WEAR A STRIPED BRETON T-SHIRT URGES JEREMY LANGMEAD
The classic Breton sailor’s shirt (the French Navy’s
marinière or tricot rayé) can look so damn good
— and doesn’t have to cost a fortune as everyone from Gap to APC to Junya Watanabe has made them. It will appear stylish under a blazer, will spruce up chinos, and get you in the holiday mood if worn with a pair of pale chambray shorts. And if you’re worried that you may look a little too Jean Genet, fear not: Ernest Hemingway wore them, as did Pablo Picasso (check out the famous Robert Doisneau shot, left) and, if he floats your boat, so did James Dean.
So, the question is: do you have to forego the Breton top because wearing one is like being a member of a club you didn’t necessarily ask to join, or do you begrudgingly shove it back in the bottom drawer for another couple of years along with last autumn’s unworn harem pants? It’s strange how the sexes deal with the problem in such different ways. When girls bump into each other wearing a similar “fashionable piece” they look delighted, check out who paid the most, and think nothing more of it; us men, on the other hand, wince, sarcastically utter “good times”, and either remove or cover up the offending item straightaway.
One word of warning, however: as tempting as this season’s summer classics are — navy blazers, white trousers, Breton tops and lightweight cottonknit fishermen’s sweaters — don’t put them all on at once. You’ll end up looking like Osgood Fielding III in
Some Like it Hot. And he ended up sailing into the sunset with Jack Lemmon. Good times.