Jimmy Dean

There is another look outside of the leather jacket that I've noticed gay men sometimes adopt.  Penny loafers, pegged jeans, wind breaker and white t-shirt was a look that James Dean popularized after his appearance in Rebel without a Cause.  Perhaps the most celebrated person to adopt this look is the former Michael Jackson, although he added his own effected touches. 

The clothes evoke the nineteen fifties, but since then seem timeless.  Add something unique like Mr. Jackson did and you are evoking a subsequent era.  It is a post-war, pret-a'-porter masculine look that can transform even the most willowy lesbian into a dyke.

I prefer it on men and wore it like a uniform for years.  I always wanted to be Dean in Rebel without a Cause if only because Sal Mineo looked up to him and set him on a pedestal.  I didn't care for the story though and always imagined that Sal Mineo inherits a ton of money, rebuilds the burned out mansion they play house in and lives with Dean, while Natalie Wood goes on to New York and becomes famous.  She could come back and try to mess up the relationship, but Dean would set her straight and she'd have to leave for Paris.  Hmm, I wonder...