I’ve admired the style of photographer Alex Natt – who takes most of the pictures for Permanent Style these days – for several years. He’s not the kind of person to talk about it much, and he certainly doesn’t post fit pics online, but to me his functional, easy-going style feels very relevant today.
Alex rarely wears tailoring, but when he does it’s in a relaxed manner with jeans and a shirt or T-shirt. He can dress up and does it well, but his default is the knits, hard-wearing jackets and either loafers or boots that he needs for shooting every day.
I asked Jamie Ferguson to shoot fellow photographer Alex (always a weird one) in a few different outfits to illustrate these points, and then spoke to Alex afterwards about his thoughts on clothes in general.
PS: What are you wearing in this first outfit?
Alex: That’s a hopsack double-breasted jacket from The Anthology. The material is from Standeven – I’m learning that I like slightly heavier fabrics, often with more texture, and a matte finish. It’s actually part of a suit but I rarely wear it that way. Still a navy suit is useful to have for weddings etc.
The weight is good, I can wear it three seasons. The Anthology cut is quite clean, a little close, but I wear it open like this most of the time.
What are the jeans?
They’re ‘66 501s – the cut is a little bit looser, straight with a nice leg twist. I don’t think jeans should be that clean a fit, they should be a little fucked up, a little bagged in the knees. It’s not really the point of denim.
I like the nineties vibe of wearing the jacket with jeans and a T-shirt. That’s not really my era (I was born in ‘94) but I watch a lot of TV and films from then. I like the red-carpet celeb look from the time too – people were dressing themselves and it was all a little messy, they were dressing themselves and weren’t over-styled. Have a look at @nightopenings.
Who’s on the T-shirt?
It’s Steve Miller. I like the music but it was more about the T-shirt, the design.
What makes a good design?
That’s a hard one. It’s hard to pin down, like taste in general I guess. Difficult to describe, yet all the sellers all gravitate towards the same designs, so it’s something in common. An interesting design, a distinctive design, original but not over the top. The faded colour here is great – a crisp new one wouldn’t be the same, and it’s nice with the overall blue shades.
This is more the kind of outfit I see you in every day when we’re shooting – practical, but still with some style.
Yeah, they’re all hard-wearing clothes – loose fits too, I like loose fits but it’s also comfortable and practical. The chinos are from Bryceland’s and I’ve had the cuffs let down – I originally had them hemmed too short so I just let them down recently.
The shirt was something you worked on with Jake [Wigham] right?
Yes it was a recreation of my favourite shirt, the one Michael Palin wore in a lot of his travel series. Big fit, big pockets, large enough to fit a passport and a mobile in. It’s a tough Thomas Mason oxford cloth. Jake made one for me and offers it made-to-order now.
I wear the same one with the jeans and jacket above too. It’s like a little capsule – everything goes together. I don’t have much space in my house so everything has to work together. It’s a decent, semi-formal look, something you could go anywhere with.
You wear a lot of short jackets with that kind of outfit right? Like Barbours, fishing vests.
Yes, that’s a little joke to myself often – how you can get away with wearing things like that when you’re working, when you’ve got a camera around your neck. They’re practical but I don’t wear them every day.
Where are the bags from?
The main one I carry everywhere is a Billingham bag, the bigger of the Hadley camera bags. I’ve always wanted one and I went for the most old-man colours – it’s very National Geographic.
Why the carabiner on the side?
I don’t really hang anything from it but it’s a good grab point, like when you’re trying to get the bag down from an aeroplane bin. The other bag is an Epperson Mountaineering tote.
Where was this jacket from?
It’s from Kim, Kimberley Lawton. It was my first piece of bespoke (the Anthology was made to measure) so it was a bit of a learning curve, but it was interesting being able to design everything myself.
I was a bit anxious it would be too structured, as that’s what Kim makes, but the inspiration was the old 67 Ralph Lauren jacket, which was an English one, quite heavy and padded.
