The Lion in Summer

This week, as anyone who isn't in a submersible at the bottom of Mariana's Trench must already know, we replace the Summer Olympics with the convention of America's Democratic Party. So it's only fitting that we celebrate the best-dressed Democrat, California's Willie Brown, seen here with Sonia Molodetskaya at last year's "farewell to summer" party in Napa, California.

Tan and white spectators, white trousers and what color is that jacket anyway?

Photograph courtesy of Drew Altizer Photography. © Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.

Best Dressed at the Concours d'Elegance

Best dressed automobile at the 2008 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance was this Best of Show 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta owned by Jon and Mary Shirley of Medina, Washington. One of only six privately commissioned Berlinettas, it won the first race at Watkins Glen in 1948.

Best dressed man at the event was Master of Ceremonies Ed Hermann. The actor stood out in a mustard linen suit and Optimo panama hat. There's no question about the choice in my mind as as I have the same suit and hat but I would never have thought to pair them as he did with a purple and white striped shirt and a purple necktie. Well done.

Ed Hermann photograph is copyright 2008 by Donovan Unks. All rights reserved.

Alfa Romeo photograph is copyright 2008 by Ron Kimball Studios. Used by permission of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. All rights reserved.

Best Dressed?

The September issue of Vanity Fair magazine weighs in with the 68th annual version of the International Best-Dressed List. As usual, it's a melange of well-dressed women (I like Charlotte Gainsbourg), publicity hungry celebs, and men that make you wonder who is selecting these people.

I mean, Count Manfredi Della Gherardesca looks fine and Gay Talese belongs but some of the men are wearing clothes that look like they came straight off the rack. Though that's a mere bagatelle next to Lapo Elkann's attention-seeking approach to dress.

In a way, it's surprising that the list isn't exclusively comprised of politicians, models and actors. If you think about it, they are about the only people that have a professional incentive to study themselves in order to fine-tune every aspect of their appearance, and hours of video they can watch in order to do so. Unfortunately, too many of them take the Elkann/Johnny Depp approach of wearing something calculated to attract as much publicity as possible.

In an era where there are few rules about situationally appropriate clothing, the criteria for best dressed are becoming schizophrenic. On the one hand there is classic style, where the ideal is the quiet blend that turns no heads. On the other are the costumes designed to generate attention. Give me a List of one or the other, but I don't think it's rational to include both.