In the film The Walker, costume designer Nic Ede has his lead, played by Woody Harrelson, escort the wives of some of Washington's powerful wearing double breasted suits with questionable shirt and tie combinations.
The drama is one of the few released in 2007 with a male actor in a role that might have displayed elegant dress. Unfortunately, Ede's white collar and cuff version of a ten year old monochromatic talk show look is no better than it was the first time around.
Now there's nothing out of line about dark red or lavendar shirts on a fellow playing the role of a male escort. But Harrelson's character would have demonstrated better clothes sense, in my opinion, with more spread to his collars, neckties that relegated the color of his shirt to a secondary element, and paisley pocket squares in unrelated colors.
11 comments:
Wall Street, A Month by the Lake, and American Psycho are the only films in the last twenty years that come to mind where the male actors look good. Otherwise you have to turn on AMC to get inspiration. Edward and Mrs. Simpson (the A&E series from late 70s) is one of the best ever I have seen for male classic elegance.
I must agree, Will. The shirt and tie combination make him look like a priest. And, is it just me, or does that collar make his head look really small? I can't tell if it's the white of the collar or the size. Perhaps his suit is too big for his shoulders?
While I have never seen A Month by the Lake, I must agree with John as to the dress in the other two movies he referenced.
I agree, Will. Spread collars would be a nice touch here. To my eye his collars are simply too big, or too pointed, for his face, as Turling pointed out. Something looks way off. Spread collars look best on that sort of facial structure, IMVHO. More colour diversity in his choice of tie is required, I think, too. As long as we are discussing movies about male escorts, what does everyone think about Richard Gere's wardrobe in American Gigolo? I am certainly not a fan of Armani, of course (I prefer the wardrobes in such cinematic features as Brideshead Revisited, Dead Poets Society, various Merchant-Ivory movies, etc.), but I think there was something compelling about Gere's suits in that film. What do you think?
I like the costume designs by Sarah Edmunds ("Michael Clayton" and "Devil's Advocate"), Theoni Aldredge ("The Great Gatsby") & Ann Roth ("The Talented Mr. Ripley").
"Edward and Mrs. Simpson." Thanks for the tip, it's in my Netflix cue now!
On balance, Hollywood seems to have done more damage in the last 30 years to the idea of how men should dress than not. Gone are the Golden Years of cinema. And the movie star.
Perhaps it's time to compile a list of sartorial standouts in film since the days of color?
Woody Harrelson's outfit does look tacky but maybe that is the way the costume designer wanted it. I have not seen the movie, but would be willing to bet Harrelson's character is a selfish playboy & his manner of dress reflects that.
Yes - The Great Gatsby was a sartorial treat. Forgot about that one.
Laguna - I never saw American Gigolo. I'll have to check it out. Also, I am not familiar with Merchant - Ivory movies. Have to do some research there as well.
Phineus - Not familiar with Michael Clayton. Another one for my list.
Will, Easy and Elegant Life has a great idea with the movies. Kind of along the lines of your 20 best men's books.
Will, my square arrived in today's mail. It is absolutely fantastic and there are plenty of ensembles I can wear it with. Thanks again very much.
Edward and Mrs. Simpson is excellent. One of my favourite writers, Simon Raven, wrote the script. I am inspired by these 'period piece' films.
Wes Anderson's films, including The Royal Tenenbaums and Rushmore, feature some Trad clothing elements. The character in TRB played by Luke Wilson wears what appears to be a 3-roll-2 camel hair sack sport coat throughout the movie. I read somewhere that Anderson frequents the tailor Mr. Ned in NYC; not sure if this is true.
I placed several of Will's excellent recommendations on men's clothing books on my list this season.
Laguna Beach - it turns out I have seen a Merchant - Ivory film and didn't realize it - Remains of the Day with Anthony Hopkins - I liked it very much particularly the dress of the actors. I came upon it by accident on HBO and I was pleasantly surprised. I'll have to take a look at some more. I am not a big movie person so not something I would have paid much attention to. But I would gather that the dress in these films would be good as you had mentioned in your post.
I notice there is no dimple in his tie knot. Maybe it's just my imagination, but I think I've been seeing this a lot more often lately on supposedly "fashionable" models, the dimple-less knot. I don't like it. It just screams out at me like an unbuttoned cuff or a missed belt loop would.
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