I’ve had a little bit of an obsession with Jarvis Cocker of late. When Pulp hit the charts in the mid-1990s I was very much into my boy bands and didn’t pay much, if any attention to the likes of Pulp, Blur, Oasis and all the Brit Pop revolutionaries. I never really listened to their music, I’d hear snippets on the radio but in no way did I appreciate what it was that they were doing or saying. If I’m honest I was probably just too young, boy bands and their songs about love and loss were more fitting with me and I didn’t understand Pulp’s songs about ‘E’s and whizz’ or the lyrics of ‘Underwear’.
However, (15 years later) I’ve revisited their music and now I get it. I see why the lyrics were so important to Britain’s youth at that time and most importantly I now understand why everyone found Jarvis so sexy, this completely eluded me at the time - Kevin from the Backstreet Boys VS Jarvis, there was simply no competition! Now, I don’t want this post to be about my crush on Jarvis, although it’s probably a little too late for that, nor is it about the music, it’s all about the man’s style.
Jarvis is geek chic at its best and what I love most about Jarvis’ style is that it’s so unique to him. Put any man in a pair of bootcut corduroys, shirt and mismatching tie, colourful blazer and statement glasses and voila, instantly, recognisably Jarvis!
Since first coming onto the music scene, Jarvis hasn’t ventured far from this look. It may have become a little smarter, but it’s always the same classic pieces, the pieces you might find a secondary school teacher wearing. Everything has a retro edge, with a slightly modern element and it’s all pulled together with the Jarvis twist. What is the Jarvis twist? It could be the glasses, the shabby hair, the overgrown beard or the pout, but for me it’s the finer details.
Things like his daring colour combinations; mixing mustard with grey, red cords with brown shirt, tie and jacket in various tones, patterned shirts with patterned blazers. It’s also his shirt cuffs, how they peep out from under his blazer cuffs revealing about an inch or so, just a neat little way of showing off a splash of colour or detail in an outfit. It’s also his accessories, he always wears a belt (why some men don’t I will never know) but it’s the type of belt he wears that's always unique to his style; it might have a giant buckle on it or a braided leather design. It’s the way his trousers always look like they’re too long and how he always keeps his outfit looking neat by tucking in his shirt. This is what I admire most about his style and I feel it’s these details that have kept him loyal to his style of the years. As always, I’ve included a few images, none of which belong to me, they just perfectly demonstrate Jarvis’ style.
I felt I couldn't post this without adding a few songs too. This is pretty much all I've been listening too over the past 2 weeks.
Noreen xx