Slow Is Smooth: Portrait Of CC By Mister Slowboy

There’s a saying in sports: slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. That’s why waiting for Mister Slowboy’s portrait of me went by so quickly, and why I came out looking smoooooth.

Late last year I did a piece on Fei Wang, the London-based artist known as Mister Slowboy, for The Gentleman’s Journal. I followed it up with a gallery of his work here at Ivy Style, since menswear illustration is one of our recurring and popular categories.

Slowboy offered to thank me for the coverage by doing my own portrait, using a selection of photos for reference and consulting with me about what I’d like to be wearing. Naturally I chose my favorite things: charcoal trousers, tassel loafers, club tie, pinned club collar, and a natural-shouldered jacket. Slowboy even nailed some tiny details, such as the monogram on the cuff of my custom Ratio shirt, and he chose to have me holding the book that went with the MFIT’s “Ivy Style” exhibit, which includes my interview with Richard Press.

When I was in college I developed a fascination with portrait paintings, chiefly from the 19th century, and since then most of the prints on my walls have fallen under that category. A few years ago I sifted through thousands of paintings and came up with a proposal for a book based on portraits of elegant gentlemen. Publishers asked if I’d cleared the rights for all the paintings. I said I assumed that was their department. Evidently not. Last I recall, the consensus was to pitch the project to a museum as an exhibit. Might get around to that one day.

Anyway, I finally have a portrait of myself! Now I just need to get it framed. And get a fireplace over which to hang it.

If you’d like to commission your own portrait, send an email to Mister Slowboy. — CC