SHOW THE SHORT-SLEEVED SHIRT SOME LOVE!

It's time to show the short-sleeved shirt some love. Let us cast aside any dated associations with IT technicians, missionaries and Homer Simpson, and remind ourselves that a shirt with short sleeves can be just as stylish as its longer-armed brother - with a few provisos, of course. The first is that short-sleeved shirts should never be worn with a tie or any sort of neckwear, unless you actually are at the controls of a jumbo jet. The second, and no less important, condition is that you must choose the right short-sleeved shirt to look good: think well-cut, and not baggy, with sleeves that fall at least a few centimetres above the elbows and won't flap about like a pair of wings. This is where MR PORTER brands, from Burberry to Saint Laurent, come into play, with their breezy interpretations of the style jumping straight onto our summer wish lists. Whether you go for the 1950s counterculture and rockabilly aesthetic (embodied by the likes of Messrs James Dean and Eddie Cochran) or prefer to think tropical or preppy, click through the gallery, below, to discover some of our favourite short-sleeved shirts as well as the men who wear them well!

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SOUND AND VISION!

headphones on, enjoy!

DAVID BOWIE X LOUIS VUITTON VENICE FILM!

Louis Vuitton's masquerade ball for L'Invitation au Voyage - Venice with David Bowie and Arizona Muse. Join the ball!

WHITE LIGHT, WHITE HEAT!

ON THE AIR: THE VELVET UNDERGROUND, ENJOY THE 'WILD SIDE' LOU!

The reason why I didn't put it in the title or start this with "RIP Lou Reed" is this quote, that I found just in time: "It always bothers me to see people writing 'RIP' when a person dies. It just feels so insincere and like a cop-out. To me, 'RIP' is the microwave dinner of posthumous honours." - Lou Reed

Lou Reed, who took rock 'n' roll into dark corners as a songwriter, vocalist and guitarist for the Velvet Underground and as a solo artist, died on Sunday. He was 71.

Reed was a rock pioneer who went from record label songwriter to a member of the short-lived but innovative and influential Velvet Underground. The band and Reed's solo work tackled taboo topics like drug addiction, paranoia and sexual deviancy in songs that were largely spare, muscular and often saturated in feedback.

"Lou Reed's influence is one that there are really only a tiny handful of other figures who you can compare to him," said Simon Vozick-Levinson, a senior editor at Rolling Stone. "He spoke incredibly frankly about the realities of being an artist, being a person who lived life on one's own terms. He didn't prettify things. He didn't sugarcoat things. He showed life as it really is and that's something that made him a true original, and one of our great all-time artists," he said.

Reed, violist/keyboard player John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison and drummer Maureen Tucker played their first show as the Velvet Underground in 1965 and soon drew the attention of pop artist Andy Warhol, who became their manager. Rock mythology has it that even though the group sold few albums, everyone who bought one started a band.

Nevertheless, Rolling Stone ranks the group's debut album, "The Velvet Underground and Nico," as the 13th greatest of all time. Tunes like "Sweet Jane," from the group's 1970 album "Loaded," have become rock standards. Performers from David Bowie to R.E.M. and U2 have cited them as inspiration, and the Velvet Underground was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

In 1970, Reed left the Velvets for a long solo career. He had his only Top 40 hit with "Walk on the Wild Side," from the Bowie-produced 1972 album "Transformer," and Rolling Stone put both that album and 1973's "Berlin" on its top 500 list.

"People say rock 'n' roll is constricting, but you can do anything you want, any way you want,'' he said. "And my goal has been to make an album that would speak to people the way Shakespeare speaks to me, the way Joyce speaks to me. Something with that kind of power; something with bite to it." And Tucker said Reed "influenced probably millions of people into maybe reading more, into playing music." "When I have been on tour, there have been kids from 15 years old to 60 years old commenting on how they were influenced by Lou and the Velvets," she said.

Reed won a Grammy award in 1998 for best long-form music video, for a documentary on his career up to that point. Neil Portnow, president and CEO of The Recording Academy, called him "an exceptionally gifted singer, songwriter, and musician who has had a profound impact on rock music and our culture,"

Reed's former Velvet Underground bandmate John Cale wrote on his website: "The world has lost a fine songwriter and poet… I've lost my 'school-yard buddy.'"

