Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette! In today's video, we're going to discuss the
style of Hollywood icon, Cary Grant; his approach to dressing and which lessons from his style
you can adopt and adapt in your wardrobe. One of the quintessential leading men in mid-century
Hollywood, Cary Grant starred in a slew of successful films with his biggest successes
coming from the 1930s to the 1960s. He wasn't always the dapper and elegant gentleman
whose name is synonymous with style, however, so with that in mind, let's give a brief biographical
background to Cary Grant. Cary Grant was born Archibald Leach in a suburb
of Bristol, England on January 18th, 1904. He had a bit of a tough childhood as his mother
spent most of Cary's young life locked away in a sanitarium and his father abandoned him
to start a new family. Essentially meaning that Cary Grant had to
fend for himself from a very young age. Dropping out of school, he joined a vaudeville
troupe which travelled to the United States when he was 16 years old in July of 1920 for
a two-year tour of America. Staying in the United States after the tour
concluded, Grant later made his way to Broadway and then on to Hollywood beginning in 1931. He would later become a US citizen in 1942. From 1932 to 1966, Grant starred in over 70
Hollywood films and he was nominated twice for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Some of his best-known roles include bringing
up baby, his girl Friday, the Philadelphia Story, Arsenic and Old Lace, an affair to
remember, North by Northwest, and charade. Cary Grant passed away on November 29, 1986
but his films remain classics today and his personal style remains timeless. So now that you have a bit of background,
let's go over Cary’s Grant's personal style in more detail starting first with an overall
assessment. To put it simply, Cary Grant didn't attempt
to reinvent the wheel with the way he dressed, rather with his simple and timeless attire
he formed the archetype for the modern gentleman in terms of both outfit and demeanor. Grant modeled himself after those in Hollywood
whom he met, worked with, and idolized personally. For his sophisticated looks and manners, his
primary inspirations were director Leo McCarey and playwright and composer Noel Coward. For his more athletic and adventurous side,
he modeled himself after the matinee idol of his own youth, Douglas Fairbanks Sr. In the broad strokes, while Cary Grant's clothing
was immaculate, it never overshadowed him. Phrased another way, he wore the clothes,
not the other way around. With that said, let's go into a bit more detail
with some of Grant's personal style choices and hallmarks. Many of the custom pieces in Grant's wardrobe
were made by tailors from the famed Savile Row in London. He spared no expense as long as he could be
assured of the quality buying garments that would last. In fact, when some of his shirts would start
to show wear around the collar or the cuffs, as all shirts inevitably do, he would sometimes
have them sent back to have the worn portions remade. Why do this when he could easily have afforded
a new shirt? Well, he knew that the existing shirt already
looked good on him and he wanted to maximize its usefulness and its value. This is a lesson we could take from him and
we'll get into that more later. His suits and shirts, typically tailored in
a British style but at the same time, not necessarily meant to look explicitly regional
were often custom tailored at places such as Cifonelli in Rome or Dunhill and Aquascutum
in London. Sometimes, if he particularly liked a garment
he had gotten from one of these tailors, he would have it copied at another tailor in
Hong Kong. These tailors were often so meticulous copying
Grant's garments that he once received a copy of one of his favorite shirts where they had
even copied a little bit of the fraying around the collar. Although he was sometimes seen in alternative
and more rustic suiting fabrics such as tweed, Grant was most often seen wearing dark wool
suits with either simple accessories or none at all and his shoes were always impeccably
polished. Because of his slim figure, Grant was often
able to buy clothes off the rack as well such as a trench coat from Aquascutum or sporting
clothes from Abercrombie & Fitch, which during his time, was more of an outdoors-oriented
brand than the fashion outlet it is today. As he wrote in a 1962 magazine article, “some
of my suits are 10 to 20 years old, many of them ready-made and reasonably priced.” Again, though he had the money and the taste
to have suits made for him bespoke, he wasn't above buying garments off the rack from time
to time if he happened to spot something that suited his own personal style well. Early on in his film career, Grant worked
with the tailors and staff in wardrobe to create vented suits for him which were still
somewhat uncommon at that time, at least outside of sporting wear. Most of his jackets had extra-long custom
vents to allow for maximum movement as well as a taller and leaner look to the silhouette. For more casual looks, Grant favored tailored
trousers, lightweight knitwear and crisp white shirts. Opting for a cotton blazer when he wanted
something more semi-formal. One thing Grant didn't wear often was hats. As overall, they detracted from his chiseled
facial features. Many of Grant’s Hollywood contemporaries
at that time like Humphrey Bogart used hats to reveal character traits but Grant felt
that he didn't really need to do this as his character came through in his acting techniques
as well as the other wardrobe he wore. Grant had a muscular and larger than average
neck, he often attributed his neck size to the years he had spent as an acrobatic performer
in his youth. He was self-conscious about his neck size
and always made an effort to draw attention away from it. As such, both in his films and in real life,
Grant could almost always be seen wearing a scarf, a tie, a neckerchief, or some other
