Role Model

[Guest]

Gentlemen,

I'm a novice still trying to develop an eye for proportion and style, and I've found the photos (both vintage and modern) posted here invaluable. Unfortunately, due to my inexperience, I often have trouble applying what I see to my own wardrobe. Over time I expect to be able to look at a photo or a garment and be able to understand what will work for me and how I should adjust things to fit my own physique.

Most of the gentlemen I see held up as exemplars of elegance are also enviably slim, and many are also shorter than I am (184cm). Those who are tall are taller (I'm thinking of Cooper and Grant) and built like rowers rather than rugby players. While I admit to carrying an unwanted stone or so at the moment, even in fighting trim I'm still a cruiserweight with broad hips to match broad shoulders. I'm certain dandified elegance is beyond me, but I strive to be well dressed. I'd like to see photographs of someone more Watson than Holmes in order to help develop an eye for what might work for me. Any suggestions of gentlemen who might fit the bill?

drifting

[Guest]

Great question. Not so easy to think of men with such a build known for infallible taste in dress, but some ideas occur. From the '30s period, there's Adolph Menjou, a stocky fellow of famously bespoke habits. Grant from the mid-'50s was hardly thin--though he looked like a fit middle-aged mesomorph--so his later movies might offer some ideas (he was only an inch taller than you are at 6' 1.5") Gable was 6'1" and another mesomorph. Connery had a footballer's legs, though 6'2" in his prime, as was Patrick McGoohan. Gabriel Byrne is 5'11" and often dresses well, as does George Clooney at the same height. I thiink of "rugbyish" men with presence, such as Alan Bates and Oliver Reed, but whose dress doesn't stand out in my mind. You may already have seen the discussion of body type and its relation to tailored silhouette in Flusser's _Dressing the Man_; if not it's a good place to start. It often seems to me that the ratio of body and face height to width at key points counts more than absolute height; so you might find ideas among taller and shorter men who are proportioned similarly to yourself. James Cagney for one looked very good on occasion, when not playing "sharp." If you are/become a member of the forum, you might look at some of the elegant ensembles put together by Cuffthis in the members' photojournal.
I'll look forward to following other members' suggestions here. Good luck.