Tuxedo

Valentino Shining Flower Tux Tote, Handbag of the Day

Filed under: Handbags

The Valentino Shining Flower Tux Tote is a whole new kind of handbag.

At first we weren't sure what to make of this style, the like of which we've never seen, but as we examined the details (and felt the ruffles), we ultimately decided that this is a brilliantly innovative new design.

While it's not always appropriate to wear a tuxedo (especially if attending an event with a man who's wearing a tuxedo -- that's a matchy-matchy disaster of hilarious proportions), the prospect of carrying a tuxedo is irreverent and delightful. It's also been a long time since we've seen a truly dressy, gala-worthy bag this large. You can actually fit things in this bag.

The Flower Tux Tote features black sequins, bright crystals, creamy rosettes and a black napa leather bow (a black tie, if you will). There's a lot going on, but it forms a cohesive whole we find creative and attractive.

The Valentino Shining Flower Tux Tote is available for pre-order from Neiman Marcus for $4,495.00 and is expected to ship no later than January 22, 2010.

Tags: black tie, BlackTie, handbag of the day, HandbagOfTheDay, purse, tote, tux, tuxedo, valentino

Best-Dressed Man at the Oscars: Daniel Craig

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Events, Men's Style

As a supplement to my colleague Deidre Woollard's rundown on red carpet fashions at the Oscars, I offer my own pick for the Oscars best dressed man: nouveau James Bond Daniel Craig. Craig, above with girlfriend Satsuki Mitchell, who was a presenter at the ceremony, wore a midnight blue shawl collar tuxedo with satin facing on the lapels and turned-back cuffs and an elegant trim black satin diamond point bow tie and white silk pocket square, all by his favorite designer Tom Ford.

The smaller bow tie in an unusual shape was a welcome change from the alarming trend toward oversized, clownish bows, while the vintage-inspired look of the dark blue shawl managed to be distinctive, classic and extremely elegant, a bit of a departure from the usual without going too far. Ford, who provided suits for Craig to wear in Quantum of Solace, also made Brad Pitt's tuxedo for the Oscars, though Craig looked the best.

Tags: Black tie, BlackTie, Brad Pitt, BradPitt, Daniel Craig, DanielCraig, James Bond, JamesBond, Oscars, Oscars2009, Red carpet, RedCarpet, Tom Ford, TomFord, Tuxedo

Obama's Tux Maker Goes Bankrupt

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Men's Style

Hartmarx, the Chicago-based clothing company that made President Obama's dodgy tuxedo for the inaugural ball (above), as well as several of the suits he wore on the campaign trail, has just filed for bankruptcy the Chicago Tribune reports. Obama favors the firm's fairly bland Hart Schaffner Marx line, but the company also makes high-end men's clothing under its Hickey Freeman label, that, to our way of thinking, is much more suitable for a stylish young Chief Executive (it even has a Presidential Collection). Hart Schaffner Marx sales have picked up a bit thanks to Obama, but not nearly enough.

A newer, hipper Hickey Freeman spinoff, hickey, has recently become a fashionista favorite, and will hopefully survive the process. The company plans to continue operating while it undergoes a reorganization, but said it may sell some or all of its assets. Hartmarx, the largest maker of men's tailored clothing in the U.S., traces its roots to 1872, when brothers Harry and Max Hart first opened a men's clothing store in Chicago. The company also owns the downmarket Sansabelt and Palm Beach brands, and has licensing agreements with several well known labels.

Tags: Barack Obama, BarackObama, Black tie, BlackTie, Chicago, hart schaffner marx, Hartmarx, Hartmarx Corporation, HartmarxCorporation, HartSchaffnerMarx, hickey, Hickey Freeman, HickeyFreeman, Obama, Suit, Tuxedo

Obama's First Fashion Faux Pas

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Men's Style

While we're all rejoicing at the fact that Barack Obama is our new president, we did have some reservations about the tuxedo he wore to the inauguration ball (above). Simply put, the combination of a notched-lapel dinner jacket (by Hart Schaffner Marx) and a big, shiny white bow tie was not quite the thing for a commander-in-chief. We asked our old friend Alan Flusser, the world's leading authority on men's style who's been interviewed several times about Obama's dress sense, for his thoughts on the matter. Flusser is a renowned designer and author of several seminal works on men's style including Dressing the Man: Mastering The Art of Permanent Fashion. You can check out his interview with Charlie Rose here.

In Dressing the Man, Flusser writes, "The whole idea of a formal suit [i.e. tuxedo] is to distinguish itself from the notch-lapel business suit, not replicate it." Flusser declares that a dinner jacket with notched lapels is nothing short of a "sartorial oxymoron, convoluting both the form's aesthetic logic and its promise of timeless elegance." A proper dinner jacket should have peaked lapels, or, for slightly less formal occasions, a shawl collar. As for the white bow tie, that should only ever be worn with tails - hence the classic "white tie and tails" - and should never be satin. (For the record, George W. Bush was also fond of the notched lapel look - though thankfully not the white bow tie - which showed to his disadvantage when he met with stylish French President Nicolas Sarkozy.)

