Style Icons and Namesakes: Cary Grant
Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn in Bringing Up Baby, 1938.
My family would watch the classic 1938 Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn film Bringing Up Baby at least once a year when I was a child. I’m thankful for this formative yet unintentional early education on masculine style, which Grant defined from the 1930s onward. Few men then and since carried themselves with the grace and comportment that he did and much like George Clooney today, his looks improved with age. Unlike Clooney, he was dapper on-screen and off (Clooney’s casual ensembles lack the fine fit of his formalwear).
Grant in a proper cold-weather uniform. He carried hats better than he wore them. That goes for you, too.
I remember my mother telling me that part of the reason she and my father named me Grant was because of Cary Grant. I don’t know if this was true, but I nonetheless have my namesake’s predilection for fine suits, his crisp trademark side-part and his jet black hair. Coincidence? I think not. I can only hope to age as well as he did.
Born Archibald Leach in the United Kingdom, Grant adopted his nom de plume to reinvent himself as a Hollywood leading man. Though he had plenty of personal turmoil in his life, Grant’s screen presence was debonair and seductive. Many men could learn from his dialogues with leading ladies at the time, as his subtle and coy flirtations were far more intriguing than the obscene come-ons in our day and age of Tinder.
Mr. Grant with the stunning Grace Kelly in 1955.
Moreover, the way Grant wore a suit has inspired successive generations. He wrote an excellent article about men's clothing for GQ in 1968, in which readers learned that not all of his best suits were brand-new (Grant kept suits for years) and that it’s better to buy one expensive pair of shoes than several cheap ones. In an age of fast-fashion and consumptive celebrity, it’s refreshing that a legend of yore put in pen his belief in quality over quantity.
Grant sporting a signature gray Kilgour suit in North by Northwest, 1959.
When buying your first (or latest) suit, follow the Cary Grant template. Some may consider gray worsteds and flannels too conservative or middle-of-the-road, but until one can afford more suits and separates, there are countless ways to add panache to this basic uniform. After all, style is about learning the rules and breaking them (or tweaking them) and Grant did this with flair and savoir faire, with no stylistic flourish too courageous and every element in its right place.
Everyone has their own personal style which evolves - and often improves - with age. While we’re young and getting our bearings, it’s wise to learn from the master while striking out on your own. And there was no master more masterful than Cary Grant.