The Cooper Union

Gary Cooper, photographed by Cecil Beaton, Hollywood, 1931


Gary, Malibu, 1937


Rocky Cooper, Los Angeles, 1933


Gary, Los Angeles, 1940


Rocky & Gary, Southampton, NY, 1934


Gary, Van Nuys, 1933


Gary, Santa Barbara, 1937


Rocky, Colorado Springs, 1942


Gary, Colorado Springs, 1942


Rocky & Gary, Van Nuys, 1934


Gary photographed by Robert Capa, Sun Valley, 1942


Robert Capa, Sun Valley 1942


Ingrid Bergman, Gary & Clark Gable, 1940


Gary, on set, year unknown


Gary & Ernest Hemingway, Sun Valley, 1942

Rocky & Gary, Beverly Hills, 1959


David Douglas Duncan photograph of Pablo & Jacqueline Picasso, Gary & Maria Cooper, Cannes, 1956


Gary, Athens, 1956


Rocky & one of many championship Sealyham Terriers bred by the Coopers.

I first saw proofs of 'Enduring Style' last Febuary during a visit to the publisher. The small B&W images didn't look like much -- until you got close. Close enough to see an intimacy family snaps share. Imperfect exposure. Worn edges. Tape residue. The simplicity of a pose for a spouse or a friend. A happy terrier chases a ball with the shadow of Gary Cooper in the corner. If you love to look at pictures...I mean really look at pictures -- for the stories in the details --you will love looking at this book.

Enduring Style is a return of G. Bruce Boyer during a time when 20 somethings are hoisted sockless up fashion media's flagpole. Finally... there's something to salute. The book is slip cased, monograph-ed and written by three experts. Ralph Lauren contributes the introduction and sums up with a feeling about 'Coop' that proves even Mr Lauren can't always get what he wants.

Maria Cooper Janis, Gary & Rocky's daughter, writes of the charmed, but in no way entitled life of America's premiere movie star who told her, "There ain't never a horse that couldn't be rode, there ain't never a rider that couldn't be throwed." Rather than 'celebrity' and 'star', her description of her father is 'average,' 'good mannered' with 'natural elegance.'

What the photo's leave out, G. Bruce Boyer fills in. The history, the career, the marriage. Like Cooper, Bruce keeps it simple with an eye for detail. Cooper's tailors, shoemakers, colors and jeans. Boyer underlines the contrast between Cooper's celebrity and, 'your average Joe' from Montana.

No doubt Cooper took great care in his appearance and had a passion for the cloth. A vanity that must come with the occupation. But his understanding of what he was doing is breathtaking. Even if he stayed a cowboy extra, his presence in a photograph would tell anyone a hundred years later that this man had something.

The lesson? Style is everywhere, but your inner compass must be followed. Stay true to yourself and with time as your judge, like Gary Cooper, your tie will never be too short, your trouser break never too long and your shoes will never have too many buckles. Simplicity was Cooper's mantra. In the roles he selected and in the way he lived his life. He wasn't a god. He just looked and lived like one.

Enduring Style is available for pre order on Amazon here. Limited advance copies are also available tonight at a book signing. Join G. Bruce Boyer and Maria Cooper Janis at Leffot, 10 Christopher Street, at 6:30 PM.

Coop's Closet - 1950

(Photos by Karl Bissinger - Click on image to enlarge)

Excerpts from Flair Magazine, July, 1950

"In the minute dressing room of his own town house in Brentwood outside Hollywood, Gary Cooper's wardrobe presents something of the impression of its owner.

"...some star chambers hold as many as two hundred suits, but not so Cooper's. There are some twenty five outfits in his closet, where often-used , friendly jeans jostle the casually draped double-breasted suits that Eddie Schmidt of Los Angeles cuts for him."

"By preference Gary Cooper wears one of his assortment of loose fitting, simple sport coats with gray flannel trousers, a plain white silk shirt ordered from Jerry Rothchild and Co., and moccasin-type shoes specially designed for him by Farkas and Kovacs."

