Cary Grant: Style Icon Past and Present By: Jessica Myers
Cary Grant was born in Bristol, England on Jan- on fit and proportion. Grant also dressed in pieces uary 18, 1904 and died on November 29, 1986. Before that were harmonious, and he found a way to make people knew him as Cary Grant, he was known by his
your eye naturally draw to his quite stunning facial
birth name, Archibald Alexander Leach. People loved
features. As much as it sounds like he was practically
him for his quick-witted humor and his debonair
perfect in every way, Grant knew his body type and his
charm.
flaws, and he knew how to disguise the flaws and turn People of all ages have, hopefully, had the
chance to see him in action on the big screen. Grant
them into something fashionable. Cary Grant’s personal style is so iconic a book
co-starred with some of the most popular leading la-
has been written detailing his look. The book is “Cary
dies for three decades, including Audrey Hepburn,
Grant: A Celebration of Style”. His style is still influ-
Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly. I know that every
encing men’s fashion today because it teaches men
film I’ve seen him in falls into my top movie picks.
how to dress in a simple, yet sophisticated way. Men
Those films include Charade, North by Northwest, and trying to dress in a Cary Grant inspired way need a To Catch a Thief. Not only was Grant a star on the sil-
basic, but classic suit. This suit should be fitted and
ver screen, but he was, and still is, considered to be
slim in order to copy his style. A subtle, definitive de-
one of the most influential style icon of all time.
tail to his style was to expose three-quarters of inch of
Grant, himself, said he was influenced by Fred
white cuff. Looking like Grant requires a hint of so-
Astaire’s style of using bold, bright colors as well as
phistication, and the ability to appear flawless…just
using the method of mixing casual with formal. After
like the man himself.
developing his own style aesthetic, Grant shifted to a more subdued, monochromatic style and put a focus