The once glamorous Hollywood of Cary Grant and Steve McQueen has been taken over by greasy-haired, scruffy-bearded, baggy-pants-wearing men who could be mistaken for vagrants if their $30,000 watch didn't give them away.Here's my theory. Only someone genuinely young and good-looking can get away with with the look. So it's very daring and exciting to be one of the few people who can do it. Let ordinary men attempt to get in on the super-elite trend and they will humiliate themselves.
The obvious example of this frog mentality is Mr. Britney Spears, Kevin Federline, whose arrival in the city of angels set the stage for this latest Hollywood trend. Granted, Spears was never a leading lady in film or fashion. But even classic beauties with fashion know-how like Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Garner, and Kate Hudson are all being squired about town by men (Chris Martin, Ben Affleck, and Chris Robinson respectively) who wouldn't make the dress code if they showed up alone.
June 29, 2005
"What do actresses see in their scruffy men?"
The International Herald Tribune inquires:
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15 comments:
Worst of the bunch -- my fav, Sandy Bullock appears to be marrying the biker dude from Monster Garage who's just divorced his porn star ex!
sigh...no wonder it seems hopeless.
"Only someone genuinely young and good-looking can get away with with the look."
That's what I keep telling The Hot Little Number I Call Mrs. Harry. I wish she'd get off my back.
I'm surprised this is news.
As long as you only look a little bit scruffy, you are fine. If you look like you just got picked up from a desert island that you were stranded on for the last five months, it's not going to work.
Roaring Tiger, the objective is to see the 5 o'clock shadow, not have the start of a beard.
I'm wearing a new pair of shorts that came pre-shredded at the ends (so that it looks like I cut off a pair of pants and made them into shorts). And my t-shirt is showing signs of wear, no rips or tears, just enough so it's obviously not new.
The objective is to look like you are taking it easy. Your own personal image drives who you are, not the clothes that you wear.
"I think there was an element of nouveau riche in the way Old Hollywood used to dress. As income inequality has increased, unless you're nouveau riche, it's not pc to dress fancy."
Are you suggesting that "income inequality" has increased since the Great Depression?
The seeds of the downfall of Old Hollywood style can be found in in movies themselves, namely It Happened One Night and especially A Streetcar Named Desire.
Scruffy is good, a full-hipped woman in dirty jeans bending over her flower bed really makes my lettuce grow.
Dave: Have we ever seen those characters cleaned up?
Jazz Singer/Guitarist, John Pizzarelli has style. Hollywood should follow his example.
JLP
AllThingsFinancial
Who would be our Cary Grant...or, my old fave, William Holden?
I think our pop culture today is based on rebellion and childishness, a leftover from the 60s. There hasn't been any Great Depression of WWII to snap us out of it. The WOT revived masculinity somewhat, but it will be a while before the juvies fade away.
Don't you know about the new fashion, honey?
All you need are looks and a whole lot of money
- William Joel
patca: Would Dennis Quaid be our William Holden?
We don't have anyone close to Cary Grant! (please don't mention any of that pack of Brit-ponces who dare to think they might be!)
I'm consistently baffled when I see young couples out on dates and the woman is wearing a nice dress, makeup, and accessories and the man is wearing a tee shirt and shorts. Doesn't either party have any self-respect?
The first time I really saw this hip was with Miami Vice. Compare to Nash Bridges. It was hot back then, went out, and is back in. And it is not just the ugly ones - you sometimes see Cruise with a light beard, etc., and, despite being a runt, most women consider him to be extremely handsome.
I too find it humorous women dressed to kill with guys who just got in from mowing the lawn.
But is that what women really want? In a lot of cases, I don't think so. Over the last 7 or 8 years, I have spent a fair amount of time in Scottsdale (AZ), where you see a lot of this. I have found that I do far, far, better, dressing up than not. Being the best dressed guy in the room gets attention. I have a white linen suit that I break out in the summer, and the women love it (esp. after I found the white shoes to go with it).
My philosophy is that women often spend hours getting ready to go out, and appreciate it if a guy does too. Unfortunately, for them, that is not the real me - because in my normal existance, my looks are irrelevant to me.
But I know that my (erstwhile) girlfriend appreciates it when I spend the time to dress up, because she does, and it reflects on her.
There is a kinda chic about dressing way down, but having something, say a watch, that says money. I don't see this much in Scottsdale, but a lot in the Vail Valley, where I also spend a bit of time single. I expect that Aspen would be a lot worse there - with a lot more pretense at understated money. In Vail, along with the women, you occasionally still see the guy wearing the $20,000+ fur.
But it is somewhat fun - last year in Vail, I was in a conversation with a friend, and someone noticed my watch and asked about it. Blew him off and went back to the conversation.
What I am seeing a lot more from my generation though is the look you see on, say, Harrsion Ford - blue jeans and a navy blazer. Maybe over a jean shirt. Need to get some out of storage, but like the look. 20 years ago, I did this a lot - but with tweeds instead of navy blazer. Like having all those pockets, etc.
Perhaps the problem is that we don't see a well-dressed man as having any gravitas? We can see a 'power suit', but isn't that now viewed as a kind of uniform, hence the power goes to the organization you're in, and not to you , the man? A man has no other reason to get well dressed except for work, or special occasions?
And, echoing Lindsey, why did good grooming become gay? Are we saying, 'Real Men just don't bother' Strange.
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