"He favors silk striped ties, many of which are chosen by his wife. He reorders, whenever he needs something new (which is not often), sportswear from Kerr's, shoes from Peal of London, generalities from Brooks Bros. and F.R. Tripler."

"During the summer, Montana-born Gary Cooper of Hollywood migrates to the great beaches and attractive estates of Southampton on Long Island. (After all, Mrs. Cooper is a New Yorker.) Here he is a familiar figure--tall, lanky, hesitant and consistently disarming -- in Bermuda shorts, on his way to the tennis courts or in brightly colored cotton slacks at the Beach Club."

Gary Cooper As Gary Cooper

Cover photo by Bert Stern

Excerpts from, 'The American Hero Grows Older' by Thomas B Morgan, Esquire, May 1961.

"Seemingly ageless, Cooper has continued through the postwar boom that started in '29... Television may close movie theatres. Disc jockeys and crooners may replace Hollywood stars as teen-age heroes. Private eyes may vie with cowboys for popular attention. Yet Cooper persists."

""I feel real good," Cooper said. "Keep my weight to 190 by backing away from the groceries every now and then.""

"He had the laconic air of a man who never stands when he can sit and never sits when he can get flat. "Here I am, all the time talking about how hard actors work," he said, "and here you find me lying on my ass.""

""They may call that stuff on TV Westerns," he said, "but they're really Easterns. They're gangster stories with big hats and they're all crap. And the hats they wear! There's only one real cowboy hat and it's not the one those kids wear on television.""

"He went to the room in which he had left his city clothes, peeled to the waist and washed off his make-up. He wore a St. Christopher's medal on a chain around his neck. (He had converted to Catholicism in 1959.) ...he dressed himself in alligator shoes, grey flannel trousers, blue shirt, dark tie, yellow sweater, tweed sports coat with sky-blue hanky flaring from the chest pocket, and a Tyrolean hat."

""Every Fall, I meet Hemingway out in Sun Valley. We both have places there. Well, Papa and I go hunting. You know, it does you good to get out and get your butt wet every once in a while.""

"The face was seamed and worn in the Western way, but it wasn't stern the way some Western faces are. The sophisticated, sunny life of southern California was there, rather than the country life up where the winters last so long. "

"...a young man with two comrades looked up, recognized Cooper, and said nastily, "Look chaps, a movie star!" Cooper had already gone a step beyond the table. He stopped, turned, and towered over the three young men. A muscle twitched in his jaw and his lips became a hard, thin line.

And with a voice as gentle as ever, the voice that sounded almost like a caress, but drawling a very little more than usual, so that there was almost a space between each word, he issued his orders to the trio: "Stand up when you say that!" he said.

For a moment, the young men were motionless. Then one smiled -- faintly. Gary Cooper turned away, walking out of the restaurant to the Duke of Gloucester's Rolls-Royce, at fifty nine going on sixty, still playing Gary Cooper."

"He was the best looking son of a bitch who ever lived..."

I hope Bill Blass was smiling when he said that about Gary Cooper. Fast forward to 4:38 and see a patient Cooper in the wings as Billy Wilder (looking very Peter Lorre) is interviewed by the ugliest coat in all of France. Don't miss Cooper's "Bang" at the end.

Veterans Day

Ft Sherman, Panama 1977 (Photo by PFC Tinseth)

Camouflage In Canada

Misspelled but treasured


L to R: Lance Cpl Lodge, Sp4 Tinseth (Woodland Pattern), Major Campbell

Canadian Jump Smock

British Para Smock

Night Jump

It was a beautiful evening view of Edmonton from the open doorway of a C 130. And night did not last long. As a visiting American, I was given the honor of going first and standing in the door. I stared open mouthed at Edmonton's bright white lights while red and yellow streaks cut low lines in the dawn sky. The sun was coming up at 3AM. Days were long and nights were short.

Wings were awarded later that afternoon on Buxton Drop Zone followed by a celebration known as a 'Prop Blast.' Everyone remained in uniform. The US camouflage pattern then was called Woodland. It anticipated action in Western Europe and WWW III against the Warsaw Pact. It was also dark and dull. The Canadian Jump Smock was almost bright in comaprison. A wonderfully made jacket with gravitas and substance compared to flimsy US stop-rip cotton.

