M's 1992 Style Advice for Candidates

"If the mud-slinging on this campaign gets as heavy as the pundits predict, all the runners are going to need a few changes of clothes." 

"When he appears on TV, it's hard at first to know if you're watching Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas or just an average televangelist."  Blazer, shirt, jeans and tie from Hugo Boss, shoes by Edward Green.

"Bush needs to bring that preppy look up to 1992 with a softer, three button blazer and uncreased birds-eye gray trousers." Blazer, trousers, shirt and tie by Donna Karan, shoes by Edward Green.

"Quayle dresses like an old bureaucrat, and seems about as imaginative and lively." Jacket, trousers and shirt by Baracuta.

"Tsongas looks serious, acts serious, talks serious and patently yearns to be taken seriously, that's too serious." Suit, shirt and tie by Jhane Barnes.

"Jerry Brown needs to appear as a solid citizen, and there's nothing flaky about this vested, pin strip suit." Suit, shirt, tie and socks from Ralph Lauren.

"Bob Kerrey looks as bland and sounds as exciting as a local sportscaster in a small to medium market." Jacket and trousers from Krizia Uomo, shirt and tie from Tango by Max Raab.

"Wilder dresses sharp -- maybe a little too sharp for a Virginia gentleman." Jacket, trousers, shirt and tie by Nick Hilton

"If Duke wants more than the redneck vote, he's got to get street smart. And this outfit should suit him prefectly; he's used to wearing hoods." Denim jacket, hooded shirt and denim jeans from Mossimo.

"Franklin Roosevelt loved seersucker suits.  If it worked for FDR in '32, why not Mario Cuomo in '92?" Suit by Avery Lucas, shirt by Gieves & Hawkes, tie by Robert Talbott, shoes from Cole Haan.

By Robert Bryan with photographs by Greg Watermann

Max Raab Part II

Max in Rittenhouse Square AP Photo by Brad C. Bower

"...strength and stability. Everything I'm not."




I never heard of Max Raab until recently. He's a helluva story. If you're over 40, you've probably heard of; The Villager, J.G. Hook and Rooster Ties. Then there's the woman's shirt dress he created and the films he produced: Clockwork Orange, Walkabout and Lion's Love along with documentary films, STRUT! and Rittenhouse Square.

He loved sailing, drinking and playing the sax. He loved Rittenhouse Square. He made a pile of money. He lost a pile of money. Adored by friends and employees...Max Raab must have been a hoot.

"For me, success is getting acceptance of ideas I believe in."

In the late '40s, Raab sees college girls going crazy over Brooks Brothers button downs. Unhappily knocking out crap for his father's blouse company, Max creates a button down shirt for women. It takes off. He takes the same shirt and creates the shirt dress. It takes off.

"Waspy women love the classic suburban look, and Jewish women want to look like WASPs. I knew I had a winner."

In 1952, Raab opens his first shop in Elkins, PA. Five years later he starts The Villager. A preppy clothing manufacturer for women. Check out eBay for some timeless finds. His father thinks he's crazy and his wife leaves him. And that's too bad because Raab winds up with 140 franchised stores. The NY Times calls him, 'The Dean of the Prep Look.' He starts Rooster Tie in 1969. He marries his head designer at Villager. Things are humming along until 1970.

"I didn't anticipate the blue-jeaning of America."

Raab loses $2.5 mm before selling to the apparel company, Jonathan Logan. There's a sharp turn left to the west coast where Raab becomes a film producer. He'd had a bit of success in the early '60s when he secured the rights to John Barth's novel, End of the Road. The debut picture for Stacy Keach and James Earl Jones. He tries again with the rights to the novel, Clockwork Orange but strikes out with Hollywood until he convinces Stanley Kubrick to direct.

Raab thought there was little difference between producing a line of clothing and producing a film. He followed Clockwork with Nicolas Roeg's Walkabout. Nominated for a Golden Palm at Canne it was the film Raab was most proud of. Lion's Love by Agnes Varda and Hex starring Keith Carradine cap off Raab's feature films when he decides to return to apparel.

"I get much more recognition in the apparel industry."

Borrowing $100,000, Raab kicks off J.G. Hook in 1974. His timing is dead on as prep returns for a second act. Raab sticks to classic clothing that doesn't upstage the woman and describes the company logo as a 'hook' or anchor and claims the initials were random.

"My logo shows strength and stability. Everything I'm not."

In 1989, he creates Tango, a menswear company, but nine years later sells J.G. Hook and get's the producer bug again. This time with documentaries about his home town of Philadelphia. STRUT! is about Mummers and Rittenhouse Square is a 2005 doc about Raab's favorite park.

Raab died in February of 2008 at 81. I feel like I just missed him.

Max Raab Part I

Max Raab & Tango - Part I

The early '90s (when most of you were 10) were a bizarre time for ties. It reminded me of the '40s where ties were hand painted in some vulgar theme and worn 3 inches above the waistband. I figure those '40s designers - all from LA no doubt - came out of retirement in 1990 and took one last shit shot at cranking out some of the butt-ugliest ties in cravat history.

The ties dove tailed nicely with suiting from, Balzac, Verri Boutique, Armani (Le Collezione), Comme des Garcons and baggy polyester trousers from New York Uomo. Hugo Boss (not so well known for designing Third Reich uniforms) was all the rage and my assistant asked me why, at my age, I dressed like it was still 1985.

I thought myself vindicated when I saw these ads in the June 1991 issue of M Inc. Tango by Max Raab (more about Raab, Pasha of Prep, this week) spoke to a conservative style that mixed color of the '90s with cut and design more associated with the '80s and the early to mid '60s. It was a slap in the face to clothing names ending in a vowel. It was also the last shout of Ivy for almost 20 years.

But thanks to Max, I wasn't dead yet...

Max Raab Part II