Wooyoungmi were getting wild for winter 2017. Sorry, typo – we mean “Wilde”, as in Oscar, the dandyish 19th century wit and writ whose personal dress was as distinctive and elegant as his writing style. Their latest show offered latter-day Oscars (and his Bosies, if that takes your fancy) a fresh take on the wardrobe of the Victoria aesthete: lots of black velvet, flowing collars, fluttering cuffs and elegant cuts. There are plenty of men even in the twenty-first century who hanker after that look, that distinct breed of dandy elegance and a dressed-up but messed-up look that turns this kind of age-old formality into something you can wear and love everyday. Who says a frock coat is only for weddings and a funeral? Yep, a Hugh Grant reference right there. Did he play Oscar Wilde once? Or maybe it was just Stephen Fry. They’d both look lovely in these modern Wildean wares, whether they were playing him in a film or just in the mood for something a little fancier than their normal clobber. Which is exactly what most men will feel like upon seeing this show.
Photographs by Jason Lloyd-Evans
