Arrow shirt ad, circa 1910s.

An illustrated biography of German-American artist J.C. Leyendecker (1874-1951) sets the stage for his rise to fame:

To better understand the overall impact of J.C. Leyendecker, and of illustration art in general, one must recall the context of the age when illustration was the only way for the public to receive images.  Harper’s and Scribner’s magazines were the first to use wood engravings for their covers, as selling tools.  Other periodicals soon jumped on the bandwagon, and before long they began to print pictures inside as well.

Seeing their illustrations so enthusiastically received by readers, publishers tried images on posters and in advertisements, to a delighted public.

The half-century period between 1895 and 1945 was an era of unparalleled excellence in book, magazine, and advertising design.  During this Golden Age of American Illustration, masters of the art created a visual history that not only captured viewers of the time with its intensity, style, and vividness but impressed on the life of the nation a distinctive stamp that has endured to this day.  And no Golden Age artist made more of an impact than J.C. Leyendecker.

Over the course of his career, Leyendecker illustrated the covers of numerous magazines including 322 covers for Saturday Evening Post between 1899 to 1941, more than even his protégé Normal Rockwell.  But he is equally well known for his contribution to fashion illustrations thanks to his advertisements for menswear manufacturers B. Kuppenheimer & Co and Cluett, Peabody & Company, maker of Arrow shirts and collars.

In 1905 he convinced Cluett’s advertising director to utilize a single male image to represent all of their products.  The result was not only the first major branding initiative in advertising but also the first real advertising campaign ever launched.  The campaign featuring the devastatingly handsome “Arrow Collar Man” was so successful that Cluett grew to a 96 per cent market share, putting much of their completion out of business.  Says the biography, “These images of a sophisticated, elegant gentleman resonated with millions of viewers and sold to an eager society the idea of a glamorous lifestyle that helped mold the Roaring Twenties.”

Some of his Leyendecker’s most striking work can be seen in his illustrations of men’s evening wear which have become so iconic that many of them are still sold as posters today.  Here is a collection of the best of these illustrations.  (If some of them don’t look much like ads it’s because Leyendecker’s technique was to first paint the image on canvas then have it reproduced in multiple ad and poster formats by the client for whom it was commissioned.)

Kuppenheimer catalogue illustration, circa 1910s.

“The Donchester – the Cluett Dress Shirt”, oil on canvas. Arrow shirt ad. 1911.

“In the Stands 1.” Oil on canvas. 1913.  Arrow shirt ad.

“In the Stands 2.” Oil on canvas. 1913. Arrow shirt ad.

Kuppenheimer catalogue illustration. 1919.

Kuppenheimer catalogue illustration. 1918.

Fatima cigarette ad. 1920.

“Man and Woman Dancing.” Oil on canvas. circa 1923. Arrow shirt ad.

“Man and Woman with Spanish Shawl.” Oil on canvas. Circa 1926. Arrow shirt ad.

“Man with Seated Lady.” Oil on canvas. 1929. Arrow shirt ad.

Arrow ad from “Saturday Evening Post” November 16, 1929.

“Dancing Couple.” Oil on canvas. Circa 1930. Arrow shirt ad.

“Couple Descending Staircase.” Oil on canvas. Circa 1931. Arrow shirt ad.

Arrow shirt ad from “Apparel Arts” Vol 1 No 1, 1931.

(Getty Images)

The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art holds an annual black-tie gala in May to celebrate the opening of their annual exhibit.  ”The Met Gala” or “Met Ball” is sponsored by Vogue, the guest list is overseen by the magazine’s all-powerful editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and the tickets cost up to $25,000 which makes the affair extremely glamourous and extremely exclusive.  No wonder it is often referred to as the East Coast equivalent of Oscars night.

Unlike the Oscar ceremonies though, each gala is themed to correspond with the featured exhibit which allows guests the opportunity to exhibit some fashionable flair.  This year the theme and dress code were “punk”.  Some men took this to heart but most were surprisingly conservative, choosing instead to inject subtle homages to the theme in their attire.  Here’s a look at the straight-laced and tastefully rebellious.

