March 2008 Issue
The brainchild of a father-son collaboration became the unofficial
outfitter of the leader of the free world; all for the cameras.
By Reynolds Graves
Every year, when the Academy of Arts and Sciences has their annual
award ceremony, actors, musicians, authors, and other celebrities
and artists grace the red carpet sporting the latest trends in fashion.
Photographers
capture their every move as they more than willingly brag about
the creator of the masterpiece that drapes over them. Female actresses
will proudly
say who created their stiletto shoes that adorn their feet and
match the one time designed ball gown that they will be wearing for
the evening.
The usual suspects receive credit for their fashion design sense
and master skill it took to construct such a dress, or shoe.
Armani, Dolce and Gabana, Gucci, Fendi, Prada, Louis, all of them
receive praises from the mouths of celebrities on the red carpet
at the Academy Awards ©, or any other event. Naturally, celebrities
and people in the public eye prefer to dress well to uphold an image,
and
with the salary they make, they are able to wear the finest fabrics
prepared by the best clothiers. They are even paid to promote these designers
fashions as a part of their job. Can you imagine? Being paid to
look
good, and tell people about how good you look while pulling in
your normal salary on the side?
Celebrities love it, the designers love it, and because of it,
we the consumers buy the product. We all see what celebrities can
do to a clothing label. Today, if you get the right rock, movie or hip-hop
star to sport your threads it can improve both the image and sales
of
the clothing label.
Would designers get the same result if they were outfitting Americans
in the public eye other than those in movies, television, or singing
on the radio? Would Armani’s spring line be the label’s best
success ever if best-selling authors like Dan Brown (The Di Vinci
Code, Angels and Demons, etc) or J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter Series) wore
them
around town, or if they were in an Armani television commercial?
Jack in a classic two button with a stunning Jackie, 1962.
If Rush Limbaugh wore Dolce and Gabana framed glasses and let
millions of Americans know who were tuning in on the air one
night, would
they be sold out at stores
across the nation the next day? These questions remain unanswered, but opens
a door to another school of fashion thought: what if current and former President’s
of the United States of America were known for walking the red carpet bragging
about what designer clothes they were wearing?
It makes you wonder if the President’s had fashion sense of their own or
simply allowed the same Presidential Aide to locate and select his clothes for
each day on the job. What (or who) would come out of the mouths of Presidents
if they were to describe the clothes they wore to catch a play on Friday night,
meet with some friends to sign the Yalta accords in the Winter of 1945, or even
just your every day suit? Gucci? Lacoste? Armani? This rhetorical question remains
answered, thanks to history books and a few brothers named Brooks.
In 1818, Henry Sands Brooks opened a clothing store on the corner of Catherine
and Cherry St. in New York City. His guiding principle was:
To make and deal only in merchandise of the finest quality, to sell it at a fair
profit and to deal with people who seek and appreciate such merchandise."
Sounds like clothes “fit for a King”, or President. Henry Sands Brooks
passed away in 1833, and the oldest son Henry Sands Brooks, Jr picked up where
his dad left off. In 1850 Henry, Jr’s sons (Henry Brooks, Sr’s grandsons)
Daniel, John and Elisha inherited the family business and what was once H. and
D.H. Brooks & Co became known as Brooks Brothers. For a few former Presidents
of the United States, Brooks Brothers was the name of the game when it came to
clothes, and I’m sure they would proudly give Henry Sr, Henry, Jr, Elisha,
John, and Daniel Brooks all of their earned credit on the red carpet at any award
show.
On the day of his second inauguration, President Abraham Lincoln wore a wool
coat that had a one of a kind hand stitched design of an eagle on the inner lining
with the inscription “One Country, One Destiny”. Brooks Brothers
made the coat, and it was the same coat that Lincoln wore during the spring of
1865 in D.C. On April 14, 1865 he wore it to the Ford Theater to enjoy the last
play he ever saw. The rest is history.
“The Big Three” at Yalta (Churchill, Roosevelt,
Stalin)
Brooks Brothers was also good to Presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
Theodore Roosevelt, and later Kennedy. Former President Theodore
Roosevelt wore a Brooks
Brothers uniform during his now famous march up the San Juan Hill. When FDR
traveled to the Soviet Union in the winter of 1945 to sign the Yalta accords
in Crimea,
it was anything but warm.
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and The (first) General
Secretary on the Central Committee on the Communist party of the
Soviet Union, Joseph
Stalin
joined FDR on February 11th of that year in a cold ceremony that would later
be remembered as one of the most ignominious moments in history. As the three
leaders were seated for a photo opportunity, they were all dressed for the
bitter cold winter in the Ukraine.
Stalin and Churchill are seen sitting on either side of President Roosevelt
wearing traditional double-breasted camel hair overcoats, and in between them
FDR is
seated wearing a cape. The now famous cape, which was made by Brooks Brothers
especially for the U.S. Navy always turned heads whenever the President wore
it, which was quite often.
Even though his two terms as President were remembered mostly for a web of
political scandals between 1972 and 1974 known to Americans as Watergate, Richard
Nixon
was always, like most Presidents, looking very dapper wherever he went representing
the United States of America. In 1976, Brooks Brothers, in efforts to attract
the young executives of the time to their clothing company, introduced a new
department, “Brooksgate”. Ironically, President Nixon, with his
short, stocky, but slim build enjoyed the special tailoring that Brooks Brothers
used
with the new Brooksgate department and frequently wore the label.
Teddy Roosevelt in his Brooks Brothers Uniform, 1898
The Brooks Brothers two-button suit is one that exhibits classic
style, and unprecedented sophistication. Popularized by President
John F. Kennedy, the
Brooks Brothers
two-button suit remains a signature look for the clothing company. President
Kennedy wore a two-button Brooks Brothers suit at his inauguration and Presidents
George H.W. Bush and Gerald Ford also loved to wear the suits during their
terms in office.
Brooks Brothers is not only known for its fine wools that are turned into classic
looking suits, but they are also known for their quality casual clothing. Who’s
to say that the President of The United States can’t kick back in a pair
of Khaki’s and a bomber jacket? Not former President Bill Clinton. On the
day after he was elected, President Clinton was seen relaxing with a smile on
his face while wearing a Brooks Brothers leather bomber jacket.
The legacy of Brooks Brothers clothing is shown throughout the clothing label
in both men’s and women’s fashions and with formal attire as well
as casual. I’m sure that if they were asked on the red carpet today, many
former presidents would praise Brooks Brothers for making them look so good.
Henry Sands Brooks would be proud, and I’m sure his principle would be
fulfilled.
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