This Christmas is Dolce & Gabbana season at Harrods. In any other city, the tried and trusted brand for smart, casual attire would be in danger of looking old fashioned, but not in London. Maybe that’s because we have plenty of home-bred, stylish older men here such as David Beckham and Jude Law, and their offspring, namely Brooklyn and Rafferty who are such fashion-forward thinkers with an eye to the past. Anyone at the seasonal opening would have noticed, the boys were ‘dad dressing’ and pulling it off nicely.
How to pull off dad dressing
Firstly, it helps if you have a dad as stylish as the ones named above, but if you don’t there’s no need to worry. Channelling the stylish older man is all about looking like you know exactly what you want. You don’t have any time to make fashion mistakes, you did that 20 years ago. Now your style is established but still on-trend. You know as soon as your pick up mens Farah shirts that they’re going to work well with your well-cut t-shirt and brogues.
The new old
To the sharp-eyed, this dad dressing seems a little more like granddad dressing than the style of the current crop of fathers. After all, there’s not a Nirvana t-shirt in sight at Dolce & Gabbana, but when we say ‘dad dressing’ we really mean, the stylish ones who have a good wardrobe full of a long-established collection of key pieces.
When these boys stepped out in front of Harrods, it was clear to even the most casual viewer that they had been rummaging through dad’s wardrobe. And what’s more, they were wearing the stylish pieces with complete aplomb. There wasn’t a satirical smile in sight.
Get the look
Sadly, we don’t all have access to David Beckham’s wardrobe but the style is easy to reproduce. Check out suppliers such as EJ Menswear for a range of crisp Sunday-best shirts, smart but comfortable shoes and relaxed fit chinos.
Add to this the year’s signature pieces such as the Peaky Blinder’s cap, the tweed jacket, leather wrist thongs and desert or Chelsea boots and you’ve got the look. The rules of dad dressing are, keep it classic but don’t forget to add a modern twist.