Singer/musician Pharrell Williams in a navy gingham-patterned tuxedo by Parisian luxury brand Lanvin. (BroadImage)

Wearing a white jacket prior to Memorial Day was the only thing rebellious about actor Armie Hammer’s Ralph Lauren ensemble. (Getty Images)

“The Office” star John Krasinski in Tom Ford. (Getty Images)

New York Giants’ star receiver Victor Cruz in Lanvin. Note the classic link-front on his jacket.  (Rex Features)

Christoph Waltz in midnight-blue Prada (Rex Features)

“Hannibal” star Hugh Dancy. (Getty Images)

British actor Eddie Redmayne in Dior Homme pays tribute to the theme with a skull and crossbones pocket square. (Rex Features)

Colin Firth in head-to-toe Tom Ford.  Mr. Firth was one of the few men at the gala to understand the benefit of a cummerbund. (Rex Features)

Like so many others, TV personality Andy Cohen marred a smart outfit with a peek-a-boo patch of shirt navel thanks to crotch-level trousers and no waist covering. The grey outfit was a nice match to his salt-and-pepper hair, though. (WENN)

Gerrard Butler looking his usual dapper self in a Dolce tuxedo. (Getty Images)

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s sky-blue Tom Ford dinner jacket and matching waistcoat was both loved and loathed by the critics (BroadImage)

The man himself, Tom Ford. (Getty Images)

“Game of Thrones” actor Nikolaj Coster Waldau in dark blue Brunello Cucinelli. (Getty Images)

The after-after party at the Top of the Standard hotel bar. I love how this photo evokes bygone times when men and women dressed to complement the swank of their surroundings. (New York Times)

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(courtesy of Stephen Sader)

Steve Sader is one of the very few Americans who attends white-tie occasions on a regular basis.  He likes to attend both the The Philadelphia Assembly – a highly prestigious and aristocratic ball dating all the way back to 1748 – and the Academy of Music Anniversary Concert and Ball, this year celebrating the Academy’s 156^th anniversary.

His current dress suit consists of a Ralph Lauren tailcoat and bespoke trousers tailored from virtually identical fabric adorned with a double stripe of actual military braid.  His waistcoat is a ready-to-wear backless model with functional pockets added by a tailor.  His detachable-collar shirt and collar is from British haberdasher Darcy Clothing and the shoes are calf leather cap-toe oxfords.  Says Steve of his choice of footwear, “I don’t like the high gloss shine of patent and think it detracts from the whole look of the full dress.  My reasoning is also grounded in the fact that traditional military dress, from whence full dress is derived, did not have military officers wearing patent leather Wellingtons!”

Academy of Music 156th Anniversary Concert and Ball (courtesy of Stephen Sader)

(Getty Images)

I don’t usually bother reporting on the Tony Awards as the attendees typically dress more like bohemians than gentlemen.  However, formal wear’s conservative wave  seems to have swept up even these sartorial iconoclasts as you can see below.

Screen and stage actor Barrett Foa, best known for his role in “NCIS: Los Angeles” (Getty Images)

Tony nominee Billy Magnussen wearing a very classic outfit right down to the proper waistcoat. (Getty Images)

Nominee Charl Brown in a midnight-blue Valentino tuxedo. (Getty Images)

Detail of Charl Brown’s tuxedo. (Kristin Callahan/ACE/INFphoto.com)

Jake Gyllenhaal in an unmistakable midnight-blue Tom Ford. (WENN)

“Modern Family” star Jesse Tyler Ferguson is also in midnight blue, accessorized with a bow tie of his own design. (Getty Images)

Tom Hanks sporting a mustache for his Broadway role in “Lucky Guy”. He is also wearing Tom Ford. (Getty Images)

Broadway newcomer Zachary Levi matches his double-breasted midnight-blue Bruno Cucinelli tuxedo with his bow tie. (Getty Images)

(Getty Images)

May was a very busy month for me so I’ve got some catching up to do on my red carpet reporting.  First off is the 2013 Cannes Film Festival where the post-millennial trend of conservative tuxedo styling continued in force.  Developments of note were:

• the long tie and notched lapel seem to have beat an ignominious retreat back to their proper place as business suit collateral
• the unbroken white of fly-front shirts predominated traditional studded shirt fronts
• pocket squares and midnight blue faded from the spotlight
• modern two-button jackets were very popular, to the point of being the norm
• an ongoing lack of waist coverings meant there was an ongoing preponderance of exposed shirt navels
• a surprising amount of overly long  (or poorly suspended) trousers resulted in a lot of bunching around wearers’ ankles

Here’s a sampling of the formal attire seen at the festival’s evening premieres.

