Robert E. Bryan Today

Robert E. Bryan's book - Don't just look at the pictures

Robert's stick - 1939 Cadillac Series 60

"...daredevils whose audacity is reflected by their clothes." R.E.B.

Brook's Brothers vest (not waistcoat) 1952

Flusser - "Alan knows his business better than anyone." R.E.B.

"Is this what the hip aspire to?" T.T.

"Shrinking the proportions." R.E.B.

B. Blass - "A certain exquisite propriety." O. Wilde

"...would be construction workers who just can't make it to an army-navy store." R.E.B.

"Whatever creation comes down the runway. Whether it suits them or not." R.E.B.

"Thomas Crown Affair (1968) - A complete runway collection." R.E.B.

Iggy- Rock Style

Sitting across from Robert Bryan is a lesson in quiet style. David Chu's Bespoke room is out of early 19th century London with the Regency period furniture, chrome and glass tables and Empire chairs with tasteful black and white prints surrounding us. It's done up pretty big.

Robert wears a simple blue blazer, black sweater vest, black and white polka dot bow tie, and a stark white button down with a perfect roll. He's wearing a stone grey corduroy pant and when he crosses his legs I notice brown paddock boots.

The cords are a perfect shade of steel grey and pair well with the black and white. But whats up with the brown boots? I would've thought black. But it works. And it's not predictable. And it's Robert Bryan who wrote in his new book, American Fashion Menswear, "In one hundred years, men's attire has shifted from tailoring to T-shirts." That sums it up nicely.

To get things going I asked Robert a series of questions. He needed no elaboration.

Esquire or GQ? "Yesterday - Esquire without doubt. Today - GQ

Swivel or Link? Link looks so much better but swivel is much easier.

Flusser or Boyer? Alan knows his business better than anyone.

Italian or English? English without a doubt.

Center or Side? Actually, I prefer unvented.

Madras or Batik? Madras.

Brooks or Press? Brooks.

Browne or Bastian? That's cruel. I can't wear any Thom Browne. I can wear all of Michael Bastian. Bastian is connected with the ivy league feeling, the textures, the colors. Thom is more old fashioned and historical. Thom is a creative force. Bastian is much easier to wear.

Stick or Auto? I had a stick. A 1939 Cadillac Series 60 (Black four door). Whitewall tires have disappeared.

Bergdorf's or Bloomingdale's? Bergdorf's! I'm in awe of how beautiful it all is.

Orvis or Bean? Bean. They're both wonderful.

Shawl or Peak? Peak. Shawl is for the young.

Lobb or Green? I've never bought either but I prefer Lobb.

Hackett or Old England? That's a tough one. I guess Hackett.

Waistcoat or Vest? Vest

Frazier or Merkin? I would say Richard Merkin. I met him on occasion but a real character I knew very well was Hardy Amies.

Gucci or Alden? Alden! No question there.

Hermes or Ferragamo? You know, I have such a prejudice against Hermes ties I'll say Ferragamo. Really, I'm not in love with either but I loathe Hermes.

Robert and I discussed the fashion industry and what was happening in that world. Sparing no punches, he calls it, "Pretentiously unpretentious. That is the essence of what style is now. To have this unpretentious aesthetic but to work really hard at putting it...Like, as though you would normally wear jeans with a tailored jacket. You go out of your way to do that and to wear combat boots with that.

After almost 30 years of wearing the same type of clothing, it's hard for me to grasp the following . I mean, I always knew it but I just didn't know where it was coming from. Richard explains, "In general, a lot of them, certainly in fashion, are not really committed because they're trendy. They're fashion for the moment. On top of that they don't have an attention span to stay interested in anything. It's always, "What's next? What's new?" They're not really genuinely committed to a particular idea or look or style or feeling. It's just whatever's in style at the moment. They can't appreciate it until it's on the runway.

I tell stories to Robert. And from listening to the tapes, way too many. But I hear passion on these tapes when Robert tells me about vintage, the 60 series, ivy, pleated pants and his years at 'M.' After almost two and half hours we pack up to leave.

