"Only Think About Your Tie When You Buy The Next One"

I don't always agree with the stuff that comes out of Scott Schuman's mouth, but his recent treatise on Italian style for GQ UK is pretty great.  Despite what you think about Italian style bombarding the blogosphere as of late, Scott and his blog have served as an advocate for this stuff since The Sartorialist's inception in 2005.  Whether or not Scott is an expert I will leave up to you, but there is not denying the wisdom of a man who has worked closely with the men who embody a particular aesthetic.  The bit about taking a little extra time when shopping and getting alterations done is particularly poignant.

"A lot has been written about 'Italian style'. A number of 'facts' have been detailed: the Agnelli-isms of unbuttoned shirt collars, unbuckled monkstrap shoes, ties over the sweater - your general sprezzatura minutiae. But when it comes down to it, these things border on gimmick. To me, that's not really about what Italian style is about, or what people relate to in my photographs.

What I think people are actually aspiring to is something much trickier to attain. It's the same kind of thing that you've seen in all classic menswear icons, most perfectly embodied by Cary Grantand Fred Astaire. It's grace.

Why people react to Italian style is the grace with which these gentlemen inhabit their clothes.

Now, some people will discredit this and call it 'effortless style', or write it off by saying, 'These Italians are just born with it.'

But it's quite the opposite. There is nothing effortless about their style, or their look. What's unique is that they put an extreme amount of effort into their look when they buy the clothes, when they have the clothes altered by their tailor, and when they put them on in the morning.

But once they put them on, they don't think about them until they take them off again at night. It's that graceful thoughtlessness that is so seductive.

Do me a favour. Look at these photos [below]. Look at the shoulder line. Look at how relaxed these guys are. Their shoulders aren't uptight and around their ears. These guys are having fun.

Then take a look at your typical Saville Row-tailored gent. Refined (read: restrained) to within an inch of his life, shoulders straight as a board and typically looking like they're having as much fun as an American wearing a suit.

If there is one piece of advice that I could give to someone who wants to embody, in their own way, the very best of Italian style, it would be: take an extra half an hour when buying the clothes, and extra half an hour at the tailor to make sure they perfectly fit you, and an extra half an hour in the morning to make sure you are confident in your choices.

Then think about food, think about women, think about cars - and only think about your tie when you buy the next one."

-L.A.S

"The Master Modern Cobbler"

If you read this month's GQ you might have noticed Will Welch's profile on Mark McNairy.  Well, it's up on the website and is a seriously great read.  With phrases like "the most talked-about cobbler in, what, a century" this is a career changing piece of press for Mark.  The article contains some great insight into Mark's roots, production and his buzzed about debut collection for Woolrich Woolen Mills.  A big congrats goes out to one of my favorite designers and my friend, Mark McNairy.  I think this serves as proof that if you challenge conventions and continue to do what you set out to do in the first place, people will notice.

-L.A.S

Adam Rapoport And Lands End Canvas

I'm not sure how the bloggerati missed this, but former GQ Style Editor Adam Rapoport teamed up with Lands End Canvas to do a video series as an offshoot/supplement of the always popular "GQ Rules" feature.  It's most surely for beginners and only features LEC gear, but hey, Rapoport is the shit so whatever.











-L.A.S

F-Yeah Pitti Uomo

While I'll be posting any noteworthy news coming out of Pitti Uomo, the thing I am most excited about (as many regular readers are sure to know by this point) are Tommy Ton's street style shots.  There is just too much awesome shit going on with the buyers and general attendants to convey with words, so you probably should just peep that slideshow already.  God, I love Tommy Ton.  No Uomo.

-L.A.S

GQ Rules

GQ's popular video series, GQ Rules, is back at it for 2010.  This year it's all about Glenn O'Brien aka The Style Guy.  All 15 videos in the series are currently available to watch online and I highly recommend signing up if you haven't already.  Glenn is joined by various members of the GQ brain trust and the best videos in the series are when Glenn teams up with Hooman Majd to wax poetic on everything from beards to flip-flops to booze.  It's a must watch for everyone from Glenn O'Brien "Stans" (you get to see his personal shoe collection for example) to sartorial novices looking for some video tutorials.

-L.A.S

Attn: Patrick Grant Speaks

In a new feature over at GQ UK, sartorial mastermind and Sart Inc favorite, Patrick Grant is going to be blogging weekly for the esteemed menswear publication.  In his inaugural column Patrick muses on Britain's "unpatriotic" obsession with denim and quotes Snoop Dogg.  Need I say more?

-L.A.S

A Week With Nick Wooster

To this day one of the most popular posts I have ever run on Sart Inc was an introduction and style breakdown on Men's Fashion Director of Neiman Marcus Group Services, Nick Wooster.  Nick has become quite the street style celebrity recently as people seem drawn to his rugged, badass take on all things Americana.  Polarizing, engaging and thoughtful, Nick's style is, at the very least, an extremely popular talking point.  This past week he was featured as a subject of GQ's (now?) annual and highly impressive 5x7 portrait series by photographer Bill Gentle, which follows a select group of fashion insiders as they dress for New York Fashion Week.  Joined by the likes of T: The New York Times Fashion Magazine Fashion Director Bruce Pask and my dapper friends behind the men's style blog Street Etiquette, Nick and his gear were photographed every day for the past seven days.  Here is what street style photographer Tommy Ton, who also works with GQ, had to say about Nick's style:

"It's pretty safe to say that Nick has instantly become an overnight style icon and has developed quite the following on the blogosphere. From his trademark handlebar 'stache to his rugged take on prep, Wooster's badass individual style commands attention. This past summer we saw him rocking everything from pastel color-blocked suiting to a matching camo jacket and tie."

