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Introduction
Before we get into this weeks icon I want to raise a quick point about the previous style icon published on site last week, Nicholas Hoult. Many of the comments were negative, and we appreciate you all being so honest about your thoughts. However, I chose Hoult as a guy to draw inspiration from because he often gets his tailoring and fit perfect, and this is a fundamental for getting menswear right and being seen as well dressed. This week I have chosen another young English actor/model who is in the same up and coming sartorial group as Nicholas, R-Patz and the like.
Douglas Booth
Born in 1992 in London, England, Douglas Booth is another English actor whose star is set to rise in the very near future. Having first seen Douglas Booth portraying the cultural icon Boy George in a BBC television drama last year, his career has gone from strength to strength ever since. Booth is set to appear opposite Miley Cyrus and Ashley Greene in the film ‘LOL’ (set to be released later this year), and although it is not going to win him any serious acting awards, his presence will catapult him into the mainstream public eye.
His style credentials are also nothing to be sniffed at. He starred alongside Emma Watson in the 2010 Burberry advertising lookbooks/campaigns, finished 2nd in GQ’s Best Dressed List for 2011, and is on the expert judging panel (alongside Paul Smith) for my-wardrobe and Esquire’s joint search for Britain’s Best Dressed Real Man. Not bad for a guy who hasn’t even turned twenty yet.
Booth has admitted first hand that he loves his shopping, “I’m a bit of a sucker for shopping; if I could buy new clothes every day for the rest of my life I probably would.”
Douglas Booth Lookbook
Style Breakdown
Booth’s style is a mix of casual and smart, which keeps him looking great no matter what the occasion. He has a built up a wardrobe full of timeless basics, which form the building blocks for nearly every outfit he is spotted in. Whether it is a great leather jacket, statement trench coat, slim white shirt or simple tees, Douglas often combines these classic pieces together in an effortless way to create a refined but relaxed look; perfect for his age.
Douglas often creates slim, streamlined silhouettes within his outfits with the introduction of tailoring. He is often seen sporting a blazer (in a variety of neutral colours) with dark wash jeans in order to bring his outfits up a notch, whilst trench coats [top row, right] and double breasted over coats [bottom row, middle] can be substituted in for the same effect. Overall by getting the fit right, and creating these sharp lines within his looks, he looks like a well dressed young male.
He is definitely not one to experiment will bold colours or brash patterns. In fact, the closest thing we have seen to a pattern in images of him is a graphic tee paired underneath his blazer [third row, middle]. He prefers to use classic colours and timeless styles in order to create his looks but will often create individualisation through materials picked, statement items, and clashing of styles; a good example of this would be the introduction of white jeans [bottom row, right] into an otherwise quite standard (and neutral) outfit.
Today we are going to do things slightly differently and break down 4 of Douglas’ key looks, showing how and and why they work:
Leather Jacket, Jeans, Military Boots & Tear-drop White Tee
This is a great casual look [second row, middle] that can also be adapted into an evening outfit. The leather jacket is an essential piece for any man, and can be easily dressed up or down by varying your surrounding pieces. Try throwing on your leather jacket with typical formal wear – such as a trousers, shirt and tie combination – to create a clashing of styles and a bit of edginess to an otherwise traditional outfit.
Here Douglas has utilised his key basics but worn some real statement military boots to set himself apart. When mixed with the hard leather jacket, it produces a tough but easy to wear outfit that all men can recreate on a daily basis. Timeless basics will serve you well no matter the year or season, so make sure you build your wardrobe from the ground up – don’t neglect the essentials. Once you have done this then feel free to integrate new statement footwear, jackets, accessories and the like to define your personal ‘look’.
Grey blazer, Black Jeans, Military Boots & White Tee
So now we can see how we could dress the previous outfit up easily for a smarter and more refined look. This outfit [second row, left] would be perfect for a night out or date with your girlfriend/potential suitor. We have kept the building blocks the same; the white tee is a timeless basic, and the dark wash slim jeans give us a streamlined silhouette. Black wash jeans are perfect if you want to pull off a more relaxed formal look, as they look smarter than lighter or indigo jean washes, whilst at the same time are not as formal as trousers.
This time Booth has subbed out the leather jacket for a much smarter light grey blazer. The perfect suit separate, a grey blazer will serve you very well throughout the year. It is extremely versatile, and will anchor most colours and patterns in a refined manner. Again we are integrating military boots to add an edge to our look, but these are a lot more subtle and smarter than the previous pair, which suit the overall aesthetic of the outfit much better.
Finish the outfit with your own personal touches. You can see how Booth has added his own ring and sunglasses, whilst he has also pushed the blazer sleeves up to show he is ready to have some fun, rather than work.
