All that's missing is the cocktail shaker
From high-end labels to maverick loungewear designers, the current state of men's fashion makes one thing clear: nostalgia rules. And so it does at Frank Stella Clothiers, one of the rare men's boutiques to open here this season amid a flurry of stores for women.
Nostalgia doesn't just rule at Frank Stella, it saunters. It also rocks, and even gets in a busy day at the office. The first Frank Stella store to open outside of Manhattan infuses pop sensibility with upper-crust luster, making it the kind of spot Stanley Donen and Wes Anderson might use as a set if they collaborate on a period film.
The store's weathered ceiling beams and floors ensure the elegance is without airs. Plush leather chairs, vintage posters, and antique mirrors, tables, and dressing room doors are arranged with a gallery curator's attention to detail.
The aesthetic is in harmony with contemporary menswear. After all, refined is the new grunge. Bowling-alley foppery and yacht club-slickness influence urban street wear almost as much as skateboarding and hip-hop. And the extent to which the wardrobe of patrician elders has been appropriated for hipsters and executives alike is evident in the store's suits. In addition to conservative Jack Victor ($695-$795) ensembles and sport coats ($495), some of which can be dressed down, the racks are lined with Haspel suits ($200-$295), the American label that makes slim-fitting linen, poplin, and the perennial seersucker.
"Older guys fall in love with this stuff they were wearing since they were kids," manager Doug Clark said of the seersuckers. "And when younger guys need summer suits that aren't too hot, they buy these. It's a cycle." Also cyclical are disco flashiness, psychedelic iridescence, and art deco, each of which is suggested in the ties privately labeled for the store.
Even the less classic labels have a ring of tradition in their fine tailoring and exquisite fabrics. Inner cuff linings are stitched into Robert Graham's cotton blazers ($358). His much sought after sand-washed shirts ($148-$178) are influenced as much by polite Savile Row as by the Swinging Sixties.
Nat Nast's pure silk shirts ($120-$165) evoke bowling leagues and summer cruises with affection, not irony. British designer Ted Baker's dress shirts ($125) have widespread, double fused collars, and his shirts of elaborate paisley patterns ($165) smack of cocktails at twilight on the Gulf of Thailand. Save Khaki jeans and knitted shirts are a triumph in softened cotton. With such a well-edited collection, Clark and the other salespeople guide you directly to your proper size. A tailor is on premise for necessary alterations.
Still, for all the welcoming air, one mystery lingers: Does Frank Stella, the celebrated artist (who, by the way, hails from Malden), figure into the picture? He doesn't, Clark explains. The name comes from the couple who founded the company in Manhattan 27 years ago. They sold the business 10 years ago, but clearly they set a precedent for selecting menswear that wears well.
Frank Stella Clothiers, 220 Clarendon St., 617-267-7505