Waiting for the elevator, I see a tartan jacket with a shawl collar laying across an arm of a chair about 40 feet away. I ask Robert, "Is that a dinner jacket?" He squints his eyes, "Nope. Smoking jacket." Now that's what I call a professional.

Robert E. Bryan at 'M'

It's fitting to start off Robert Bryan's tenure at 'M' with the above cover.

Publisher and owner, John Fairchild discusses natural style and this specific cover in his book, Chic Savages. Fairchild points out that natural style is achieved by, "...going against the grain, by not following fashion's crowd." That cover was on Fairchild's office wall as a reminder.

That's Mr. Bryan in the brown double breasted suit towards the right. In a room full of 'fashion' Robert's beloved 30's style stands heads and shoulders above the sea of hip. I can find a lot of things wrong with how others dress (as they can with me) but this man's attire is perfect every time I see him.

When I asked Robert what his most memorable 'M' was, he told me the West Point issue (August 1986). And for a couple of reasons. Shot by Robert's very good friend, Kyle Ericksen (still at Fairchild Group), Robert explains, "It was the shoot where I nearly killed myself."

"There was this cannon and in back of the cannon, you know, there's this. Well, you have something to hook onto..." Excuse me. Robert is a brilliant fashion editor and writer. Not so much with artillery. It took a while to figure out he stepped between the cannon and the carriage. I'll let him finish, "I was styling this model who was in some position around the cannon and I just stepped up on it and I was moving so quickly I didn't even look. My foot went right through the thing in the middle and right down to the bottom and I was bruised and cut and could hardly walk the next day."

Bryan continued working with Eriksen even after 'M' folded. "At DNR, I usually worked with her on photo shoots which was fun because you didn't have the pressure. It was quick and easy. We just went out and would go to some wonderful architectural location and models would change clothes in the street.We did a lot of that for 'M' too. I don't remember if we ever had a van. Everything was done on the cheap. I didn't have an assistant at 'M' and I had to do everything."

It's a good thing Robert did these still life's. A simple and elegant layout of apparel and accessories in amazing primary colors.

I explain I've never seen anything like these before or since. Robert explained, "I did that at Men's Wear Magazine too."

I love this Kyle Ericksen photo of the model wearing spectators. Every Spring I consider pulling the trigger on a pair just because of this picture. I'm betting Mr Bryan sold a lot of clothes at M.

I tell Robert about my love of the shirt labels in the photos. As a park ranger taking home $400 a month, these pictures were as close as I could get to a Hilditch and Key shirt. "I think I should have covered the label in some way," Robert tells me.

"In the beginning, it ('M') was so conservative that I could not really express my 1930's aesthetic. It had to be more a 50's - 60's ivy league aesthetic. I remember that Kevin Doyle (editor-in-chief) thought a three button jacket was crazy. Just wild. Because two buttons had been worn, well, I guess throughout the 70's and the 80's."

Robert adds, "It was only in the late 80's that the three button jacket started to come back. God forbid I should show a belted back jacket. They thought that was the worse. But gradually as the years went by, 85, six, seven -- I could express more of a sophisticated traditional look of the 30's. More in line with Fred Astaire or Cary Grant and not just this very conservative ivy league aesthetic."

While conservative in dress, Bryan was not in his politics or his life. "M was terribly Republican and the irony was Kevin Doyle was in a rock band and was a Democrat and I was a Democrat." The powers that be at 'M' had great love for the Regans but it was liberals directing the writing and the fashion.

Neither Republican or Democrat was the paper stock. "We used the very best paper available." Bryan tells me. For a magazine whose target readers were the husbands of 'W' readers - I would expect nothing less.

And for the best - Michael Coady (number two to Fairchild and now publishing 'C' in California) believed only the very select should know. Consequently, marketing was by word of mouth. If you didn't know about it - - You didn't need to. Consequently, 'M' never made a profit.