I think if you’re going to have something made, you should just go for what you want. This is a grey herringbone, sure, but it’s also kind of crazy, with that extended collar and really big bellows pockets. It’s what I really wanted. I like functional pockets – my next commission is a kind of fawn-coloured corduroy also with big pockets.
Shoe-wise it’s usually casual boots or loafers right?
Yeah, these are Crockett & Jones loafers, bought at the factory shop [Alex grew up in Northampton and still does regular work there]. The brown ones are an Alden special make-up in a soft, tumbled calf. I got those from Parlour in Korea last year.
If it’s not loafers then it’ll be a boot, like a Danner hiking one or a Moonstar All-Weather. Also white deck shoes or a New Balance 990. All very functional and casual. I need to be able to jump on things, or be sprawled on the ground getting a shot.
Actually another pair of boots is on my wishlist – an LL Bean hunting boot, or I saw a vintage pair of buckled hunting boots on eBay recently. Love that shot of Harrison Ford on his deck in LL Beans (above).
What else is on your eBay wish list?
There’s a fifties fireman jacket on there – it’ll be itchy but probably but very cool. I like a clip jacket. Also a reversible Patagonia fleece, Synchilla or Glissade in some kind of wacky colour. I’d like one of those old Coach bucket bags too.
This is a shorter jacket so I assume it functions in the same way as the wax ones or hunting ones – but it’s an old Lee right?
Yes a seventies one, nice and short. With the trousers too it’s all the same tones as the first outfit really – blues, greys, navy. You could wear this T-shirt with the blazer, or the oxford shirt with this combination.
What are the trousers?
They’re vintage French workwear ones, 1960s or so, bought at Front in New York. They’re my favourite trousers – the fit is so good, they’re really comfortable, a single pleat, a little bit workweary but subtle and they work with a loafer or a boot. The cloth has aged really nicely too – it’s tough and has some texture to it.
The T-shirt is another graphic design. I liked the drawing, the shading. And it was from my birth year – some kind of parent-teacher association. Events or associations like this often do good designs – New York marathons, beer adverts, travel souvenirs. The colour and the shape has to be good, but after that it’s about the design rather than what it’s about.
I guess the cap is a souvenir in that way too – from that record bar in Korea
Yes exactly. I’m particular about the shape, the crown height etc, but then it’s just a nice souvenir. I think sometimes people can take this too seriously, it’s good to have a little fun with a cap, a bag. Though having said that, I have a bunch of caps at home that I don’t wear – they’re sitting in a pile on top of my desk lamp.
Why do you like tinted lenses?
These are from Moscot. I think I like the brown tint because it warms up the misery of an average London day. How you can go about wearing blue lenses when London is so grey already is beyond me.
Who are your other inspirations?
A lot of old photographers; Andy Spade; Eric Clapton, before he bought Cordings and went a bit weird; Fran Leibowitz.
A lot of menswear can be a bit contrived, a bit too clean and unreal. I tend to like people that look like they live in their clothes, and of course it suits me as I spend so much time dragging stuff around.
Outfit 1:
- Made to measure hopsack jacket from The Anthology (Standeven 27033)
- ‘66 red-line Levi’s 501s, from Front General vintage
- Tory Leather belt from Front General
- Vintage T-shirt
- Moscot sunglasses with ‘smoke’ tinted lenses
- Crockett & Jones calf tassel loafers
- Automatic Omega watch (“simple and basic – I’m not a watch guy, I like them but I can’t afford them”)
Outfit 2:
- ‘Palin’ shirt from Jake’s shirts
- Permanent Style cotton jumper
- Bryceland’s chinos
- Alden penny loafers in tumbled calf
- Vintage cap
- Billingham ‘Hadley’ pro camera bag
- Epperson Mountaineering tote
Outfit 3:
- Bespoke tweed jacket from Lawton
- Cashmere cable-knit jumper from Bryceland’s
- All else as above
Outfit 4:
- Vintage seventies Lee denim jacket
- Vintage printed T-shirt
- Vintage French workwear trousers
- Cap from Kompakt bar, Seoul
- All else as above
Some other photos of Alex over the years…
