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Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
The trademark leer, the thumbs up, her rather addled expression - we have to ask: is the prince of pervy photogs getting his hooks into Top Chef temptress Padma Lakshmi? We spotted the unlikely pair looking cozy at Interview magazine’s party celebrating the soon-to-be-extinct Polaroid at Delicatessen the other night.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
The other day we were musing on the go-to-hell fashions at ultra-fancy Hamptons summer benefits which enliven an otherwise dull sartorial season.
On the flipside, there’s something to be said for the seamier sort of East End bacchanal, the kind where they use any means necessary to pack the joint and drum up publicity, such as the Hugo Boss and Interview magazine shindig at the Kingswood Estate in East Hampton the other night.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
Cinema Society swell Andrew Saffir makes his second MOTH appearance here at the screening of 9/11 flick August at the Soho Grand the other night.
Once again the natty social butterfly donned a dapper hacking-style jacket from downtown dandy depot Lord Willy’s, which is quietly clothing some of the best dressed men in town. This number is summer-weight navy blue cotton with subtle grosgrain trim, a ticket pocket, contrast stitching on the buttonholes and a turquoise lining.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
Comic actor Will Smith isn’t typically our beau idéal of a stylish fellow, but we have noticed him turning out in some pretty snazzy threads of late.
Still we were surprised by the boldly checked three-piece Tom Ford suit he wore to the premiere of his new superhero spoof Hancock the other night. We expect this sort of thing from MOTH whiz Daniel Day-Lewis but hardly the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
Ah, a benefit bash in Southampton during the high season. Where the fuck else would you find people dressed like this? And god bless ‘em for it. It’s been rather a dull summer so far sartorially, and we welcome this demonic display of madras as much as we would one of those cocktails they’re clutching.
Now let’s examine their full tribal regalia a little more closely - not only are they wearing madras, which any amateur can do, but patchwork madras and clashing bowties. Guy on the left - we’ll call him C.K. Dexter Haven - also has on shorts embroidered with little green lobsters. Guy the right - aka Sniffin K. Bellows IV - is wearing a contrast club collar shirt and a chronic case of lockjaw.
Now please put those jackets away until next year.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
Though we find his self-consciously under-designed collections a bit precious at times, we’re all for Rogan Gregory’s new collaboration with two-time MOTH Michael Stipe.
Last seen rocking some Freeman’s Sporting Club chalkstripes, the R.E.M. frontman is apparently a Rogan fan to boot. He’s also something of a frustrated artist, judging by his installation, entitled Relics, at Rogan’s new Bouwerie Lane Theatre digs.
This snap is from opening night, where Jeff Koons and Coldplay’s Chris Martin also made the scene. The show runs through July 27 so you can judge for yourself.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
The cat in the hat here is usually found behind the seams, if you will, when it comes to MOTHs like Adrian Grenier and Nigel Barker.
So it’s nice to see dandified downtown tailor Duncan Quinn out and about himself for once. We spotted the bespoke Brahmin at a party for Tanqueray No. 10 and Elle magazine hosted by architect/designer Campion Platt the other night - which explains the odd choice of headgear.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
We’re sorry to say it, but Graydon Carter is a stubborn ass. Not eight weeks after we commended him for ditching unflatteringly-padded double-breasted suits in favor of sleek-making single-b.’s, the Vanity Fair editor is back enfolded in extra layers of fabric again, drawing undue attention to all those late night snacks at the Waverly.
Shakespeare in the Park is a storied New York rite of summer, and the Public Theater’s annual gala on opening night is always quite a scene.
At this year’s fete, we’d like to have been a fly buzzing around Table 26 where multi-talented mates Steve Martin and Mike Nichols were holding court. Martin, in trademark fedora - this one in two-tone straw for summer - and The Graduate director Nichols are on either side of Martin’s adorable New Yorker scribe wife Anne Stringfield.
In this snap Nichols looks as if he’s putting over a particularly toothsome bon mot — perhaps something about gentlemen who fail to remove their hats during dinner.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan
We’ve previously mentioned our predilection for pulchritudinous pairings, so there’s no need for much of a rationalization to run this photo.
