Looking At Shirting Styles And Fabrics In La La Land

As one of the most highly critically lauded films of 2016, La La Land boasts some fantastic acting, an engaging story and some pretty catchy musical numbers. It’s also attracted a lot of attention for its choices of costume, with Ryan Gosling finding himself in the spotlight for his distinctive style in the film. So let’s dissect it a bit, and look at how you can achieve his somewhat idiosyncratic look.

Keeping An Eye On The Tim

Though the film is a self professed ‘love letter’ to the Golden Age of Hollywood and all that it entails, it’s important to note right out of the gate that it is not, in fact, a period piece. It actually takes place in 2016, which means that there are no high waists, double breasted suits or large lapels. Instead, Gosling’s character, Sebastian, dresses in a modern interpretation of the mid-20^th century style, evident by their minimalist characteristics. After all, Sebastian lives and breathes jazz, so it makes sense that his wardrobe would be informed by generations of history. It’s not quite period dress, but it’s definitely a unique style, and requires a careful eye to get right.

Keeping It Casual

There are no T-shirts on show here. Even in an informal setting, Sebastian’s shirts still retain that element of flair, in deference to his jazz inclinations. His casual shirts are all a loose fit to allow him some room to breathe, but remain a good cut, deftly showing off his shape. A noticeable characteristic of these shirts is the Cuban collars, which came back into fashion in spring of last year – and the trend looks set to continue throughout 2017. The strength of these Cuban-collar shirts lie in the versatility of the style – they can be worn comfortably well over the top of a white T-shirt (as Sebastian himself favours in the film), and the colours are simple and unassuming; they’re not overly loud, and so let the styling of the outfit speak for itself.

The Smart Moves To Make

For all its sartorial grace, La La Land isn’t afraid to break the rules occasionally. For a lot of the film, Seb carefully mismatches his jacket and trousers in what’s known as a broken suit. It’s a daring choice that somehow works in the film, but needs to be treated with caution when trying it for yourself, as it can look haphazard and thrown together if you’re not careful – something you’ll probably want to avoid! In order to pull it off effectively, amongst the golden rules are to choose two different tones of the same colour (for example, a darker blue for a blazer rarely clashes with a lighter blue for trousers), and don’t mix your fabrics. Like Seb does in the movie, stick to one material to make it easier on the eye.

Again, the costume designer pays heed to the era of his clothing, so Seb wears slim-fit suits with semi-slim lapels, and regular point collar dress shirts. These were the staples of the 50s and 60s era that Seb is fond of emulating, so if you want to effectively mimic his style, this is the kind of formalwear you’ll want to go for.

Our Recommendations

Throughout the film, Seb wears lighter pastel colours that distinguish his outline against his colourful surroundings – from our own product range, we’d recommend the Balmoral Twill 235 pink fabric, or the Gargrave Plain White Panama Fabric for your shirting, to help you achieve a look that’s attractively unassuming. We hope this has helped! Remember, if you have any other questions, we’re just a phone call away – our number is 01282 698662.

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