And, who are you wearing tonight?

I spent the better part of last Sunday afternoon on the Red Carpet, or rather, watching the celebrities walk the famed RC for the Academy Awards. It's always fun to see the glitterati arrive in all their haute couture splendor, the gowns of dreams, costing upwords of tens of thousands of dollars, millions in  jewelry (sometimes their own, but most often borrowed), all for one special night.

The press alsways asks the famous question, "Who are you wearing?" to which the actor or actress gives a shout-out to their designer, "Oh! Dior, of course!", "Well, I always wear Armani!" or "This is vintage Valentino!" Of course, no matter who you arrive with, you hope to go home with Oscar!

Anyway, I noticed one person in particular who seemed to be sporting an 18th Century do. None other than Eddie Redmayne, who played and sang the role of Marius in the current movie production of Les Miserables. Eddie's auburn locks are swept onto his temples, and amassed rather high above his forehead. It is the way he wore his hair for the movie, but it was rather interesting to see it paired with a contemporary tux.

This hair style is definitely a "look". And a look that has been done before. We often think the latest hair, make-up and clothing trends are always something new, but many harken back to another time. And, we generally think fashion is for girls, but here we are wrong.

In fact, we can than George Bryan "Beau" Brummel, (1788-1840) for bringing men into the fashion scene. An iconic figure, friend of the future King George IV, he established the dress for men that rejected the overly ornate in favor of the classic, understated, perfectly tailored suit. The look was based on darker tones, full length trousers rather than knee breeches, the beautiful linen shirt and perfectly knotted cravat.

Beau was known to take five hours to dress, and polished his boots with champagne! They always say women take years to dress. Now, I'm not so sure! Ha ha

In London, today, there stands a wonderful statue of Beau in the heart of the city's high fashion menswear area, Jermyn Street. All the best of the best clothing, accessories, walking sticks, leather goods, hats,smoking/pipe goods, ties and kerchiefs are there.

For all you guys who know good fashion, or hope to, take a stroll down Jermyn one day! You won't be disappointed.