'M' started out as early as 1982 and carried it's name next to Men's Wear with the first pure issue coming out with Prince Phillip on the cover in October of '83. Ironically, 'M' would again carry two names on its cover.

In the September 1990 issue (at 316 pages one of the largest ever) it became 'M Inc.' due to a merger with Manhattan, Inc Magazine. With Clay Felker joining the masthead it's not difficult to understand Robert's misplaced optimism. M Inc. would fold in two years.

Tomorrow: Robert Bryan Today

Robert E. Bryan's Basic Training

Robert E. Bryan was the men's fashion director of the NY Times Magazine, the men's editor at W, fashion editor of Men's Wear Magazine and most importantly (to me), fashion director of 'M' magazine. His new book, American Fashion Menswear came out last September. Last week we sat down in the bespoke room of David Chu's townhouse and talked about his life. This is the first of three parts that will run through the week.

Senior class picture at UVa - 1967

Delta Sigma Phi 1967

4th from left

Born in Orlando but raised in Alexandria, VA, Bryan embraced the Elvis greased hair look as an 11, 12 and 13 year old only to give up all style as a loner in high school. Bryan remembers, "I had no idea about fashion and so I was a clean slate waiting to be written upon by ivy style. A 1967 graduate of the University of Virginia and a member of Delta Sigma Phi, "In those days there was a coat and tie tradition. Even if you had on your Bermuda shorts and your Weejuns without socks - - You still had on a coat and tie. "

"I became a very good ivy dresser I must say. I really got into it. It was a natural. As did everybody else there. As I say, it was the tradition and tradition is very big at UVa. " Bryan remembers only one person, a hippie, who ventured outside the norm. "...everybody else was button down collars and club ties and Eljo's to the tee. So, it was the perfect background for, well, for 'M' Magazine for one thing."

In 1968, Bryan moved to NYC and worked for Abraham & Strauss in the Groove Shop and flirted with the Hippie - Carnaby Street style before pursuing 30's and 40's vintage clothing. "There was a group. A very fashionable group in New York who was wearing those very baggy pleated pants in '69 and '70...they had already brought them back." "You mean Oxford bags?" I ask. "They were not that full. Plenty full but still tapered. That's still my favorite silhouette - the short fitted jacket with full cut trouser."

We discuss the Internet fashion forums and posters who argue 60's ivy khakis were baggy. "Well, if you're talking about the early 50's - sure. But not in the 60's. The whole essence of the ivy look was the plain front slimmer pant." Bryan adds, "It's unusual how certain things do stay around. "

When I ask about Thom Browne it's clear Bryan has sympathy for the designer but he's also critical. "He made the suit fashion again - - by shrinking it. Even so, if you can clear your head of the fashion aura of it - it looks ridiculous on practically everyone but skinny 20 year olds. He's made the suit into a costume. Into a funny costume but he's made it fashion. Fashion is about extremes. Going to extremes. And he's taken the suit to an extreme and now I think he's trying to evolve out of that."

I mention the amazing quality and heft of a Thom Browne oxford shirt I own and Ryan agrees, "Truth be known, a lot of the stuff in his line is wonderful. The sweaters, the knitwear, the shirts, the ties, the footwear, all these things, it's just that he has played with the proportions of very classic menswear to make them stand out as fashion today."

I ask if he thinks Kenneth Cole square toe shoes are vulgar. "I just think they're ugly," Bryan says adding, " I think the ugliest idea in fashion that has ever happened is the idea of wearing your pants down around your ankles as you walk around and have to continually be pulling them up. It looks ridiculous, stupid and ugly. I don't know if you can top that."

After two and half years as a buyer at May Company, Bryan interviews and accepts a position as men's fashion editor at Menswear Magazine in 1973. "Menswear, next to DNR, was the oldest Fairchild publication. And then it was decided that Menswear Magazine was competing against DNR for advertising dollars and they didn't need both so they decided to evolve Menswear Magazine into 'M' Magazine."

Tomorrow - Robert Bryan at 'M'