It should be noted that Nick is as humble and gracious as he is stylish.  You can find all his photos from the series in chronological order below, along with his own accompanying commentary for each day's wears.  For those interested in a similar post featuring, the one and only, Glenn O'Brien you can find that here.

9/9/2010

"Grey Quandary." 

9/10/2010

"Gray Quotidian."

9/11/2010

"Garçon-like Quality."

9/12/2010

"Gimme Qamouflage."

9/13/2010

"Grenson Quintessential."

9/14/2010

"Generally Qhaki."

9/15/2010

"Wow, what a week. Thanks to everyone at GQ, and a special thanks to Bill."

-L.A.S

The Designers' Dad

GQ has a pretty timeless slideshow that details the stylish sensibilities of a few designers' dads.  Even more important is the inspiration these men provide on a daily basis for their sons who make a living via clothes.  It's a great little snapshot of what shaped a lot of our favorite guys in menswear and the effortless style of years past.  While this slideshow has been around for a while I think they've added a few new memories this time around, but don't quote me on that.  Regardless, it's perfectly in line with your Pop's own special day this weekend.

-L.A.S

First Look: Brunello Cucinelli S/S 2011

Both GQ and Esquire have recently given their readers a teaser at what Brunello Cucinelli has up his sleeve for S/S 2011.  It's nothing substantial, but good enough to hold me over at least until the full collection makes it's way from the booth at Pitti Uomo to this world wide information superhighway thing everyone keeps raving about.  Brunello's trademark's are well represented as always with trim cargos and suede shoes making a cameo in the leaked images.  After seeing this stuff, and knowing BC's track record, a few things are certain: this gear is going to be dope and I needed to win the lottery, like, yesterday.  Check out two model pics, an expertly tailored water resistant blazer and the man himself below.

-L.A.S

Florence Street Style

Tommy Ton is on the case once again, this time taking his unparalleled skills and eye to Florence for Pitti Uomo.  The results, as to be expected, are some of the most incredible shots of guys who bleed steeze.  This is the epicenter of all that inspiration I talked about in my last post.  I could go ahead and break this down, but I believe that would be doing all these dudes a disservice.  Almost all of these kits aren't about single elements here and there, but how to put everything together expertly.  No tips this time, just a primer on how it all works when you are at the top of your game and living everyday within your style sweet spot.

-L.A.S

CFDA Awards Street Style

Tommy Ton is back snapping pics for GQ and he recently covered Monday's CFDA awards shooting all the nominees and various guests.  While the awards mean pretty much nothing in my opinion it is a nice gesture to honor an industry flush with talent.  As with anything some people had their shit together while others did not.  Check the all in good fun Sart Inc breakdown...

Zachary Quinto and Swarovski Award for Menswear (best new designer) nominee Simon Spurr look a little too wonder twins for my liking.  They both kill in their own right, but together it's, how do I put this nicely, bromantically matchy-matchy.

Ed Westwick's wardrobe in real life is pretty much the complete opposite of his flashy, dandy television persona Chuck Bass.  I'm a huge fan of the crisp white shirt and no tie look so this gets a high grade from yours truly.  The aviators are a nice touch as well adding to the overall casual nature of this suited look.

David Bowie was smart not to upstage his woman.  Iman got some lifetime achievement award for being really hot and the last thing DB wanted was to be sleeping on the couch later that night.

Waris Ahluwalia (left) is killing it especially compared to Lindeberg who looks like he woke up literally 5 minutes before heading over to the awards ceremony.

Richard Chai ended up winning the Swarovski Award for Menswear so big ups to him.  It's nice to see him get some shine between this and his nomination for GQ's Best New Designer In America earlier this year.  Richard is a pretty classy dude and he can be seen here wearing one of his own jackets.  It's an interesting slim take on the double breasted jacket, but a little too tech-y for my tastes.  Not seen in the picture are the heavy duty zippers that adorn the front of the jacket.

Hayden Christensen was wearing a Richard Chai tux - I think he and RC are pretty good buddies.  Discounting the tie, which looks like it was just pulled out of a suitcase, the overall fit is a good one.  Rule of thumb - really skinny dudes can get away with really skinny suits.

Patrik Ervell, another Swarovski nominee, is the physical manifestation of his own clothes - kinda schlubby, but minimalist and clean.

Victor Glemaud shut it down, end of story.  Now that right there is a double breasted tux ladies and gentlemen.

Cut Brian Atwood some slack. He just came from the Jersey Shore season 2 premier.

While Kenneth Cole is looking quite put together what's not pictured are the black square toe shoes he's also wearing. Just kidding, maybe not.

Christopher Bailey is someone who gets crazy amounts of love, but I'm on the fence about some of the stuff he does.  He took home the International Award for his unrelenting assault of Burberry plaid.

It has been scientifically proven that Phillip Crangi has a rare medical condition where his level of badassness is 3 times that of the average male.

[Bonus]

Oh look, it's Thom Browne doing that thing he does, whatever that is.

Bastian got snubbed for a 4th time (?) by the CFDA.  He was nominated for Menswear Designer of the Year, along with Tom Ford, but ended up losing out to the Rag & Bone crew.  Everything that's said about this travesty has already been said so I'll leave it at that.  I doubt MB is stressing with arm candy like that and a t-shirt under his suit that apparently read "wait 'til next year".

-L.A.S