They're ok, but none of them really appeals to me.

1. Nice jacket.  I'm not sure about the shirt.  The collar looks stiff to me; that may be just the shot, however as I know Chens doesn't do vintage then the collar probably really is stiff, which to me ruins the look.  Also, with that light coloured jacket, I feel a darker shirt may have been advisable.  Obviously we can't see footwear, trousers or even the tie properly, so I would need to see more before being impressed.  However I have worn worse combinations, and it's not a disaster.  Nor does it really appeal to me.

2. Again the collar looks stiff on the shirt - what is ivy without a roll?  Again, that may just be the shot, I suppose.  The rest is ok, but I don't actually like it - the jacket is very summery and informal, whilst black shoes and trousers are overly formal, particularly for ivy.  Together the 2 look ok, but nothing special.

3. The best of the bunch, however once again his shirt seems to have no roll, so I'm unimpressed overall.  I would need to see more of the jacket to like it, but what I can discern I like.  Shoes I don't like, although I suspect they are part of the ivy canon.  Overall he looks okish, but the details fail to inspire me, at all.

I'm not being overly critical due to personal animosity, just objectively honest.  Nothing offensive or disastrous, but nothing I actually like.  If those are him at his best, he needs to hit some thrift stores, O'Connell's, etc asap.

Yep, all in all I think he puts together a good look. He makes a conscious effort to go for thin lapels and ties which is not to everyone's taste but nothing wrong with that IMO and it suits his body shape. He's very tall and thin so he's never going to look good in baggy stuff. There are bits I don't like in those pictures i.e. that belt buckle, but thats in the realms of nit picking really. He doesn't go for vintage stuff so what you see here is a moden take on ivy, which is fine if that's for you.

Put it this way: if those were the only photos I had ever seen of ivy, even disregarding the fact that Chens - like all of us - doesn't have the natural photogenic appeal of the likes of Steve McQueen, there's no way I would be interested.  He dresses well for work, but it's really nothing special.

Once you take away anything that might look overly retro, and all the details that can't be bought new any more (most obviously and essentially: collar roll), it's all a bit bland.  Infinitely better than what most people wear to the office, but nowhere near as good as what can be seen on literally 1000s of vintage photos, many of which are of people who were not remotely famous.

In other words: the average Brooks customer of several decades ago looked a lot better.

As Woof says, it's a take on ivy.  I prefer the real deal.

No I'm saying Soggs carries himself better, and would look cooler in the same outfits, as that was the premise of the thread, some people will never look cool. Myself included, and some people can make t-shirts look cool, That was my point.

I think calling Patrick unphotogenic is a terrible thing to say, he has leading man qualities, well B-movies at least!

I agree with your last bit which is why I quite like the 80's outdoor ivy/prep vibe it still had tradition and practicality around it. But also as you can tell from the 40's adverts, and many others, it wasn't always about subtly. I'm not sure that is a rule that truly exists, it has been fabricated to suit people's tastes. Ivy was of course conservative in conservative situations, and playful when not, it is a complete system to match moods, and circumstances. Brooks were dressing to some degree, the successful man from any standing, for any situation. I like that ethos.

Last edited by My Grandfather's Pants (2013-01-06 05:15:01)

Another thought is that his clothes are 'props', in the theatrical sense - Which brings me back to my first Ivy suit ! 

He looks better with a beard, the rest though ... Hmmm.

Cool isn't the first thing that springs to mind in any description concerning him...

The bearded Chenners phase was particularly unflattering: looked like he dined on sherry for breakfast.