Gentlemen Prefer Tweed
The great thing about tweed is that it lends an air of traditional good taste to any look -- so much so that you can afford to mix it up a bit, add some irony, or try something new without risking too much. I've seen guys using tweed as a foil to a ridiculously bright colored shirt, crazy rock star hair, or just as a way to give a bit of dignity to downtown grunge. If it weren't for the reliably classic effect of tweed, I'm pretty sure I would have just passed them by, but I didn't -- I stopped and took a second glance. Even Albert Einstein, with his droopy face and mad scientist hair, has the look of a gentleman in his tweed coat.
There as so much that is both uptown (tweed jacket, colored sweater over the shoulders) and downtown (knit hat, graffiti) about this guy. It's a good mix. Mercer Street, NYC, February 2008.
French actors Sami Frey (in double tweed!) and Brigitte Bardot are followed by fans as they walk down the street in Paris, 1962. (Photo: Getty)
I would never choose this color shirt for a guy, but his mix of colors and textures pulls it together. Madison Avenue, NYC, January 2008
Steve Winwood in English tweed...who knew he had such great style? 1980s. (Photo: Getty)
This guy is hilarious. He's very seventies English rocker. And once again, the tweed coat makes it all work. Madison Avenue, NYC, February 2008.
American theater producer Hal Prince in front of a painting of a belle époque nightclub scene. I like the painting, and his jacket. 1971. (Photo: Getty)
This guy looks very traditional, but then check out the groovy shoes. And if you look closely you can see a cool blue windowpane pattern in his tweed jacket. East 61st Street, NYC, February 2008.
Irish Actor Peter O'Toole mixing tweeds to great effect, in Bermuda, 1967. (Photo: Getty)
This is a fantastic sport jacket. I love the kind of boxy cut and the patch pocket details -- it's not as dressy as a suit blazer. East 60th, NYC, December 2007.
Bruce Springsteen sings his heart out in a tweed cap at the Bottom Line in NYC, 1975. (Photo: Getty)
Like the Boss, this Brooklyn dude does tweed in his own street-style kinda way. Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, August 2007.
Paul McCartney with manager Mal Evans arrives at Maharshi Mahesh Yogi's transcendental meditation center to join the rest of the Beatles. The English do wear tweed best I think -- perhaps because they've been doing it for so long. 1968. (Photo: Corbis)
Speaking of the English in tweed, here's a close-up of a Richard James shirt I bought for my husband, Christopher (who's English), to wear with his grandfather's old sport coat, as pictured. I like how the orange and brown flowers on the shirt lend a seventies feeling to the old-school tweed. Wimbledon, England, July 2007.
Albert Einstein in a classic tweed overcoat, 1947. (Photo: Getty)
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