What gives you "SWAGGER"?

[flat-top]

I was having a conversation with my friend the other day after he bought an amazing vintage style jacket. He said when he tried it on at home, he felt cool; like the person he wants to be. A new found confidence.
What vintage look or style gives you swagger?

 

[Sefton]

Early 60's continental cut suits. Three button jacket and slim cut trousers make me feel just like Derek Flint. Or add a stingy brim and a pair of cheaters and it's Lee Marvin.

 

[dhermann1]

Tilt

When I know that my hat has a real Spencer Tracy tilt to it, then I feel like I can lick the world.

 

[thunderw21]

Anything that makes the ladies stop and gaze longingly, preferably a DB suit or a 3-piece, or both, with a nicely tilted fedora.

 

[flat-top]

My new favorite style is a vintage (or repro) snug fitting double V sweatshirt, baggy work pants or denim, and a pair of vintage (or repro) sport shoes. I used to always dress flamboyantly, but not so much anymore.
When dressed in wild Rockabilly threads, *I* know I look cool, but I also know that most folks don't get it, so that unabashed confidence level isn't there. When I'm dressed casually as described above, I look tough, and not odd at all since most don't look beyond the fact that I'm just wearing a sweatshirt.
*I* know that it's something cooler...they just need to look closer.

 

[freebird]

don't know why, but my handlebar moustache and a nice fedora usually does it for me.

 

[DerMann]

Top hat, white tie, and tails.

If white tie isn't called for, simply walking with an umbrella increases panache and swagger exponentially (while wearing sportcoat and fedora, none of this hyper-casual shenanigans).

 

[funneman]

What gives me a "SWAGGER"?

A nice compliment from a pretty lady!

A drop-dead gorgeous woman told me the other day
I looked "elegant" in my DB blazer with silk pocket square.

I had a SWAGGER the rest of the day.

 

[KeyGrip]

Toothpick + Wayfarers + Fedora.

 

[Bourbon Guy]

Swaggger always comes from the inside, out. If your clothes do it for you, it's only because they help you release the personality and presence you already have. It's not the clothes or the hat or whatever. It's you. Once you know that, and own it, and believe it, nothing else matters. Most folks never get it.

 

[anon`]

Swaggger always comes from the inside, out. If your clothes do it for you, it's only because they help you release the personality and presence you already have. It's not the clothes or the hat or whatever. It's you. Once you know that, and own it, and believe it, nothing else matters. Most folks never get it.

This is true, but I've found that a good suit from the '40s and a lid to match sure doesn't hurt to bring it out!

 

[Dr Doran]

Bamboo walking-stick.

I'm serious. I bought one on my last trip to Portland, Oregon. It cost all of 12 bucks or so.

I walked to an English friend's house in Berkeley with that cane a-swinging (OK, I also had on a 40s tie, a striped suit, oxblood-and-black saddle shoes, and a cognac Borsalino) and it just made me feel like singing.

She said, "when I got back from vacation at home (England) last week and got to America I was just so sad about the lack of elegance here, and, you know, this is not the REASON I like hanging out with you, but it is certainly one of the side benefits to hanging out with you -- I can walk down the street with you and feel elegant."

We went to an expensive bar and had fennel Martinis and Aviations.

(She's a lesbian, so my wife cannot possibly get jealous.)

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Cruciate ligament damage.

bk

 

[cookie]

We went to an expensive bar and had fennel Martinis and Aviations.(She's a lesbian, so my wife cannot possibly get jealous.)

One of the best lines this year...fennel Martinis and Aviations...qu'est-que c'est? Does this raise or lower the jealousy factor?

Cruciate ligament damage.bk

You have been watching too much Rugby League on your trips Down Under...

 

[Lefty]

My wife.
I know that I'm the lucky one.

 

[brylcreem boy]

Walking tall sporting my properly tilted new Borsalino Straw Fedora and I must say the pencil moustache I am cultivating and trying out. I thought I would get alot of ribbing with the moustache but actually getting a few compliments

 

[Fletch]

Cruciate ligament damage.

It says SWAGGER, not STAGGER!

For me it's the 30s look. Vest, barred collar and a bloused tie. Hands in the pockets and coattails tucked behind. High broad pants and snappy spectators. Pearl grey lid tilted over my right ear. There's a bounce in my step as I saunter Main Street past the Nashes and Terraplanes and countless Fords, looking in curved windows of black-glass storefronts, hoping to stumble unawares into Jean Arthur, her arms full of parcels tied with string, as Associated Transcription foxtrot music plays.

 

[flat-top]

Something else that always gives me the right attitude is playing certain music when I'm getting dressed to go out. Be it Social Distortion or Frank Sinatra, Dropkick Murphys or Wynonie Harris, the right tunes will set the tone and help put the whole thing together.

 

[Pyroxene]

Music really helps. Frank, Tony, Billie, Nina or Ella. I listen few different Pandora stations when getting dressed in the morning or preparing for the next day.

Something else that always gives me the right attitude is playing certain music when I'm getting dressed to go out.... the right tunes will set the tone and help put the whole thing together.

 

[Dr Doran]

For me it's the 30s look. Vest, barred collar and a bloused tie. Hands in the pockets and coattails tucked behind. High broad pants and snappy spectators. Pearl grey lid tilted over my right ear. There's a bounce in my step as I saunter Main Street past the Nashes and Terraplanes and countless Fords, looking in curved windows of black-glass storefronts, hoping to stumble unawares into Jean Arthur, her arms full of parcels tied with string, as Associated Transcription foxtrot music plays.

That is so nicely written it's giving ME swagger, even though I am exhausted and wearing only a pair of jeans.