Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette!
In today's video, we will be discussing the style of Hollywood icon, Fred Astaire, his
approach to dressing, and what lessons you can adopt and adapt into your own wardrobe.
Perhaps no other figure in the history of American cinema did as much to define the
spirit of the musical as did Fred Astaire.
He is remembered primarily as a dancer and rightly so as his supremely tasteful blend
of tap and ballroom styles with a dash of ballet meant that he his often seen as America's
most consummate film dancer.
His only real rival for that title is a contemporary of his, Gene Kelly.
However, he was also a distinctive singer and he introduced many of the songs now part
of the pantheon known collectively as The Great American Songbook and his acting style
showcased a blend of optimistic insouciance that was really the ideal of Amercian cinema,
at the time.
But in addition to all this and our primary focus here at the Gentleman's Gazette is his
impeccable style.
Before we get started breaking down his sartorial wisdom though, here's a brief biography.
He was born Frederick Emanuel Austerlitz on May 10th, 1899 in Omaha, Nebraska.
When Fred's older sister, Adele began to show a natural talent for dancing, both of the
children began pursuing the art.
And although Fred refused to take dance lessons at first, he was easily able to mimic his
sister's movements showing his natural talent.
Also, he took up piano, accordion, and clarinet showing that he was equally adept as a musician.
The family moved to New York in New York in 1905 and both of the children would start
receiving formal training at this point.
Also around this time, the family name was changed from Austerlitz to the more elegant,
Astaire.
By the age of fourteen, Fred had taken on the musical responsibilities for his and Adele's
act and at the age of sixteen, he first met composer, George Gershwin, launching a friendship
and collaboration that would profoundly impact American popular culture.
The Astaire's first hit, Broadway in 1917 and they would continue to perform on Broadway
and on London stages throughout the 1920s.
Even at this point, Fred's tap dancing was recognized as being among the best.
In 1930, Robert Benchley wrote "I don't think that I will plunge the nation into war by
stating Fred is the greatest tap dancer in the world."
When his sister Adele married Lord Charles Cavendish in 1932, Fred continued on the stage
as a solo act and then hit Hollywood in 1933.
And despite a poor screen test at RKO Radio Pictures, which according to Fred, "can't
act, slightly bald, also dances."
Producer David O. Selznick took a chance on him saying "I am uncertain about the man but
I feel, in spite of his enormous ears and bad chin line, that his charm is so tremendous
that it comes through even in this wretched test."
Fred made his film debut in the musical"Dancing Lady" starring opposite Joan Crawford and
was then paired with Ginger Rogers for a sequence in the film "Flying down to Rio".
Astaire and Rogers would make nine films together at RKO including Top hat, Follow the fleet,
Swing time, and Shall we dance.
Six out of these nine RKO musicals became the biggest money makers for the studio and
they propelled Fred and Ginger to superstardom.
Leaving RKO in 1939 to freelance in film which was relatively rare at the time, Astaire would
go on to partner with other dancers such as Eleanor Powell and Rita Hayworth, and he also
made two memorable films with Bing Crosby.
Throughout the 1950s and 60s, Astaire would go on to headline a few other musical films,
as well as produce a number of television specials.
His final musical film was 1968's Finian's Rainbow and he and a few more dramatic roles
in the 1970s.
1981's Ghost Story was Astaire's final film.
He died of Pneumonia on June 22, 1987 at the age of 88.
Even after his death, his legacy as a singer and a dancer lives on.
Astaire's accredited with two innovations in the history of early film musicals, the
first was leaving the camera largely stationary and long unbroken shots to show the full scope
of the dance routine.
The second was harnessing a film's musical numbers to actually serve the plot rather
than just being diversions.
And although he possessed a somewhat light voice, Astaire was admired as a singer by
such great American composers as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, and Cole Porter.
More popular songs in the so-called American Songbook were introduced on film by Astaire
than any other popular singer at the time, including Bing Crosby or Frank Sinatra.
So, now that you know the man a bit better, let's go over his distinct style starting
with a general overview.
One need no look further than the various characters played on film at the time to get
an overall sense of his style.
These characters notably broke with the standards of the time for what an ideal male leading
character was to be.
Rather than being wealthy, titled, or overly formal, Astaire's characters and indeed he,
himself, embodied the idealized American man, self-made, ambitious, self-taught, and tenacious.
And as menswear historian G. Bruce Boyer writes in his book, Fred Astaire Style, "Astaire
mixed his dance styles the way he mixed his dress styles: with a spontaneous exuberance
in which the hard work was well hidden within the detail and subtlety.