Neither held a candle to the British Para Smock of L/Cpl Lodge of the 22nd SAS. It combined '70s Rhodesia, '50s Malaysia and a smattering of contemporary Italian Para all in one pattern. I understand a US Army T.M. of world camouflage patterns is the new 'Take Ivy' among NYC designers. Who knows? Maybe Tommy Hilfiger will finally disappear.

C Rations & Latrines

No chunky - only smooth

C ration peanut butter was a smooth and flavorful spread that was often used in spoofing new soldiers. We called them Cherry's in the Airborne. SOP was a Cherry would be assigned to clean latrine toilets. Once finished, his attention would be diverted while a small amount of peanut butter would be placed surreptitiously on the bottom of one of his toilets. The tiny 'British Tan' pile would contrast nicely against the stark white porcelain.

At inspection, the young Cherry stood proudly by his row. An inspector would walk past upon review, stop at a toilet, point to it and ask the Cherry, "What in the hell is that?" The Cherry would come over and seeing the pile shake his head in disbelief. "I don't know, sergeant?"

The sergeant would peer down into the toilet, "It looks like shit." Reaching in, he'd take the peanut butter between thumb and middle finger and bring it to his nose, "It smells like shit." A startled Cherry would stare in horror as the sergeant would insert the peanut butter in his mouth and in lip smacking insouciance proclaim, "It tastes like shit." A shame Tommy Hilfiger missed out on all this.

Vietnam In HD - From The Ground Up

'Vietnam in HD' hinges on film footage of the Vietnam War transferred to High Definition. The opening uses cuts, many less than a second, to propel images at the viewer like an M60. Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump. I had to freeze frame the image of a red headed and freckled young soldier to see he no longer had a face. I'm not sure why. I guess it sums up my take on this History Channel documentary. Beyond the surface lies something more.

Growing up on army posts, the images I saw 43 years ago on the CBS Evening News were of my neighbors, friend's fathers and my father. Consequently, my expectations may be different than yours. Beneath the sheen of high def footage, cheesy sound effects and Ed Burns speaking for Joe Galloway, there are, most importantly to me, the images of a war I grew up with and have never understood.

Back then, news footage of infantrymen slogging through the red clay and rice paddies were topped off with the nightly death count. Behind Walter Cronkite, flags from the US, South Vietnam and North Vietnam represented the numbers of KIA, WIA and MIA. Numbers were high in the KIA column next to North Vietnam's flag. Everyone knew we were winning. Except North Vietnam.

Vietnam in HD delivers powerful battlefield images tenfold. Interviews with veterans are insightful and honest. It is, as Arthur Wiknik pointed out in yesterday's interview, "...about my generation of warriors. We're finally being recognized in a way that's different. It's our voices. Our feelings. Our emotions. That's what I really like about it."

Narration is shakily delivered by a brittle voiced, Michael C. Hall. Footage does not necessarily fit the battle, sound effects over silent 8mm feels contrived and 'famed' actors speak for the actual participants resulting in a clunky transition between soldier and actor. This annoying device jerked me out of the story more than once and seems unneeded.

Still, I watched the two hour screener twice in one night. It pulls you in with powerful images and despite the short comings, it delivers a story not many Americans know or ever wanted to know. If viewers are lured into watching because of the 'Golden Globe' winning narrator or 'famed' actors, then I'm all for it. The stories and the people of this war are too important.

Vietnam In HD premieres tonight at 9PM and runs through Thursday night on the History Channel.

Vietnam In HD: Interview with Arthur Wiknik

Arthur Wiknik, Jr. Da Nang - February 1970

The History Channel airs "Vietnam In HD" this week on the 8th, 9th and 10th at 9PM. Last week I interviewed one of the thirteen voices of the documentary, Arthur Wiknik. Art also wrote 'Nam Sense' a memoir of his experience as a Shake & Bake squad leader in the 101st Airborne Division as well as a veteran of Hamburger Hill.

Question I understand you were in the 101st.

Answer Yes, the 101st Airborne Division.

Q Where were you located?

