Gentlemen

My love for men's fashion certainly began with my dad. As a child he teached me everything about being elegant, how to be a real gentleman. Throughout his wardrobe and his books I learnt a lot but it was definitely by watching his favorite movies that I came to understand (or hope so) what fashion is for men.

Last summer I found a book which is a real goldmine from a cinematographic and sartorial point of view. I am speaking about Leading Men by Julie Welch, a treasure gathering the most beautiful pictures of the actors who made the History of cinema : from Rudolph Valentino to Gary Cooper, without forgetting Peter O'Toole and Jeremy Irons.

Looking at these photos I realized how much in men's fashion the lifestyle concept was much more present than in women's fashion. If in her book Julie Welch stresses on the style of each actor, she always does it keeping in mind the type of masculinity each one embodied and the type of life they lived. It doesn't matter if they were wearing brands or not because what we remember about them is their attitude, their style. Not that aesthetic doesn't matter, remember actors like Marlon Brando and James Dean whose style marked a whole generation, but what definitely stayed in our mind about them is a hairstyle, a glance, a pose. So it made me realize that clothes are not here to make men more attractive, but they are actually here to strengthen their attitude.

Marlon Brando

James Dean

                                                                                                            

Some days ago I was chatting with a stylist friend. He was telling me that he prefered much more designing women collections than men's one because according to him men's fashion has less fantasy. I agree with him when this fashion is on the runways. During fashion shows you only see a type of men on the catwalks (just like during women fashion shows at the end), some Ken that have more or less the same appearance. So after seeing 50 Ken with an Apollo like body, it is true that men's fashion looks a little bit boring. For me it is just like they took off  personality and charm to the male models, so consequently I hardly find interesting what they wear. I am much more thrilled when I see men's fashion on the street, this is there that you realize that it is actually entertaining. Everything is on the detail: a necktie, some socks, a shirt with a particular color and pattern, a hat worn in an original way...no, men's fashion are definitely nothing to do with boredom when on the street. Add to all these details the right attitude and you will have your perfect gentleman.

The blogger Dapper Lou

The journalist Angelo Flaccavento

Lapo Elkan

From Rudolph Valentino to Justin O'shea, there is a huge difference of time, lifestyle and habits but still is the attitude. And sometimes (I would even say more often than I think) I admit being jealous of the men wardrobe. During The Oscar or the Festival of Cannes photographers make every effort to show us the beauty of the dresses of the actresses, forgetting the men on the pretext that wearing a suit has nothing original. But this is not the suit you have to look, but the man in its whole !

Justin O'Shea

To be a gentleman, a nice wardrobe isn't enough, you have to add the right amount of charm and lifestyle and voilà ! 

And  you what do you think ?

Shug Avery
(All the photos were taken on Google Image)