G. Bruce Boyer

From choosing the right pair of eyeglasses to properly coordinating a shirt, tie, and pocket square, getting dressed is an art to be mastered. Yet, how many of us just throw on, well, whatever each morning? How many understand the subtleties of selecting the right pair of socks or the most compatible patterns of our various garments--much less the history, imperatives, and importance of our choices? In True Style, acclaimed fashion expert G. Bruce Boyer provides a crisp, indispensable primer for this daily ritual, cataloguing the essential elements of the male wardrobe and showing how best to employ them. In witty, stylish prose, Boyer breezes through classic items and traditions in menswear, detailing the evolution and best uses of fabrics like denim and linen, accoutrements like neckties and eyeglasses, and principles for combining patterns, colors, and textures. He enlightens readers about acceptable circumstances for donning a turtleneck, declaims the evils of wearing dress shoes without socks, and trumpets the virtues of sprezzatura, the artistry of concealing effort beneath a cloak of nonchalance. With a gentle yet firm approach to the rules of dressing and an incredible working knowledge of the different items, styles, and principles of menswear, Boyer provides essential wardrobe guidance for the discriminating gentleman, explaining what true style looks like--and why.

The History and Principles of Classic Menswear

True Style

Summary : Mentions rebel style on the screen of the 50s ; including Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Paul Newman, James Dean, Elvis Presley ...

Cinematic Heroes of the 1950s

Rebel Style

Patricia Mears

A collection of essays about 1930s fashion looks at the industrial and aesthetic advancements that marked this period in history.

Fashions of the 1930s

Elegance in the Age of Crisis

Tony Kokinos

The men's fashion editor for "Town & Country" examines the current fashions in menswear, garment by garment, offers practical advice on selecting the right clothes, and provides anecdotes on the history of menswear

A Guide to Quality in Menswear

Elegance

Maria Cooper Janis

Dressed up like a million-dollar trouper/ Tryin' hard to look like Gary Cooper/ Super duper —“Puttin' on the Ritz,” Irving Berlin (revised lyrics, 1946) In 1946, when Irving Berlin revised the lyrics to his 1928 “Puttin' on the Ritz” to include those memorable lines, Gary Cooper had been a star for over 15 years, and it would have been hard for most men to look as super duper. He conveyed a straightforwardness and an honest, American handsomeness that seemed to both ignore and rise above the contrived glamour and studied posturing that had characterized so many other film heroes of those early years. No matter what costume he put on, he looked like he owned it. The camera loved him, and so did the box office. But costume is one thing, and clothes are another. In his private life, and in those many early films where he wore contemporary clothes, he had devised and perfected his own debonair style that combined a perfectly tailored European wardrobe with all-American casual sportswear to produce the first, and still finest example of elegant, international, masculine style rooted in an American ideal of the everyman as hero. From the most casual sports clothing to the most formal white tie and tails, Cooper carried himself with uncontrived conviction. Gary Cooper: An Enduring Style is the first ever monograph focused on the timeless fashion and allure of this leading man who was a fashion inspiration to his Hollywood peers, clothing designers then and now, and generations of stylish men of every social strata, across the globe. Compiled of unpublished, never-before-seen personal photographs, shot primarily by his wife Rocky, Gary Cooper captures the cars, the mansions and ranches, the guns and gear, and of course the endless outfits for every occasion that this Hollywood icon ensconced himself in throughout the years. Whether hunting with close friend Ernest Hemingway, lounging with Cary Grant, horseback, poolside, or on the beach, on-set or after-hours, in the company of royalty or cowboys, Cooper had the perfect outfit for every occasion, embodying a type of refined masculinity rarely seen and in high demand to this day.

G. Bruce Boyer

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