Probably the greatest couturier of all time, in the photo the late Yves St. Laurent shows the rest of us how not to dress. His clothes are too perfect, too coordinated, and trying too obviously hard.
It cannot be said too many times that the essence of a man's dress is that it should not look as though he spent time thinking about it. Every ensemble needs a note of discord, or a sloppiness of some kind, and on this day at least St. Laurent lacked that bit of grace. His shirt picks up gray in the jacket and in the trousers and his tie and square pick up the maroon of the jacket. Indeed, tie and square may actually match each other, though we can hope that the photograph is simply not picking up the differences. In the end one is led to suspect that he is wearing maroon shoes.
Change a couple of items to related but different colors and textures, perhaps a black knit necktie and a dark silk paisley square, and the man would look a lot less posed and a lot better dressed. His shoes should be tan, or something equally uncoordinated.
It takes time to look as though a man spent no time on his clothes.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Trying Too Hard
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20 comments:
i agree very 70's. i have a brown tie like that, it's imposible to match with anything.
He does look over coordinated to say the least. The jacket and trousers are fine. he could have done alot more to look more natural.
I am of mixed feelings about this posting. One the one hand his clothing is too rigid and structured and the overall look is very 70s. On the other hand, in context, and compared with what so many men were wearing during that decade, this man's dress might stand in relief.
mhampton
Aside from the pocket square-tie near-match, he looks dashing. He certainly does not hurt the eyes. The look is somewhat monotone, but that goes with his low contrast complexion.
Half Italian flair, half English propriety, all French, non?
Ahh dandiacal, should we not compare ourselves to the best, rather than the worst?
Will, helpful tips on changing elements. (The frame of the glasses and leather on the wrist watch seem to match color as well). How does this example harmonize with the singular post on all blue, albeit that underscored different shades. Is that the point? One or two color (not counting shoes) dress can convey degage provided the shade or tint is different?
I beg to differ. I believe the photo does not do justice to the ensemble.
I think if we had a full body photograph, it would make a difference.
For example, what look like denim pants would a nice texture contrast with the jacket.
Also, the bracelet and watch would be a lot more prominent.
Lastly, the trademark glasses add to the look.
Personally, I would take a thing or two off, but well thats me.
I think this look is YSL and it's certainly unfair to say that he's trying too hard.
:-)
Agreed. I also don't like the fold of his square nor the flashy bracelet. And French cuffs with an odd jacket are dubious.
If not degage, JC, one or two color dress has simplicity and doesn't imply that the wearer studied what he intended to wear. All St. Laurent's matching is, for me, too obvious.
My impression is that there might be a cultural element is this discussion. The idea that there must be an element of sloppiness and randomness in man's out fit, to which I subscribe too, might stem from the English-derived maxim that a man must not care too much about his appearance - or at least appear as if he doesn't, even if dressed in style. This might be related to the traditional English male's horror of being perceived in any way as feminised. Judging from my time living in France, this rule is much less dominant in stylish urban France, and this sort of over-coordination appeared to be much less of a faux pas. Whilst it is difficult to judge such a stylish man as YSL from a photo with the potential distortions the lighting can produce, I would agree that it looks a bit staged. His glasses are definitely a trademark. There is one exception to the above rule though: White tie always should look perfect without any randomness, and the disastrous attempts by a few Italian designers in the 1970s with the red-brocaded variation and other aberrations were simply a catastrophe, or only good for a circus performance.
This reminds me of your critique of Al Pacino in Ocean's 13. Fixing this and that would lead to a truly perfect look. Though I think with Pacino the problem was being to gaudy.
I think the comment of St Laurent "trying too hard" is unwarranted. After all, fashion was the man's business, so he probably did have the flair and the attention to detail to find just the right matches for whatever he was wearing. Not that a fashion designer can do no wrong sartorially (i.e., Karl Lagerfeld is hideously dressed to me), but you're critiquing a 70s style through 21st century lenses; comparing apples to oranges, I believe.
sincerely, i like it. the pose, the hair, the glasses, rings. he is even smoking i think.
maybe a change of tie or shirt. but it's very brown overall.
Different time and place, as commented.
I take your point on discord Will but to intentionally set out to achieve that is an affectation of the highest order.
I think it's a fine look for its time. A severity and focus that's achieved by studied matching and structure disciplining the inherent casualness of the components. An early example of what was to become "business casual".
Traditionally, sprezzatura is conceived of as best expressed within the context of a business suit, a la Gianni Agnelli. YSL is illustrating its mirror image or antithesis: power expressed through discipline imposed on chaos.
With the steady demise of the business suit, we need to experiment with ways of assembling a businesslike look from an ever expanding universe of casual elements.
As usual, YSL was well ahead of his time.
It cannot be said too many times that the essence of a man's dress is that it should not look as though he spent time thinking about it.
Says the man who celebrates "Straw Hat Day" and "Tweed Season" and wears a suit for a trip to the car wash.
B, the world would be a far better place if more people dressed to go to the car wash...
A bit too coordinated, yes, but the jewelry should be eliminated, first and foremost...
I think Adolph Menjou was too studied. All of his attire looked superb-was well made and tasty. It just looked to perfect-too contrived.
Aren't you trying too hard by not trying to hard?
B...not sure if your paragraphs were intended to apply to one another? Personally I can see no link.
CG said... sorry to disagree but if you'd seen that lady in front of me yesterday I'm confident you'd agree fewer people dressing to go to the car would be most pleasant!
Gabe... Without question, yes.
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