Navy Suit, White Shirt & Black Shoes
A great alternative to the typical black or grey suit, navy is a timeless colour that will serve you well no matter the occasion. Matt Allison even gave it essential status when he produced a full guide to the navy suit in his basics series. As we all know by now, fit is KEY - so take time to get your suit tailored or your measurements taken professionally.
Here Douglas shows the perfect way to wear a suit casually [third row, right]. By simply leaving a couple of buttons undone on your shirt and losing the belt altogether (another reason to make sure it fits your waist perfectly), you suddenly give off a much more relaxed and playful vibe, rather than giving the impression you are on your way to the office. This would be a perfect look for a summer wedding reception, or smart/casual party invite. A classic and elegant look, you can add flair with the introduction of a patterned pocket square or a bolder coloured shirt – a pink or pale yellow here would really set you apart from the crowd.
Other options for summer would be a pale blue suit or lighter material options such as linen or seersucker. Remember that with a navy suit you can pair black or brown shoes with it easily, as it lends itself well to either colour. Below we have recreated the look using an on trend pair of black monk strap shoes, again playing on the more relaxed approach to formal wear.
Bright Blue Trousers, Trainers, Shirt & Metallic Jacket
Douglas isn’t always so classic and safe in his clothing choices. In this outfit [bottom row, left], he shows his youthful and experimental side by utilising some amazing bold blue trousers and combining it with a hi-shine or metallic blue blazer. These two variations on a traditional neutral (navy) will help you stand out in a room full of similar outfits. You don’t have to go over the top to stand out; be bold and daring by choosing patterns, fabrics and brighter hues than you would usually to start your journey into becoming an individual.
Here he anchors it with his trusty white shirt (wardrobe essential), allowing the jacket and trousers to take centre stage. You could easily swap out the shirt for a white polo if you wanted to give off an even more relaxed vibe, with the casual white canvas trainers playing on this further.
With the addition of a white belt this outfit embodies the nautical trend (through colours and key pieces) and is a prime example of how to dress on trend subtly whilst retaining your individuality; none of us should be aiming to look like a caricature of the trend you are going for.
More Inspired By Clothing
Here is a further collection of items inspired by the Douglas Booth look book above:
Douglas is a young Brit who utilises timeless basics to create everyday looks which are effortless and refined. He is someone to take inspiration from whether you are old or young, and should be admired for the way he has built a classic and versatile wardrobe at such a young age.
Matthew
www.twitter.com/matthew_j_burt
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Not being difficult but I think you mean R-Patz in the first paragraph not “R-Pax”
I like this guy’s style. Although I have the Topman Trench Coat in the inspired by section, and it’s a far cry from what I’m guessing is a Burberry trench in the top right. Good choices though.
I am certainly a fan of the way he uses tailored jackets and he can without a doubt pull off the open shirt formal look but I can’t get my head around the boots. I’m just not a fan off military boots.
Well anything is better than that diabolical article on Nicholas Hoult.
Personally I had never heard of this kid, but I like what I see.
Way to redeem yourselves FB and in particular Matthew Burt.
first time poster, long time reader. I don’t think this guy is really a style icon. When you break down what he is wearing its all very basic. If jeans and blazers are all you need to reach icon status then call me madonna.
BASIC FTW. get to know.
What does that mean lol?
Also a first-time poster. Never heard of this guy either but he seems to epitomise the importance of timeless garments. Fair enough – he doesn’t break any barriers but the flip-side is he doesn’t appear a try-hard. Kudos.
Col I see him as playing it safe more than keeping to timeless pieces. I like some of his clothes as individual items but when you just pair a blazer with some jeans it just looks too casual, especially since he’s supposed to be at red carpet events in most of these pics.
Whether you think he’s an icon or, like me,you’ve never heard of the guy, you’ve got to admit that he (or at least his stylist) has got his fashion basics right. I wonder if he’s a regular reader of FB..?
:-)
If I could ‘like’ this comment I would!
I’m with Thomas P on this one, very basic stuff. I don’t know who this guy is, he could be some nobody ‘pretty boy’ exiting topman based on these images.
On the other hand the clothes you’ve linked aren’t bad – a couple of bits in there I’d like to get.
Great article. Love his style. I just have one question. WHO THE HECK IS THAT BEAUTIFUL GIRL ON THE TOP RIGHT??
I think an idea for future style icon articles could be for the fb writers to do one about their own personal dress sense since then its still about someone persumabley fashionable and you’ll get a good range of articles since you guys all look like you have different tastes. You don’t have to be famous to be iconic.
