By STEVE GARBARINO
‘I don’t dress for the moment,’ Cary Grant once said. What he meant was, he didn’t put himself together merely for formal affairs.
Cary Grant
Everett Collection
Cary Grant, 1940s
The Look: Casual Bespoke (silk polo shirts, wide-lapel suits by Caraceni and glen-plaids by Hawes & Curtis; Tom James button-downs, bespoke tasseled loafers, Cartier watches).
Product photos by F. Martin Ramin for The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas
The Key Accessory: Navy Paisley Ascot Tie, $89,
Style Moment: "The Philadelphia Story," 1940; "To Catch a Thief," 1955.
Did you know?"Everybody wants to be Cary Grant," the actor once said. "Even I want to be Cary Grant."
Steve McQueen
Everett Collection
Steve McQueen, 1968
The Look: Blue Steel (shawl collars, turtlenecks, flat-front khakis, dungarees, shearling coats, windbreakers).
Style Moment: "The Thomas Crown Affair," 1968.
Did you know? One of McQueen’s original Persols worn in the film sold at auction in 2006 for $70,000.
Warren Beatty
Everett Collection
Warren Beatty in "Shampoo" 1975
The Look: L.A. Lothario (open-collared shirts, knotted silk scarves, hip-length motorcycle and denim jackets, morning-after "black tie").
The key Accessory Bib Front Classic Tuxedo Shirt,
Style Moment: "Shampoo," 1975.
Did you know? Beatty was a former cocktail lounge piano player; he often called his female intimates "pussycat."
James Dean
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
James Dean
The Look: Ranch Rebel (distressed leather jackets, straw cowboy hat, fitted white T-shirt, pea coats, cuffed blue jeans, wide-collar polo shirts, chinos, that red windbreaker).
The Key Accessory: Tortoiseshell glasses by Anglo American
Style Moment: "Giant," 1956.
Did you know? He died at age 24; he starred in three films; he was 5-foot-8.
Michael Caine
The Look: Lady Killer (three-button blazers, fitted double-breasted suits, mod roll-necks, linen, big-framed specs).
The Key Accessory: Cufflinks, $525 per pair,
Style Moment: "Get Carter," 1971.
Did you know? Iconic British tailor Douglas Hayward made most of Caine’s ’60s-era bespoke suits, including that beige number in 1969’s "The Italian Job."
Being comfortable, while looking his best—both on and off camera—was simply a given for the great charmer, whom many sartorial experts consider the best-dressed man who ever lived.
Let’s just say, that concept doesn’t exist anymore.
Ski caps and ball caps, T-shirts and cargo pants, hoodies and slip-on sneakers—all of them no doubt designer labels—are the norm now with both newbie and established A-list movie stars. And when they do dress up for a photo-op fête, they look ill at ease, like little boys in their fathers’ penguin suits. Others go monochromatic, dressing head-to-toe in one hue, creating a "uniform" of their Guccis and Pradas that would better suit a Barneys salesman or L.A. boîte maitre ‘d.
"Take a look at the leading men today," says Geoffrey Aquilina Ross, author of "The Day of the Peacock: Style for Men 1963-1973," being published in May. "They’ve been wearing casual apparel for so long, they don’t know how to wear smart tailoring when the time comes to clean up. Grunge-y may be comfortable, and great for walking the dog, but they won’t look good in the truest fashion sense, if that’s what they’re going for."
When many current actors costume for some ceremony, "they’re togged up in dark suits, dinner jackets. And what happens? They look silly, rather than like fashion icons—even though they’re dressed in expensive designer duds. They look dirty, irrespective of the label they’re wearing," adds Mr. Ross, Vogue’s first male editor (in the 1960s).
Mr. Ross doesn’t, however, begrudge those actors who, however unconventional their choices, still manage to find an actual personal style, and stick with it. "It’s a little eccentric, but Johnny Depp has found his own style," with a little bit of help from Keith Richards (fedoras, scarves, earrings). And, he adds, Colin Firth (a good friend of Tom Ford) and John Malkovich—who created his own dandy-leaning men’s label Mrs Mudd—"wear suits with panache. Is it a coincidence that this trio live in France and Italy?" he says.
