Cheerio chappies,

There is a stereotype of the English gentleman as one who is possessed of an effortless elegance and style, but we all know that stereotypes are often proven wrong. Witness the ungirdled proof:

Our ordinarily dapper dandy Hugh Grant may have intended to look devil-may-care. Sadly for him he hit the target somewhere around dumpy. This is a visual reminder of why we wear a cummerbund with a tuxedo. Our Mr. Grant would have benefited greatly from a belly concealing swath of black, if not a complete ab workout. As for Miss Barrymore, not even a fabulous haute couture gown from the collection of our dear Monsieur Galliano (long live the King) could help her sagging bosom. There's room for her to tuck her evening bag into the front of that dress with her deflated dirty pillows. And darling, get your foot off the hem, you look like white trash at her first prom...well they both do. Mr. Grant's pants are far too long. What is that a quadruple break? These look more like baggy sweat pants than formal trousers. A gentleman's trouser should hang in a smooth straight line with only a slight break thusly:

Although these cavalry twill pants by Brook's Brothers are not evening-wear they are shown in the proper length for a man's trouser.

Let's contrast Dumpy and Frumpy with a dashing Dr. McDreamy:

Dear Mr. Dempsey is not even wearing a tuxedo but looks far more elegant in a perfectly fitting jacket, French cuffs extending below the jacket sleeve, an elegant sliver of a pocket square peeping from his breast pocket and of course that shayne punim which doesn't hurt his overall look...

Keeping you formally fashion forward,

LP