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A blog dedicated to the interesting, scandalous, useful and cutting edge in the world of men’s style, fashion and grooming.
We’ve heard of watches inspired by cars, but Aston Martin’s new V8 Vantage Roadster may be the first car inspired by a watch. The venerable British sportscar marque has had a long association with Swiss watchmaker Jaeger-LeCoultre, and the stunning new convertible was influenced by the company’s legendary Reverso. Developed for posh polo players in the 1930s, the Reverso, like the Roadster, has “open” and “closed” modes, both equally stylish…
It appears that the “brutal” new James Bond is something of a prima donna. At the cover shoot for GQ’s December Men of the Year issue, deconstructed 007 Daniel Craig refused to wear any of the designer duds the magazine’s fashion mavens picked out for him, insisting instead on a suit of his own. Having caught wind of the clothing contretemps, we asked GQ’s Adam Rapoport, who wrote the Craig cover story, what went down.
Ah, the Bond Girl—intended as a paragon of her species, the female foil and flame of cinema’s ultimate embodiment of masculinity says more about what we wish women were than what they are. Beginning with Ursula Andress (who emerged Aphrodite-like from the surf), the history of Bond’s beauties is a long and luscious chronicle of our desires both sublime (Barbara Bach’s Agent XXX) and ignoble (Denise Richards’ Dr. Christmas Jones).
Negative Reaction: Kenneth Cole falls $3.1 million into debt. Where be your cheeky billboards now? [DNRNews]
Cardigan Cabal: The international press is conspiring to make the Cardigan today’s, “dead sexy chick magnet.” Almost Orwellian, ain’t it?
Restoration Hardware: John Varvatos’ conversion of CBGB’s is taking for-frigging-ever. [Racked]
Lil’ Bit More: Crunk poet and Renaissance man Lil’ John not only has his own celeb clothing line on the way, but is currently vintnering up a storm at Little Jonathan Winery. All class that one. [Pro Hip Hop]
Collateral Damage: The new Bond film is an absolute blood fest, destroying one innocent Tom Ford suit after another. [VogueUK]
Co-Ed Naked Design: Matthew McConcaughey and his old lady create new clothes to shed while walking on sunny pacific beaches. [Gawker]
Duty Free: Paul Smith takes off at Heathrow, unlike some. [Vogue UK]
Rabbit, Run: Furry chic makes its unsettling debut at Tokyo Fashion Week. [Boing Boing]
“Composition with Yellow, Blue, and Red”: Nike goes all Neo-plasticist on us with the Piet Mondrian Dunk Lows. [NikeSB.org]
Goose Steps: The Cut hashes out this whole Adidas-Puma-Third-Reich thing. [NYMag]
Repeat Performance: Daniel Craig, star of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and some other stuff, wins GQ’s best-dressed award for the second year straight. [Vogue UK]
Signing Out: Portfolio’s fashion blogger Lauren Goldstein Crowe waves a “Peace the Fork Out” to the rest of the linkable world. [Portfolio]
Pig-malion: The classiest classy guy in the world of high class wants to play Henry Higgins to Ashley “The Governator” Dupré’s Eliza Doolittle, though we suspect she’s already had her elocution lessons if you know what we mean. No? Us either. [NY Daily News]
Big Top: David Coleman snuggles up to our favorite dandy fabulist and his long, thick hat. [NYTimes]
Between emosogyny and Terrell Owens, the weeping man has gotten a pretty bad rap. To right the wrong, Sam Taylor-Wood put together some of the most masculine players in Hollywood—including the machismo-filled Benicio del Toro above and a red-eyed entry from the new James Bond below.
The book is titled, simply enough, Crying Men, and offers example after example of men shedding masculine tears, presumably over weighty subjects like racism, global warming, and the unavailability of quality suiting.
Considering how seriously nouveau 007 Daniel Craig takes his suits, we were not surprised to see that he made the grade in Vanity Fair’s 2008 International Best-Dressed List.
However, knowing how into Tom Ford Craig is—as we noted before, he refused to wear anything else for his GQ cover shoot, and went through 40+ Ford suits while filming the latest Bond flick, Quantum of Solace—we were somewhat taken aback to see him pictured in the mag wearing nothing but Dolce & Gabbana. Looks to us like someone at VF went out of their way to favor the Italian duo over the MOTH king—and it also looks like Tommy needs to buy a lot more ad space.
We’re already more than hyped for Quantum of Solace, the new Bond film due in November, but before now we were relying on a teaser trailer and a few posters, which didn’t reveal much more than our protagonist’s preference for lightweight fabrics and heavyweight weaponry. Until now, that is.
The newly released trailer gives us a closer look at the sequel, a closer look at new Bond girl Gemma Arterton, and a glimpse at the surprising direction our favorite secret agent is heading. Apparently one place he’s heading is towards sequential plots; this one picks up right at the end of Casino Royale, with a heartbroken Bond out for vengeance. Unlike Connery’s Bond—whose relationship towards his companions was somewhat more casual—this Bond is shaping up to be mopey, vengeful and more than a little emo.
Not that we’re judging. We’d find Eva Green pretty hard to get over too.
