What We Learned About Men's Style from Valentino Garavani

Like playing the drums or making small talk, personal style is one of those things that looks far easier than it is—especially when it’s done by a true master of the form. While Valentino Garavani, the renowned couturier who passed away this week at the age of 93, was best known for his sumptuous evening gowns, his greatest creation may well have been his own unmistakable style. An aesthete of the highest calibre, Garavani (who, in the grand tradition of Miuccia, Ralph, and Yohji—will ever be known by his first name alone) applied the same meticulousness and creative vision to his appearance as to his genre-defining runway collections. From his caramel tan and perfectly coiffed pompadour to his high-collared shirts, custom-made by Charvet, his look was as consistent as it was precise. This apparent effortlessness, however, belied the complex machinery that underpinned it, including painstakingly cataloged closets at each of his homes and a personal lookbook of outfits, all of which was managed by a small army of support staff. There will, of course, never be another Valentino, but for anyone looking to hone their own personal style, his style legacy provides a few useful lessons. Unsurprisingly, Valentino was as obsessive about his own tailoring as anything he sent down the runway, reportedly having his suits made by legendary Roman tailoring house Caraceni, and this DB ensemble (with the jacket unbuttoned, the ultimate statement of confidence) is no exception. Note the perfectly balanced tension between the brightness of the gold buttons and the relative sobriety of the shirt and tie. Personal style never takes a vacation, even if you do. An avid skier, Valentino spent a lot of time at his chalet in Gstaad, where he applied the same eye for proportion and balance to his on-slope fits as to his perfectly-tailored suits. Or, to put it another way, it’s the difference between wearing a one-piece navy ski suit on its own and pairing it with a white turtleneck and a hazard yellow gilet. No one says you have to wear a patterned tie over a striped shirt with a paisley pocket square. In fact, you probably shouldn’t. That’s because you are pretty much guaranteed to fall short of this chef’s kiss of a combo, worn with typical ease by Signore Garavani. Along with Andy Warhol, Giorgio Armani, and Ralph Lauren, Valentino was a big fan of wearing a sport coat with jeans and a button-up shirt, usually with one of his impeccably knotted ties. Like just about everything he wore, getting this look right is trickier than it seems and requires a delicate balancing act of textures and hues. Here, light-wash jeans and a pale blue shirt complement the color of his blazer, while the suede boots anchor the rest of the look, adding a contrasting hit of texture and color. It’s impossible to overstate the importance of fit when it comes to tailored clothing, and that goes double for black-tie. Everything about this look speaks to the power of precision: the way his jacket broadens his shoulders and narrows his waist, the crispness of his shirt and tie. He’s not reinventing the wheel here, just executing a difficult look with absolute finesse.