Some discussion of his Bass collaboration here:

http://forums.filmnoirbuff.com/viewtopic.php?id=5447

Has anyone seen these in the flesh yet?

www.highlandshoe.com

Point taken gentlemen...

^So very true. That look at me I'm a wacky geek/nerd/preppie knob (delete as applicable) thing because they happen to be wearing a buttondown collar and slim tie really pisses me off probably more than it should. 'The Look' doesn't exist for laughs.

Staceyboy

No, very true Alex. Dedication is the indeed the word - and that should never exclude a lightness of touch or sense of playfulness. Btw,  my original comment was regarding the cult of the 'Ivy nerd' trend in general not a dig at Mark McNairy personally whom I have no strong opinion about either way not being all that familiar with his output.

Staceyboy

Have you noticed how the word 'postmodern', once so irritatingly ubiquitous, has virtually disappeared from usage? Yet for 'stylists' like Mark McNairy it seems to me to describe their approach perfectly, in the sense that they are knowingly quoting from a canon, an established aesthetic, and playing with and remaking that form. I would once have seen this as sacrilegious, a betrayal of purity, but I feel that now, 50 years on from the 'Golden Age' we are forced to face up to the pointlessness of any form of absolute authenticity. We are all now stylists. The social dynamic that produced a mass Ivy look in the US, and subsequent related youth cult attachment to the style elsewhere, is long gone. We are all riddled with self consciousness. None of us just throws on the gear because it is our birthright. We agonise over our choices. We worry what people will say about these very straight clothes. To make it work you do have to play with it. For these reasons I have little problem with characters like Mark McNairy. He has got Bass to make Made in USA Weejuns for Christsake! And in cordovan leather. And scotch grain beefroll. The high price is inevitable for developed world labour. The standard non-US Bass is absolutely atrocious. If they're selling a shoe for $99 then the materials and the labour are the very cheapest. These are now Primark loafers. If McNairy is selling to the niche like us then the mark-up is inevitable. I welcome the input of trendies, as long as they get it right, and it seems to be that he largely has. As for the comments about him playing with the nerd thing, well I think there has always been an element of this in Ivy : a 3 button wash and wear from Haspel could look breathtakingly straight, a crew neck with a little bit of blue oxford cotton peeking out is beyond parody, Woody Allen has always been an icon of our style. I would love a bit of nerd in my look actually but it is difficult when you resemble a thug as I do.  If McNairy can inject some verve and direction into the J.Press set up then he would have to be nominated as a contemporary Ivy hero, alongside a handful of other characters - John Simons, Russell Street et al.

GG

I am a pussycat misrepresented by my physiognomy.

GG