His blend or urban English shape with casual American style typifies American dress to
this day.
His characters showed a fresh approach to the romantic hero: vitality, urbanity, charm,
and natural talent.
All carried off in an effortless manner.
Astaire was the democratic ideal: A classless aristocrat."
Essentially, Astaire's sartorial genius came from his ability to look simultaneously formal
and casual, net and yet pleasingly rumpled.
He was intimately well-acquainted with the traditional rules of menswear so he knew how
to bend or break them in order to fit his own taste.
he could wear suits in conservative shades without looking drab, more colorful combinations
without looking gaudy, and of course, a tuxedo or a full dress ensemble without looking the
least bit uncomfortable.
So how then did he accomplish this?
In order to answer that question, here's a more complete breakdown of Astaire's particular
style choices.
Paraphrasing again from Bruce Boyer, one of the key aspects of Astaire's wardrobe was
a focus on softness and comfort.
Jackets had to be roomy enough not to be constricting but to still hold their shape.
Trousers had to be cut on the full side but not sloppy or billowy.
From Astaire "A new aesthetic evolved, and so did the relationship between clothes and
attitude, style and demeanor...
During the depression, this aesthetic became the midatlantic model: a blend of Savile row
with Princeton."
In other words, Astaire was able to seamlessly combine the hallmarks of traditional English
tailoring with a more contemporary American prep style.
By the way, we've done videos on prep style which you can find here and differences between
English, American, and Italian suit fashions which you can find, here.
And Astaire had ample exposure to both of these traditions as he had both been a Brooks
Brothers customer since his teens and his travels while on stage in London had introduced
him to Savile Row.
To follow this dual emphasis on form and function, Astaire chose supple weights of fabric to
enhance the drape of his suits and in particular, he always made sure that his armholes were
cut particularly high to maximize his movement, especially when dancing.
This was particularly true of his full dress ensembles which were often made by Anderson
& Sheppard.
While many men assume that White Tie must be inherently uncomfortable to wear with its
high starched collar and exacting cuts, Astaire definitely proved this assumption to be false.
And fortunately, we do not need to speculate on Astaire's opinions about specific different
kinds of garments because he gave these opinions to interviewer, Richard Hubler, in a 1957
piece for Gentleman's Quarterly.
For example, in terms of suits, he typically preferred traditional staple hues like navy
blue and charcoal grays and browns.
The only light color I like is light gray", he said.
Meanwhile, his choices for combinations of a blazer or sport coat with odd trousers could
often be a bit more bold and incorporating bolder patterns.
In either case, he did prefer that his jackets usually have deep side vents, often up to
seven inches or so, in accordance with traditional British styling.
His trousers were usually both pleated and cuffed although he did wear them shorter than
many men of the time with little or no break.
He said "I do not want them slopping over onto my shoes."
Another reason for a shorter trouser break was to draw more attention to his feet while
dancing in films.
He also accomplished this by wearing socks and sometimes shoes in contrasting colors
to the trousers.
And while he did prefer a shorter hem, Astaire also preferred for his trousers to having
a higher waistline.
This made his legs look longer and more athletic and made him appear taller overall, even though
he was only about 5'9''.
Of course, shoes were the only work horses of Astaire's wardrobe.
He was often said to go through dozens of pairs while rehearsing for a show or a film
and in terms of his own private collection, he often preferred two-tone spectator shoes
or oxfords in either white buckskin or brown suede.
In terms of shirts, Astaire purchased just as many off-the-rack as he had custom made.
In his time, the style was for shirts to fit more generously in the chest and sleeves than
they do today, so a slightly looser fit one would typically get off-the-rack would not
be seen as sloppy.
Still, his shirts did fit him well for his size.
He would occasionally wear patterned shirts, something like stripes, but he was most partial
to solids in pastel colors like blue, yellow, and a personal favorite of his, pink.
Solid pastel shirts, by the way, are a maximally versatile option for pairing with all different
manner of ties and jackets, as well as accessories.
You can find our videos on pairing shirts and ties with gray suits and with blue suits,
here.
Overall, he preferred button cuff shirts to ones with French cuffs and would typically
wear cufflinks only with formal dress wherein they, as well as the shirt studs, would often
contain precious gems.
He disliked tab collars, often preferring button down collars or spread collars strengthened
with collar stays.
When he did choose to wear a traditional point collar, he would often accentuate it by wearing
a collar pin, clip, or bar.
And in terms of ties, he preferred tying a Windsor knot and often opted for fuller, wider
ties.
