The London Lounge

Hi all,

I bought the Fred Astaire Style book recently & got to look through it last night. Could someone please explain to me why Fred Astaire was still wearing a scarf around his waist in his 80s. It looks great but I am wondering if a belt and belt loops make a pair of trousers look ugly? Or perhaps a belt would inhibit graceful dance steps? Was he using ladies' scarves? I am quite confused.

I never worried about these things until I joined the London Lounge but now I am agonising over details I never knew existed.

Thanks
Wendy

I think, in fact, that he used to wear ties around his waist. Most of his trousers were, probably, cut for braces, without daks tops, so, if he wore trousers and no coat (and rightly, deciding that exposing his supenders, was beyond the pale, he would need something to keep his trousers up, so he hit on ties - some English tradition to support this (no pun intended, it just slipped out, as the best ones do).
NJS

Dear Wendy:

Fred Astaire did those type of things as a matter of personal taste. Just as Gianni Agnelli wore a wrist watch over his shirt cuff. Another example was Cary Grant wearing a button down collar with double cuffs and cuff links. (Which I don't recommend)

Personal style can be a great thing, or make one look like a fool.

Some things are obvious such as not wearing both braces and a belt at the same time or wearing socks that are too short, and so on.

One of the things I do, (and stated in an older post) is I leave one button on each sleeve of my jackets undone. You can call me a little bit vulgar for that.

Best Regards,

Cufflink79