A We were in I Corps which is the northern part of Vietnam.

Q The documentary footage is haunting. It really takes you back to that time.

A Yes it does. I was amazed at what they were able to find.

Q How did the producers find you, Art?

A Well, I believe they were looking for Hamburger Hill veterans and if you do a Google search for HH veterans it shows up. Part of that is because I wrote a book about my experience called Nam Sense.

Q When was your book published?

A It was published in 2005. It was a small run. A couple thousand. It came out in paperback shortly after that and sold out. It's in its third printing now. (book here)

Q Is the book available on Amazon?

A Yeah, and I have a web site as well. NamSense.com. (web site here)

Q Were you drafted or did you enlist?

A (Laughing) I did not enlist. I didn't want any part of the army. I was drafted. I graduated high school and took a year of automotive training. I was one of those guys who didn't like school and so I thought I'd take my chances with the draft. That was not a very smart move and I was drafted shortly after that.

Q What year were you drafted?

A 1968.

Q And were you an 11 Bravo? (Designation for infantryman)

A 11 Bravo. That's right.

Q Was jump school voluntary?

A It was voluntary and I did not go to jump school.

Q But you were in the 101st?

A Well, what happened to me -- You got a lotta tape there?

Q Yeah, yeah.

A When I went in, I always liked to crack jokes and make people laugh and that's followed me all my life. When you first go in the army you fill out something called the "Dream Sheet." I don't know the formal term but that's what we called it. You put down what kind of skills you have in case there's something the military can use.

I put down chaplain's assistant and the interviewer asked me if I had any seminary training and I said no...and he asked if I was going to take any seminary training after the army and I said no...and he said, "Well you can't be a chaplain's assistant. What else you got here?" I said, "pastry chef." He asks the same questions. "You have any culinary training?" I said no...and then right away I can tell he knows where this is going.

Q Right.

A So, he asks if I'm gonna take any culinary training when I get out and I said no...And he said, Well, you know what? You're going in the infantry. And that's how I got in. As a two year draftee, I was going in the infantry anyhow. I took basic at Ft Dix and infantry at Ft Polk. While I was at Ft Polk, they noticed...Well, I'm a very vocal guy and kind of a ham sometimes plus I had that one extra year of schooling and a lot of people didn't have that. So, they thought I'd make a great squad leader and they asked me if I wanted to go to Non Commissioned Officer Candidate School. I told them no because I don't want to be here...

They said I could stay in the states another six months and I said okay I'll do it (NCO Candidate School was six months long at Ft Benning). I'm thinking the war will be over by then. Maybe troop strength will be less. The war hadn't even peaked yet. I pretty much sealed my fate because that's where I was going to end up anyhow. So when I got to Vietnam and got off the plane...I don't know if you've heard of Shake & Bakes?

Q Oh, yeah ( NCOs who graduated from six month school but who lacked experience).

A I was a Shake & Bake. When I got there, we were moved over to the side and they said all you NCOs, these are the different units that need squad leaders. One of the people there said, "Sgt Wiknik, you're going in the 101st Airborne" and that's how I ended up in the airborne. I was just randomly picked.

Q I didn't know they had legs in airborne units back then.

A (laughing) At that time, there weren't a lot of guys who went to airborne training. A lot of us were legs. I'm glad you said that. Most people don't know what a leg is. If you say someone is a leg in an airborne unit they're not going to know what you're talking about. (disparaging army slang for a soldier, usually infantry, who are not airborne qualified).

Q Did they extend your time at all for being a Shake & Bake?

A No, I actually didn't even finish two years. I did like 22 months. By the time I did all my training and finished my tour I only had a couple months left and that wasn't enough time to assign me to a unit stateside.

What they did, just before I came home, they promoted me to E-6 (staff sergeant). I'm thinking, why would they do this to me 'cause I was always in trouble over there...with my superiors...I had a little problem with keeping my mouth shut. I never got busted but uh, I was in trouble quite a bit.

A few years ago I got an email from my old captain and I asked him why he would ever promote me...He said 'cause we wanted you to stay in. I said, me? (laughing) After all the havoc I gave the lieutenants. He said, "Yeah, most of the time you were right." I'm thinking, great, great, now you tell me."

