Dressing in the Dark: Lessons in Mens Style from the Movies [Hardcover]

Marion Maneker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2002

Men are the in the dark about their clothes, that's not news. Few know how to dress well and there doesn't seem to be anyone they can look to for advice. Yesterday, young men learned about style from their fathers; today, no one really wants to dress lik his father. So who do men look up to? Whom do they admire and want to emulate? Is there a man who doesn't identify with the power and charisma of John Travolta, Sean Penn, or Steve McQueen? This book looks at the stars of the screen for common sense examples of how to dress comfortably and stylishly. From the sporting life to formal occasions, from macho tough guys to urbane sophisticates, nearly every social situation and character type has been portrayed on screen in an eye-catching way. A unique guide, Dressing In The Dark gives men practical advice about clothes and character, shedding light on the sartorial secrets of the most stylish stars from the twenties up to the present.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Marion Maneker is a writer living in New York City. He is a features editor at New York Magazine and has written about men's clothes and how to wear them for New York Magazine and GQ.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 196 pages
• Publisher: Assouline Publishing (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 2843233615
• ISBN-13: 978-2843233616
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 7.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #849,362 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A good idea gone awry, January 30, 2005

By 

el dangeroso (Asheville, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dressing in the Dark: Lessons in Mens Style from the Movies (Hardcover)

Certainly the concept of this book is intriguing, as I'm sure many of us have unforgettable images emblazoned in our memories of Sinatra strolling around "Oceans Eleven" nattily dressed in a pastel cardigan and tight slacks, of Sean Connery dispatching cold war baddies and martinis in a white dinner jacket or of Alain Deleon pulling off impossibly dangerous heists with nothing but tough guy bravado, a Gitane, and a dirty t-shirt. Perhaps you'd like to know how they look so cool, so charming, so tough? Well, Marion Maneker doesn't know either (or he just refuses to tell.) His selection of icons included is sometimes silly, sometimes baffling (I'm not sure he could fawn any more over the impossibly dull Gary Cooper and what kind of "lesson" does a picture of a shirtless Steve McQueen in nothing but boxer shorts and a tie around his neck provide?) While the list of those excluded would actually make a better book (Where's Peter O'Toole for instance?) Even more disconcerting are the clothes he features as a suggestion for approximating the actors sense of style. For instance, he shows a picture of Brad Pitt in "Fight Club" and then on the facing page features a white collared shirt and gold tie draped over a pair of purple, floral printed pants which he claims will give you a "tough, in-your-face attitude." I'm sure the Hells Angels would be trembling. While I agree this is comical, it's a fairly expensive joke when you include shipping costs. On another page he shows a suitcase packed with nothing but white sweaters, white shoes, white pants and white belts (if I remember correctly I think this was supposed to make you a doppelganger for Redford in "The Great Gatsby.") I guess this is fine if you're packing to compete at Wimbledon in the 1920's, if you're someone's guardian angel going to earth, or if you're Tom Wolfe, but with these suggestions the rest of us would surely become walking monuments to absurdity. Thankfully these recommendations are few and far between. By the way, if you think suspender-wearing, greasy haired corporate raider Gordon Gekko from Wall Street was/is the epitomy of style, and who doesn't really, than you're on the same page as Maneker. Congratulations, you're now qualified to write a terrible book. Frankly, the only lesson you're likely to learn is how to convince a local bookstore to exchange a book you bought from Amazon

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Style can't be taught--but it can be inspired!, January 8, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Dressing in the Dark: Lessons in Mens Style from the Movies (Hardcover)

This isn't a book for beginners. If you need someone to teach you how to get dressed--buy another book. But if you want inspiration for developing your own style, this book will get you excited about getting dressed in the morning. It doesn't dictate how you should dress. Instead, it tries to show timeless style from the kind of men other men look up to.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A seriously flawed book, but with such potential...., March 8, 2004

By 

Eric Isselhardt (Sykesville, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dressing in the Dark: Lessons in Mens Style from the Movies (Hardcover)

If you can get beyond the incredibly shoddy editing of this book (for example, the identified Gable is not always Gable), the heavy empahsis on Cooper and other sartorial conservative icons, and the uninspired (repetitive) use of language, you might come away with something useful from this book. In the end, the book's abrupt ending--it just stops--is representative of how its wonderful concept is so very poorly executed. This book never lives up to its potential, and both men's style and the movies deserve more.