It features proto-Kemptress Erin Wasson, aka the Texan Tomato, and Barbados-born songbird Rihanna schmoozing at the Thompson Beverly Hills.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
It would remiss of us not to point out when one of our MOTHs oversteps the bounds. Regrettably that’s just what former Talking Head David Byrne did the other night at the annual Webby Awards.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
We had to hand this MOTH to Dennis Hopper for pulling off the not inconsiderable feat of posing next to a drug-addled sex bomb fifty years his junior while wearing clothes made for his grandkids—and managing not to look remotely ridiculous in the process.
The New York Observer recently went batshit over gladiator sandals, oddly devoting the entire cover to a story entitled Ben-Her.
Cited as examples of the hot women warriors sporting the style this summer were Sarah Jessica Parker, Ashley Olson and Cynthia Rowley. However, we think mouthwatering model Erin Wasson wore them best by far, at the after-party for the CFDA Awards the other night—wore one, that is, accessorized with a matching pair of glossy black crutches.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
Two of our favorite fellows who both happened to be named Paul got together in London the other night for a very stylish fete.
The great Sir Paul Smith hosted a book bash for his brother-in-arms Paul Weller, aka “The Modfather,” founder of seminal Brit band The Jam and the aptly named Style Council.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
When someone shows up to an A-list fashion clusterfuck—in this case, the other night’s CFDA Awards—dressed like a metrosexual maharajah on meth—in this case, Vogue editor-at-extra-large André Leon Talley—you should of course avoid having your picture taken with said person at all costs. For one thing, clownishness of costume on such a grand scale is highly contagious, and will more than likely rub off on anyone who touches it.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
We’ve never been huge fans of Moby’s music, but we have to admit we like his style. For a little bald guy with glasses he does himself pretty well. Sartorially he may not be much to write home about, but he manages to exude the right kind of insouciant electro-rock star cool in a way that’s essentially inimitable: just you try walking around like this and see how far you get if you don’t believe us.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
The information that downtown dude John Varvatos had opened a boutique in uptown East Hampton somehow passed us by, but then we spend more time upstate than on the East End these days—for reasons which should be obvious enough if you’ve ever been bumper-to-bumper on the Montauk Highway.
In any case, the designer who recently revamped CBGBs celebrated the first anniversary of his Hamptons outpost the other night with an exhibition of photos by the legendary Mick Rock, famous for his iconic shots of the likes of Iggy, Bowie, and Syd Barrett.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
New York Rangers roisterer-turned-Vogue intern Sean Avery gets away with lots of out-there antics. We draw the line, however, at silver boots. Apparently Hedi Slimane has been passing these things around as a joke and fashion victims like our awkward forward here have fallen for it hook, line and sinker.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
We were pleased to see our old friend, author, Nightlife Decathlon star and all-round bon vivant Anthony Haden-Guest crop up in the photos from Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld’s book party at the Pace/MacGill Gallery the other night—where we also spotted three-time MOTH whiz Hamish Bowles.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
Gentlemen: After seven months of MOTHs, we’re pleased to announce that one of our fellows has finally scored the first hat trick in this hotly-contested sartorial series.
Author, editor and World’s Best Dressed Man contender Hamish Bowles has beat out 48 other natty candidates to be the first to put a third MOTH on his mantel. You other two-time MOTH whizzes—Alan Cumming, André Benjamin, Cameron Silver, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Michael Stipe—not to mention the rest have got some serious catching up to do, and we’ll brook no slovenliness this summer no matter how high the mercury rises, is that understood?
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
First of all, this will be our final photographic dispatch from Vienna’s louche Life Ball, so it’s no use begging or appealing to our better nature—which so far as we know is non-existent anyway.
While Agent Provocateur founder Joe Corre’s shenanigans were certainly entertaining, it was molten media heiress Lydia Hearst who really stole the show.
NEIL RASMUS/PatrickMcMullan.comAgent Provocateur founder Joe Corre is nothing if not a consummate showman—but then what else would you expect from the son of Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren?
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
A MOTH likes his WOTH s, WWLs, and whatever they call the gratuitous knockouts in GQ just fine, but it’s exceedingly rare to find all the qualities one desires in just one woman. Often we’ve found that at least two are required.