Cast of “All is Lost” (news.cn)

Cast of “As I Lay Dying” with James Franco in a three-piece Gucci tuxedo. (Abaca)

Cast of “Behind the Candelabra”.  Michael Douglas is wearing a (too-tight) blue dinner jacket with (too-long) black trousers.  (WireImage)

Detail of Douglas’ midnight-blue Canali jacket and natty dark-blue pocket square. (Reuters)

Cast of “Blood Ties”.  Clive Owen was one of the worst offenders for flashing his shirt belly.  (PacificCoastNews.com)

Leonardo DiCaprio and Toby Maguire of “The Great Gatsby”, both in St. Laurent.  (Reuters)

“Great Gatsby” star Joel Edgerton in a three-piece Ferragamo tuxedo. (George Pimentel/WireImage)

Cast of “Inside Llewyn”.   Justin Timberlake wears Balenciaga (despite a Tom Ford press release stating otherwise.) (Getty Images)

My vote for “best-dressed” goes to Mr. Timberlake, even if the amount of exposed shirt cuff was a bit excessive for my taste. Note the sublimely elegant boutonniere. (Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images Europe)

“Zulu” cast members Orlando Bloom, Conrad Kemp, and perennially well-groomed Forest Whitaker.  Bloom seems to be missing his shirt collar and jacket lapels. (PacificCoastNews.com)

Fashionista Zachary Quinto in a double-breasted Alexander McQueen with jacquard lapel facing. (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Europe)

Jurist Christoph Waltz is so at home in a tuxedo he makes even a 2-button notched lapel look aristocratic.  For the record, he also wore a shawl collar and peaked lapel on other evenings.  (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Europe)

Lessons Learned

No matter how cool you think you’ll look clad entirely in black you’ll always be “that other guy” compared to the striking contrast of proper black tie. (WireImage)

A great contrast of styles: Justin Timerblake’s classic black tie exudes Hollywood leading man status while his costar Oscar Isaac is dressed like a head waiter and Garrett Hedlund’s attempt at fashion-forward styling puts his outfit firmly in the realm of prom attire. (Reuters)

Actors Gary Dourdan and Bokeem Woodbine are dressed for a night out on the French Riveria.  Their cohorts are dressed for a keg party.  (PacificCoastNews.com)

Kudos to Joel Edgerton and James Franco for having the foresight to wear a waist covering.  However those coverings only work if one’s trousers sit at one’s actual waist, not down at one’s hips.  That’s what suspenders are for, gentlemen.  (WireImage,Getty)

What Were They Thinking?

It’s not likely anyone will be looking at the men in this trio – which is fortunate for actor Mathieu Amalric. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin)

I was shocked to see serial formalwear offender David Hasselhoff actually wearing proper black tie to the premiere of “The Great Gatsby” . . . (WENN)

. . . then I discovered the gaudy getup he paraded at another premiere and everything was back to normal. (PacificCoastNews.com)

(Allstar/Warner Bros/Sportsphoto Ltd)

I finally got a chance to see The Great Gatsby and while I loved the movie I was disappointed by the inaccuracy of the men’s evening wear.  Normally I would chalk this up to sloppy research but that doesn’t seem likely considering that the film’s double Academy Award-winning costumer designer Catherine Martin based her creations on the extensive collection of images and products in the Brooks Brothers archives.  That leads me to believe that the unorthodox attire was a matter of artistic licence.  But to what end?

Summer dinner wear options from the July 1922 issue of “Vanity Fair”.

The Vanity Fair illustration above is a perfect example of prevailing formal wear trends for the summer of 1922, the period during which Gatsby takes place.  Clearly Martin has accurately captured the era’s strict black-and-white palette and the jacket’s one-button styling.  She has also reflected the period’s predominant lapel styles of peaks and shawls – no common notch lapels here.

Where she veers from historical authenticity is in the details of the shirt and waistcoat.  While it’s true that some young mavericks of the time were experimenting with soft-front turndown collar evening shirts, this development was generally frowned upon.  Vanity Fair was being very forgiving compared to other contemporary authorities when it said of dinner shirts for American summers:

So far as the collar is concerned, either of those shown is correct; it is a matter of which is the more comfortable.  Many men find a wing collar, with a very wide opening, as comfortable as the turn-over collar, and it is undoubtedly the most correct for evening wear.

