Style Icon: Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

[HadleyH]

Talking about style icons, i thought I'd quickly mention him ....

 

[Feraud]

Menjou was definitely a well dressed guy.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

What a coincidence ... I'm reading his autobiography (It Took Nine Tailors) right now.

"The best dressed man in Hollywood"? Yup.

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[Brian Sheridan]

What a coincidence ... I'm reading his autobiography (It Took Nine Tailors) right now.

"The best dressed man in Hollywood"? Yup.

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How is it? Worth tracking down a copy?

 

[Tomasso]

Talking about style icons, i thought I'd quickly mention him ....

He deserves his own thread.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

How is it? Worth tracking down a copy?

It's good: breezy, witty, at times self-deprecating and self-aggrandizing. Menjou was there at the beginning: his first turn before the cameras was in 1913. Fascinating anecdotes about the early movie business and its rapid evolution. Some wisdom too. And lots and lots of talk about his wardrobe, tailors, etc.

Contemporaries described Menjou as a first class jerk, by the way.


I picked up my copy from the public library.

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[HadleyH]

It's good: breezy, witty, at turns self-deprecating and self-aggrandizing. Menjou was there at the beginning: his first turn before the cameras was in 1913. Fascinating anecdotes about the early movie business and its rapid evolution. Some wisdom too. And lots and lots of talk about his wardrobe, tailors, etc.

I will get his biography, it sounds good to me! Thanks Marc Chevalier.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

No worries, H!

It's from the late 1940s and hasn't been republished, so you'd best search on eBay.

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[Marc Chevalier]

To bring this thread full circle, I should add that Menjou did two early films with Douglas Fairbanks in New York. Then, in Hollywood, Fairbanks cast him as King Louis XIII in The Three Musketeers ... and indeed he looked exactly like the real monarch.

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[Matt Deckard]

Menjou was a true retrofile. He was the twenties through the 40s and never let that aesthetic go... from spats to top hats he to me is more eccentric than stylish, but boy could he dress.

Now for Style I go with Cooper or Grant since their style was fashionable through the decades.

 

[John Ligonier]

THE MORE EXQUISITE POINT

True, but were he not the progeny of an icon it's doubtful that he would have made it onto the world stage.

The roll of those who made it "on the world stage" without being the "progeny of an icon" is very long and impressive. And the the more exquisite point regarding Doug Jr. is the decided contrast of his life with those on the long sad list of iconic progeny who have turned out as spoiled, misguided, tragic utter failures -- the "victims" (legitimately in some cases) of their parents' fame.

 

[just_me]

It's good: breezy, witty, at times self-deprecating and self-aggrandizing. Menjou was there at the beginning: his first turn before the cameras was in 1913. Fascinating anecdotes about the early movie business and its rapid evolution. Some wisdom too. And lots and lots of talk about his wardrobe, tailors, etc.

Contemporaries described Menjou as a first class jerk, by the way.
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He may have been stylish, but I can't forget when watching him that he was a friendly witness and willingly named names to the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

 

[HadleyH]

you might be right....but

He may have been stylish, but I can't forget when watching him that he was a friendly witness and willingly named names to the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

OMGGGGGGGGGGGGG there is always something, isn't there!

you can't please all !!!lol lol lol

 

[Tomasso]

He may have been stylish, but I can't forget when watching him that he was a friendly witness and willingly named names to the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

[bad]

 

[HadleyH]

[bad]

~~~~~~~~~lol lol lol lol

 

[Carlisle Blues]

Menjou was a true retrofile. He was the twenties through the 40s and never let that aesthetic go... from spats to top hats he to me is more eccentric than stylish, but boy could he dress.

Now for Style I go with Cooper or Grant since their style was fashionable through the decades.

Mr. Deckard: I could not have said it better.

 

[Lefty]

fftopic:
Is there a name for this style of spectators? They're not just cap toes, and I love them.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I believe they're called cricket spectators. Rarely seen today, they were the earliest style of spectator shoe, dating back to the 1850s.


Look closely at the painting in this link. You'll see an old gentleman wearing a pair: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Tissot_shipboard_detail.jpg

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[Matt Deckard]

I believe they're called cricket spectators. Rarely seen today, they were the earliest style of spectator shoe, dating back to the 1850s.


Look closely at the painting in this link. You'll see an old gentleman wearing a pair: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Tissot_shipboard_detail.jpg

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dude... I was just talking to the gal at the local Allen Edmonds shop. They're making them this season.


I'll take a photo of the 2 tone ones they have in the shop

www.allenedmonds.com

I do think the two tone cap toes were first... then the tongue tops. We'll do research Saturday.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Cool!

Here's a late 19th century image of a black/white captoe spectator. Look at the man in the middle of this painting: http://www.cuecachilena.cl/pintura/Zamacueca de Caro.jpeg

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