs. Yet there is always some risk in wearing what is dandified, unless you have so much reputation that a certain eccentricity, even extravagance, is taken to be your due.”

So how much risk does the occasion allow? That is another way to read the second half of this rule.

Another observation on dandification worth making is that, unlike formality, it is not reinforced by the presence of similar items. While there is some balance to be achieved in having, say, a slightly unusual belt in order to draw attention from rather unique shoes, most of the time striking garments achieve their greatest effect in subdued surroundings.

As hinted at in a previous posting on this site, Jeeves and Bertie Wooster are a good model for this formal/dandified balance. While much of what Bertie favours is over the top, you wouldn’t want to look like Jeeves all the time if you could help it. Despite Jeeves obviously being constrained by the proper uniform of a valet (a gentleman’s gentleman, as Jeeves would say), it seems unlikely that he breaks out in yellow checks and bright knitted ties when off duty.

“Therefore, a man cannot follow the predilections of Jeeves, lest he end up looking like an undertaker, nor can he in all things imitate Wooster without coming off like a riverboat gambler” (Antongiavanni). The same rule, in different words.

Three Summer Hats

Following on from the introductory article on the summer hat, I thought it only sensible to explore the topic a little further with some discussion on the summer hats themselves. This is by no means an exhaustive review. There are so many types of light summer hat available in classic and contemporary styles and colours and the examples of hat examined below will not appeal to everyone; however they are distinct enough to merit individual discussion.

The Straw Boater

First up for examination is the straw boater. The Henley classic, the boater is a style of hat rarely seen. It has a flat top and a flat brim and is made from a thick straw. To some it looks a little dated; the heyday for this youthful creation was the early half of the 20th century and since then it has been relegated to ‘ceremonial’ wear at regattas, Harrow School and by barbershop singers. It would take a brave and rather dandy-ish chap to adopt the boater for non-ceremonious occasions. Perhaps a man who favours the elegant clothing of the high-collared Edwardians would consider this a serious piece of headgear; it is a little out of sync with modern fashions.

Having said that it is a very natty design and a proper boater will have a large enough brim to keep you cool on rather too sunny a day. And if you are off to the polo, or the racetrack, the tennis championships or even a wedding, a boater is an excellent item to wear. The best way to wear it is a little jauntily in the spirit of Maurice Chevalier; a little smile and a good deal of bonhomie are the best accessories.

The Pork Pie

The ‘porky’ has experienced something of a renaissance recently. It was one of the designs that seemed to match so very well the avant garde collections of Dior Homme. It was famously worn by jazz musicians of the 1950s and ever since it has had those connotations. Jude Law wore one as jazz-loving Dickie Greenleaf in The Talented Mr Ripley and Pete Doherty, though not exactly a jazz fiend himself has often worn one in the same cocksure manner. Though some wear the pork pie hat like a boater, and others flat across the head, one of the most charming methods is to push the hat back on the head like an errant schoolboy, exposing your forehead and some locks of hair. This does, however, have the disadvantage of exposing your face to the sun.

The Summer ‘Bogart’

The summer ‘Bogart’ is rather a generalist term for any hat that happens to look rather Bogart-esque; like the summer version of something from one of his classic gumshoe films. Panamas would count in this category, particularly the Monte Cristi wide brims, Savannahs and Trilbies. This is the grandest and particularly the most user-friendly of the summer hats available to gentlemen. The Trilby is a little less grand than the wide brim, which in certain tones like berry red and black almost looks like an elegant cavalier chapeau; sans feather of course. The ‘folders’ – panamas that fold up, suitable for travel – are certainly practical but their conservative shape would probably appeal more to older men. The Savannah has a flatter brim and though created as a hat for gentlemen has good popularity among women but the timeless colonial design still looks marvellous on gentlemen of all ages. This style of hat is appropriate with anything from casual cardigans and shorts to three-piece linen suits. I wear a wide brim slightly cocked to the side for a little brushstroke of ‘character.’

Embracing the Summer Hat

As much a part of summer as cocktails on the lawn, afternoon walks in the shade of the trees and sandy slumbers on the shore, the summer hat is an object of reassuring majesty. For what is chiefly a season of disrobing; a period in which we dress sparingly to preserve comfort, the hat can be an accessory of practical elegance. When the sun beats down brutally, and there are few moments of respite from such oppressive heat, the hat is by far the best thing to wear. Sun umbrellas, though certainly elegant and fit for a lady, are not the sort of thing for the beau boulevardier; they are apparatus, awkward and contrived. The only serious thing to guard against sunstroke, sunburn and unattractive squinting is a good hat with a generous brim.

Though hats are certainly much more popular in the summer months, undoubtedly for the reasons I have advanced, they are still rarely seen. For some, there is an uncomfortable stigma to wearing a proper hat; it is an event, a special occurrence: “Should I wear the new panama today? It’s a bit showy”; “Don’t wear your hat; we’re only going to my mother’s.” This sense of preservation and ceremony only really serves to keep the poor old hat, and please excuse the droll pun, in the shade. Hat wearers are almost seen as eccentrics; as though the wisdom in donning one has long been exposed as superstition and antiquated irrationality. The remarkable thing about a hat such as a summer Borsalino is how much more grace and finish it provides to the wearer. It’s the coronet to the robes of glory; and a sensible summer essential.

I think the question of ‘which hat?’ is a tricky one. For one thing, hats can look magnificent on the shelf, and indeed on others, but they can look utterly wrong when you perch them on top of your own head. The reason for this is that hats are very distinctive; the way they appeal to you in form and shape, objectively, might not be concurrent with the effect you eventually produce. Therefore, it is important to try a good many hats on – for sizing and styling reasons. One man might have a romantic notion of owning a panama of a certain shape, but he might find that another shape or style suits him much better. I too have experienced disappointment with a style of hat that has appealed to me from the pages of a book or the perfectly formed window displays. It is very difficult to look good in all styles of hat, so it is best to accept your fortune when you find it; wider brims are better for those with wider faces and narrower brims, like pork pie hats, generally, look better with slimmer faces. Similarly, wide brim hats worn by those with narrow faces and shoulders tend to look a little odd, drowning the man and making him look rather juvenile and green.

Another important consideration is that, though Borsalino, Christys and Lock & Co make fabulous hats of outstanding quality, stylish and well-made hats can be picked up in less intimidating emporia. And if you discover a hat with a glorious shape and an excellent fit, do not despair if the band is of poor quality or unappealing; haberdashery stores sell good quality grosgrain ribbon and silk that can be fashioned into smart bands for hats very easily and inexpensively by a local tailor.