Mr. Ross’s book is about the advent of the male dandy in London, and its arbiters. But in the late ’60s and early ’70s, American actors—at the crossroads of classic and rebel-auteur Hollywood—similarly showed how it was done, perhaps even better than Old Hollywood.
Steve McQueen epitomized effortless style, in his off-time on the race track and Malibu Beach, and in films like "The Thomas Crown Affair" and "The Getaway": perfect ribbed turtlenecks and beige trench coats, simple slacks, manly watches and classic shades. Much of why it worked was about how he accessorized. The "King of Cool" was the West Coast counterpoint to Cockney-cool Michael Caine, whose Italiano-Brit look was a scene-stealer in "Alfie," "The Italian Job" and "Get Carter." Such actors blurred the line between their costume departments and their bureau drawers.
Sean Connery—through seven James Bond films and a life of dressing the bon vivant part—also defined effortless chic. When he wasn’t in his no-fuss 007 custom tuxes and suits, he was dressed, off the studio dime, for motoring in Monaco or chalet-ing in Gstaad: herringbone suits and top coats, jaunty driving caps or a cashmere cardigan (a look that George Clooney has nearly perfected). It wasn’t an effort—it simply was, inherent to his nature. It seems 007 was not. While his contract stipulated he kept all his Secret Service attire, he once said, "I’ve always hated that damn James Bond. I’d like to kill him."
Other unintentional style arbiters of the ’60s and ’70s included Jack Nicholson ("Five Easy Pieces," "The King of Marvin Gardens") and casual king Paul Newman ("Hud," "The Drowning Pool"). While Nicholson’s "Mister Hollywood" image was largely defined by 24-7 black sunglasses (framed by wicked sideburns), Newman had true "basics" instincts for body-hugging T-shirts, flat-front slacks, Midwest prep-wear and a certain Rolex Daytona (c. 1969), now a collector’s item. Newman was so immune to black tie that in 1993, he reportedly made a bonfire of his tuxedo and gave away his fancier wardrobe, keeping only the essentials.
Across the shore, the New Wave’s dapper Casanova, Marcello Mastroianni ("La Dolce Vita," "Divorce, Italian Style"), made his go-to uniform a fitted black suit by Roman tailor Vittorio Zenobi (English fabrics only), worn with a white broad-collar shirt, black necktie and jet-black Persols: the original "Reservoir Dogs" look.
While the annual best-dressed lists always bequeath Old Hollywood actors with their top honors, truth is that the movie studios and their heads often had a hand in cultivating their identifiable looks. "The icons had help," says Mr. Ross. "They also had great tailors, in London and Rome. Even today, Savile Row tailors like Anderson & Shepherd and Doug Hayward have their star clientele."
Cary Grant, however, was "clothes obsessed," and knew exactly what he liked, Mr. Ross says. "He had tailors rework his suits and shirts until he was satisfied," even down to 1/8-of-an-inch altering on a sleeve. Eva Marie Saint, his co-star in "North by Northwest," said of Grant, "Other men wear suits…" For him, she said, "style was like a skin."
You can’t "be" Cary Grant, or any of the great Hollywood icons—and why would you want to deprive yourself of your own style identity, anyway? But there’s much to be learned from them, and plenty of ways to define your own look without raiding the savings. "Men are beginning to look for quality in clothes, but it’s hard to contemplate heavy spending," says Mr. Ross. "Buy clothes that will last—classics. That way they won’t go out of fashion so quickly.
"Not everyone can buy Ralph Lauren or Tom Ford. In London, men raid certain charity and consignment shops in districts like Chelsea and Kensington to find second-hand and never-worn designer labels." There are treasures in those racks.
You can cheat. Affordable, more modern-fitted suits are now available at men’s stores such as Brooks Brothers, Uniqlo and J. Crew. There’s no shame in wearing those labels. But accessorize them with, say, a Paul Smith necktie or pocket square, along with custom oxford lace-ups or a distinct leather belt. The focus will be on the accents, not the outfit.
And in case the style icons of yore are intimidating, even Cary Grant’s advice wasn’t always entirely solid. Says Mr. Ross: "He once advised me to always sleep on my back. If you sleep on your side, he said, you squash your face, and stretch your skin, encouraging wrinkles."
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