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Style Profile...Michael Arenella

 
 
 
 
 















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Monday, May 19, 2008

Style Profile...Michael Arenella


Michael Arenella

Job?
Musician, Singer, Orchestra Leader
(www.dreamlandorchestra.com)

Best Sartorial advice from your parents?
I went to Catholic School as a young boy, and on the "Out Of Uniform Day", my mom did me up right. She was very imaginative and tasteful, and showed me that color and panache could work on boys, too, and at no sacrifice to their toughness.

Style icons
Max Linder
(French silent film actor, 1883 - 1925, known as "The Man In The Silk Hat")
Harlem musicians in the '30s
Cary Grant

Describe your personal style
Jazz Age through French Resistance

I build my daily look around?
Where I'm playing that day or evening.

Personal Style quirk
I wear sock garters

Favorite designers
I’m into old stuff.

Most cherished item
My 1925 Studebaker

I feel best wearing?
Cap, goggles, gloves and a linen duster

I never break this fashion rule.
Tuck in your shirt

Never caught wearing?
Pajamas

Most underrated item in menswear/ womenswear?
Menswear- the hat
Women - the dress

Dress to impress who?
Nobody

Shine your own shoes?
Yes

Shoetrees?
Yes

Favorite stores?
Flea Markets and EBay

Your next "must have" purchase?
3-piece cream linen bespoke suit

I only buy __________ in Europe.
Cuban cigars

I splurge on.....
Dry cleaning

Favorite item of clothing
Straw Boater with a Chartreuse band

Guilty pleasure
Afternoon drinks

Cologne, skincare?
Bay Rum cologne, any brand

When I was high school I wore?
Khakis, Oxford shirts, canvas shoes

Favorite fashion magazine?
Apparel Arts
(Apparel Artists the de facto magazine of record for men's clothing in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s)

Favorite vacation spot?
Canoeing the New York Harbor (really)

Favorite neighborhood restaurant?
Sam’s Restaurant and Pizzeria
238 Court St, Cobble Hill, Brooklyn
(between Baltic and Kane Sts, Cobble Hill, Brooklyn)

Labels:

Comments on "Style Profile...Michael Arenella"

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (6:21 PM) : 

Umm, is he married? This interview makes him sound like my dream man.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (6:42 PM) : 

Sounds like my dream man, too. Does anyone have his email? I'd like to send him a link to my match.com profile.

carrot

 

Blogger meva said ... (7:21 PM) : 

He's livin' in the past, man.

(Which these days, is a very good idea.)

 

Blogger Dare said ... (7:25 PM) : 

He seems like a man of modest means. A true inspiration to broke kids like me who want to be fashionable on a budget.

 

Blogger Elle said ... (7:31 PM) : 

I love that one of his style icons is Cary Grant. Instant cool in my book!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (8:08 PM) : 

i liked this style profile because he wasn't pretentious at all. and that is why he seems like my dream man too! swoon!
i appreciate the fact that he's into fashion not because it's faaashion but, because even though others claim it is is too, for him fashion is obviously a big part of his lifestyle and he doesn't even work in the industry!
i want to see more stylish "outsiders" like him!!!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (8:49 PM) : 

Excellent! It is good to see a many with a great eye for style!
You are an inspiration.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (9:51 PM) : 

i was about to comment but anon. 8.08pm has said exactly what i was going to say - i like Mr Arenella's lack of pretention but obvious dedication to his dress and style, a follower of his heart. And yes, more 'outsiders' because only you, Sart, seem to know where to find them. Thanks for another interesting profile.

 

Blogger A. E. Funk said ... (10:01 PM) : 

seriously...if i gave my potential husband this questionnaire I'd want him to give the same answers.
Apparel Arts? I think it's love.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (10:11 PM) : 

Exactly what I was thinking--dreamy!!

 

Blogger Hayley said ... (11:11 PM) : 

Ohhh... Back off other anonymous ladies, I've got dibs on this one.

What a beautiful man with beautiful style.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (12:34 AM) : 

Badass panache. That is all.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (12:49 AM) : 

ohhh i like him

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (1:07 AM) : 

Old school sophistication, with plenty of colour. Very cool. :)

 

Blogger nLau said ... (1:16 AM) : 

Wow! That man looks very tough for what he's wearing. He even makes that bari sax look tiny, geez. I wonder when he gets the chance to wear the goggles though...

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (1:44 AM) : 

Seriously, he looks incredible and perfectly understated...like he just walked out of an old time movie. Can you say "Debonaire?" Kudos for this profile...he's a dream! Anymore like him at home?

 

Blogger Unknown said ... (3:31 AM) : 

i think i'm in love. i'm a sucker for old skool charm and style. even though the era he looks back to is way before my time i really like the way he come off.... and he likes colour!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (3:52 AM) : 

I love this sort of interviews...more! more!

