How to Style a Boyfriend Jacket, Part 6

Here, from a Diane Keaton-inspired editorial in September's Paris Vogue is a look I very much like, another in an ongoing appreciation of the boyfriend jacket and how to style it.

First, let's quickly nix the cotton boxers, I don't care if they are from Charvet. Even the lovely and highly-paid Anastasia Barbieri is not quite pulling them off, in the style sense.

I mean above the waist. The skinny silk scarf, softly looped around the neck, just right against the rectorish tailoring of the jacket. Going bare underneath is fine if you're shaped for it and quite bold, but it would work just as well with an unobtrusive scooped tee.

Also . . . note how the simplicity of texture and tone gives emphasis to the chunky metallic wristwear.

Finally, check out the wire frames peeking out of the pocket. Why not use eyeglasses as a styling element? They've got to go somewhere . . .

(photo by Mikael Jansson for Paris Vogue, Sept. 2009)

Paris Vogue Recommends: Gray's In

Continuing in a series of style points offered up by the August issue of Paris Vogue (more entries below):

Here, a look as cool as a straight-up martini, with a twist of Adam Ant.

I believe stylist Tom Pecheux is attempting to show, via an outfit by Gucci, that it's possible to be extraordinarily interesting in monochrome, as long as there's a strong variation in texture. See how the wool-silk fabric reverbs against the snakeskin bag, the calfskin shoes, the sequinned top--all within a fairly narrow chromatic range.

It's a nice trick to remember, especially if you have a good stock of basics in the same neutral shade. The accessories don't need to be as high-end as these, they just need to refract light in a similarly variable way.

[the photo--marvelous--is by Inez and Vanoodh. The model--and I hardly ever worry about models--appears a tad undernourished.}

Paris Vogue Suggests: Knuckle Up

As the second in a series of how-tos based on Paris Vogue's "80 Essential Looks" for Autumn 2009, we turn to the genius of Alexander McQueen, even madder than usual with this jawdropping feathered dress, called "Cygne". A swan that is very black indeed--and without a good pair of binocs, liable to be misidentified as a vulture.

Between its panniered hips, humped shoulders, and sky-hooker boots, it gives little quarter to wearability in my world, but this is design with no time for the usual bourgeois drivers. (The photo, too, is transcendental--credit Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin and stylist Emmanuelle Alt.)

So the look, while stunning, is largely unwearable, except . . . .

Check out the model's hand. Doesn't that row of ultra-chunky rings look fantastic against the jewelled bag? (This may be an actual knuckle duster--McQueen's collection included them this season).

It's a look that can be replicated so very easily, with costume cocktail rings. Similarly, jewel-bedecked bags are an easy find at vintage fairs and other secondhand outlets.

Combine heavily embellished knuckles, sock-it-to-em red nails, bijou bag and a little black dress? You, like McQueen, will rule.

Paris Vogue Suggests: An Undersized Jeans Jacket

Last week I had the pleasure of a long train ride with the Paris Vogue August issue for company. The lead editorial was "80 Essential Looks," which brought together Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin as photogs, the house team of stylists, a small crew of models and what must have been a sheer nightmare of call-ins to present 80 individual head-to-toe looks by various top designers, starting with Marc Jacobs and wrapping with Kenzo.

As a showcase, the concept was fantastic. If only American and British magazines had the same kind of freedom.

Despite affirmatively liking/considering wearable only about 5% of the clothes on view, there was inspiration at every turn of the page. Over the next few days, I'd like to consider a number of the looks and describe how a secondhand/vintage lover might re-interpret them our way. One of the greatest risks of our mode of shopping is being locked into the past. With the cutting-edge styling that Paris Vogue offers, even the most unlikely older pieces can find fresh interpretation.

Let's start out easy. The photo at right (garments by Calvin Klein) caught my eye for the obvious reasons, but then I looked hard at what the clothed model was wearing. A teeny jeans jacket. Hmmmm . . .

As luck would have it, right around the corner at my local Oxfam was a boy's large Gap denim, for a mere £7 (about $10). Not as superteeny as the model's, but as a quick autumn cover-up, just perfect, especially when the rest of the world will be wearing slouchy boyf jackets. And nearly a no-brainer, because there are few easier finds in a big old Salvation Army than a jeans jacket that's essentially too small--the trickiest thing is making sure you have good mobility through the shoulders, and the sleeves aren't too tight.

Even an older and/or larger woman can wear this look wonderfully (think of it more as a bolero than a jacket). Dress up bare arms with gorgeous bangles, and you're done.