During these unprecedented times we are very pleased to inform you that we were recently given the privilege of interviewing one of Hollywood’s most stylish men. Allow us to introduce you to Paul Feig, well known for his box office hits such as A Simple Favor, Ghostbusters: Answer the Call, and Bridesmaids. Feig is a gifted actor, writer, director and producer whose style is much more old Hollywood than any leading man often seen on today’s red carpet. Regularly dressed in bespoke English suits and shoes, Feig’s style is both sensible and entirely exciting.
We don’t know a man who wouldn’t benefit from Feig’s tasteful philosophy and his quintessentially brilliant humor. Read on to learn how Feig developed his one of a kind wardrobe, love of watches and his exciting new Gin.
Is there a certain place or moment that you trace the start of your sartorial journey to?
“It was a combo of things. When I was a kid, I was an only child and close with my mom. And so we used to watch old movies from the 1930s and 40s together. I was always so taken by how great Cary Grant and Fred Astaire, as well as most other men in the films, looked in their clothes. I loved the scenes at the old dinner clubs where everyone was in tuxedos and gowns. Cary Grant in ‘His Girl Friday’ gave me an obsession for double-breasted suits. I also loved all the three-piece suits you’d see guys in, with their watch chains and pocket silks. Then, one day I was reading a biography about Groucho Marx, who was my comedy hero, and it said that he never trusted men who didn’t dress well. That was all the prodding I needed to decide that I too had to dress well all the time. So, it wasn’t a far jump to decide I would dress like the guys I admired in the movies. My decision to wear suits was decided then and there at the tender age of eight.“
When you began building your current wardrobe, what were some of the first pieces that found their way into it and why?
“I had (and still have) an obsession with Ralph Lauren. He always seemed to be influenced by the same things that I was. He had such a classic American style that seemed many times to be torn right out of those old Cary Grant movies I loved so much. And so I started buying Ralph pretty exclusively. Since I had also developed a love for the suits of the 1950s and 60s because of early James Bond movies and comedians like Lenny Bruce as well as the Rat Pack, when Ralph launched the now defunct Black Label line of thinner fitting suits with narrower lapels I went wild, buying as many as I could. (When they went on sale, that is!) But then in 2011 when I was living in London developing a film, Eric Fellner, one of the heads of Working Title, gifted me a bespoke suit from Anderson & Sheppard on Savile Row because he saw that I only ever wore suits to work. This created a whole new (and rather pricey) obsession for me. Simply put, once you put on a truly bespoke suit made to your exact measurements it’s very hard to look back. It then lead me to expand out to a newer bespoke tailoring house in London called Thom Sweeney, as well as getting wonderful made-to-measure suits from the Italian designer Isaia. But I still have pretty much all my old Ralph Lauren suits and thanks to my wonderful tailor, Mario of Beverly Hills, I have been able to have them re-tailored and brought up to speed so that they are happily back in rotation in my closet.”
Do you believe that your personal style has evolved over the years? If so, how?
“I have definitely gone from classic style in the 1970s that still had a heavy disco influence to it to 1950s style suits to English traditional to Italian sprezzatura and even had about a decade where my style was everything from Willi Wear unstructured suits with rolled up sleeves and bolo ties to vintage bowling shirts with baggy pants and Converse All-Stars to Hawaiian shirts and shorts. But I always made sure to have a style. I never want to make anybody feel bad about how they dress but to me the worst thing you can do to yourself is to not have a style. It doesn’t have to be fashionable and frankly it really shouldn’t be because then you’re just following trends and being led around by the wallet by the fashion industry. It should just be your way of telling the world “This is who I am.” Because like it or not, we’re all judged every day on our appearance, whether we like it or not. It’s up to us once we meet people to show who we really are in human interaction, and there are plenty of times in life where outer appearance doesn’t match what’s on the inside at all. But why not use your appearance to help people know who you are right off the bat? You’ll look great and you’ll feel better about yourself. I guarantee it.“
When it comes to dressing, do you employ any particular philosophy?
“I personally want to make sure the world knows that while I like to dress up, I’m also not some stodgy old lawyer who doesn’t have a sense of humor and fun about myself. So, I always try to throw in items that keep a suit from being just a suit. Fun colored pocket silks, ties that stand out, silk boutonnieres and happy looking socks are all things I use to set myself apart from the world of men who have to wear suits everyday for work. So many guys seem to be at odds with their suits and it’s clear that they can’t wait to take them off when they get home. I want the world to see that I enjoy wearing a suit and that I do it because I choose to. I think it shows not only who I am but also a respect for the world around me, especially when I’m at work. As a film director and producer, I’m so lucky to be able to work with so many talented people. When I’m in meetings or on the set or in the editing room, I’m the captain of the ship that is my movie. And so I want to dress the part. I always say that if I got on a ship and the captain was wearing sweat pants, I’d get off the ship. Getting dressed is about respect for yourself, respect for others and respect for the world around you. And if you just happen to look better when you do it, then that’s an extra win!“
What is your personal opinion when it comes to deciding between acquiring or commissioning a Bespoke, RTW, or MTM garment?
“I have very sloping shoulders and so as much as I love ready to wear, they always require a lot of alterations. The shoulders of a suit are so much the main structure of a suit jacket that there’s only so much most tailors can do to make it fit perfectly. I abhor shoulder pads and so to avoid doing that, it’s usually a pretty big undertaking to get an off the rack suit to fit me correctly. It’s why I took so enthusiastically to bespoke. The problem as we all know is that it’s very expensive. The upside is a bespoke suit pretty much lasts forever. The tailors always make sure to leave enough fabric in every seam that if you gain weight they can let it out and keep your fit right. But the best part about an expensive suit is it puts you on what I call the Tailoring Diet, which means that if you start to gain weight and your most expensive suit starts to get tight, it’s the greatest motivation to lose weight. And if you do lose too much, they can always tailor your suit smaller! That’s what we call a win/win!