And when it comes to the perfect pairing, it’s hard to beat the two pictured here: statuesque stunner Jessica Stam and cooler-than-thou actress Chloe Sevigny.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
When it first came out in 1973, Lou Reed’s tragic rock opera Berlindisappointed fans who’d been expecting an upbeat follow-up to his glam opus Transformer. Left to gather dust, it took twenty years for critical opinion to come around and finally dub it a masterwork.
Larger-than-life artist/auteur Julian Schnabel had, of course, always been a believer»
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
Sex Pistols svengali Malcolm McLaren is one of Thom Browne’s biggest fans. Perhaps the subversive nature of Brown’s sartorial spin appeals to the old saboteur. McLaren’s been a firm believer in épater la bourgeoisie since the SEX days.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
When he last made the MOTH scene at the Tudors premiere, Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers was decked out in a killer custom-tailored midnight blue dress suit by John Galliano. For the Met Costume Institute Gala the other night, he one-upped the basic black tie crowd in a similarly more-sartorial-than-thou suit designed by Nicolas Ghesquière for Balenciaga.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
Here making his second MOTH appearance, the multi-talented André Benjamin (aka André 3000) stole the show at the Met Costume Institute’s gala Monday night.
What won us over was his beautifully-cut cream shawl-collared dinner jacket with a subtle tone-on-tone glen plaid pattern, which could be from his Benjamin Bixby line, though it looks a little on the formal side—perhaps Ralph Lauren or Brioni is a better call—worn with Hollywood-waisted dress trousers, velvet evening slippers and a perfectly-proportioned pointed-end black velvet bowtie. His signature flourishes were apparent in the straw fedora, pearl shirt studs and a somewhat faded-looking but nonetheless brassy boutonniere»
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
We’re not entirely sure just what look Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan was going for with this stripey Hello Sailor rig he wore to the L.A. premiere of Iron Man the other night. Actually the outfit looks more suitable to swabbing the decks than manning the mainsail, though it’s possible Corgan wasn’t thinking nautical thoughts at all. Perhaps the movie’s comic book basis simply went to his head»
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
Browsing through photos of the usual muttonheads at the Washington Correspondents Dinner the other night we were surprised to see our old friend, brilliant writer/director Bruce Wagner, among the throng.
Wagner, whom you might know from his masterpieces cinematic (Wild Palms, Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills) and literary (Force Majeure , I’m Losing You, Memorial), is a writer/producer of British actress Tracey Ullman’s new satirical series, State of the Union.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
John Waters wasn’t the only one to surprise us with his stylistic splendor at the Cry-Baby musical premiere the other night. Waters’ fellow Baltimorean Adam Duritz, the Counting Crows frontman and record producer, blew in like a breath of fresh air with a preview of coming attractions, sartorially speaking, swathed in summer suiting befitting a southern gentleman.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
We always just kind of took it for granted that king-of-camp John Waters only ever wears vintage threads. That’s what the writer/director’s skinny suits and ties always looked like to us, and it seemed to match his retro persona perfectly. The other night at the opening of the new musical version of his 1990 film
It was the modernized boating blazer that tipped us off, of course»
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
A few months ago we appealed to Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter—in an avuncular fashion—to discard the double-breasted suits which added an unflattering layer to his majestic midsection; the wrong kind of camouflage, if you will.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
Debonair designer Zac Posen has been on the verge of snagging many a MOTH before now, only to be usurped at the last moment by some slightly more splendiferous fellow. Truth be told, there were some very close calls where we ended up handing the prize to a less consistently natty rival, simply because we knew there’d never be a shortage of stylish Zac sightings. The man seems to be at every A-list event on the social calendar, and he’s usually the life of the party.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
There’s something kind of frightening about this photo of Robert Redford and Christoper Walken—and we don’t mean in the good way that Walken usually gives us the willies. Perhaps it’s merely the fact that these two incredibly charismatic and stylish cinematic icons have gotten so damned old, while so few young fellows of any discernable panache or even talent have come along to replace them.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
Here we have a topping triumvirate to be reckoned with: haute hotelier Andre Balazs, literary lion Tom Wolfe, and dapper designer David Chu. Wolfe is of course a style icon of long standing, but the other two are no slouches in the dressing department either. In fact it’s rare to see three of the nattiest types in town across such a broad spectrum having a tête-à-tête.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
Quirky indie icon David Byrne has mastered many artforms, and he’s got the Grammys, Oscars and Golden Globes on the mantle to prove it. The Scottish-born former Talking Head and RISD dropout recently joined Paul Simon onstage for one night of the latter’s month-long residency at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
Ask, and ye shall receive: an extra helping of MOTH star Waris Ahluwalia for your viewing pleasure, that is. Our favorite beturbaned member of the bon ton is pictured here with gal-about-town Jessica Joffe at a Theory party for artist David Ellis the other night.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe, last seen layering it on like a motherfucker, has always been distinctively dressed, but we’ve never seen him looking quite as natty as he did at the Food Bank for New York City’s anniversary awards gala at the Chelsea Piers the other night (where we also spotted a stylin’ Isaac Mizrahi).
