Style Profile - Andre Benjamin

Andre Benjamin is someone to be admired for his accomplishments, a successful music career (Andre 3000 one half of Outkast), a successful career as an actor (13 movies) and his own fashion line (the fall 2009 line is being released under lock and password).  Andre Benjamin also has separated himself from the crowd dramatically with his great personal style.

His personal style is exactly that, personal.  He walks to the beat of his own stylist.  He mixes vintage suits & hats with preppy school boy clothing or modernize a vintage farmer.  He plays with colors and hats marvelously.  He will try almost anything in his style and most of it actually works.  Style is often in how you wear it, not what you are wearing.  Andre Benjamin proves this every time he leaves the house.

Another aspect of his style that I admire his he always keeps it fresh.  While some outfits may have similar trends or feel, the next few are completely out of left field.  This consistent change is something many of us forget.  It is quite hard to keep your style personal and fresh, but Andre Benjamin accomplishes this.

A measuring stick I use for most men as a style barometer is the tuxedo.  How do they dress at a black tie affair.  While in today's society the range of acceptable fashion fluctuates depending on the event, moving more to informal style with every passing day.  The black tie event, in my opinion, is the exception.  This is the one area where the range of acceptable style is very limited, meaning that a well dressed man needs focus more on fit and classic choices than going off course and paving their own path.  Andre Benjamin, does just that.  He incorporates hi own personal style into the acceptable black tie attire.  Well done.

Overall, his style while not in my own range of possibilities, it certainly can be inspirational.  The colors, mix of patterns and boldness of the outfits are certainly worth learning from.

Tomorrow, I will be featuring Andre Benjamin's clothing line: Benjamin Bixby.  It may be a lot more stylish than you expect.

Style Profile - Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire is one of the greatest dancers of all time, but he was also a great dresser. The thing to note with his dress is the tailoring and cut. No matter the dance move, jump, pirouette or position Astaire was photographed in, his suit always fit him appropriately. The main reason for this was the tailoring. Astaire always opted for bespoke (handmade specifically for his body) suits. He made sure that the suits had range of motion and were not restricting while still holding their form and style.

The only way that Astaire could find clothes that fit with the level of comfort and style he required was going with a suit style called the "Drape". The Drape allows for the fabric of the suit to move with the wearer without being stiff, but it still holds its form. I will go into this style further at a later time, as it is too important to be glossed over. The important thing to note is the range of movement and comfort the suit had, which allowed Astaire to complete his dance moves in sartorial elegance.

It was stated that Astaire would try on a suit and then jump across his tailors office and stop suddenly to see how the suit was fitting. Making sure that it still held its proper form and fit on his figure. I certainly would not find myself jumping across the dressing room in a suit, but idea that I should be able to perform a complicated tap dance routine in my suit is an important lesson. The suit should be worn by the wearer, instead of vice versa and this is accomplished by making sure the suit fits well, is tailored properly and is comfortable. I personally find ill fitting clothes to be uncomfortable, which in turn ruins my day. Keeping this lesson in mind allows for my clothes to have little affect on my mood.

Astaire also was known for being able to wear great hats. Whether it was a top hat, a derby or a fedora, Astaire could accessorize the appropriate hat for the occasion.

Tuxedos were a specialty of Fred Astaire. Few people have ever worn a top hat and tails with the grace and sophistication that Astaire was able to achieve.

He also paired colors well, while there are few pictures of him in color, his mix of colors was well done. Putting together colors and patterns that worked well together without matching. He stuck with color families and complimentary colors but did not color match, except when it came to black and white.

Hats the underrated accessory

As we have discussed, men are limited in their style accessories. Hats are completely underrated and under-utilized. At least in the well dressed crowd. Among the badly dressed hipsters, they are all too common. As a well dressed man, I encourage other well dressed men to wear hats, so we can take back the style. Make it ours again.

Wear hats, they look good come in various style and colors and designs, are truly vintage and something all the style greats wore. Find a couple you like and wear them. For the love of fashion please wear them.