Meet Mount Street Man
Euro-style meets old school Savile row savoir faire for a polygot take on bulletproof business attire.
In the late-Eighties, a tie was the sartorial lingua franca of the professional classes. Now, barely a decade after the dress-down Friday movement gained traction in London, to wear a tie in a business environment is an act of almost folkloric eccentricity. Here, GQ’s Luxury Editor Nick Foulkes outlines Douglas Hayward’s livery legacy: the key pointers of today’s deal-breaking garb.
Grooming
All that remains from the Gordon Gekko look of a generation ago is the hair. Hair and lots of it, is a key part of the business titan look and can be uncut in a number ways: the lock of hair that spills over the yes, pushed back by an impatient hand; a shaggy main that puts one in mind of Kurt Russell; or the full-on Euro mullet.
The shirt
These days, bulletproof business attire is no longer the striped suite, striped shirt and striped tie of yore: its nucleus is instead a white shirt in any one of the 400 shade of blanc approved by Charvet, the favoured chemisier of the international elite, and worn sans tie (with the top two buttons unfastened if you are in finance top three if it is past 11pm, you’re an art dealer, or you are as good looking as Tim Jeffries). Here, personalisation should be limited to a discreet clutch of initials at the bottom of the ribcage and, given that another of the tenets of the bulletproof business look is that it gives away as little personal information as possible you might be inclined to drop the crested cuff links in favour of mitred barrel cuffs fastened with buttons
The Suit
Unbuttoned white shirt aside, they key piece of modern business body armour remains a dark suit in a lightweight, high-twist navy wool (or a single-breasted blazer worn with dark charcoal trousers). The suit is either Italian or trying very hard to be. Rubinacci is a favourite with Mount Street man who lives, works, eats and shops in the charmed grid of gold-paved streets between London’s Berkeley Square and Park Lane.
Shoes
Shoes should be French Berlutis and Corthays, and given that one of the aims of the business look is to give the impression of youthful virility they can be as pointed as you like and any colour as long as it’s black (to contrast with a white shirt)
Watches
No.4 on the limited list of acceptable small talk (after cars, holidays and women). Watches are a big part of business life. White metal rules and while you’re wary of a Paul Newman Rolex Daytona thing (too many fakes these days) you will have the original Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and that other great Gerald Genta – designed Seventies classic, the Patek Phillippe Nautilus. On the occasions that you need to switch into black tie you will have a Vacheron Constantin Ultra-Thin, a Patek Calatrava or a vintage Cartier Tank bought at Harry Fane.
Jewellery
Signet rings can be left at home (if you need to show you’re post, you probably aren’t). However, a glint of gold through the open neck of the shirt is more acceptable than it has been in a generation (no one minds being a Euro these days) A few beads or a bit of Patrick Mavros on the wrist is mandatory: after all, you are a financial Picasso, a Gauguin of the markets, and besides, bracelets are considered manly these days, albeit a pain at the airport.
Outerwear
Open-necked business is only ever conducted in the temperature-neutral environment of expensive hotels, private clubs, and executive aircraft. And it’s for reason you should never admit to owning an overcoat.