Customer Reviews

Dressing in the Dark: Lessons in Mens Style from the Movies

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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

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.

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.

Most men don't understand how to dress and so they dress alike. This book shows you, in simple clear photos and not a lot of text (no one reads all the text in a style book), how to have fun, get some style and be sexy. The photos are of handsome, well dressed men from various eras (style is timeless) that men can admire and imitate. Tom Cruise, Ben Affleck have nothing on James Dean, Dean Martin and Steve McQueen.

Most men don't understand how to dress and so they dress alike. This book shows you, in simple clear photos and not a lot of text (no one reads all the text in a style book), how to have fun, get some style and be sexy. The photos are of handsome, well dressed men from various eras (style is timeless) that men can admire and imitate. Tom Cruise, Ben Affleck have nothing on James Dean, Dean Martin and Steve McQueen.

Most men's clothing books tell you how to dress, as if you were [mentally impaired]. But this gives you plenty of great ideas from movie stars throughout the 20th Century. Style never changes (even if fashion does) and this book proves it!

What men lack most is imagination. They're so afraid of being thought weak or gay if they think about their clothes. But movie stars know that clothes are character and this book should really make a man feel more comfortable taking his clothes seriously. It doesn't preach; and it doesn't prescribe; it just finds cool guys from every era of the movies.

I have read many books about male fashion. This particular "book's" text is shorter and less enlightening than an article in the "New Yorker." The pictures are dated referenes and photos of Burt Reynolds, a photo of Steve McQueen in what appears to be a polyster suit.
Instead, purchase any of Alan Flusser's books, especially his latest which is informative and filled with sketches and photos.

If you know a guy who likes clothes, get him this book. Unlike most "how to" books on men's style, this one isn't telling you what's hip now (and will therefor look dated next year). Instead, the author goes to the source of images of what's cool--the movies. Guys don't learn how to dress from reading magazines, they learn it from watching their heroes on the big screen. This books is filled with photos of perfect icons of style. You'll probably recognize the name of the actor and the name of the movie even before you read the caption. Then you'll think, "yeah, that looks great."

The text is just right. The author points out what's going on in the photos, gives you a little history of style, adds a few useful pointers, and then steps back to let the images take center stage.

The only strange thing is the cover, which is way too dark. And you should be able to judge a fashion book by its cover.

redford as gastby clothed by ralph lauren, and more recently,tom ford, late of gucci, is leaving milan for hollywood. does fashion imitate the movies or vice versa?

the book is a great concept, but it wasnt as exhaustive as it could have been. theres a real emphasis on steve mcqueen and cary grant-but we already knew those men were dapper dressers (does anyone remember adolphe menjou? he was as elegant as could be!). carson kressley was right, this book is a good primer for dressing swellegantly. its printed beautifully, the photos are some ive never seen before-but if youre looking for something a little more in depth regarding movies and american style, page through tommy hilfiger's 'all american'.