This is the weekend edition of TheMarioBlog and will be updated as needed. The next blog post is Monday, January 14 and I will be reporting from Berlin.
It was 1969 and I was ready to graduate from the University of South Florida, so I knew I needed to start thinking of acquiring a more “professional” look.
I turned to GQ Magazine—what many men have done since 1931—to see what was fashionable. The narrow ties of the period appealed to me. I think I remember seeing a photo of comedian Dick Van Dyke (that sticks in my mind). With his toothy smile, and blue eyes, he stared at the camera, but what I remember best was a narrow black tie he was wearing, like the one he is wearing in the photo below.
For my generation, GQ was the essence of elegance and the textbook on how to look good for that first job interview and forward.
It is with interest that I read this interview with the new editor of GQ, Will Welch, a handsome 37 year old who wears dark-rimmed glasses, sports a beard and favors untied sneakers. Conde Naste is banking on Welch to bring GQ forward, perhaps to shed its image of a magazine for men who prefer suits and ties. GQ is modernizing itself, and, as this piece reminds us:
…..Welch takes on the task of modernizing the men’s fashion title, best known for its commitment to the suit, telling men what to wear and what not to wear, adventurous celebrity profiles and ambitious journalism…..
(Welch’s vision) is reflective of Welch’s own taste as seen in the pages GQ Style, the biannual title he relaunched in 2016 as a luxury lifestyle quarterly designed to appeal to men like him — younger, cooler menswear fanatics who are early to the latest streetwear brands and follow the new luxury “drops.”
Here is the new GQ Man!
The good news is that, even without suits and ties, Welch states that GQ’s commitment to long-form journalism will remain a priority.
I will definitely take a look. At almost 72, I no longer wear the same suits and ties I wore even 10 years ago, and I admit that I like the look of a well tailored suit and nicely pressed shirt, sans the tie.
But, Mr. Welch, how about bow ties?
TheMarioBlog post # 2977