Sharp Stylings #49: Ronnie Lane

We can learn so much from yesterday’s fashion icons.  And living in a post-Mad Men world means we can even enjoy aspects of current male fashions! Every Friday, I’d like to start your weekend off right with a little style inspiration from either then or now. Hopefully, my fellow Mod enthusiasts will find the whole or some detail of the whole to appreciate and maybe even adopt. 

Let's get straight to the point today. This is Ronnie Lane, of the Small Faces, in an awesome window-pane jacket with a breast-pocket flap:

Photo from the Magic Mac blog which always has the best photos.

Lane's hair is styled perfectly with sides that aren't TOO long and bangs slightly above his eyebrows. A nice pink-toned button-down which goes great with the brown of the jacket. And that jacket... whoa! You ever wonder if any of these clothes still exist out there in the world? Is this particular jacket hidden away in someone's closet, being unappreciated? Or is it in a trash heap somewhere? Just dig on how slick, yet comfortable, it looks!

Yeah, I used to be a Steve Marriott devotee. I dug it all, from his immense voice, to his sharp outfits, to his mannerisms on stage. When I was younger, I used to backcomb my hair, hoping to reach Marriott heights. Heck, I used to jokingly call myself 'Esteban Marriott.' And I still do really dig Steve Marriott, don't get me wrong, but these days, I'm much more of a Ronnie Lane devotee.

A few years back, our friends Mike and Sarah lent us a DVD on Lane's life (see bottom of this post) and it totally changed our perspective on his contribution to music. Soon after watching the biography, we hunted down his solo material and played it every day for months. I dug even further into The Faces output for every song Lane either wrote or sang on.

I know I should be writing more about how awesome Lane's Mod style was, but his music trumps all of that. If you're already hip to this stuff, you know where I'm coming from. If you're starting out with this Mod thing and haven't moved beyond the Small Faces yet, give Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance a... chance. You really won't be disappointed! The following are just 5 songs to open you up to the beauty of Ronnie Lane.

1. Debris

2. Kuschty Rye

3. Glad and Sorry

4. Barcelona

5. The Poacher

And here's just Part One of the documentary I referred to earlier. Enjoy!

Ronnie Lane... a Small Face with a sweet soul.