"I've been doing interviews about how purposeful and reasonably stylish Obama dresses and how he might just begin to set a new fashion bar for the congressional set," Flusser tells Luxist, "and then he goes and shows up in that hodgepodge of formalwear contrivance. In fact, although we make clothes for people he knows, I have been reluctant to reach out to him because he obviously has more on his plate than any one human is entitled to. However, after last night's display of sartorial naivety, I am now determined to throw my hat into the ring of potential fashion advisors/designers for his evolving Presidential wardrobe. Frankly I care less as to whether we make his clothes than teaching him what dressing in a statesman-like manner actually constitutes. I think he's just the greatest and I want nothing more for him than to succeed at everything."

That said, Flusser notes, "Talk about dressing green - this is a [sartorial] advisor kind of meltdown. I don't care if he chooses to wear mediocre or inexpensive clothes but that is no excuse for sporting a notch lapel (always peaked or shawl lapel) dinner jacket with an oversized white bow tie, making him look gift wrapped and therefore costumed. Although Obama tends to look as if he's comfortable and wearing the clothes, last night's ensemble made him look as if the clothes were wearing him, like he was taking his best shot trying to wear something he had little feel for, which obviously (as you have so correctly observed) he does not. Okay, sermon over."

Note - for more on the ins and outs of men's formal attire, see last week's Classicist column, "Ralph Lauren, Whit Stillman and Black Tie," and this post from Michael Williams' brilliant style blog A Continuous Lean.

Tags: Alan Flusser, AlanFlusser, Barack Obama, BarackObama, Black tie, BlackTie, inauguration, Tuxedo

Brad & Angelina's Killer Looks at Golden Globes

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Events, Men's Style

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie didn't win any little statues at the Golden Globes Sunday night, but they definitely defended their title as the world's most stylish couple. While Angelina eschewed glitz in an elegant and simple frock from Atelier Versace, Brad continued his trend of wearing Tom Ford's finest when the occasion calls for black tie. He wore a black wool Windsor model peak lapel tuxedo, white pique front evening shirt, diamond and white gold shirt studs and cufflinks, black grosgrain bowtie, silk pocket square, black patent leather shoes and a pair of aviator shades all from Ford's menswear collection - and, for those of you who followed the cummerbund debate in this week's Classicist column, Brad (correctly, in our opinion) wore one of those as well, made of black grosgrain silk to match his bowtie.

Tags: Angelina Jolie, AngelinaJolie, Atelier Versace, AtelierVersace, Awards, Black tie, BlackTie, Brad Pitt, BradPitt, Golden Globes, GoldenGlobes, Tom Ford, TomFord, Tuxedo, Versace

The Classicist: Ralph Lauren, Whit Stillman & Black Tie

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Men's Style, The Classicist

This past holiday season we broke out the black tie as usual, for what's become basically an annual airing. This got us musing on subjects sartorial and formal attire in particular; then Michael Williams, author of the genius men's style blog A Continuous Lean, pointed us to a page on Ralph Lauren's website for his Rugby line citing the brilliant 1990 movie Metropolitan by Whit Stillman as inspiration. Describing the film (scene pictured above) as "a pitch-perfect examination of our two favorite things: urbane style and preppy angst," Lauren's site declares it can also be viewed as a textbook on how to wear black tie (are you listening, Barack Obama?).

With Metropolitan as a frame of reference, the Rugby writers list a set of rules for stylish evening attire. As Stillman's a good friend of ours, we asked him for his views on the tribute. Actually, he told us, "When we were preparing Metropolitan there was a great two page Ralph Lauren ad running in magazines that we clipped and showed around to illustrate the style the film would aspire to." So, in a way, Stillman notes, "Ralph Lauren influenced the film before it might have inspired Rugby."

And while he says that both the Rubgy site and its commenters "did a good job discussing the film," Stillman takes issue with their 2nd rule for sporting black tie, which states: "You don't need to wear a cummerbund with a tuxedo - that's a personal choice. If you lose the cummerbund, wear suspenders (never a belt), and don't forget that they need not be black; in fact, they probably shouldn't be." Stillman insists that, in fact, "either a cummerbund or waistcoat is required, and suspenders should be worn with either, as with no belt the laws of gravity must be resisted." There you have it, straight from the master (and we fully concur).

Gallery: Whilt Stillman's Metropolitan

We neither of us have any quarrel with Rugby's rule #5, however, which states the following: "You should look sharp in your tux, but there will come a point in the night when jackets are off, ties are undone and anything goes (as evidenced in the movie). If, while wearing your tux, you're invited to dance a rumba: you do. If you're asked to play strip poker: you do. And if you're forced into a fistfight with a count of dubious provenance: by all means, do. Just try not to get any blood on your sweet threads, ok?"

