pure style

I have just read this book. Well, when I say read, I mean I have skimmed the words and lingered over the photos. I would never have guessed you could enjoy looking at pictures of a fully-clad man so much. To be honest, this is sartorial porn.

The commentary is really quite awful (wouldn't it have been good if a book about style could have been written stylishly?), but the author does go into minute and revealing detail about Cary Grant's clothes. I love the story about CG ordering shirts from a tailor in Japan; if they weren't just right, he'd send them back 10,000 miles to have the collar tips extended by one eighth of an inch, or something similarly obessive.

The book is packed with fabulous photos of CG in films, on location, at leisure. It dawned on me that the majority, and the best, are in black and white. It makes you wonder if CG dressed deliberately to look great in monochrome. He is nearly always wearing a black or grey suit or a white tuxedo with a startlingly white shirt and neutral tie. All of which go perfectly with his black hair when young, and his grey hair when older. (The mahogany tan was perhaps necessary in order  to define his face; if it was pale you probably wouldn't see it...)

It can be no coincidence that the two other books I have about CG have black & white covers. This man's look is pared down to the absolute basics; no frills, no fuss, best fabrics, top quality design. He's so beautifully and cleanly delineated, he's almost a cut-out. But not quite. There's the man inside whom we can't see fully, and this cleverly hidden self is the most tantalising thing in the whole book.

Comments

[Pamela]

sigh

[wren]

Swoon.

[jess]

swoon is right! :)

you might enjoy the sartorialist blog (http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/), if you haven't seen it before. :)

[Ash]

Oh, what a profile that man has. *sigh*

[Gemma]

I love and adore black and white photos of people. I always feel that somehow I look better in them.

At what point do you think one crosses the line from interested party to obsessive? ;-) He is utterly divine though!

[Karen]

All well and good, but now give us Gregory Peck and his horn-rimmed specs (or perhaps I just mean Atticus Finch). More rumpled brown than chic black and white.

[Monica]

Oh I agree... and growing up I always wanted to be Ingrid Bergman. Werent' they a fantastic on screen couple?

[Carolyn]

Who cares if the writing isn't up to scratch when we only want to look at the man!

[Terri]

Isn't he just the greatest? He makes a man wearing suit or tux look natural.

[HPNY Knits]

its all about the image.
have yo heard of Fiberflix? thought you might like the idea.
http://fiberflix.blogspot.com/

[Dorothy B]

He was so dreamy. The cat's meow doesn't do that profile justice.

[Leisl]

They sure don't make them like that any more... sigh.

[--Deb]

Ah......

I was watching Remington Steele on DVD the other day, with a young Pierce Brosnan, and the commentary was stating how much style he brought to the role, with comparisons to Cary Grant, and how he was just inundated by fan mail because there simply wasn't anyone else out there like that at the time.

Really, what HAS happened to real class??

[Paula]

Jane,
sigh
Thank you for your post today. I was having just a terrible day and to sit down for a moment and stare at my most favorite actor just instantly took all the troubles of the day away.
Now I think I will hide myself in my room with a nice cup of tea and climb into some Cary Grant Movies.

[littlejennywren]

Isn't he just gorgeous although I think I do prefer Gregory Peck. I love his voice.

[maritza]

Ahhhhhhhhhhh, I adore Cary Grant. He was so stylish and debonair.... As stunning as he looks in photographs, watching him on the screen is just breathtaking.

[Sara]

One of my early movie star crushes :) Did you know he didn't like to smile because he teeth were just slightly crooked? HIs top front teeth were just slightly off, making it look like he had one big tooth right in the middle. If THAT was the man's only imperfection....just highlights everything else that ws SO right about him.

[Georgia]

Reminds me of post on the Sartorialist website (http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/, 16 August 2006).

This site is worth a look - always interesting. Records the personal style of people on the street (and some fashionistas) as a form of self expression. Not as vapid as it sounds. Great photography too.

Umm, if CG didn't like to smile because his teeth were crooked how did anyone know he was happy?

My gaydar is not entirely reliable but I thought CG batted for the other team.

You've already considered this possibility, right?

[Carolyn]

Hope you don't mind but I have been visiting for a while now and have just added you to my links.

[Alison]

I love Cary Grant!

[kathy merrick]

Cary Grant smiled with his eyes.

[Stephy]

Great post. Wow, they don't make them like that anymore. I love his movies. He could do any sort of role--comedy, drama, adventure, thriller. It was more than his acting skills and incredible good looks, though, it was also incredible charm, with a bit of a mystery. I think that's why he still has the power to enthrall.

[Angie Cox]

Sounds like vanity so excessive that it shows an inner un-happiness.People were starving ,un-employed and he wasted money fussing over a shirt collar.Please tell me Gregory was more down to earth and far less self-obbsessed.

[Alicia P.]

I think for your banner you should just have 40 or so little B&W photos of CG scrolling across the top, strung together with cashmere, no angora yarn. . . . And when you look at it you should be barefoot, eating a fairy bun. That says "Jane" to me.

[Debby]

Oh, Cary. There is no one like him in today's films. Not even close. Love his movies with Doris and Grace and Audrey, the witty dialogue, the amazing sets, the perfect clothes...sigh.