What I like about made-to-measure is that you get the bespoke experience but for not quite as much money. It’s still not cheap, not by a long shot, but it’s also not as astronomical as bespoke can be. Some of my favorite suits in my collection are my Isaia MTM suits. They have a true Neapolitan style and fit and are insanely comfortable while looking very cool and Italian. And once they have your pattern, you can order new suits from whatever new fabrics they come out with. The same is true for bespoke, but I have found that many times true bespoke takes several more visits to the bespoke house to get just right than the MTMs do. But either way, you’re going to look great in the final product. And sometimes that’s worth the extra money.“
I assume this is a rather difficult question, but if you could only have one suit maker, one shirt maker, and one shoemaker for the rest of your life, who would they be and why?
“That is a very tough one, and one I’m not sure I can properly answer. I think I have to cheat and give you two for each choice. For suits, it’s a split between Anderson & Sheppard and Isaia. For shirts, it’s a tie between Anto of Beverly Hills and Budd Shirts in London. And for shoes, I love George Cleverly shoes (in particular their Churchill style that has fake laces and elastic vents on the side so that they are basically loafers that look like laced-dress shoes) and Salvatore Ferragamo shoes. I find that there are certain brands that just fit your specific foot better and so it’s a bit of a trial and error with different brands to find the ones that seem to be made for your shape of foot. Don’t be afraid to try on many brands before deciding what to buy. That’s what stores are there for!“
Where do you look for sartorial inspiration?
“Where don’t I look? For me, style inspiration is everywhere. I watch old movies, look in magazines, look through photography books and for the most part really observe the people around me. It’s why I love traveling to other countries to see how the men who dress actually dress. I’ve found inspiration in every country I’ve ever been in. Most times it’s not even a complete look I’m inspired by. It’s usually a detail I see. A way of tying a tie, the unusual fit of someone’s jacket and pants, a piece of jewelry or adornment on their clothes or self, or some bit of odd sprezzatura I would never have thought of. I like to collect these ideas and then try them for myself. But not every look and idea works on every person the same. I’ve seen guys who look amazing in a specific look but then when I try it I look ridiculous. Style is very personal and it has to match who you are in total. It’s why I always say the main thing you have to do when you try a new style is to not just look at your body when you look in the mirror but to then look at your head on top of those clothes. I’m not saying you shouldn’t take chances. You always should. But you will know in your heart if you’re trying to dress too young for who you are, or too cool for who you are, or if it’s simply not working for you. If you’re on the fence, then go with it. But if you feel at all like something’s not right, or it’s not sending the message you want to send to the world, then don’t buy it, and look for the thing that makes you feel great.“
In addition to your fantastic clothing collection, you are also quite the watch connoisseur. With that said, how did you initially become interested in the world of horology?
“I feel like as men we have so few options for adornment. Women’s style and fashion seems to have a million different looks, especially when it comes to dressing up. But for guys, if you’re a traditionalist like me, all we really have is the suit. I’ve never been a fan of too much experimentation with the cuts and styles of suits. (Just say no to the Nehru jacket and its never-ending quest to come back into style.) Again, it’s fine if you’re young and cool but for most guys traditional suits just work. And so all we can really do is play with our ties, silks, boutonnières and cufflinks. But watches are something we can really have some fun with. Also, I just love that they are these little machines that we wear on our wrists. The work, craftsmanship and genius that goes into making something so small, that is so complicated and accurate, will never cease to amaze me. It doesn’t mean you need a bunch of watches. But once you get the fever, it’s sort of hard to stop at just one. I love things that I can have on me that are both functional, but that also make me happy when I look at them. Being in the middle of a stressful day and looking down at a watch that I love is sort of a man’s security blanket. Or, at least it is for me!“
How would you explain the relationship between your watch collection and wardrobe?
“I try to make sure that they work together. I have some watches that are big sports watches and so putting that on with an elegant suit for a night out at a nice restaurant always feels wrong to me. I never want the watch to overpower the suit and cuff. For formal wear, a smaller profile watch is the way to go. That, or simply no watch. It’s okay to go without one occasionally because, like it or not, we always have our phones on us to check the time. But I’d never want the clock on my phone to make my watches obsolete. Watches are about telling time but they’re also about appreciating precision and craftsmanship. They’re like works of art on your wrist.“
Is there a grail watch that you’ve been coveting?
“That’s such a hard one. There’s so many I’d love to have. But I guess if I had to snap my fingers and a watch would magically appear, it would be a Richard Mille.“
Where can we follow you?
“You can find me on both Twitter and Instagram at @paulfeig. Also, for the foreseeable future you can join me every day on my Instagram live feed for Quarantine Cocktail Time at 5pm PST/8pm EST and then streaming on replay for the next 24 hours after that. Hope to see you there!
I also have my very own gin rolling into stores as we speak. It’s called Artingstall’s Brilliant London Dry Gin and its already won Best Gin and Double Gold at the 2019 Worldwide Spirits Wholesalers Association competition and been awarded a 94 from The Tasting Panel magazine.“
Featured Image Credit: Jamie Ferguson provided courtesy of 42West