Meanwhile, it seems that Ralph and Rugby aren't the only ones channeling Whit; the hit TV show Gossip Girl also seems to be taking some cues from Metropolitan. Of course, with such an influential film any really comprehensive list of appropriators would have be an extremely long one.

Tags: A Continuous Lean, AContinuousLean, Black Tie, BlackTie, Metropolitan, Michael Williams, MichaelWilliams, Ralph Lauren, RalphLauren, Rugby, Tuxedo, Whit Stillman, WhitStillman

Barack Obama's New Tuxedo

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Celebrity Shopping

There's been a lot of talk about Michelle Obama's Inauguration Day outfits but what about the President-elect? Barack Obama has chosen Illinois-based Hart Schaffner Marx to create his tuxedo for the inauguration. MSNBC says this is Obama's first tuxedo in 15 years. It generally sells for $895 and will join Obama's many other Hart Schaffner Marx suits, He already picked up six suits from them earlier this year to wear on the campaign trail. The company is an American, union-made manufacturer.

[via Heard on the Runway]

Source

Tags: barack obama, BarackObama, hart schaffner marx, HartSchaffnerMarx, tuxedo

Brad Pitt Premieres in Tom Ford

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Luxury Cars & Autos, Men's Style

Brad Pitt made the scene in head-to-toe Tom Ford once again at the premiere of his latest movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (based on a story by F. Scott Fitzgerald) in L.A. the other night, accompanied by ~~wife~~ Angelina Jolie (right).

Pitt wore a single-breasted, peak lapel Windsor tuxedo, a black silk grosgrain waistcoat, white pique front evening shirt, black silk grosgrain bowtie, white gold and diamond shirt studs and cufflinks, white silk pocket square and black patent leather shoes, all from Ford's luxe menswear collection.

Meanwhile, Motorbiker.org reports that Angelina has picked out a present for Brad's 45th birthday on Dec. 18th - a brand new $12,000 Ducati Monster 1100S Titanium motorcycle, which is not available to mere mortals yet.

Tags: Angelina Jolie, AngelinaJolie, Brad Pitt, BradPitt, Ducati, Tom Ford, TomFord, Tuxedo

Brad Pitt Back in Tom Ford at Cannes

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Events, Men's Style

Brad Pitt obviously knows when he's on to a good thing. We're not referring to Angelina Jolie in fact, but rather Tom Ford. Wearing head to toe Tom made Pitt one of the most stylish stars at last year's Cannes Film Festival - actually, make that any year - so it's no surprise he's back this season sporting more of the designer's dapper duds.

Last week Pitt wore a classic made-to-measure Ford black two piece notch lapel wool suit with a white shirt and solid black silk jacquard tie to the Kung Fu Panda premiere. And on Tuesday he upped the ante with an ultra-elegant made-to-measure black mohair blend single breasted peak lapel tuxedo, black silk moiré bowtie, and 18K white gold and diamond shirt studs and cufflinks from Ford's menswear collection to the Changeling premiere. That's what we call stealing the show.

Tags: Angelina Jolie, AngelinaJolie, Brad Pitt, BradPitt, Cannes, Cannes Film Festival, CannesFilmFestival, expire-images2009-5-21, Tom Ford, TomFord, Tuxedo

Nike Wingtip Pack - Dunk Lo & Hi

by Laura Malesich (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Shoes

Who knew athletic shoes could be so fancy and yet so comfortable. Nike has just introduced the Wingtip Pack with Dunk Lo Premium and Dunk Hi Premium. Reminiscent of patent leather tux shoes these snazzy shoes would look hot with jeans I think. For around $290 they could be yours (available at LTD online) and then the next time you are invited to a wedding and need your toe tapping to be dressed up, you can just pull these out of the closet and dance the night away in pure comfort and style.

Gallery: Nike Wingtip Pack -- Dunk Lo & Hi

Source

Tags: dunk-hi, dunk-lo, nike, Nike Wingtip Pack, nike-wingtip-pack, NikeWingtipPack, shoes, tuxedo

Edward Sexton's $20,000 Evening Wear

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel

Another high-end British tailor is headed to the States. Edward Sexton has been dressing people for over thirty years including making suits for the Beatles, Mick Jagger, Rupert Murdoch and many more (most recently making Michael Nouri's suits on the TV show Damages). Sexton is also part of an upcoming BBC documentary on Savile Row. Now he is offering a new ready-to-wear collection which is premiering at London Fashion Week in February. The most fabulous item is the bespoke evening ensemble shown here, a $20,000 ensemble that includes a tuxedo, evening coat, shirt, tie, shoes and accessories. He will meet you wherever you are, take measurements and then fly back to London to work on your suit (bringing it for fittings three more times). Order by Thanksgiving and it is ready for Christmas.

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Tags: apparel, bepoke, edward sexton, EdwardSexton, suit, tuxedo

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