#reigning men

[morereign]

Man Crush Monday. The Men of Reign.

[janedrewfinally]

"La, but someone has to strike a pose and bear the weight of well-tailored clothes...."

[misskelly13]

Reigning Men at LACMA

A few pictures snapped by Miss Kelly, of the recent expo at LACMA.

Mens fashion, haute couture, street style, old times, modern times. Fantastic show, I went twice!

[putthison]

Reigning Men Part Two: The Fashioning

Yesterday we took a look at some of the more sedate styles at LACMA's Reigning Men exhibition. Today: the wild ones.

The highlight here is an exceedingly rare zoot suit, one of the only such suits still extant. As we wrote a few months ago, it was purchased at auction, and LACMA is making the pattern publicly available so it can be studied and recreated.

Some other favorites:

A suit made entirely of tie silk for the runway just a few years ago, and a smoking jacket made of cigar silk a hundred years ago.

Thom Browne's literalized deerstalker cap - complete with deer horns.

A motorcyclist's leathers from the 1950s that would look just as at home on a leather enthusiast in the 1980s.

If you're in Los Angeles, Reigning Men runs through August 21st. You can see more photos, video and patterns at the exhibition's website.

[putthison]

Reigning Men: Men's Style at LACMA

With in-laws babysitting a week or so ago, my wife and I headed to LACMA here in LA to check out Reigning Men. It's one of the most extensive and fascinating exhibitions of menswear I've ever seen. Styles ranged from the 18th century to the present day, with plenty of both everyday style and high fashion.

Above are some shots I grabbed of some of the looks I'd characterize as oriented towards what menswear nerds call "classic style." Tomorrow we'll feature some of the more far-out and striking fashion pieces.

A few of my favorites, above:

A shockingly tasteful ensemble from the early 1950s, which save for its strong-shouldered shape would look at home in a men's store today

Tiny salesman sample swimsuits from the early 20th century. Love them so much.

Genuine Oxford bags, the monstrously huge trousers worn by stylish college students for a brief time in the 1920s and 30s.

Some truly indulgent at-home ensembles in silk and velvet, for men who'd slipped off their Edwardian work togs and were ready to drink.

You can check out Ryan's impressions of the exhibit for our series “Fashion and Style Drawings,” which focused on the more outre displays, and check out the very lovely exhibition book. There’s even a mini-menswear bookshop as you leave the exhibition - I found a few titles that weren’t already in my library and I’m sure you will, too.

[maxstudio]

It’s Reigning Men

Menswear designer Kean Etro co-ordinated a wool-and-leather briefcase with a three-piece suit in wool plaid in his Fall/Winter 2014 collection.

For once there is something for the guys: three hundreds’ years worth of menswear has landed in Los Angeles. "Exhibitions about fashion have tended overwhelmingly to focus on womenswear,” says the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Michael Govan in his foreword to the book of his exhibition, “Reigning Men demonstrates that men's dress has its own – in some ways unexpected – story to tell.” 21st-century Hollywood, this ain’t. Check out LACMA for a rainbow-like and glittering display of court and ceremonial dress, the 18th century frock coats of the London ‘macaroni’s’ whose wigs rivalled that of an unfortunate Queen of France, and the stripey tail coats worn in Revolutionary Paris as they were beheading her. Here too are the modern outfits of the dandy, the 19th century elegance of early Savile Row, the street in London where the art of mens' suits' has been perfected, the swinging styles of 1960s Carnaby Street through to a white, floor-length dress with a long, structured blazer from Rick Owens Spring/Summer 2012. Because, you see, it's never too late for the man of the house to research some dandy inspiration for his closet.

Dressing gowns: on the left, an "at-home robe" (banyan) from 1880, right, a chic 1989 dressing gown from A. Sulka & Co. in New York, once a favourite of the Duke of Windsor's.

The 'Tuxedo' got its name from Tuxedo Park an exclusive residential enclave outside New York. This jacket by Tom Ford is in a rich floral brocade rather than the traditional black.

Looks from the exhibition "Reigning Men: Fashion In Menswear, 1715-2015" which is at LACMA until August 21st.

[putthison]

Style and Fashion Drawings: “Reigning Men” at LACMA

I recently visited the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to see their “Reigning Men” exhibition, which explores the history of men’s dress from the 18th century to present day. It isn’t really about everyday clothes, per se, but rather the extravagant and fashionable (at least within their time). By seeing different eras side-by-side, you get a good sense of how ideas about men’s dress have evolved. 

To be honest, I’m the kind of dummy who usually dismisses designer fashion -- such as the floral green Vivienne Westwood outfit you see above -- but the show does such a great job of putting things in context. 

See the outfits in the center and on the far right, for example. In the 18th century, a small group of men known as the Macaroni were famous for their gambling habits and penchant for flashy clothes. They wore things that were considered “feminine” for their age -- towering hairstyles, silk stockings gartered with multiple ribbons, and tight-fitting coats with oversized buttons. It’s partly because of them that the dandy movement later came about (which, far from today’s meaning, originally referred to men who wore sober and more “masculine” clothes). Today, the Macaroni name survives through the song “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” which ends with a lyric about a dandy who “stuck a feather in his cap and called it Macaroni.” 

I also really like this bright wool coat from Japanese designer Kansai Yamamoto, who’s famous for making some of David Bowie’s stage costumes (including the one with billowing pants). It was placed near this old Inverness cape from Japan’s Edo period. Built much like a Western cape, this one was adjusted to fit over the sleeves of a kimono. 

You can check out the “Reigning Men” exhibition from now until August 21st. The museum also has a great, giant book with photos of everything in the show, although I highly recommend going in-person if you can. You can spend hours there and LACMA is even cool with you taking pictures (or drawing) in most of their rooms. Check it out!