Anthony McGrath | My Style Icons

Anthony McGrath, men’s style expert and online editor of ClothesMakeTheMan, an extraordinary menswear blog for the ordinary man, talks to us about his men’s style icons...

The label STYLE ICON is a term pinned to people all too easily in modern menswear, in the same way that Genius is banded about in contemporary language.No sooner has a pop star, footballer or reality celeb employed the services of a decent Stylist, who selects a Savile Row suit for them, encourages them to go for a classic haircut that flatters their features and wins over a couple of the weekly women’s mags in the “SACK THE STYLIST” features, than they are being crowned with the accolade of Style icon. If only it was truly that easy. What we are going to look at today is three TRUE style icons in every sense of the word. Men who have really left their foot print in the DNA of men’s style and will be remembered for their sartorial splendour and dapper style for eons to come.

1) David Bowie – Ever since David Jones, sorry Bowie, burst onto our TV screens in 1969 with his Space Oddity, he left us open mouthed with his bending of gender, alter egos and clear enjoyment of breaking and making the rules. David Bowie well and truly established himself as a style icon, like many who were to follow him from Boy George to Madonna all citing Bowie as an inspiration for their unique style. But no one can beat Bowie for ever changing his image and that look then going on to influence the way we dress. From Ziggy Stardust, to Aladdin Sane, through to the Thin White Duke in his Tin Machine days, its hard to believe he recently celebrated his 66th birthday and he still manages to be a huge influence to such key designers as Hedi Slimane of Saint Laurent, Tom Ford and Frida Giannini of Gucci. In fact this man is seen as so much of a Style Icon, the iconic V&A Museum is about to commence an exhibition dedicated to his style.

2) Steve McQueen – There are few more iconic moments in cinematic history as cool as the moment Steve McQueen rides off into the sunset on the back of his scrambler bike, escaping from the Nazis in the Great Escape. Furthermore, there surely can’t be another movie star whose sheer name makes it a sure fire classic in the style stakes? From Bullitt’s unforgettable car chase and turtle neck jumper to the Thomas Crown Affair, that Chess game, and its sartorial excellence, WOW. Steve McQueen’s natural born coolness made him the envy of every man right up to today. Its cliché but every man wants to be Steve McQueen and every woman wants to be with him. If Steve McQueen wore something, it was cool. It really is that simple with us men.

3) The Rat Pack – OK more of a collective then an individual person but I defy you to decide who was the most stylish out of the Rat Pack. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop defined Style for more than a generation. Ask anyone to name a style icon and at least one of these guys names will come up, and so it should. They oozed charisma, taste, wealth, style and you knew wherever they went they had a good time and looked good doing it. Whether it was on stage, screen, singing, acting or just plain fooling around for the camera, these guys did it so well everyone from Robbie Williams to Jay-Z have drawn influence on their iconic look. The Rat Pack have been so influential that they played a key role in the Election of probably THE most stylish Politian ever - John F Kennedy, Peter Lawford’s Brother in law, campaigning for him in the 1960 U.S. Presidential Election.

To find out two more of Anthony's style icons visit Clothes Make The Man...