style notes for the guys

Clockwise from top left: A.P.C Summer 2011, Bill Travers as George Adamson in Born Free, Bill Murray via Life, Dries Van Noten Spring 2012 Menswear, Ali in Fear Eats The Soul, Scott Sternberg and Jared Lawton via Opening Ceremony.

On my way home last week I was overtaken by a guy on his bike, slightly swaying under the weight of panniers laden with paintpots and bags. He was wearing a navy workwear all-in-one and had a grey beard that made him look sort of  like an urban Father Christmas. Which probably wasn't the most comfortable way to be dressed on a day characterised by its sweltering heat but still, it made me think "Yeah, work overalls are rad!" See also the denim overalls from the APC Summer '11 collection which wouldn't go a miss worn two sizes too big with sleeves rolled-up and a few paint splashes. The Dries Van Noten Menswear collection, I must admit featured not one pair of overalls and was generally a much smarter affair (with deliciously neat tangerine and midnight blue stripes particularly attractive and paving the way for post-prada stripes.) But still with baggy uniforms in mind, one loose shirt and trouser combo brought to mind images of pilots while adding momentum to the 'hmm, navy uniform' thought process. But before I overstep the line from perfectly legitimate workwear curiosities into a uniform fetish, I shall nod to the other 'style notes for the guys' that have recently inhabited corners of my brain. 

I give you Bill Travers in Born Free (a film that shall never escape a place in my heart partly because of memories of watching it as a child but also because Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers are heroes of Safari style.) Also Bill Murray in a thin white thermal because he is the original handsome devil and made me laugh uncontrollably, playing himself, when I watched Zombieland the other day. ('Any regrets?' 'Garfield maybe.') A still from Fassbinder's Fear Eats The Soul shows Ali standing at the bar in his brown suit. The film is full of beautiful shots of characters framed by windows and doorframes, 1970s clashing of patterned wallpaper and wrapdresses and some brilliant suits worn by the men, all in the brown accents that still epitomise that decade. And last but not least Band of Outsiders' Scott Sternberg with Jared Lawton who designs the sets for his shows. Simply because they both look cool and kind of nerdy sitting side by side on that camp bed like they're on a weekend away with the Boy Scouts waiting for the fun to start. The bed was actually one of the main features in the Band Of Outsiders presentation last September which saw the menswear collection presented on models lounging in their own 'dormrooms' fitted with rickety wooden desks and guitar cases and bottles of whiskey. How very Holden Caulfield.