#TBT Style Salute Series: Sidney Poitier

High Fashion Living is going to offer up a new version of our Style Salute Series. Moving forward for the next two months we will be conducting an eight-part #TBT (Throw Back Thursday) article in which we offer up style salutes to some not-so-familiar style icons. The first person we highlight in the series will be none other than the person simply known as “The Man,” Sidney Poitier.

It’s hard to find the words to describe Sidney Poitier, as we are talking about a man that was the face of Black America on the big screen at the dawn of integration. While Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, and James Baldwin’s impassionate words resonated to crowds of thousands, Sidney’s did as well. However, his platform was the big screen and not a podium.  “Sidney really was sui generis,” says Margo Jefferson, whose award-winning memoir, Negroland, was published in 2015, “and more daring because of his looks.” In a sense, he was the first example of a movie star being tall, dark, and handsome.  

Today we are paying homage to his looks, style, and grace as no matter what he wore he wore it well. Always well put together he walked with a personal confidence that oozed cool, calm, and collected. He is most known for his dashing well-fitted suits with subtly accented ties  People also forget that he could dress down with a cardigan or throw on a pair of shades that would make you double take and say, I got to have those for myself.

Noted African-American film critic Elvis Mitchell has stated “He’s never gotten his due as a style icon… You hear the talk about Cary Grant and Steve McQueen, but I don’t think anybody wore a suit better than Sidney Poitier.” We hear you louder than a bomb, Elvis, and below we highlight some of our favorite Sidney Poitier looks to a millennial generation of menswear aficionados who will grow like lilies filed in reverence of Sidney Poitier.

Written By: Evan Marshall @Its_what_ev