Men's dress from the movies - Another book!

[oscarthewild]

Thought some of us may want to take a look at Dressing in the dark book. Enjoy. If anyone has seen this, I would appreciate their views.

 

[JLibourel]

I have seen the book on sale in various places. The pictures were mildly interesting, but it didn't really seem informative. I am a pretty avid book buyer, but it did not move me to part with the rather hefty (about $40 or $50) asking price.

 

[Manton]

I have it. I come out a shade more positive that JLibourel. My criticism would be a little different. The emphasis is too much on edgier fashions for my taste. But I'll bet a lot of the guys here -- especially the younger guys -- would like it.

F.D.: The author is a friendly acquaintance of mine.

 

[oscarthewild]

...The emphasis is too much on edgier fashions for my taste.  But I'll bet a lot of the guys here -- especially the younger guys -- would like it.

....

Ahh time, I am no longer considered a whipper snapper. Have become invisible to co-eds (I think my wife appreciates that) and edgier clothing is just a little too edgy for moi now.

Ahh time...

 

[Keith T]

This one is on my shelf at home, I think I got it at a used bookstore. (I doubt that I would have paid $40-50 for it.) Some of the pics are really great. It has a lot of "glamour shots" of the old Hollywood icons, along with some of the new crop (Pitt and Clooney from Ocean's 11). There are a couple of head-scratchers, too--Sean Penn as Spiccoli? Mickey Rourke?

I glanced through it again last night and didn't find anything really groundbreaking about the text, but that probably isn't the point of this kind of tome. Most of the StyleForum crowd would probably not glean a whole lot that is new from it. Lots of commentary, I would say. I didn't give it a very thorough reading, however.

There are also some pages where what I would call "suggested looks" or "outfits" are put together. Kind of like the Chic Simple books, for lack of a better comparison. Some of these looks are quite sharp, IMO, and some are not. But again, it isn't really a style guide, per se. There would just be a page laid out with a pair of slacks, a shirt, and a jacket, for instance, with some commentary on how the items were selected or how this outfit would be a current take on what one of the actors wore in a certain film.

Overall, I'd give it a lukewarm recommendation on the basis of the pics alone...plenty of shots of Gary Cooper, McQueen, Archie Leach, et al that I had not seen elsewhere before.