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
Dashing designer Isaac Mizrahi makes a splash but always stays on the safe side of zany—no easy feat when you’re establishing yourself as a too-beaucoup TV personality. Though his women’s clothes and various bringing-style-to-the-masses projects get all the attention, he turned out a damn fine men’s collection for Fall 2008, which was good enough to get the nod from Bergdorf’s.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
The other day when we said there were no challengers to Keith Richards’ reign atop sex, drugs and rock’n’roll royalty, it obviously triggered something - the appearance of a certified contender, David Johansen of the New York Dolls.
By now, you’d think someone else would have come along to usurp Keith Richards’ as the archetype of sex, drugs and rock & roll style. As a group, the geriatric juggernaut that is the Rolling Stones seems a bit comic with their never-ending world touring, but while the rest of the band looks like they’ve traded hookers and blow for Depends and Metamucil, Keef keeps rocking on.
He’s not carefully-maintained and certainly not well-preserved, but rather perfectly and stylishly weathered.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
Sharon Stoned, we mean—as far as we know foppish Fiat heir Lapo Elkann has steered clear of the hard stuff since that unfortunate incident with the transvestite hooker in Turin.
In fact, our boy Lapo is now such a testament to recovery he was hobnobbing with the actress at an event honoring his appointment as ambassador to some kind of newfangled medical center.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
Following in the footsteps of Sean Penn and Petra Nemcova, aging action hero Bruce Willis has been stepping out lately with a much younger model, sometime Victoria’s Secret siren Emma Hemming.
Willis isn’t really known for his sartorial savoir faire, but he does have the sense to realize that a new look is necessary to pull off a poule de luxe.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
If you’ve spent any time on the New York style circuit, you’ve no doubt come across idiosyncratic aRUDE magazine founder Iké Udé. With his dandified duds, the Nigerian-born artist, publisher and aesthete brightens up many an otherwise dull evening.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
He creeped us out in Match Point and modeled for Versace and Hugo Boss before embarking on his latest role—a kind of priapic, po-mo Henry VIII in The Tudors—but Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers has always won full marks for his stylish attire.
At the Tudors premiere the other night, he sported an ensemble that had an almost Rockabilly look to it: a midnight blue dress suit with satin piping on the lapels—custom-tailored by John Galliano—and a superskinny leather tie by Camilla Staerk.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
Looking through the past week’s party pix we were struck by this classic triptych of extremely influential characters. At an opening of an exhibition of photographs by Mikhail Baryshnikov the other night, the coolest dude to ever don a pair of ballet tights was flanked by fellow icons Julian Schnabel and Lou Reed.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
Brazilian jewelry designer / socialite Luigi Tadini—full name Gian Luigi de Almeida Prado Tadini—is one of those rare fellows who can pull off an ascot. You might say he’s carved out something of a niche in the offbeat neckwear department.
Tadini, a sometime model who also had a small role in The Devil Wears Prada, describes his style as “a mix between a young Mick Jagger and 40 year-old Cary Grant and perhaps a little Alain Delon”. The man knows his references, at least.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
Last time Scottish actor Alan Cumming caught our eye, he was sporting the latest in equestrian chic. For this, his second MOTH conquest, he would at first glance appear to be dressed much more conservatively—but only at first glance.