He explained in that 1957 interview that he avoided narrower ties because "I am narrow
enough myself, too narrow."
While he was a bow tie wearer in his younger years, Astaire later settled into wearing
primarily long neckties and then in his later years, wearing neckerchiefs and ascots.
Another use of neckwear for Astaire was one that would become a personal hallmark for
him, using old ties or handkerchiefs as belts.
This came from his dancing days when his weight would fluctuate so rapidly that belts would
be impractical at keeping up his trousers.
Also a fan of colorful pocket squares, Astaire would usually wear them in more casual folds
rather than something highly structured.
Other than collar pins, tie bars, and occasionally a ring, Astaire did also like to accessorize
with boutonnieres, particularly carnations.
In hats, he liked models with low crowns and fairly narrow brims, usually of about 2 1/8
inches.
According to him, an eighth of an inch can make a lot of difference on a brim.
And while he obviously wore top hats with his full dress and morning dress ensembles,
his everyday choices were felt fedoras and straw boaters, often accented with colorful
grosgrain hatbands.
So with all of this said, how can one effectively emulate Fred Astaire's style?
The easiest way to do it, of course, would be to just directly follow all of the points
we have laid out here.
Equally important to the garments themselves, however, is the attitude with which they are
worn.As we have already said, while Astaire did not shy away from incorporating patterns
into his shirts or accessories, he was able to assemble outfits with what can honestly
be called an artist's eye.
His combinations were always harmonious and while they could be playful or even bright,
they were never ostentatious or over the top.
While he was always smartly attired, Astaire took pleasure in his wardrobe and fundamentally
dressed for himself.
As he was quoted in the aforementioned 1957 interview, " I know that once in a while I
have been on lists of best-dressed men but it always comes as a surprise to me.
I never think of myself as spic and span or all duded out, just as someone who wants to
be comfortable and satisfy his own taste."
As for wearing white tie like Astaire, remember that the fit must be immaculate ensuring ease
of movement.
Even if you do not plan to dance like he did and really, who can?
Even so, as he admitted in his autobiography, Steps in Time, "at the risk of disillusionment,
I must admit that I do not like top hats, white ties, and tails."
By the way, whether you consider yourself a bigger fan of White Tie than Fred Astaire
or not, you can find a comprehensive guide to it in our Black Tie Guide on the website,
here.
And if you are looking for print resources to study up on Fred Astaire's style, we would,
again, recommend G Bruce Boyer's book, Fred Astaire Style, as well as Astaire's own autobiography.
In conclusion then, Fred Astaire created a unique blend of functionality and flair.
And due to his classic first, quirky second leaning, his style has truly stood the test
of time.
Again quoting from Boyer, "He could wear the uniform of the upper class when the need called
for it.
But it's ironic that the man some associated with the top hat and tail is really the one
who popularized the sports jacket and soft lounge suit.
Astaire wore white ties and tails as though they were pajamas and a tuxedo as though it
were a part of his everyday routine... it was not supposed to look perfect, it was supposed
to look natural, it worked then, and it works now.
It's what genius and style are all about."
In today's video, I am obviously trying to incorporate a good number of Astaire's style
hallmarks.
In fact, some of the elements of my outfit are directly inspired by what Astaire was
wearing during that 1957 GQ interview.
It was written to be as follows, "A light pink shirt, tan cotton slacks, and dark brown
suede shoes."
Speaking of the shoes, we'll actually start there as I designed them myself from Undandy
to directly mimic a style that Astaire wore in the opening scenes of his 1957 film, Silk
Stockings.
They are dark brown suede oxfords and they feature laces as well as contrast stitching
in a lighter color.
Also in camel, of course, is the sport coat I am wearing today which is a vintage model
as you can tell by some of the slight wear that is on the buttons.
I am wearing a pink solid shirt today as was one of Astaire's favorites and it is accentuated
by one of our Fort Belvedere ties in a Prince of Wales check pattern.
The pocket square is also from Fort Belvedere, it is a wool silk blend featuring a rabbit
motif for a pattern.
The other Fort Belvedere accessories in my outfit today are my gold colored collar clip
as well as my pink carnation boutonniere.
While Astaire did not often wear cufflinks in day to day life, most of my shirts take
them so today, I wore gold cuff links vintage models to harmonize with my outfit.
My trousers are in a medium brown shade and they are being held up today by an old pink
tie that we had in the studio.I am here using, of course, one of Astaire's style trademarks.
And finally, my socks are pastel pink to directly harmonize with my shirt though I am not necessarily
sure on the need to be drawing attention to my ankles as I won't be doing any dancing.