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ROBIN DUTT at large
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Sharp suits and Golden Years
So how do you remember David Bowie ? It may be just over a year since the great man died but his influence , especially in the sartorial sphere , is still everywhere . Of course we all have our ‘ favourite Bowie ’, be it the Thin White Duke , primarily identified with his Station to Station album , the turquoise Pierrot or , indeed , the great Ziggy himself but , whatever you favour , what has lingered in terms of his clothing legacy is his love and admiration of fine tailoring .
Freddie Buretti , Tommy Nutter , Ozwald Boateng and Alexander McQueen were among the many Bowie visited in terms of sharp suiting , reminding us that the master of change and reinvention often relied on a sharp suit to accompany his intent , from monochrome to ice blue , emerald green to canary yellow . In fact , there is a famous portrait of the star in said sharp suit wielding an appropriate prop – a pair of tailoring shears .
To remind everyone of the intellectual , and sartorial star that was ( no is ) Bowie , the legendary Jeremy Reed gave an inspiring and passionate talk on the Starman ’ s style for the Temenos Academy . In fact , I gave a talk at London ’ s Home House a while back about Bowie entitled , A Life in Suits and it made one think just how much he knew about the power of a natty two-piece , not just the shock of the spaceman .
Let us not forget how Bowie revered the Row in his time which contributed in no small way to his ch-ch-ch changes …
Talk of the Town : David Bowie , William Evans guns and ( bottom ) London Fashion Week Men
EARLY in the year , I find myself at London Fashion Week Men ’ s ( not my wording ) where I encounter one chap wearing two straw hats and sunglasses ( but no sun ). Creativity is all very well and this young cove was certainly showing a flair of individuality and , while as Oscar Wilde perceived , “ nothing succeeds like excess ”, a simple elegance is really sometimes all you need .
NOT that I hunt , shoot or fish ( for the creature nor a compliment ), there I was at an entertaining evening reception at William Evans in St . James ’ s recently where guests were introduced to fine pastime garb and exquisite machines of sport-war . Even I purchased , on departure , a bullet concealing a useful penknife for … well … opening envelopes with cheques of course .
AND finally , off to a marvellous book launch of Daniel Lismore ’ s Be Yourself , Everyone Else is Already Taken . Penned by Hilary Alexander and Paula Wallace and with quotes from , among others , Vivienne Westwood , Debbie Harry and Boy George , this is a substantial tome on individual style created as clothing sculptures – fabric seen as sculpting materials , gems and glitz as bolts of paints on a canvas .
But the “ canvas ”’ in this case is Lismore himself – a living work of sartorial art much like Leigh Bowery and Isabella Blow . Suiting it may not be but a painstaking , deliberately created look and consideration about what image is , it most certainly is .
Have a sartorial spring ! Q
SAVILE ROW STYLE MAGAZINE 9