New York Fashion Week: Michael Bastian

Posted by Better Blueprint on February 14, 2012

I admired the European, curated casual look that hit the runway but even more intrigued by Michael Bastian‘s naming his show “The Extra Man”. Here’s the scoop as Style.com tells it:

{photo by Amanda de Simone, GoRunway.com}

{photo by Amanda de Simone, GoRunway.com}

So-called “extra men” have a storied history in polite society: they’re natural-born charmers, called upon to make up numbers at the table, dance with undesirables, and escort other men’s wives to functions when the ladies’ husbands can’t be bothered.  Bastian turned up a 1974 listing of the top 30 the city had to offer. They ranged from Charles Addams to Bill Blass to, oddly enough, Norman Mailer, the irascible, six-times-married novelist who famously stabbed one of his wives. “Everybody wanted to sit by them,” Bastian said of the extra men.

Style Notes: very debonair and a definite nod to the 70s; very European in the fit with shorter pant hemlines and close-to-the-body silhouettes; the theme and history of the “extra man” play out perfectly here

Runway to Walkway: the use of color inspires the how-to on manly use of color; the layering makes this very workable now from day to evening; and for the man who wants dapper as his ‘middle name’ this is a text book

Overall: loved what this could do for men…if they followed it! At least, the use of color is worthy of multiple glances. 8.5/10

{photo by Amanda de Simone, GoRunway.com}