 

Blogger edith said ... (8:09 AM) : 

i love the look, and i also like that without the straw boater he could totally be any of the older gentlemen i see in paris...old school class should have more representatives like him in the states!

 

Blogger cat minoki said ... (8:15 AM) : 

He´s great!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (8:16 AM) : 

As a french, living in Paris, this is typically what I think looks great from the US! Heritage, dressy with a twist of casual ! Keep up the good work.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (8:26 AM) : 

Sorry to be the one with a contrasting opinion today, but this seems a little costume-like to me. I can see the spectators or the boater, but sock garters? Seriously...

Maybe he's just an old soul and I'm trying to be too modern.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (9:52 AM) : 

Makes the world a kinder and gentler place. Does he have CD's? Couldn't find reference to any on his site.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (11:06 AM) : 

It may be shtick, but it seems to come from his heart. And, he does it well. So, you go, Michael. Good on ya!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (12:04 PM) : 

Trust a musician to at one with personal style. It seems he knows when to mute and when to blast. Canoe in the harbor? Buckets of moonlight to Mr. Arenella.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (12:19 PM) : 

Yes, he has a brilliant CD..and even better, you can catch him playing live at this year's version of the event featured in the photo: a free 1920s-inspired hot jazz picnic on Governors Island June 7 & 8. For more info, see the calendar section of his website, dreamlandorchestra.com ...
He's infusing the entire weekend with a lot of the vintage elements he loves, including his music..(dance too, 1920s cars, a vintage bathing suit parade, period games, and dance classes in Charleston and Peabody; pie recipe contest..). Fun...! PS: he's also an incredibly nice and friendly person. Heidi

 

Blogger Miriam Parkman said ... (12:41 PM) : 

Oh if only a few more men could dress like that.
Classic but imaginative style, with a colorsense that's rear these days.
I love his hat and shoes!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (1:57 PM) : 

Awesome.This is true aunthenticity.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (2:04 PM) : 

Forgot to say - Love the Shoes!!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (2:27 PM) : 

What fun! I enjoyed the interview. Nice picture. Quick and easy-to-read. But the comments and swooning girls/guys (can't tell!) really adds to the fun. I love the shoes, but I'm not sure about them with overall blue/gray of the rest of the outfit. I can see the "costume" element of one critique, but you can't say that's out of place for a performer. Plus, everyday American standards for men's dress are just SO LOW. Men dress like junior high boys -- who didn't go to Catholic school or have mother's who told them you can still be manly and dress with a little panache!

 

Blogger Thomas said ... (2:58 PM) : 

Still my favourite Sartorialist addition - the questions are so spot on.

Been trying to gather the courage to photograph people - you are a wonder, sir.

 

Blogger Will said ... (3:08 PM) : 

Fantastic. A man after my own heart.

And I love the fact that he referenced Apparel Arts.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (4:48 PM) : 

Max Linder's a style icon for someone born past 1919? LOL...never thought I'd see that anywhere like here, but Max is a great choice for teens and 20s style. That guy was very snazzy both on an offscreen (Chaplin was offscreen too). He showed that very short men could also wear clothes well.

Forget the '25 Studebaker, what about a Stutz?

I have to give it to you Sart, when you find a character, you really hit pay dirt!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (4:52 PM) : 

I love the fact that he's the ONLY person interviewed so far who shines his shoes. How do people expect to look good w/ scuffed kicks?

 

Blogger Matt Fisher said ... (8:28 PM) : 

Thank you for the shoutout for Sam's Pizzeria. I live around thecorner and this place is so often over looked. They also make a great bowl of spaghetti with scungili.

 

Blogger rg. said ... (12:19 AM) : 

i love how you are expanding your posts and still staying true to your website. well done. i hope to run into you one day. hopefully i will be dressed to impress!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (9:17 PM) : 

Gorgeous! He'd be an interesting candidate to undergo a past-life regression, no?

 

Blogger Theo said ... (12:33 AM) : 

i actually really like his outfit and a lot of the stuff he talks about, but i can't help feeling that it all seems a bit contrived...
reading back it doesn't seem so absurd, but still, just like, "cap and goggles etc"
i know it's convoluted etc but i just want to be like, "IT'S THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY!!!"

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (3:58 PM) : 

"Guilty pleasure
Afternoon drinks"
mmm.. i wish i could afford that.
:)
and it does seem as if time had stopped in his presence. sounds lovely.

 

Blogger Jacqueline Cantwell said ... (5:18 PM) : 

He does sound wonderful (though my dream man is Robert Mitchum in Out of the Past). Perhaps, we women who find him attractive should meet. We should all dress appropriately (according to our fantasy). It would be interesting to see if any men would be brave enough to approach us.

 

Blogger Violet Harrington Pickles said ... (1:17 PM) : 

A man in spats makes my heart skip a beat...
Add a straw boater and a pocket hanky, plumed just so .. and I am lost.

 

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