STYLE WITH A SPINE
Five fashionable books for the smart and sophisticated
According to your esteemed magazine last month (and the month before), corduroy is the fabric for the sharpdressed man. I’m delighted, obviously, as a 44-year-old man who values comfort, warmth and practicality, but won’t I look like a geography teacher, or a fat Jarvis Cocker, or that funny film director? And even if I were to buy a corduroy suit, what would I wear with it? Yours in anticipation, Frank, Hastings May I be frank, Frank? Unless you happen to be Wes Anderson, The Fantastic Mr Fox or, indeed, a geography teacher, dressing head-to-foot in corduroy (or any trend, for that matter) is not something I would necessarily advocate. Let me explain. In All the President’s Men
(1976), Robert Redford spends much of his time wearing a wide-lapelled, tan corduroy suit. He looks bookish, debonair and handsome (as much to do with the fact he’s good looking, as the outfit he’s wearing).
The look was imitated, in part, on the Prada runway this season
(there was a dash of Wes Anderson nerdiness about the curry-hued, boot-cut cord trousers on show, too) and the models looked elegant and cool.
The sad reality is though, Frank, that not all men are blessed with the looks of Robert Redford or, indeed, the coathanger proportions of Prada’s models, and as a consequence, some trends (corduroy included) are better drip-fed into your wardrobe one piece at a time. With that in mind, why not try teaming one of Prada’s natty cord coats with a pair of tapered navy chinos and chocolate brown desert boots?
For an even smarter look, a Ralph Lauren or Brunello Cucinelli slim-cut, chocolate brown cord blazer worn with indigo jeans, a buttondown shirt and old school white trainers looks both low-key and dashing. If you do plan on going full suit, you could do worse than J Crew’s dependable Ludlow cord two-piece in forest green, a hue which makes the ensemble look a little less geography teacher and a little more elegantly crumpled Ivy League freshman.
For fairly priced corduroy basics, new brand Cords & Co is worth seeking out. Founded last year in Stockholm and launched in London’s Soho this autumn, the brand specialises — you guessed it — in premium corduroy; trousers from £125, jackets from £180. Strike a cord (from left): green cotton-corduroy suit jacket, £425; green cotton-corduroy suit trousers, £225, both by J Crew. Brown corduroy coat, £2,170, by Prada. Dark grey Sea Island cotton-corduroy suit (under gilet), £3,250, by Brunello Cucinelli