We find this triple-black ensemble of his, worn to the premiere of a new off-Broadway production of Chekhov’s The Seagull in which he co-stars, to be of equal interest. It’s rescued from the mundane by the dressy elements, the textural appeal, and an offbeat approach to the old ‘black tie’ chestnut.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
What we have here is a study in contrasts. You could call it old vs. new, youth vs. experience, or even the future vs. the past. On a purely sartorial level, however, we would just call this pic of Irish nouveau-folkie Damien Rice and Canadian-born singer/songwriter, poet and novelist Leonard Cohen good vs. bad.
At the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s gala at the Waldorf-Astoria the other night, the great Cohen was inducted into that dubious institution. Rice performed one of Cohen’s songs in tribute; he should have borrowed Cohen’s classic evening clothes as well.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
In our first five months of MOTHs we’ve witnessed some significant sartorial transformations—see Hanks, Tom—but none so dramatic as today’s honoree, Terry Richardson, the photographer who’s pioneered a sort of nouveau-perv aesthetic. Richardson, son of famed fashion photographer Bob Richardson, lensed fellow MOTH Tom Ford’s controversial new ad campaign. Richardson has long favored a uniform of grungey plaid flannel shirts, thermal underwear and well-worn tees.
But the Natural History Museum’s Ball saw another side of Mr. Richardson»
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
The gangster / jazz great look is a hard one to pull off with any measure of success. Too often practitioners err with exaggeratedly-cut or outlandishly-fabric’d suits, overly large or oddly-hued hats, ridiculous neckties, or just generally odious accessories and embellishments. The trick is to keep things as elegantly simple and classic as possible, perhaps even a little austere if you really don’t want anyone thinking you’re on your way to a costume ball.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
The prevalence of the Sleek Grey Suit among men of style these days is aesthetically appealing but not terribly interesting, sartorially speaking. But here comes Stanley Tucci to show us how it should be done.
Tucci, the acclaimed actor (and also writer, producer and director) who currently has seven different movies in production, elevated the SGS to a whole new level with the simple addition of a dashing, brilliantly hued scarf.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
The restaurants bearing the Mr. Chow moniker are known as much for their haute-chinois cuisine and glittering clientele as their sophisticated, understated elegance. Small wonder then that the real Mr. Chow embodies the latter perfectly.
We’ve never had the pleasure of dining at the original London location, opened in 1968, but the super-stylish New York outpost on E. 57th St. is one of our favorite restaurants in the world. The man behind it all, Michael Chow, is also an actor of note and an art collector extraordinaire whose portrait has been painted by David Hockney and Jean-Michel Basquiat, among others.
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
In his capacity as a graphic design demigod, Chip Kidd routinely transforms books into objets d’art. In the course of a celebrated career he’s done dazzling dustjackets for everyone from John Updike to Bret Easton Ellis. Some of his work, like the famous dinosaur skeleton he designed for Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park, even takes on a life of its own.
Photographed by Clint Spaulding / Patrick McMullan.com
It’s high time for a tip of the hat to our fearless MOTH photographer Patrick McMullan, no slouch in the dressing department in his own right. He makes it look easy, but we honestly don’t know how he keeps up the pace.
Welcome to the MOTH makeover edition. Rather than an award for a single outfit, this one goes to Tom Hanks for his recent transformation from Tinseltown schlub to one of Hollywood’s best-dressed men.
Up until the past few months, it was strictly sack suits and Today’s Man looks for the hapless Hanks, when he could even be bothered to wear a tie. When Hanks started turning out extra nattily, we quickly detected the hand of Machiavellian style master (and MOTH mainstay) Tom Ford, whose new ad campaign is causing such a ruckus. Ford prescribed well-cut suits and elegant ties with bespoke details in classic monochromatic palettes worthy of Cary Grant.
This is a MOTH won by dint of sheer overwhelming effort on the part of quirky R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe. Simply put, Stipe staggered us with the most impressive example of layering we’ve come across all season—and trust us, the competition was fierce.
At the New York premiere of Be Kind Rewind the other night, Stipe wore all of the following»
Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.
Cuban painter, sculptor, illustrator, chronicler and critic Ruben Toledo is in an enviable position for a well-dressed man about town: his wife Isabel is a fashion designer who frequently whips up bespoke threads in their sprawling loft-cum-atelier hidden atop a turn-of-the-century building.
