Photo: Mehdi Fedouach Tuesday saw the passing of Maurice Druon, French novelist and member of the Académie française. He was 91.
Druon was best known for his Les Rois Maudits series of historical novels published in the 1950s. More relevant to A Suitable Wardrobe readers, he was always impeccably dressed in a rare style that was perfectly French as well as perfectly appropriate. Note the cape over his vested double breasted.
Photo: Jean Novosseloff
Brown suit, brown monkstraps, blue shirt and a purple necktie worn in Paris, where a man is not reviled for this kind of city dress.
Photo: Getty ImagesWelcoming Vladimir Putin to France in a double breasted suit and a shirt with a contrast collar.
Au revoir mon ami.
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5 comments:
Thank you for sharing M. Druon. What style! And he exudes joie d’vie. A smile that lights up a room. It’s sad to see such a fine old gentleman leave us. And sadder yet as I know of no replacements.
Will,
This is not related specifically to this post, but you all your posts and to your great site in general. Because of this site, I have stopped subscribing to GQ Magazine. I never really liked the magazine all that well but, while there are lots of great books on clothes out there such as those by Allen Flusser, there is not much that you can read as a periodical. GQ was better than nothing, I felt.
Your web site is wonderful in that it gives people interested in men's clothing something substantial to read about specific items of clothing and how to put them together. In addition, you often feature the style of well dressed men as in today's post.
GQ seems to think that, to display men's clothing, they have to set up some sort of scene, such as having the models all running through streets at nite with machine guns or having the people wearing the clothes of interest as they are climbing on heavy equipment or some other stunt that has nothing to do with the idea of modeling clothes. In many cases, the lighting will be so poor or the models will be so far away that you can't see anything. Underneath, they may describe an article such as "wool suit, $600.00" or "leather shoes, $250.00." That tells the reader almost nothing!
I also don't agree with how they put things together, thinking that they have to put every strong pattern together in one outfit. Recently, I saw in GQ, a large houndstooth tweed sports jacket in brown and tan paired with a blue and white Bengal striped shirt. The shirt was a buttondown with collar buttons undone and a collar pin added. The necktie with this was a green and purple Madras check. All of this was over soft coral color cotton duck trousers. I can't remember if there was a pocket square or not; by the time I'd seen the rest, I had to turn the page. I think one would have to work at it to find a more outrageous combination.
Keep up the wonderful work. I love your site, and I know I have lots of company.
Steve
As a self-confessed cultural snob I must admit with
chagrin that I had never heard of Maurice Druon. Now I will read him.
And his style.... An Inverness Cape,a slouch hat, and do I detect a monocle dangling on the vest of this Immortel? Perfect.
There's more. He was in the Cavalry, the Resistance, and the nephew of a World War 1
pilot who also happened to be a memeber of
the Academie. For details See:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/apr/16/maurice-druon-obituary
You forgot his walking stick. Druon was fond of them.
I feel as if I've been introduced to an engaging character about 20 years too late
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