WEEKEND REPORT: IMAGE MAKERS!

Some of the best-dressed men of all time are figments of the collective imagination. However, the fact that they've only ever existed on celluloid takes nothing away from the power of their style. In many ways it's the brief duration of their existence that has immortalised their sartorial perfection, because they'll never be snapped by a paparazzo while looking out of shape and unshaven, or appear at the Oscars wearing a skinny tie and trousers that are two inches too long. These fictional characters are like a concentrated shot of style, and untroubled by the vagaries of dressing every morning they will remain elegant, sharp and well dressed, even as real men age, thicken, wear trousers with an elasticated waistband, and die. 

So what is it that we can learn from these guys? There's no single style here, even if there's a clear bias towards a better-dressed past, and the characters themselves range from intrepid and well-qualified archaeologists to impetuous stuntmen, and even extraterrestrials. However, there are a couple of common threads; the first is that we should dress in a way that expresses our personality, and the second is that feeling comfortable in one's clothes is a prerequisite for projecting charisma. These are the two things that every guy should strive for in his dress: authenticity and ease. It's hard to feel the latter if you aren't striving for the former. 

Having established these benchmarks it's time to put them into practice. So, the next time you're trying on a jacket or a pair of trousers, just ask yourself, "Is this something that Sir Sean Connery's James Bond could have worn?" (Feel free to insert the name of the fictional character who you find most sartorially inspiring.) Whether you're in the market for a new suit or a pair of swimming trunks, it's an almost foolproof test.

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UNDER PRESSURE!

Have a sunny Sunday!

HAVE A REBEL REBEL WEEKEND!

DUM DUM BOYS!

Have a productive week!

The Idiot is the debut solo album by American rock singer Iggy Pop. It was the first of two LPs released in 1977 which Pop wrote and recorded in collaboration with David Bowie.

Its title was inspired by Dostoyevsky's novel The Idiot, three of the participants in the recording—Bowie, Pop and Tony Visconti—being familiar with the book.

SIR PAUL SMITH: STYLE NOTES!

The legendary British designer Sir Paul Smith talks photography, architecture and Mr David Bowie.

Sir Paul Smith's name is known around the world for his highly renowned, quintessentially British fashion and design, but it might not have turned out that way. As a young man Sir Paul was a serious cyclist who aspired to race professionally, until a bad accident ended that idea. While he was recuperating, the designer fell in with the local art school set, and the rest, as they say, is history. Starting from the single shop he opened in his native Nottingham, UK, in 1970, Sir Paul has built a global style empire with an annual turnover of £330m, of which his menswear collections are integral. Sir Paul's approach of updating classic men's clothes with contemporary cuts (Sir Paul is a trained tailor himself) and mischievous details, such as jauntily patterned linings on otherwise formal suit jackets, has not only revolutionised modern menswear but also spawned countless imitators.

Worn by rock stars and members of the establishment alike ("We make suits for the head of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, and we make suits for Paul Weller. How diverse do you want it?" the designer says), Paul Smith menswear is characterised by well-considered details and proportions, high-quality fabrics and production, and innovative design with a sense of humour. Sir Paul himself remains heavily involved in every aspect of his company, where he is both chairman and head designer. In his central London studio, hundreds if not thousands of art and photography books jostle for space with antique and design objects, original artworks and prints, and sometimes the odd bicycle or two, all evidence of the designer's broad and varied cultural interests. When Sir Paul is invited to guest lecture at art and design institutes worldwide (which is rather frequently these days), the message he likes to drive home to the students is that you can find inspiration anywhere - indeed, he has even written book entitled You Can Find Inspiration in Everything* (*And If You Can't, Look Again). You can find out what is inspiring Sir Paul right now by clicking through the pictures below.

 

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STYLE ICON: MR DAVID BOWIE!

Buy DAVID BOWIE's twenty-seventh studio album 'The Next Day' (launched 8th of March 2013) here!

SHOP THE LOOKS: MRPORTER.COM

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