When Cecil Beaton died in 1980, it was not surprising that one of his tailors was telephoned with the news before Buckingham Palace, despite his close association with the Royal Family.
From the moment he arrived at Cambridge University in 1922 wearing an evening jacket, red shoes, black-and-white trousers and a large cravat, to his first meeting with Greta Garbo ten years later in a 'pristine white kid coat, sharkskin, and new white shoes and socks', and his appearance nearly 40 years later at Truman Capote's 1970 Black and White Ball, Beaton expressed a flamboyant sartorial nonchalance.
He had accounts with many Savile Row tailors; he bought his hats from Herbert Johnson and Lock & Co, his shirts from Excello in New York; and the clothes he bought from Lanz of Salzburg are now, along with other elements of his wardrobe, in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, and the V&A, London. His wardrobe went through many changes, beautifully documented and illustrated in this virtuoso study, which will delight and inform the big new audience for men's clothes that are distinctive, supremely well made, and carry authority with style.
When Cecil Beaton died in 1980, it was not surprising that one of his tailors was telephoned with the news before Buckingham Palace, despite his close association with the Royal Family.
From the moment he arrived at Cambridge University in 1922 wearing an evening jacket, red shoes, black-and-white trousers and a large cravat, to his first meeting with Greta Garbo ten years later in a 'pristine white kid coat, sharkskin, and new white shoes and socks', and his appearance nearly 40 years later at Truman Capote's 1970 Black and White Ball, Beaton expressed a flamboyant sartorial nonchalance.
He had accounts with many Savile Row tailors; he bought his hats from Herbert Johnson and Lock & Co, his shirts from Excello in New York; and the clothes he bought from Lanz of Salzburg are now, along with other elements of his wardrobe, in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, and the V&A, London. His wardrobe went through many changes, beautifully documented and illustrated in this virtuoso study, which will delight and inform the big new audience for men's clothes that are distinctive, supremely well made, and carry authority with style.
Introduction • 1. The Twenties: Young and Loud in Cambridge • 2. The Thirties and Forties: Celebrity and Savile Row • 3. The Fifties and Sixties: Fragility and New Fashion • 4. The Seventies: A Sartorial Swansong • 5. The Beaton Look • 6. A Legacy
A unique and compelling book celebrating the distinct style of Sir Cecil Beaton
Benjamin Wild is Guest Lecturer at Condé Nast College of Fashion & Design. A one-time lecturer in Medieval History at King's College, London, he has become a leading authority on the history of fashion.
'While the images of Beaton may be in stark black and white, much
of what they have to say seems bang up to date' - Sunday Herald
'Benjamin Wild writes with the verve the subject himself would
surely applaud' - World of Interiors
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