Dressing like a Real Man, the classic Hollywood look.It is hardly a surprise to see, whilst studying lists of “best dressed men”, that former ER actor George Clooney is a recurring name. Renowned for his sleek and sophisticated, elegant fashion sense, Clooney is the envy of many men worldwide. Yet, replicating his look is incredibly easy. In contrast to notoriously bad dressers like Mickey Rourke and Chris Brown, Clooney has realised that the solution to looking good is obeying the old rule of keeping it simple – something he pruned from his acting and fashion predecessors from the Golden age of Hollywood.
In recent years men have begun dressing increasingly worse by embracing the concept of peacocking – the concept that states wearing brash and bold clothing will attract others’ attention and make the wearer seem more appealing. Yet, simply by taking a quick look at people like The Situation from Jersey Shore, it is apparent this idea does not ring true when practically applied. Peacocking and wearing garish clothes, simply imbues the wearer with a sense of look at me desperation which is miles away from the understated coolness of the style perfected by Clooney and Hollywood actors of years gone by. The Good Night and Good Luck director has realised that keeping fashion simple is the best way to enhance an individual’s looks rather than detract from them, something he has learned from his own errors.
During the 1980s George Clooney was best known for his roles in low quality fare such as The Revenge of the Killer Tomatoes and at the time, the quality of his style reflected perfectly the type of film he was appearing in. At this point Clooney was a dedicated follower of the latest men’s fashion trends and, as this was the decade fashion forgot, more often than not the actor looked rather ridiculous; to this day Clooney’s mullet is spoken of as one of the worst mistakes of his career. Yet, to coincide with his career taking off, Clooney decided to re-vamp his image during the nineteen nineties and become something of a fashion icon by looking backwards at former Hollywood stars such as the ever smooth Humphrey Bogart and Cary Grant.
The first thing Clooney did, after replacing his mullet with a sleek side parting, was to throw away all of his garish clothes and replace them with masculine, no nonsense classic Hollywood suit styles. The emphasis of Clooney’s new old style was on teaming crisp shirts with high quality shoes and sharp suits. Clooney clearly understands what a man’s footwear says about his personality as he is never seen outside of high quality black or tan shoes; preferring Oxford style lace-ups to wearing trainers like many of his contemporaries, Clooney is able to project a pride in his appearance which adds to his debonair grace. Although it is possible to imagine a man like Mickey Rourke wearing canvas trainers as part of an un-tucked suit combination it would be inconceivable to imagine a Jimmy Stewart, James Cagney or Errol Flynn sporting such footwear even if such a style were popular at the time of their careers.
Another trick taken from Classic Hollywood dressing is to understand that sometimes co-coordinating colors of outfits is as simple as knowing that monochrome can never clash. Similarly shades of black, white, grey or even hints of brown or classy blues are never going to clash with each other and can be used interchangeably when composing a suit style. Certain bright primary colors can also, depending on the wearer’s complexion, inexplicable not suit their wearer; plumping for blacks, whites or greys negates this problem and can make anyone look good. Another aspect in dressing like a real man, the classic Hollywood look and style that Clooney picked up upon, was to make sure that the suits he sports are always a complimentary fit – the best way to do this is to not buy a street from a high street store but rather to get one tailor made. No one has ever looked bad with a smart haircut, a pair of shined lace-up leathers and a sharp suit – something that is worth considering before deciding whether to experiment with your style. Who, after all, looks better – Humphrey Bogart or Chris Brown?
Author Bio
Kieron Casey is a fashion writer who contributes at barrattsblog.co.uk amongst other sites. He owns neither a pair of jeans nor trainers and recommends the virtues of vintage dress styles.
Photo Courtesy of entertainment.ca.msn.com
Photo Courtesy of v4pic.blogspot.com
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