The son of Italian tailors, esteemed writer Gay Talese is himself quite the dandy, with “fishmouth” lapels being his personal trademark. As this profile of him reports:
His closet is stacked with more than 50 handmade suits and more than a dozen pairs of hand-cobbled shoes.
“I have one of the great wardrobes in American journalism,” he said.
It was with this in mind that Izzy just read for the first time Talese’s famous 1966 Esquire article “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold.” Not only does Talese devote great attention to Sinatra’s wardrobe, but he also makes this intriguing comment:
Frank Sinatra can fall asleep anywhere, something he learned when he used to ride bumpy roads with band buses; he also learned at that time, when sitting in a tuxedo, how to pinch the trouser creases in the back and tuck the jacket under and out, and fall asleep perfectly pressed.
Can any of Izzy’s loyal readers explain exactly what sort of tricks Talese is referring to?
I’d like to know these tricks too!
Comment by Ninjarina — September 22, 2006 @ 7:43 pm
If you pull the jacket down tight in the back and back under your rear, so no wrinkles in the coat lie between oneself and the seat one is seated on (by flaring it out as needs be, given the cut of the coat), then no wrinkles will occur and the coat will still appear to be pressed, and not slept in. Pinching the trousers is not something DougieFresh is familiar with.
Love your blog…
Comment by DougieFresh — October 3, 2006 @ 6:51 pm