2012: Roger Stone's Best and Worst Dressed List

The sixth edition of my best and worst dressed list

Originally published on January 2, 2013.

We here at the StoneZone have adopted a tradition in which Hollywood designer and arbiter of style, Mr. Blackwell would publish a list of those he thought were the best – and worst clad people in the World.

Mr. Blackwell’s list was eagerly awaited each New Year, via his syndicated newspaper column. His reviews could be snarky and cutting for those he considered ill-clad. Thousands of newspapers picked up Blackwell’s list through the wire services of the day. Blackwell’s celebrated list could make one in society or the movies or break one. His list was the gold standard of style and who was stylish and who was not.

While Blackwell is long gone, his tradition continues for the SIXTH year. The publication of our 2012 list coincides with the launch of STONESSTYLE.com, a new website in which I will  write on matters strictly sartorial.

We are proud to continue this august tradition yet it is will increasing difficulty that we compile this list for the state of dress for the public at large continues to slide. We have vigilantly watched the world of media, entertainment, sports, politics, academia, art and fashion to determine who has style… and who truly doesn’t… Like Mr. Blackwell, we single out a few who are truly tasteless and inappropriate.

Although the StoneZone covers politics from a conservative point of view, you will notice that our TEN BEST AND WORST dressed list contains liberals and conservatives, Democrats  and Republicans. The StoneZone may lean right, and I personally dress right, but our style choices are completely non-ideological. Great style knows no ideology. We don’t take politics into consideration and in 2009 gave a posthumous listing to Ted Kennedy who continued the all-American “trad” based style of his brothers.

President Bill Clinton made our 2011 list once he shed his bulky Presidential period Donna Karan suits and went for a more sophisticated “bespoke” look. In 2012 he surfaced in a white cutaway collar on a pink shirt and so makes the list again this year. President Obama and his spare simple style made our list in 2011. With the death of Texas US Senator John Tower and the retirement of Senator John Warner, who cut a dashing figure in English cut double-breasted suits, it’s hard to find any well turn-out figure on the Right other than the few on this years list.

From the 1900s to 1960s the world of politics and diplomacy gave us men like JFK and Dean Acheson, New York Mayor Jimmy Walker, Sir Anthony Eden, Henry Cabot Lodge, Playboy Porifio Rubisosa and diplomat Anthony J. Drexel Biddle (considered by LIFE magazine the best dressed man in the world in 1938). Hollywood gave us Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, Fred Astaire, Jack Buchanan, William Powell, Adolph Menjue and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. The media of the day produced Mark Twain (who got the “white suit” thing before Tom Wolfe did) as well as Lucius Beebe. Sports contributed Herman “Babe” Ruth, known for his stylish camel hair polo coats and Joe Frazier who, when not Heavyweight Champion of the World, fronted a band called the Knockouts in a sleek sharkskin suit. Katherine Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Ava Gardner, Nancy Reagan, Dina Merrill, CZ Guest and The Duchess of Windsor were easy style leaders. Try putting together such a list of men and women today. We get to choose from Snookie, Jesse Ventura, the Kardashian sisters or JWOW.

Compiling our 2012 ‘A’ list is a far greater challenge than one might think. The advent of “casual Fridays” is symptomatic of an overall decline in our standards regarding what is right and wrong about the way Americans dress. Sadly, fashion today is more motivated by economics than aesthetics. Men are seen in both business and social settings in running shoes, tracksuits, sweats, T-shirts, and caps, which advertise either a sports teams or a brand of farm tractor. Women are seen outside the gym in spandex workout ensembles and hoodies. It’s so wrong. It makes you wonder how many of our fellow Americans can possibly look in the mirror and say “Wow, I look great today” while wearing the crap that passes for “fashion.”

Americans cared deeply about proper dressing in the 1930′s, 40′s and even the 50′s. The 60′s with it’s Mad Men look also began a trend of informality that devolved over time from slovenliness in the 90′s to dishevelment in the 2000′s. The sheer number of men who will go out in public in a “wife-beater” is staggering. Very few can look like a young Marlon Brando but men still crowd casinos, bars, malls and sports events in this “outfit.”

