CARY GRANT: A Celebration of Style
by Richard Torregrossa
Published by Bullfinch
Click on book
cover to order
at Amazon.com
Reviewed by Patty Inglish, M.S.
CARY GRANT: A Celebration of Style is an attractive book with an
engaging photo of Cary Grant on its dust jacket. An importantbiography
of personal style, it is also a visual pleasure in its photo accounts
tracing the creation of Cary Grant's classic image.
In his foreword, Giorgio Armani calls Grant an elegant role model, even in his comedy performances. I believe this and am intrigued by this in-depth examination of Grant's life by the author.
I had seen these photographs and was interested by interviews with
fashion designers, actors and others who knew and admired Grant.
His mother had been meticulous about his clothing, even when the family could not afford it. After she entered a sanitarium, he was raised by various relatives, but joined the Boy Scouts and learned to feel honor for his uniform.
During World War II, he worked at the Southampton docks as a messenger and also distributed life preservers to the soldiers there, accepting only military buttons and braids, instead of cash tips. He attached high significance to uniforms and continued to do so with various clothing he adopted for his own style. Grant never lost this habit, either onstage or off, and because of it, he is one of the most emulated personalities of the 20th centuy.
This book reveals some of Grant's secrets of creating style--still applicable today. One is to have integrity and not compromise your values or settle for something inappropriate. Grant sought out sophisticated role models he could respect and made use of their best style qualities (e.g., Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.). Another secret revealed by clothier Stephen Lachter was simplicity.
I thoroughly enjoyed this account of a teenaged acrobat who became a style icon, and I was stimulated by the celebration of life that Cary Grant seemed to display daily. I would like to see additional color photos added and am anxious to view Grant's films again in order to notice the elements of his style.
Armchair Interviews: Recommended to anyone interested in entertainment, and especially to young singers and actors searching for their own style.