Because you can't have depths without surfaces.
Linda Grant, thinking about clothes, books and other matters.
Pure Collection Ltd.
Net-a-porter UK

Wednesday 25 June 2008

The Leonard Cohen suit hommage






Truly, a sharp-dressed man (Harry F. take note)

Hats off to Lenny


Still doing it. And still doing it in style.

Leonard Cohen has just played a few dates in the UK. The Guardian reviewed one of his shows: Tonight, in his suit and hat, he resembles a senior 1920's mobster, only with a guitar instead of a tommy gun. When he and his similarly attired band open with the Italian-flavoured Dance Me to the End of Love, we could almost be at a mafia wedding. The hat is gracefully doffed to acknowledge applause.'  Read on.

Leonard Cohen grew up in Montreal. His father was a tailor. He once said in an interview that he has always worn suits ( I guess that's when he's not in a Buddhist monastery or on a Greek island). And , yes, he has always looked, and been, stylish.
He is now 73. He hadn't played live for a long while. He told the Manchester audience: 'It's been 15 years since I stood up on stage. Fourteen years ago when I was 60 - a young kid with a crazy dream....'
It's a bit late in life for me to have a new one , but I think maybe he makes  a good candidate for a role model.

What we are wearing in SW19


Wimbledon fashions

What is new is the extent to which tennis stars are incorporating not just glamour, but trend. Roger Federer's penchant for retro, garden-party attire is well documented, but on Monday he stepped on to court in a cardigan - the premier success story in menswear of the past two years. This autumn, the style looks set to get a boost from the Brideshead Revisited movie, which designers are beginning to reference on the catwalk. The decision by the No 3 seed Sharapova to ditch a miniskirt for shorts reflects what style-savvy women have been doing for the past two summers. Of her pleated, bib-fronted top, Sharapova said: "It's kind of a tuxedo look, very simple lines, classic." Tuxedo-styling is a strong theme in womenswear for next season.

Urszula Radwanska's mini-tutu is no less on trend. Givenchy's most recent haute couture collection was inspired by Odette/Odile from Swan Lake, and has sparked a rash of ballet-theming on the high street. Ana Ivanovic proved that she is on top form in styling by swapping the puffball number she wore in Paris for a petal-shaped skirt that has echoes of Prada's flower-fairy themed summer collection.