The State of Black Tie: Your Observations - Page 18

As someone who previously worked in the biz I know that it's often the publicist who looks for someone to "dress" their client and then pick an outfit on their behalf. This wouldn't apply to mega-stars like GC or BP, who doubtless have personal shoppers/stylists with more sense than to pick such inappropriate outfits. FWIW, as up as most of these publicist girls are on "trends" their sense of men's clothing tends to be horrible.

Strict black tie is not as plausible as it once was. So many alternatives are more available and convenient for people.

Uggie at the 2012 Golden Globes. I generally don't approve of putting dogs into costumes but since the black tie/wingtip is basically just a fancier dog collar, I enjoyed it.

Why do people hate waist coverings and braces? Mark Wahlberg must have thought he was back in his Good Vibration days his pants were sagging so low. Clooney wasn't far behind. Brad Pitt's the only one I noticed with a vest that didn't look like it came from a Men's Wearhouse.

Also, Ewan McGregor's tux was comically small. It looks like he's wearing a little kid's shirt and tie. Antonio Banderas was not far behind.
Honey, I shrunk my lapels (Click to show)
And Uggie needs to learn to tie a bow tie! You're 9 years old. Have some self respect.

Clooney was the one who surprised me most; he's usually a fairly good dresser but this time went with a two-button tux with heinously low lapels; looked like it was from 1985... I suppose of the industry's black tie galas this is the one where everyone says "I'm going to wear my 'I don't care if someone pukes on this' tux". Time for everyone to learn who is and is not bad enough ass to say "fuck the rules". As far as I'm concerned, Ricky was the only one who can wear a tux like that instead of the tux wearing him.

At least Clooney didn't wear a long tie and he had himself a shave, although I deduct points for not buttoning his jacket for the final acceptance speech. Last week at the critic's choice he wore notch lapels.
Among the worst has to be Jonny Depp. Either suit up or don't bother, why come half hearted?

Why does everyone here obsess about what George Clooney is wearing? He wears what the stylist for the photo shoot puts on his back. When he's not in public he wears mom jeans and Crocs.
Edited by JakeLA - 1/16/12 at 11:06am

We'd expect someone with that much money, who is photographed that much, to have a better stylist, IMO.

That's because people have bought into the idea that different is automatically hip and wear whatever is put out there for them. If men actually cared about how they looked and demanded better it would be available.

I’m surprised that no one wore this to the Golden Globes:

Holy shit, hide of tyrannosaurus rex, in peak lapels no less!!!

"[H]einously low lapels"?

http://www.styleforum.net/t/183590/anthony-joseph-drexel-biddle-jr-from-life-magazine#post_3285230

I agree with many here that Clooney's lapels could be wider, that waist coverings matter, that trousers should fall straight from the waist, and that a 2B DJ is not good.

I'm saying heinously low by today's standard. Were he wearing a timelessly elegant garment that he'd been using for 20 years, I'd give him a pass. However the rest of the outfit suggested that it was nothing more than current, OTR crap. And if you'll notice, back when lower lapels were the norm, nobody was even wearing two-button, peak lapel jackets for any purpose, let alone black tie. It was mostly the fact that he went for a "modern" tux that had skinnier peak lapels, two buttons and no waist covering (or braces) and then threw on a lapel stance not seen since 1992.

Fair enough, and it certainly is low by the SF iGent standard, which favors what Doc H aptly calls "batwing peak lapels." I was asking: why should we think that standard the right one? This is style forum, not iGent fashion forum. Just because it's against iGent fashion doesn't in itself make it unstylish.

I think the problem with Clooney's peak lapels is the skinniness. It's at dramatic odds with the length of the shoulder line, and the eye goes back and forth between lapel and sleevehead, instead of settling pleasantly on the face, as it would with a wider peak lapel.

"back when lower lapels were the norm": the 30s and 40s, perhaps? Anthony Eden wore 2BPL all the time, and was considered by London elites to be very well dressed, if a bit conspicuous.



(I admit that the gorges on Eden's PLs were not low.)