LIFE Style: Chilin'

This particular collection of images is about one of my favorite pastimes; chillin' out. You can chill by yourself, or you can invite friends and make it a chill festival, like my friends here in Cannes.



A good thing to do is get ice cream. Or drunk.



When he wasn't 007-in' on 'em, George Lazenby was quite a master of chilling with babes on the slopes. Note the ultimate in chill attire - pas de laces.



Chilling with babes es muy importante; they can keep you warm in Central Park. Yowww.



Christian Slater has always been a fan of relaxing by doing drugs, which is certainly one way to do chillin'. Important mellow attire is a t-shirt and khakis.



But, you can be dressed up and also be low-key. I'm not a big The Who guy, but Roger Daltry's style got kind of interesting in the '80s; lots of striped shirts, lightweight blazers and jackets with tailored pants. Tres chill.



Pitt's overall vibe is cool, because you can tell he's saying to himself, "OK, let's get this over with so I can go roll a doob." Even in Inglorious Basterds.



This is some dude that went to Yale, protesting something. I don't exactly get what there is to protest if you're going to Yale, but whatever, he doesn't looked too stressed about it. OK, looks like it was about apartheid, but still.



A chill ensemble from The Dominican Republic. Supreme will never, ever make pleated pants, by the way. Dare you, Baque.



Unfortunately, Ralphie Lo's cornered the mindshare market on the ageless sport of polo, yet there's a whole lot more style and vibes going on than pique, especially in Texas. A good way to burn through a Saturday.



I get the distinct impression whoever did the tagging on the LIFE image archive doesn't know one Baldwin from another.



These Korean guys weren't actually chillin', they were fighting.



This cat is cafe ready in a t-shirt and a double breasted.



Pierce and Andre are relaxing; khakis, salads, water. Quite a mellow one.



Anthony Perkins in white chinos, maxing, relaxing.

All images, LIFE Archive

LIFE Style | B Sides

Arnold's dream Gubernatorial cabinet. Yo, can we come up with another name for the so-called "Cosby sweater?"



Can we call it the Q sweater? The Dude is 10-x cooler than sitcom-era Bill, give me a break.



Somebody's in the mood for a melody...



In case you couldn't tell this is "Japanese hippie snuffing glue." There's more.



Anyway, back to the plot - get Lowe.



The year 10 P.T. - Pre-Tazer.



ET phone Opening Ceremony.

LIFE Style

Nothing better than posting superficial style shots of highly significant people who helped steer the course of our country. Great crisp white shirt, Doc. I think this waistline might sneak up on us.



Too bad you can't cut butts on the fairway anymore. Also too bad - golf attire today. Start reconsidering pleats, I give it two-summers-till.



This is the look Herman Diehl might shoot all those cute cats out there this summer running around with bow ties and chambray shirts - inventor for "yeah dude."



No commentary necessary.



Ernst Schnable in the Greet antiquities section of the Louvre. A legitimately neat place to hang out.



Looks like Phil and Mick may have traded suits. Mick got the short end of the stick. Playing with proportions. Or, drumsticks. I think Lemmy said that Pat Benatar had quite the keyster, recently, if I recall.

LIFE Style | Loose State of Mind

Summertime means parties, pools, surf, sun and one maybe less obvious 's' - spa. Nothing beats a good sweaty Saturday soak. This summer I've checked out a few notables. The Korean Spa Castle in Queens is wicked, but is a bit of a family affair on the weekends, as a heads up. Properly, the best bit is the respective men's and women's locker rooms - no swimsuit required and plenty of space to spa out. Now, for a less nude-slash-familial experience, head to the Russian & Turkish baths in The East Village. While it's not as meticulously groomed as Spa Castle, there aren't kids running about and it is Buster Poindexter in there, let me tell you. There are even guys there that will beat you with a soapy mophead. Perfect.

Inspired by the spa, I got to thinking about the attitude and overall robe-life of spa hopping. Lose the collar, lose the belt and get far out. Once everyone gets over these broadcloth, protestant vibes, I think we'll see a cool, flowing, hot weather lick in a nice way here in NYC. Maybe when they run out of twists inMad Men, they'll send Don to Morocco. That type of thing.



Mahatma was a real pioneer, and not just in dressing like a cool dude with bigger priorities than doing so.



Krishnas were never properly cool, but they were relaxed and always looked like they were having a great time. Where'd all these guys go anyway? Off somewhere throwing back some Willers?



Here's a more American take on the robed look. Clearly more functionality over anything else, you gotta admit Schmeling looks mega-mellow. It's a state of mind. This guy beat people up for a living, for cryin' out loud, and look what a nice little robe sesh did to his attitude.



Don't reckon that it gets much more low key than this scene. Ah, to be the Sultan.



Gucci Preacher makes Gucci Mane look like a real a-mat.



India has it completely right; why trudge around in anything other than PJs if it's going to be one hundred out?



Joe Dana published The Orcale. Also he chilled out a lot and split rent with a free form dance troupe.



Mia looking good back in the late '70s chilling in Martha's Vineyard. The shirt's a great mix of spa style with twist of stars-and-bars Americana. Levi's wish they were making this top. PS - why would Levi's splash all that coin for the "Go Forth" campaign and not redo their fit models on the site? Nerd alert.



Some spas like to break up the fun, but I say, let us have some, we're all adults here, right?

LIFE Style | Howard '46

Looking forward to a crisp fall in a few months here now that summer's kicked all the way in, especially after looking over these images of Howard U campus in the late '40s. Wool trousers and a varsity jacket might be the move. But, let's make it through August and then we'll talk, I'm still thinking about staying ABAP. As Balearic As Possible. And fair isles just aren't. Note - no jeans. Chinos rule everything around me.

LIFE Style

"Oh yeah, the creepy Japanese guy that's been sneaking around campus taking pictures of dudes? He went thatta way..."



I sincerely hope the sandwich board mounts a comeback as the pinnacle of the retro-dapper trend. While we're on it - when was the last time you saw someone doing this job today not in sweats? Today you wouldn't even wear this to a board meeting with God & Son LLC.



But if you'd like to take that meeting, something can be arranged.



Peter O'Toole was ballin' before it was ballin'.



I'll take famous Randys for $500 Alex, please.



Michael Caine at his floppiest with wife Shakira. Word on the street is that he peeped her in a coffee commercial and it was game on.



The socks are never coming back. Or, are they?



There's nothing better than a shot that makes you say "'81 or '61?"



I heard they named a fucking search engine after this dude!



My man takes suit, shirt and hat to a whole new continent.



Meanwhile, Anthony Michael Hall does nothing of the kind, but still looks kind of ill. And a little freaked out.