The leather jacket appeals over the cocktail dress because we can almost feel the difference in texture. On a personal level, it makes me wonder whether there’s any way I could wear tweed and velvet together. Anyone that likes tweed, or Fair Isle patterns, will find something in these colour mixes – the combination of maroon, grey and turquoise, often with a soft white or chambray shirt underneath. Certainly, some of these combinations would be more at home at Pitti than my local high street. I’m not going to wear a cream-linen suit, white-linen shirt, and butter-coloured straw hat at the bus stop.
Looking through those images made me want to go away and put together summer combinations of linen, khaki cotton and brown leather. While it features men too, it’s dominated by the white, khaki and rich-brown combinations of the women. The first-ever Polo Ralph Lauren bear sweater launched in 1991, according to The Cut. And over the years, the Polo bear has evolved, changed outfits, and been embraced by the brand’s stans, including the Lo-Life crew. Though his ready-to-wear is rooted in the everyday, Ralph Lauren’s evening wear is designed to stand out from the pack, with impossibly elegant details and cuts that have graced red carpets for decades.
There were then two stand-out collections inspired by traditionalism – Fall and Fall 1984 . It was that search which led to collections such as Safari, and most famously, the Western collection in 1978 . The polo coat was longer, waisted, and had little pleats on the pockets .
“The goal is to pay tribute to each place we visit never losing the spirit of the United States.” A few years later Lauren would contribute to another Hollywood production by supplying pieces for Diane Keaton’s wardrobe in Annie Hall. “Annie’s style was Diane’s style—very eclectic,” Lauren is quoted saying in Vogue on Ralph Lauren, published in 2015. “We shared a sensibility, but she had a style that was all her own.” Ironically, Ruth Morley, the film’s costume designer, wasn’t originally a fan of the character’s wardrobe, per the Boston Globe. But the Annie Hall look would come up again over the years, in various Ralph Lauren collections. Keaton herself would wear the designer’s suiting in 2014, to accept the Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Golden Globes.
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Personally I’ve never been that attracted by them, brogued or not, but if I wore black oxfords every day I can see them being a nice alternative. For most of my twenties I lamented the general lack of choice in menswear compared with womenswear and had to work hard to dress in a way that allowed individuality without rocking the boat unnecessarily. The longstanding catch 22 for selling menswear is that men are inherently more conservative and trends move slowly.