Who Are Your Style Icons?

[Daisy Buchanan]

Humbug! I met you in person at two FL events and can say you have style to spare.

I couldn't agree more!

 

[Hemingway Jones]

I don't think I have style icons....

Maybe thats why I have no style......

Style is expressing your aesthetic through your clothes. You do this very well.

A new style icon of mine is Joseph Cotton as Holly Martins; the slightly disheveled American abroad with that insouciant confidence.

 

[Phil]

I'm my own style icon. That is why I consider myself the best dressed. I accet my award for best dressed and applaud myself.
:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

Self absorbed? Not at all.

Now onto something meaningful.
I don't think anyone should have a style icon. I think everyone should dress for themselves and not from what they see in someone. I know it's probably terribly hipocritical, but that's what I believe.

 

[erikb02809]

Just gotta say, I'm loving this thread. It's so neat to see just which sort of people have influenced members here, and why. So many great icons!

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

I'm my own style icon. That is why I consider myself the best dressed. I accet my award for best dressed and applaud myself.
:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

Self absorbed? Not at all.

Now onto something meaningful.
I don't think anyone should have a style icon. I think everyone should dress for themselves and not from what they see in someone. I know it's probably terribly hipocritical, but that's what I believe.

Having a style icon does not mean that people are dressing for someone else. It means that they take their style cues and ideas from someone or a group of people. If it meant that they were dressing for themselves, they'd be worried about what other people thought about how they dressed. Considering most of the good people here on the lounge dress completely outside of today's norms, I highly doubt that they are dressing with other peoples concerns in mind. When you dress vintage, you are dressing a certain style, hence you are getting your style ideas from someone. I don't get up and put on an outfit and worry about what anybody else thinks of that outfit. I do look towards the glamorous women of the golden era to get ideas for outfits. I do not think about anyone else and what they might think of me when I get dressed. So, criticizing people for taking style tips from one person or another is a bit wrong. Sorry if this comes across as harsh, I just think that you might be misunderstanding the meaning of a style icon.

 

[Dapper Dan]

"A new style icon of mine is Joseph Cotton as Holly Martins; the slightly disheveled American abroad with that insouciant confidence."

I, too, look to Holly for inspiration. He wears one outfit the entire movie, but he looks dashing in a rather ordinary way. I love the way his wool tie sticks out of his sweater and the casual angle of his fedora. And his clothes fit just right without being too fancy. Truly a paragon of American trad anti-fashion.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

"A new style icon of mine is Joseph Cotton as Holly Martins; the slightly disheveled American abroad with that insouciant confidence."

I, too, look to Holly for inspiration. He wears one outfit the entire movie, but he looks dashing in a rather ordinary way. I love the way his wool tie sticks out of his sweater and the casual angle of his fedora. And his clothes fit just right without being too fancy. Truly a paragon of American trad anti-fashion.

I couldn't agree more. And that is just the thing,to piggy-back off of some of Daisy's comments: you see something like that and you incorporate it; you pick and choose things you see and adapt it for yourself, helping to enhance your own style.

 

[Dapper Dan]

"Now onto something meaningful.
I don't think anyone should have a style icon. I think everyone should dress for themselves and not from what they see in someone. I know it's probably terribly hipocritical, but that's what I believe."

As John Donne wrote, no man is an island, entire of itself. If we didn't have some style icon to some degree, dressing would be difficult. I promise you, Phil, that even if you don't know it, you, too, are emulating someone when you dress.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

One of the best dressed national leaders ever: Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey.


.

 

[Phil]

Right. My bad. I think I did misunderstand this thread. I'm not exactly sure who my style icon is on a daily basis, nor do I know who my style icon is on a formal basis. I'll come back when I figure it out.

 

[Dapper Dan]

I hope I didn't come across as a jerk or anything. "Style icon" can be a bit of a vague phrase, because it can mean anything from incorporating little things you see in someone all the way up to being a freaking Elvis impersonator. I hope I didn't offend any Elvii in the forums; if anyone's worth impersonating, certainly it's the King.

What I mean, though, is that to me, a style icon is somebody to subtly incorporate into your wardrobe. Maybe a look you saw one time that you thought was pretty cool looking that you wanted to reference. Going back to the aforementioned Holly Martins, for example. I love his look a lot, and I like to wear my v-neck sweaters under a flannel jacket and with a wool tie that pokes out with the help of a tie clip. It's not the kind of thing that makes someone say, "You look just like Holly Martins!" It's the sort of thing that I took a liking to and incorporated into the way I dress. The mere fact that I liked what I saw shows that I've got style of my own. I just thought it was a snappy look worth occasionally referencing.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Fellow Loungers, this is not a serious topic. If someone is a style icon of yours, list them, and discuss a few reasons as to why they are and how they have effected you. Many of us here are interested in learning about people's influences.

If you do not have any style icons or wonder about the relative merits of style icons, I am sure there are plenty of other threads to amuse you.

Thanks.

 

[DBFedora]

My Style Icon

My dad has had the greatest impact on me as a style icon. He was the best in my book. I remember as a very little kid that he never went to work without being well dressed in a suit and tie with perfect slicked back hair. His casual attire was never sloppy, either. He was a class act, as so many mentioned in previous posts are/were as well. Unfortunately, this all changed for him when he was diagnosed with MS and a possible stroke when I was around seven. His attitudes towards life in general totally changed and went the opposite direction. He cared little for clothing and style at all. Our family lifestyle and dynamics changed a lot, too. Very hard for a yougster to understand, especially watching such a drastic change in one I loved so much. He lived with the disease far longer than expected and we watched him go down hill over a period of many years, finally to a place where he could no longer care for himself and we could not either. We were grateful for the professionals who cared for him until his death.