1921 ad for Arrow shirts. (New York Public Library)

By dressing virtually all the men in turndown collars instead of stiff-front wing-collar shirts, Martin is presenting the opposite of what actually took place.  (An archival catalogue illustration of a 1920s Brooks Brothers dinner jacket with turndown-collar shirt has been widely circulated as part of the film’s promotional material and would seem to validate Martin’s choice.   In actual fact the illustration dates from the 1950s.)

Granted, this is not a particularly detrimental creative choice and has at least some historical basis.  The same cannot be said for the waistcoat styles.

1920 evening vest. (Fashion Institute of Technology)

Evening waistcoats at this time were deliberately cut very low so as to not obscure the formal shirt front making them virtually invisible when the jacket was buttoned.   So why is it that all the men in the film sport high-cut models that were worn only with informal suits  prior to the  1970s?

Worse than being inaccurate, Martin’s choice of waistcoat styling is inelegant.  Considering all the time, money and effort that was put into recreating the era’s sophisticated cars, furnishings and clothing it is a mystery as to why she opted to demote the tuxedos to the level of pedestrian business suits.  Instead of the traditionally striking look of a deep “V” of white shirt front framed by the lapels of a one-button tuxedo which mimics the ideal male torso, Martin’s chest-high vests turn the outfits into a monotonous sea of black.    And if this was such a good idea, why is it that  Brooks Brothers’ very own Gatsby-themed clothing line features a properly cut waistcoat?

(If I wanted to get really picky I would also ask why the Tom Buchanan character was wearing any type of waistcoat with his double-breasted dinner jacket when the whole point of this new type of  warm-weather coat was to eliminate the need for an additional layer of wool beneath.  And why did Martin completely ignore the period’s distinctively glamorous trend of wearing white waistcoats with black tie?)

Perhaps the special features on the eventual DVD release will reveal how Ms. Martin came to mar her otherwise outstanding costume design with this lamentable decision.

Gatsby costumes on display at Brooks Brothers flagship stores are conspicuously devoid of the incorrect evening waistcoat styles seen in the film. (Rex Features | Vogue UK)

________________________________________

Postscript

This is a still from the behind-the-scenes video with Catherine Martin showing Di Caprio’s three-button jacket and clavicle-covering vest.  In the video she describes Gatsby as “. . the immaculate dresser.  Somebody who bases himself on English royalty”.  Apparently Ms. Martin is unaware that English royalty wouldn’t have been caught dead in such an unorthodox outfit after six. In fact, if they were in mixed company the royals would have been dressed in white tie – the way Robert Redford’s Gatsby was in the 1974 version of the film.

A few months ago I was contacted by the young owners of a start up business aiming to provide quality tuxedo rentals by mail.  Their company is called The Black Tux and their business model is to offer higher quality rentals than mainstream renters at a lower cost.  They include free shipping (both ways) and deliver the garments a full week in advance of the event.  My initial thought was that the fitting process would be a stumbling block but they’ve got that covered.  Customers can either get measured by a local tailor or they can follow the site’s detailed yet easy-to-follow instructions on how to measure themselves (complete with video demonstrations).  Then if for some reason the tuxedo doesn’t fit correctly when it arrives, the company will refund a portion of the cost to have it altered by a local tailor or they may even be able to send a replacement.

It’s great to see a tuxedo rental company emphasizing quality and traditional styling to its customers rather than just focusing on price and novelty.  And judging by the amount of business they’re doing the concept seems to be catching on.  They were even featured in this month’s GQ.

I bought my first fly-front shirt recently and the process was definitely not as simple as I had thought it would be.  Here’s what I learned . . .

Lesson Number One: Understated Shouldn’t Mean Plain.