Q So you got out as a staff sergeant?

A Yes.

Q Understanding you were a reluctant draftee -- is there anything about the army you miss?

A That I miss?

Q Yeah.

A Uh, I'd have to say no. (Laughing) I absolutely hated it. When I think back though -- Now that I'm older and can reflect back on my life.... it's probably one of the better things that happened to me as a young man. It put some regimen in my life. It taught me team work. It also taught me how to act on my own. Be quick on my feet. So, it did a lot for me. It was really a great experience but when you're going through it at the time -- Especially war time -- It's not very pleasant.

Q Have you see the documentary yet?

A I saw a rough cut of my episode.

Q What did you think of it?

A It was a rough cut so some of the footage was a little blurry. There were a couple small errors with dates and things like that but this is all minor stuff. Honestly, I love it. Not because it's me but because it's about us. It's about my generation of warriors. We're finally being recognized in a way that's different. It's our voices. Our feelings. Our emotions. That's what I really like about it.

Q What did you do when you got home from Vietnam?

A Well, one of the things I wanted to do was talk about the war but no one was interested. It was an unpopular war and, unfortunately, people took a lot of it out on us instead of going after the government. I had so much to tell. I wanted people to know what it was like. And I did nothing I was ashamed of. I served honorably and didn't bring any shame to my unit or my family but nobody wanted to hear it.

Q Didn't that change in the '80s?

A What had happened to me was, I kept telling people my stories and eventually some people thought the stories were funny or interesting. Before I knew it, people were asking me questions and that's when I knew I was going to write my book. Because now there was genuine interest. At least among my friends. As time went by...especially after the first Gulf War or, going into the first Gulf War, I think the American people realized they had made a mistake in the treatment of Vietnam veterans.

Q Do you see any similarities between Vietnam and our inability to win the hearts and minds with today's mission in Afghanistan?

A At my level, a squad leader in the infantry, we had very little contact with villagers or civilians. We were mostly in the jungle so our knowledge of what was going on with trying to win the hearts and minds, we had very little knowledge of that. I think that when people think of a similarity it's because Afghanistan is dragging on.

The other thing too -- I've already done my war. I have a deep admiration for the men and women today. They're doing something I would never have done and that's volunteer. I don't follow those wars as much as I did my war. I don't know why I don't. I just don't.

Q My father, for a very long time, could be cold in his combat recollections of Vietnam. He's 75 now and I've seen that change in just the last five years. He's not doing well, at all, with his memories of the war.

A When you see my episode (excerpt from Wiknik's episode) you'll see I've become quite emotional. Three or four years ago that never happened to me. As you get older you reflect more. I always think what my parents went through but I think even more about the parents of the kids who never came home. They're still living with that loss. All this stuff starts to affect me and I become very emotional when I start to think about it.

One other thing that people don't think about -- When you're in a war zone it's all about survival. You gotta help your buddies, when and if you can, but most people want to keep themselves alive and if it's somebody next to you who gets killed or wounded, you just go, "Whew, glad that wasn't me."

You try not to show any emotion and lock all that inside you. Then, it's such a relief to get out of there, you just want to put it all in the back of your mind and never think of it again. But, as you get older, those thoughts are coming out and you start to reflect on all this and you realize, "My God, we never had a wake, never a funeral. When someone dies stateside you have a way to say goodbye. Over there... you didn't say goodbye to anybody.

Vietnam In HD reviewed tomorrow.

Jean Shepherd's Spitfire

Nobody can sell like the British. Nooobody. Whether it's a national airline or breath mints, you know they're gonna have a coat of arms. Something with a lion, a stag, some flag stuff and Latin. "Everything for Nothing - Nothing for Everything" is the motto I've selected for The Trad's coat of arms. I'd appreciate it if someone would put that in Latin for me.

Jean Shepherd did the voice over in this Triumph Spitfire commercial back in the early '70s. Shepherd, known mostly for A Christmas Story, was a writer who figured large in my world through fiction in Playboy and a column in Car & Driver. There was really nothing else I needed to read (except Penthouse).

