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: Style Profiles
Comments on "Style Profile...Michael Arenella"
-
Anonymous said ... (6:21 PM) :
-
Anonymous said ... (6:42 PM) :
-
meva said ... (7:21 PM) :
-
Dare said ... (7:25 PM) :
-
Elle said ... (7:31 PM) :
-
Anonymous said ... (8:08 PM) :
-
Anonymous said ... (8:49 PM) :
-
Anonymous said ... (9:51 PM) :
-
A. E. Funk said ... (10:01 PM) :
-
Anonymous said ... (10:11 PM) :
-
Hayley said ... (11:11 PM) :
-
Anonymous said ... (12:34 AM) :
-
Anonymous said ... (12:49 AM) :
-
Anonymous said ... (1:07 AM) :
-
nLau said ... (1:16 AM) :
-
Anonymous said ... (1:44 AM) :
-
Unknown said ... (3:31 AM) :
-
Anonymous said ... (3:52 AM) :
-
edith said ... (8:09 AM) :
-
cat minoki said ... (8:15 AM) :
-
Anonymous said ... (8:16 AM) :
-
Anonymous said ... (8:26 AM) :
-
Anonymous said ... (9:52 AM) :
-
Anonymous said ... (11:06 AM) :
-
Anonymous said ... (12:04 PM) :
-
Anonymous said ... (12:19 PM) :
-
Miriam Parkman said ... (12:41 PM) :
-
Anonymous said ... (1:57 PM) :
-
Anonymous said ... (2:04 PM) :
-
Anonymous said ... (2:27 PM) :
-
Thomas said ... (2:58 PM) :
-
Will said ... (3:08 PM) :
-
Anonymous said ... (4:48 PM) :
-
Anonymous said ... (4:52 PM) :
-
Matt Fisher said ... (8:28 PM) :
-
rg. said ... (12:19 AM) :
-
Anonymous said ... (9:17 PM) :
-
Theo said ... (12:33 AM) :
-
Anonymous said ... (3:58 PM) :
-
Jacqueline Cantwell said ... (5:18 PM) :
-
Violet Harrington Pickles said ... (1:17 PM) :
post a commentUmm, is he married? This interview makes him sound like my dream man.
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
He's livin' in the past, man.
(Which these days, is a very good idea.)
He seems like a man of modest means. A true inspiration to broke kids like me who want to be fashionable on a budget.
I love that one of his style icons is Cary Grant. Instant cool in my book!
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!!!
Excellent! It is good to see a many with a great eye for style!
You are an inspiration.
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.
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.
Exactly what I was thinking--dreamy!!
Ohhh... Back off other anonymous ladies, I've got dibs on this one.
What a beautiful man with beautiful style.
Badass panache. That is all.
ohhh i like him
Old school sophistication, with plenty of colour. Very cool. :)
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...
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?
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!
I love this sort of interviews...more! more!
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!
He´s great!
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.
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.
Makes the world a kinder and gentler place. Does he have CD's? Couldn't find reference to any on his site.
It may be shtick, but it seems to come from his heart. And, he does it well. So, you go, Michael. Good on ya!
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.
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
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!
Awesome.This is true aunthenticity.
Forgot to say - Love the Shoes!!
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!
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.
Fantastic. A man after my own heart.
And I love the fact that he referenced Apparel Arts.
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!
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?
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.
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!
Gorgeous! He'd be an interesting candidate to undergo a past-life regression, no?
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!!!"
"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.
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.
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.