Good taste is additionally offended by the ubiquitous Ashton Kutcher “trucker hat” craze, which truly moved American men to the bottom of the fashion rung. To wear a hat indoors, especially a baseball-type hat with plastic size adjustment band, is a veritable fashion felony. It advertises not only bad manners but also poor taste. Wearing it backwards should require the death penalty.

We at the StoneZone have waxed since 2007 about the importance of what Italians (possessors of great style) call sprezzatura, the look of nonchalance that assume you put not thought or effort into one superb appearance lest one look too studied. Your attire must look like you “threw” it together – and look great. Beau Brummel, a man about town who was considered the best-dressed rake of the 1780s, added “Ones clothes should not be too tight or draw attention to themselves nor should they look too ‘new’”. Indeed Fred Astaire would throw his suits against the wall to “knock the newness out of them.”

Finding dressers with this insouciance, this sprezzatura is even more frustrating when few actually follow the basic rules of dressing to begin with. The fit and style of one’s clothes and the colors one favors in their dress should be appropriate be to their body type. The Rules of good dress require a canvas on which a great dresser can add flair. It is not in the basics of dress the truly stylish stand out. A well-cut navy blue suit, fresh white shirt, solid silk or grenadine navy blue tie, navy socks and highly polished black cap-toe oxfords will always look good. Gray flannel suits and navy blazers are always “right” It’s the way it’s worn and the whimsy or accent of the right accessories that matter. It’s, say, the right pocket square, red lisle socks or brown suede monk-strap shoes or slouch hat that mark the look with individuality.

The problem seems to be a total unawareness of the “rules”. G. Bruce Boyer, perhaps America’s foremost writer on matters of men’s style, put it best when he said “The trick is to first to understand that there are rules. Like social discourse, dress has its proprieties – because of course, dress is social discourse; it speaks for us and about us. It is necessary to understand the rules before breaking them. A gentleman who understands best the rules of proper dress can then bend them to suit his own personality and requirements… He is accustomed to playing within the rules but is not blind to the creativity, exuberance and freedom within the rules, either.” Alexander Pope said, “Those move easiest who have learned to dance.”

Now a word about the Ladies.

While a true expression of the gold standard in men’s personal style, sprezzatura, informs the success of the best-dressed woman as well, if to a lesser degree. That’s because men dress, but women dress up. And we like it that way. So for the ladies, wearing an air of effortlessness is just as important as for the men. But a little affectation — even daring — is not only forgivable in woman’s dress, it is often roundly encouraged. Everything else matters in just the same way it does for men — fabric, cut, shape and style. The woman who understands how to wear great clothes naturally is always the best-dressed person in the room – and much easier to find.

Our goal is to sort out those who are merely fashionable from those who possess real style indeed sprezzatura, for fashion is fleeting and style endures. We also try to eschew “costume.” That’s why you won’t find Lady Gaga or Tom Wolfe on our list. While both are distinctive in their dress, both are affecting a costume more appropriate for the stage. While fashion is about fads and what is “in” now, style is a personal factor that cannot be learned or taught – either you have it or you don’t.

Style is, in fact, the direct opposite of fashion. Fashion is a look that is temporarily “in”. Fashion is people imitating each other. It’s about fitting in and looking like everyone else. Style. Style on the other hand, is about individuality; what sets one apart from the crowd. Yet that style must be bound by rules of good taste and the uses of colors, styles and cuts that accentuate your attributes and hide your flaws (white pants make a woman’s ass look huge, black pants minimize it’s size – how many women don’t know this?)

Real style comes from within; it is the sign of your character and personality that you display to those who see you. It’s a personal statement. It tells people who you are. Style never indulges fads or gimmicks. Style is solid, basic, quiet. Yet style is also quirky, individual and daring. Style is timeless. Style looked good thirty years ago and will be in good taste thirty years from now.

The StoneZone presents its official list of the BEST and WORST dressed men and women of 2012.