As the hype crescendos around Quantum of Solace’s impending release—new Bond Girls!—it’s a good time to consider the flick in its historical context. Especially as a smashing collection of classic 007 placards are hitting the block at Christie’s in London tomorrow. The prized Bond lot in the auction house’s Vintage Film Posters sale is a mint condition 1964 Goldfinger sheet in the rare British quad style B format, estimated at $7,00 - $10,000.
We’re partial however to this quirky and equally scarce Aston Martin promo piece produced for Thunderball in 1965, which is a much better deal at est. $3,000 - $3,500. Also included are classics from Dr. No (1962, est. $2,700 - $4,500), From Russia With Love (1963, est. $2,700 - $4,500) and the rest of the pantheon, with several variations of each. Mr. Craig would do well to study these masterpieces if he hopes to err on the side of Connery.
We’re pretty happy with the current Bond theme, but there’s always room for improvement…
British semi-stars Joe Cornish and Adam Buxton recently recorded dueling themes for the upcoming Quantum of Solace as part of a “song battle,” and the results are staggering to say the least. Apparently some Brits—or at least some comedians—are none too happy with Bond’s new sensitive/brutal side.
In our favorite of the two songs, Cornish ends up waxing nostalgic for the days of Roger Moore, underwater cars and Union Jack parachutes. Say it ain’t so, Joe!
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
We’ve expounded before on the extreme appeal of La Perla lingerie, which while eschewing the erotic theatrics of Agent Provocateur nonetheless manages to push all the right buttons. Their underthings, such as the flapper-esque concoction shown here snapped by our fearless lensman at a recent display of La Perla wares in NYC, seem calculated to appeal to sex-starved socialites and other such admirable creatures.
We were not aware however that the company also made the alarmingly snug swim trunks Daniel Craig sported in his debut as James Bond. Apparently he has refused to ever put them on again. Wise choice, old boy; some things are just not meant to have crossover appeal.
Product placement is nothing new to the James Bond movies, but we were pleased to hear that the new film is going to feature a whole lot of one of America’s most prominent designers.
Of course, Daniel Craig is already on record as being much-impressed with Tom Ford, but apparently he’s got a bit more clout these days, which means we’ll be seeing less Brioni and a lot less of those miniscule swimming trunks from Casino Royale. (Something tells us Roger Moore didn’t have to put up with that sort of thing…)
It’s rare to see a choice like this made by the star and not the marketing or wardrobe department, but it looks like Mr. Craig is moving up in the world. After all, what’s the point in having an acting gig if you can’t use it to score a good suit every now and then?
Let’s just hope he can keep them clean.
Some are born with accessories, some acquire accessories, and some have accessories thrust upon them.
Mr. Craig may not have been thinking of spicing up his tuxedo when he injured himself, but it couldn’t have worked out better. It may throw his bowtie a bit off-center, but it was well worth it.
With the Oscars just five months off, it may be time for George Clooney to start planning a discreet but manly boating accident.
There are many ways to wear a cardigan. For the Italian premiere of a film you may have heard of, the esteemed Mr. Craig opted for the big collar/big tie route. It’s a good choice, since Italy is silk country and more is still better in Rome. He keeps the cardigan tactically slim instead of opting for the grandpa look, and ends up with a thoroughly adult outfit.
Also, it helps if you look like you’re ready to kick someone in the face.
The internet is atwitter lately over one aspect of the Bond movies you might have overlooked: the architecture.
The UK Guardian’s in-house pontificator Steve Rose takes some time out from the usual culture warring to point out all the lovely hideouts the Bond villains have set up—usually with the help of an unnamed post-modern architect or two. It’s quite an education, even if most of those lovely concrete angles are in ruins by the end of the film.
The paparazzi get a bad rap, but as long as they’re on the side of chivalry, it’s not all bad. Take, for instance, this latest infraction by our own Daniel Craig, captured by the intrepid photogs of the Sun.
A brief lesson, if we may: A little rain never hurt anyone, but leaving your lady to soak may cause irreparable damage, as Mr. Craig is surely discovering now.
You never saw Roger Moore doing this sort of thing.
American Flag: ACL demonstrates the proper way to wear the American flag…with a little help from Chan Marshall. [A Continuous Lean]
Omega Man: Daniel Craig auctions off his watch for underprivileged youth. To keep his Bond credentials intact, we’re going to assume he was drunk at the time. [Hodinkee]
A Meme is Born: Apparently, the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme makes anything funny. Especially Crash. [CurbThis]
The Hour is Nigh: If you’re sending things in time for Christmas, this is how long you have to order. [Dealhack]
Film sets are pretty hectic places, so it’s always remarkable when a bit of self-possessed style slips through. And as you might have guessed, Mr. Bond is involved…
These snaps (via NotCot) come from behind the scenes of the last two Bond movies, and find Mr. Craig at his most McQueen-ish. Of course, the odd pair of aviators don’t hurt…and neither does the Baracuta-style jacket.
The Last of the Bombshells: A few more Marilyn snaps surface. We’re game, as always. [Refinery29]
On Ice: Daniel Craig is now available in popsicle form. No, we don’t know why either. [Vulture]
The Barbarian: WSJ’s brand new culture blog weighs in on O’Brien’s brand new Tonight Show. It’s the dawn of two new eras. [Speakeasy]
Tears of a Clown: Ol’ Blue Eyes apparently fancied himself quite the painter. The rest of the world…not so much. [Luxist]