As a result of my Dad's influence on me early in life, however, I have always gravitated to the suit/tie or spiffy casual attire, just like him. I've grown to appreciate what this type of style represented for my Dad, not just in clothing choices, but in character and integrity as well. I seek to emulate that in my life and strive to teach these values and character traits to my children, too.

I wanna be just like you Dad. I wanna be just like you.

 

[jamespowers]

My dad has had the greatest impact on me as a style icon. He was the best in my book. I remember as a very little kid that he never went to work without being well dressed in a suit and tie with perfect slicked back hair. His casual attire was never sloppy, either. He was a class act, as so many mentioned in previous posts are/were as well. Unfortunately, this all changed for him when he was diagnosed with MS and a possible stroke when I was around seven. His attitudes towards life in general totally changed and went the opposite direction. He cared little for clothing and style at all. Our family lifestyle and dynamics changed a lot, too. Very hard for a yougster to understand, especially watching such a drastic change in one I loved so much. He lived with the disease far longer than expected and we watched him go down hill over a period of many years, finally to a place where he could no longer care for himself and we could not either. We were grateful for the professionals who cared for him until his death.

As a result of my Dad's influence on me early in life, however, I have always gravitated to the suit/tie or spiffy casual attire, just like him. I've grown to appreciate what this type of style represented for my Dad, not just in clothing choices, but in character and integrity as well. I seek to emulate that in my life and strive to teach these values and character traits to my children, too.

I wanna be just like you Dad. I wanna be just like you.

Quite a nice sentiment there. :eusa_clap My father was a big influence on me as well. I think we both learned as we went along. I got him over the golden age notion that brown shoes go with blue suits and he showed me how to tie ties and get properly dressed. There was that thing about not coming home with any type of piercing though. Something about a vice grips and I didn't want anything to do with that.
I also learned a lot from Esquire as it was back then. That subscription went on quite a while.

Regards,

J

 

[Dan G]

Oh the vice grips.... We had that rule too. Long hair was just fine though. I'd say my father was very influential on me as well. Right now I'm sitting in my levi's with flannel and rolled up sleeves with my good ol' chuck tayor converse tennies on!
yep, I look just as dumb as ever! Rock Star I tell you! I miss my hair....:cry:

 

[jamespowers]

Oh the vice grips.... We had that rule too. Long hair was just fine though. I'd say my father was very influential on me as well. Right now I'm sitting in my levi's with flannel and rolled up sleeves with my good ol' chuck tayor converse tennies on!
yep, I look just as dumb as ever! Rock Star I tell you! I miss my hair....:cry:

Well, there was "the electric clippers while you are sleeping" thing for the long hair thing. I didn't want to look like a hippie anyway.

Regards,

J

 

[Dan G]

The clippers.... That was a regular threat for my trouble during adolescence. No hippy look for me. I'll see if I can dig up a picture. Rock Star I tell you Rock Star!!! Think Roger Fisher from Heart, or John Cougar Mellenhead!

 

[jamespowers]

The clippers.... That was a regular threat for my trouble during adolescence. No hippy look for me. I'll see if I can dig up a picture. Rock Star I tell you Rock Star!!! Think Roger Fisher from Heart, or John Cougar Mellenhead!

Ok, Joh Cougar wasn't that bad. I don't think I could have gotten away with it but it is a big difference between:
This

And this:

I think I can smell Joe through the screen. PU!

Regards,

J

 

[Dan G]

I think I can smell Joe through the screen. PU!

Regards,

J

sniff sniff, I think I caught a whiff of that too! lol

 

[Haversack]

As for me, the style icons from the movies who I try to pay attention to are in no particular order: David Niven, C. Aubrey Smith, and Robert Hardy. However, it is not so much their clothing sense, (although that has some influence), but their carriage.

Smith is largely forgotten now but in the 1920s-1940s he was the very model of the English Colonel whose craggy face, bristling eyebrows and moustache, and gimlet eye which could skewer young subalterns was seen in every movie where tradition, duty, and 'playing the game' was needed. He was also very much like that in his personal life. We've got a lot of C. Aubrey Smith stories in our family as he and my grandfather captained two rival cricket teams during the '30s and '40s in Southern California. My father was directly influenced by Smith.. Smith was also one of the first professional athletes to go into the movies.

Niven was a scamp, a perfect gentleman, and iron-hard. He also had the estimable skill of knowing presicely when he had to be which. Complementing this skill, Niven was always dressed perfectly and at ease wherever he found himself.

Robert Hardy is probably better known as Siegried Farnon from _All Creatures Great and Small_. In his case, his dress is influential as it conveys very well the English Country style of tweeds, cavalry twill, and moleskin. Hardy also has a sardonic wit which I wish I could emulate.

Greater influences on my dress are my older male relatives: My father the civil engineer; his father the English butler and valet, my mother's father the California rancher, and my great-uncle the mountain man/gold-miner. Tweed jackets, learning the 4-in-hand, polishing shoes from my father. The navy blazer, flat-cap, carving at table from his father. The value of a broad-brimmed hat when you're outdoors and how much even a little dressing up can make you step a bit higher when you go into town from my mother's father. The importance of good boots, wool clothing, and not letting yourself get wet when out in the mountains from my great-uncle.

Although I enjoy dressing in City clothes for going downtown or functions when formality calls, I am more at ease in Country clothes. Whether these are English country clothes, American West country clothes, or the linen, leather, & loden of southern German Landhausmoede depends on the weather and season.

Haversack.