Ditch the dad wear: how men over 50 can tweak their style formula
Reviewing (through twined fingers) the damning images of scooter-mad stray-cationer Dominic West slalom-ing around Rome the other week forced us to reflect on the folly that befalls the unfathomably unaware fifty-somethings. It wasn’t so much his apparent need to rekindle the old libido in the presence of the Eternal City’s eternally vigilant paparazzi per se, more the ‘Sloane in Rome’ attire - a deliberate jettisoning of more fashion-forward options in a bid to appear more ‘at ease’ with his biological (if not emotional) age.
As that master chronicler of the male condition, Martin Amis, points out in his new end-of-life memoir, Inside Story, a man’s fifth decade is comfortably his most desolate, a ten-year stretch in which he is forced to account for the unbidden urges and uncertainties of his forties, whilst preparing for the hot flush of mortal dread that presages the inevitable onset of old age. No wonder, then, his wardrobe goes to hell.
Still, there’s no meaningful explanation for the frankly weird get-up West packed for his ill-judged jaunt around the Italian capital. From the bog-standard dress shirt to the dark denim gardening duds to the old-school (and frankly old) New Balance trainers, it betrayed a befuddlement at how to tackle middle-age attire.
Doubtless, it’s something that he shares with a growing cohort of his ‘bleak generation’: too old for ‘kidult’ values branded streetwear, yet seemingly determined not to appear overly vintage in that seasoned stand-by, good tailoring.
My advice? Men in their 50s need to start thinking more like a ‘start up’. Meaning: you’re clearly not a labels man, but you do need some guidance on striking the correct balance between acting your age and feeling it. So take a leaf out of the Silicon Valley playbook.
It’s ten years since the titans of the tech industry revealed their penchant for luxed up sportswear - otherwise known as athleisure (although it might more accurately be described as ‘cash-leisure’). Since then, its disruptive discretion has spawned any number of new launches and subtle re-brands that evince a fresh, unfussy approach to menswear.
Yard Boot 365, £275, R.M Williams
One example would serve as a timely replacement for Dom’s knocked-about New Balance. Revered for his form-meets-function re-imagining of any number of highly desirable objects (from airline sleeping pods to Montblanc pens) Australian Marc Newson has returned to his roots for his latest project, a contemporary take on Aussie outfitter RM Williams’ stalwart ‘Gardener’ boot of the Fifties.
A unisex offering available in six colours and three leather types, it typifies the all-weather, all-conditions ankle boot that made RM Williams’ name. Yet integrated into the (literally) seamless design for which Newson is chiefly known. As its name suggests, the Yard Boot 365 is designed to be debonair yet indestructible enough to serve as an everyday alternative to sneakers, and it arrives (as a limited-edition) not a moment too soon for West and his crew.
Wool sweater, £215, Sunspel
Granted, there are any number of sprightly layers from the likes of Sunspel and James Perse that Dominic might have chosen in order to vamoose the work shirt (and could have been teamed with a pair of cargo trousers, this season’s unlikely returnee to the fashion fold). And rather than arrive at the airport attired in what could have passed as one of Monty Don’s cast-offs, West could instead have availed himself of one of Vollebak’s new tech-savvy top layers.
Full Metal jacket, £895, Vollebak
Garments designed simply to solder together aspects of sustainability with the need for a sartorial outcome rarely make the grade. Not so Vollebak founders Nick and Steve Tidbal’s Full Metal jacket, made using laminated copper. Realising its potential as a supremely stylish piece of wearable technology (as well as a likely barrier to bacteria) may be some time off, but its status as a sartorially aware ‘start-up find’ is assured.
Meaning, if you’re too mature to stoop to streetwear and yet don’t fancy an outing to the ‘old man’s store’ then this is the age-appropriate playground in which you need to be spotted.
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