The least expensive fly-front I found in my search at Harry Rosen was a basic BOSS model without a bib.  I figured this simplicity would be perfectly suitable for what is essentially a minimalist garment but once it was paired with a naturally understated tuxedo it looked more plain than minimalist.   Furthermore, it required a T-shirt to be worn underneath whereas the bosom on standard formal shirts eliminates the need for this extra layer.  (In retrospect, the fact it was featured in the store’s Hugo Boss department rather than the formal wear department should have been a tip-off.)  Thus any savings I thought I had gained vanished the moment I realized the shirt needed to be replaced.   The replacement (pictured above) was a much more successful venture: a gorgeous Canali model with a piqué-textured bosom and light-as-air body, all fashioned from luxuriously soft cotton.

Lesson Number Two: Price Has Nothing to Do with Fit.

I wore my original shirt for the first time on my recent cruise and was completely caught off guard to find the shirt cuffs cascading over my palms.  (Fortunately a couple of strategically placed safety pins provided a handy short-term solution.)  Following the cruise I returned to Harry Rosen to take advantage of their free alterations policy and that’s when I found the Canali alternative.  This time I made a point of properly trying on the shirt and, lo and behold, its sleeves were also much too long.

I find it simply inexcusable for formal shirts of this caliber to be constructed with superfluously long sleeves.   They should be offered in a variety of sleeve lengths to best suit the buyer just like all other quality dress shirts.  Instead, these particular models utilize a standard ploy of  mainstream manufacturers which is to provide a variety of neck sizes but no choice of sleeve sizes.  The result is that the sleeves are made long enough to fit the tallest of men leaving all others to deal with at least an inch of redundant fabric.

This shortcoming may be tolerable with regular shirts because a button cuff’s snug fit naturally prevents it from sliding beyond the wrist.  At worst, you only end up with folds of cloth along the sleeves, some of which is actually necessary to allow them to extend slightly when one’s arms are outstretched.  However, the loose fit of French cuffs does not allow for this sort of buffer.  Sleeves that are short enough to end at the wrist of a hanging arm will end up pulling back too much when the arm is outstretched while sleeves that allow for a full reach will fall past the wrist when the arm returns to resting position.

To strike a smart balance  the sleeves need to be just long enough to fall slightly below the wrist when the arm is hanging.  This explains why French cuffs typically protrude farther from suit sleeves than regular cuffs – something I never realized until now.  But it is very difficult for men of various physiques to purchase a shirt that fits so precisely if the shirt’s sleeves are available in only one length per neck size.

Lesson Three: A Stitch in Time

So if you can’t buy the correct sleeve length you are forced to alter the incorrect length.    To successfully achieve this there are a few important guidelines for the fitting process:

1. as with any cotton garment, wash the shirt before altering it to allow for shrinkage
2. use cufflinks to properly fasten the cuffs rather  than just folding them back
3. wear a jacket over the shirt because jackets typically pull up slightly on a shirt’s sleeves
4. pin the sleeves to the desired length (rather than just eyeballing or measuring them) so you can see exactly how they will look when your arms are hanging and outstretched

Bonus Points: Sleight of Hand

Finally, you may want to try a simple trick that will allow you a choice of sleeve length on the go: add a second buttonhole to the inner part of the cuff.  Just like the two buttons on a regular cuff offer a choice of circumferences to fit different wrist sizes, two backing buttonholes on a French cuff provide for different amounts of overlap.  This can be quite handy considering that different suit jackets can affect sleeve length by different amounts and that shirts can shrink over time.  Some shirtmakers actually offer these adjustable French cuffs on their products, the aforementioned BOSS model being one such example.

(Brooks Brothers)

Well, the long-delayed release of Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby is almost here and Brooks Brothers is taking full advantage of the film’s lush portrayal of Jazz Age glamour.  The latest “lookbook” from the esteemed haberdashers explains:

From the designs of double-Academy Award-winning designer Catherine Martin, Brooks Brothers produced all the men’s costumes in Baz Luhrmann’s film adaptation of The Great Gatsby.  A majority of the 500 men’s costumes featured in the film were inspired by images and products from the company’s archives.  The resulting costumes added a period-specific authenticity to the film and helped bring F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece to life in 3D.  Brooks Brothers has adapted the costumes to create a special collection which is available in-store and online.

I’m happy to see that the collection includes a timeless one-button peaked lapel tuxedo.

For those who are curious as to exactly how an opera hat folds and expands, reader Hans Servando has compiled a series of video demos on YouTube.

One can just imagine the chorus of popping sounds that must have filled Victorian opera houses at the conclusion of each performance!