The London Lounge

A great lesson in style NJS. The pearl grey waistcoat is superb.

You frame the pose well to highlight the lovely lady.

Hope to see more.

Cheers

Yes, I'm with MA on this one. My eye goes first, and last, to the the woman, as it should. The waistcoat and bowtie are ideal yet are so in proportion to the whole composition which is all about the woman. True style.

Hear, Hear! You scared me at first, NJS--I feared the headline meant you were departing the forum.

Looking forward to more.

I can't quite make out what your buttonhole is. I very much like the scale. Details?

Couch - You have obviously opened the whole picture, which is more than I can do! The buttonhole is a couple of tiny flowers locally called onze horas because it is supposed to close up at 11 am!
NJS

NJS wrote:Couch - You have obviously opened the whole picture, which is more than I can do! The buttonhole is a couple of tiny flowers locally called onze horas because it is supposed to close up at 11 am!
NJS

Right-click on the photo and select 'open image in new tab/window'. Then you should be able to see the whole photo.

Well wear!

NJS has shown us that he is truly a founding member of the elite squadron within the LL, The Graybeards.

And there is a neat lesson in this composition. Had NJS worn his cityish blue suit with the correspondants bi-color shoes without adding the pearl grey waiscoat, the look would not have come off at all.

The addition of the waistcoat creates two forms of balance that unify the composition. Firstly, the gray of the vest is in chromatic balance with the shoes. Note that the two components are not exactly the same color. Let's not be tempted to confuse elegant balance with inelegant symmetry. Had the two colors been the same color, you would been tempted to hand over keys to the man asking him to park your ride in the shade and leave the lady.

And secondly, a level of informality and play is established with the waistcoat that blends well with the personality of the shoes. So there is balance in the overall feeling of the look.

I am certain NJS didn't spend a nanosecond of thought when dressing that day, he followed his instinct and eye.

Cheers

A nice example of how casual being well dressed can be. I love the way the waistcoat has two buttons opened, yet still looks adequately done-up....and the hank is still evidently available should you meet a Lady in distress, but does not compete with the button hole.
It put me in mind of '' Our Man in Havana''.

I think that I remembered this Spy cartoon of George Lambton:



- stripped away the anachronisms, and down-sized the buttonhole. Just like the basic plots for novels, there is little truly original in dressing.

But - just to show that enjoyment is not really much about clothes at all:

Ah yes ! The true enjoyment and sense of fun wherein style thrives...reminiscent of the great Terry Thomas! You are on form today..old bean!

NJS , what a beautiful sense of style this is , in both photos !!

Vassilis

Dear Nicholas,
if having to spend the night outdoors in St. James Square with the homeless was part of the road to the happiness you seem to enjoy now, I will gladly follow your steps.
Thank you for sharing. You're an example for us all.

How great it would be if someone would put on a proper West End Music Hall show instead of the usual zero dimentional Can't sing, can't dance---you'll go far because you're on some brain dead soap opera rubbish. For that....I would rise at 10.30!

Lady Glossop on how late it is.

"Do you always breakfast at this hour, Mr Wooster?"
"Good heavens no – only if I get up early."

Rowly wrote:How great it would be if someone would put on a proper West End Music Hall show instead of the usual zero dimentional Can't sing, can't dance---you'll go far because you're on some brain dead soap opera rubbish. For that....I would rise at 10.30!

Lady Glossop on how late it is.

"Do you always breakfast at this hour, Mr Wooster?"
"Good heavens no – only if I get up early."

I agree - and the great benefit of being over here is that every night is Friday night and every morning is Saturday morning. You just have to say ''to hell with the material price!''

The problem is, probably, that more and more people are brain-washed by the 'telly' and the computer screen - and so a good ol' knees-up show, along the lines of real, old, music hall entertainment is unlikely to happen anytime soon. Moreover, the real, live entertainment stars, who could hold a real, live audience spell-bound, have just about vanished. I am thinking of: Ella Shields; Jack Buchanan; Jessie Matthews; Stanley Holloway; Tommy Cooper - and all the rest of them - old troupers; smiling through the tears.

It amazes me that Julie Andrews (a great star in her own right) depicted Gertrude Lawrence as 'Star' - when Gertrude Lawrence couldn't actually do anything technically as well as Andrews - but she that It to be sure.