This is an idea we have put into production, and there should soon be a series of articles featuring looks from our very own Ashley Cover.
We also have some collaborations and features lined up with some of the big name bloggers/lookbook.nu’ers, which should provide a different, and more personal approach to the style icon series.
Finally, we will look at getting a few more of the team on here with personal look books – and break down their style.
I dont get how people can sit here and slag off the fb writers – if you personally believe that their articles are so s**t then why not give it a go yourself?
I personally believe it’s hard and brave to give up your own time to write articles frequently
I like this guy’s style, i’m roughly the same age and can see myself in his outfits!
None of these comments slag any of the writers off. They give personal opinion about the article and suggest ways they could be imporved for us as the reader, which is what these guys want to know i’m guessing. What would be the point in us all sitting here saying good job if only half of us genuinley do like it.
Obviously we always want honest feedback, and I would much rather you not like the icon we featured or his looks, rather than the writing style and advice we give.
You don’t have to like everyone we feature, and in fact I encourage people to say what they don’t like constructively, so we can all learn and debate about what works and what doesn’t.
Hopefully with the detail we go into with each style break down, you can all pick up something from every guy we choose.
It may not directly slag the writers and it does help to leave honest feedback but usually it’s not honest feedback, it’s just guys whining and complaining. Every time it’s the same complaint: “it’s too basic, there’s nothing special about it”. You guys are completely missing the point. As they’ve said many times, they’re not always trying to display someone with crazy out there unique style (and I’m not sure it would really help if they did), they’re trying to show you men in the public eye who are doing it right and if nothing else getting the basics right, which we could ALL learn from, no matter how advanced you claim your style is. Generally, I’d say the advanced concepts are for other types of articles and FB has plenty of those.
I feel that I completely understand where they’re going with these articles, the guys featured arn’t iconic in the sense of fame they are iconic for the style of clothes they wear, i.e this guy would be the icon of ready to wear fashion basics I persume, which is fine if you’re into that. What I and probably some of the other guys are trying to say is although he has got the basics bit nailed he’s not doing it in such a way to be labelled iconic. If he had the basics with some unique pieces thrown in as well then I think this article would work a lot better.
Thank you for all of the comments, it is good to see the varied opinions on Douglas Booth. Several of you are stating that you do not know who he is, yet this is one of the reasons I chose Douglas as this weeks style inspiration. We try to encompass a varied amount of different styles via our ‘Style Icons’, and this involves choosing guys who are not on all of our radars. There is no point in choosing the standard ‘Style Icons’ as we have seem them a hundred times before.
It is good to feature guys who are up and coming as they are young and love their clothes, making for some interesting outfits for you to look at. Keep the comments coming guys!
I think the word ‘icon’ is what confuses people. The reader probably expects it to be someone of worldwide fame like Beckham every week. For what its worth, I think its good to do pieces on varying ages and levels of fame.
I think this may confuse people as well. Often we have to explain each week that we are featuring some well renowned men who are famous for dressing well, OR some up and coming young men who either have a unique personal style or are well respected within the fashion industry.
Both Nicholas Hoult and Douglas Booth have both cracked the GQ best dressed list for 2011, when neither of them are very popular with the general public or that well known yet. So we looked into it further to see exactly what the fuss is about. As it turns out, you can learn something from both guys if you just take the key points away.
From my point of view, the ‘style icons’ series is more to label the articles so that we can group all these famous (or not so famous) men together in order for the reader to browse through and pick THEIR OWN icons. You might like certain items or looks from multiple icons – which you can then use to create your own personal and distinct style.
We want you to have an opinion on everyone we feature, good or bad, so we can dissect their looks and pull out all the key points.
On that note – any suggestions for future titles that might sum up the series better? Or are we happy having them grouped like this?
I think this guy emphasises one of the key points behind fashion. Good fitting clothes, and uses the basics well. Great article. The people hating know nothing
Mancrush.
@Thomas P
Simple.
Lets play a game of spot the difference:
“I dont like his style, it’s a bit basic for me and looks a bit boring”
“I dont like his style, FB writers your standards have dropped, i’m quite appalled that you even chose this guy as an icon”
@M
People have left constructive criticism and personal opinion, not one person has said “FB writers your standards have dropped” anywhere in these comments. True, some people do just like to moan uneccessarily but even then noone insults the writers standards just what they choose to write about.
Well Doug lad. He’s a nice guy, met him once at Timberdale Fest. He was eating a hotdog I think. I must say, he does have impeccable style. However, I do sometimes wonder where the ben sherman is in his outfits! A nice argyle knit to say the least! Rofl.