type of neck covering. As the majority of his clothing was custom
made, he often requested that the collars of his dress shirts be made wider than standard
to better conceal his neck. Grant was known for stating many times over
that he never really thought of himself as a style icon. This is chiefly because in his mind, none
of his choices were necessarily anything remarkable. Indeed, he was never ostentatious and he refused
to follow trends, adhering instead to classic style principles. He stuck with what he called the middle of
fashion, for example, his trousers were never cut to be too baggy or too tight and the widths
of his lapels were never too wide or too thin. Everything was fairly centered and proportional
on the whole. His philosophy is well encapsulated in this
quote “simplicity to me has always been the essence of good taste” So how can one emulate Cary Grant's famous
style? The answer, fortunately, is rather easily
and on a limited budget. With that in mind, here are five takeaways
from Cary Grant that you can incorporate into your own style. Number one, fit should always come first. A well-tailored suit will always look better
than something bought off the rack but at the same time, an off-the-rack suit made of
inexpensive materials that does fit well will still look better than something made of luxurious
materials that is baggy or otherwise improperly sized. Number two, stick with well-made clothing
and avoid the super sales. As Cary Grant's father once said “it is
better to buy one good pair of shoes than four cheap ones” Using this example, buying
a more expensive pair of well-made leather oxfords will be a much better long-term investment
than buying a bunch of pairs of synthetically made shoes on sale as those cheaper pairs
are going to wear out much sooner than the one well-made pair will. Number three, keep it simple. Another piece of his father's wisdom came
to him when as a young man he happened to be wearing an outfit with some loud socks. His father said to him “remember, it is
you walking down the street, not your socks” From then on, Grant never wore overpowering
elements but rather simple outfits that were fully harmonious. In his early days, he would often wear collar
pins and knit ties but his style would come to mellow even further as his career progressed,
culminating in solid colored suits with subtle threefold ties. As an example of this dependable simplicity
for the modern gentleman, a navy blue suit in a lightweight material can work equally
well day or night. As can the mid gray suits that Grant made
famous in some of his films with Alfred Hitchcock. That's the type of suit I'm wearing here today
in tribute to him. As another example, a single-breasted overcoat
can add an extra layer of formality to an outfit but when worn with an air of nonchalance
as Grant did, it can be pulled off without looking stodgy or cold. Tip number four is something we've alluded
to a little bit already, avoid unnecessary accessories. Grant rarely ever wore belts with his suits
instead opting for side adjusters. He would wear belts with more casual slacks
but still, these belts were understated and didn't have large statement pieces like overly
sized belt buckles. Similarly, it was unusual to find him with
anything more than a simple pocket square and a well-made wristwatch and sometimes,
he would even forego these elements too. Finally, umber five sweaters, specifically
cardigans, are a versatile staple for any man's wardrobe. Grant had a fondness for multiple types of
sweaters and being almost as well known for his perfect head of hair as he was for his
outfits, he appreciated that cardigans could be put on without being pulled over the head
or mussing the hair. As this applies to the modern gent, sweaters
are versatile in that they can be paired with any number of outfits such as with dark denim
jeans or layered under a sport coat or blazer. Also, cardigans are perfect for adding a little
bit of warmth in the colder seasons like spring and fall or for simply adding a touch of class
to an otherwise more understated or muted outfit. Over 30 years after his passing, Cary Grant
remains one of the true icons of old Hollywood. Just as his character in North by Northwest
scaled the surface of Mount Rushmore, Grant himself definitely belongs on the Mount Rushmore
of cinemas leading men as well as the icons of men's style. By studying his films and publicity photos
as well as reading literature on the subject in particular Richard Torregrossa's book Cary
Grant a celebration of style the modern gentleman can incorporate many of grant's style hallmarks
into his own wardrobe without looking affected or dated simply classic. So we'd like to know do you have a favorite
Cary Grant performance and more importantly which lessons from his style do you think
you could incorporate into your own? Let us know in the comments below and of course
don't forget to subscribe to the channel so these videos come right to your inbox. in today's video as I said before I'm wearing
a medium grey suit in tribute to Cary Grant specifically some of the films he made with
Alfred Hitchcock including to catch a thief and North by Northwest I've paired the suit
with a similarly understated tie in light gray silk and a plain white dress shirt my
accessories are especially minimal today in line with grants own personal style philosophy
for example I am wearing silver cufflinks with a subtle design but that's really it
I'm not wearing any pocket square boutonniere tie bar collar pin or any other sort of accessory
that you might typically see in one of our videos my socks from Fort Belvedere are one
slight element of visual interest they're light gray with a shadow stripe in light blue
let's just hope that they're not loud enough that I would be scolded by Cary Grant's father
finally my shoes are plain toed brown derbys I've tried to shine them as best I could as
Cary Grant did with his shoes that said that's really all there is to my outfit today simple
understated and elegant just like Cary Grant