Shortly after the commercial aired, Shepherd was on the Tonight Show and Johnny Carson asked him about the commercial. Shepherd tells a story of how even he was so impressed by this commercial that he bought a Spitfire. Minutes after driving off the car lot, Shepherd hits a LA highway and is happily cruising along until the car bonnet flys off.

I came very close to purchasing a white Spitfire because of Mr Shepherd. I also didn't buy a Spitfire because of Mr Shepherd. "Everything for Nothing - Nothing for Everything"

Dead or Alive: 25 Best Dressed (Full Article)

Esquire Gentlemen S/S 1993, Woody Hochswender - Editor











(click on image to enlarge)

Brownie Points

My first brown suit sighting was in 1990. In that sea of navy and gray that was the underwriting room at Lloyd's of London, it looked refreshing and anachronistic all at the same time. Like a first meeting with someone who is intrusive and aloof. It's jarring. The suit was double breasted, chalk stripe with side vents. Suede shoes, a cornflower blue shirt, and a green print Hermes tie completed the look. So did the testicles this guy was swinging. He was standing on the City's sartorial cliff edge and he knew it.

Afterwards, I looked on and off for a brown suit of my own but, unless you had custom tailor money, they were impossible to find. In 1992, I had a new client who wore a brown chalk stripe, double breasted suit with side vents. I know it was custom. I'm guessing it was Pucci of Chicago. The chalk stripes were too wide and gangsterish. His shoes were alligator horsebit Gucci with the green and red webbing. The shirt collars were long and pink and the tie was Countess Maria.



Furnishings, I prefer the term over accessories, are key to doing brown in town. Shoes can be suede or a brown brogue or wingtip. Blue, pink, ecru or even pale yellow shirting is richer than the stark contrast of white. I saw a blue, brown and pink rep tie that knocked a brown suit outta the park. In a good way. Keep the branded-Tom Ford- Gucci-whatever to a minimum. You're gonna get enough attention as it is.



The client ate at an upscale Loop restaurant every day of the week. At our first lunch, he was seated at his regular table and served the largest glass of iced tea I have ever seen. He leaned toward me, "You gotta start with the lobster bisque." and returned to sucking through his straw. "Is it good?" I asked. He broke away from the straw shaking his head wildly and in a swallowing- guttural growl said, "Everything here is good!"

Brown has made a comeback. If the Wall Street Journal is onto it, then brown may well have come and gone. But like a Rolex Sub or Ray Ban Aviators, that's no excuse to avoid a classic. The fad will move on and years from now you'll have something of enduring value. As long as you stay away from carbs. Alan Flusser recommends it for the sandy haired, blond or red head. My brownie is a alternating double and single track stripe. I'd avoid solid brown if I were you. If brown ever made anyone look like shit it was Ronald Regan. Tan with jet black Jerry Lewis hair -- he lost the contrast. He should'a gone gray...and stayed in California.


Brown has to be rich. Something like a 70% Valrhona would work. Pleated trousers are not only allowed but I think required. This isn't so much Trad as it's Apparel Arts circa 1936. Today's narrow lapels and tightly buttoned jackets are too hard and forced for brown. Look for pleats, wide lapels, deep rises and comfort. Red braces with tan fuzzy bears let everyone know just how relaxed you are.

And this isn't a suit for a sales call. I've said it before, you don't want a prospect to remember you by what you wore in a meeting. This is what to wear when you're the prospect. I moved on to another agency and heard that the client had sold his business. I ran into him years later at R.L. He bought me a drink and I asked him how it felt to make all that money. He looked at me and smiled, "It's like watching some stranger take what you love and screw it up the ass." I shook my head, looked down at his alligator Guccis and smiled.

A Brownie Recipe

Are we conditioned to wear what we see? Browns and greens come out in Fall but I can't help but think there's something bigger going on. Like a subliminal ad with sex hidden in the ice cubes of a glass of Scotch. My world changes but it's not just the weather and another layer. The inspiration is in a wall. Or a tree line by a river. I'm drawn to them. I reflect them. But I don't know why.

I guess I don't need to.