Match your clothes to mood music

Every once in a while, an old film or an old song will evoke memories of what was cool to wear back in the day.

Douglas Fairbanks Jr., for example, reminds me of how cool it is to wear a double-breasted, glen plaid suit. Anything done by Frank Sinatra, for example, gets me in the mood to wear a fedora and dark suits. Fairbanks' films, like Sinatra's music (as well as his films), are timeless. Jazz musicians, in fact, had a keen, practical sartorial sensibility in which their clothing fit as generously as they played.

In this entry, I'll attempt to list some classic tunes in relation to a classic icon, from the 1920s to the '80s. (The last two decades are too soon to be considered "classic." Wish me luck as I navigate the '70s, which didn't have the greatest of clothes.) Here goes:

1920s
Style Icon: Louis Armstrong
Puttin on the hits:

Armstrong - West End Blues

Armstrong - Ain't Misbehavin'

Paul Whiteman and George Gershwin - Rhapsody In Blue

Paul Robeson - Ol' Man River

Bix Beiderbecke - In a Mist

1930s
Style Icon: Fred Astaire
Puttin' on the hits:

Duke Ellington - Mood Indigo

Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit

Cole Porter - Night and Day

Sidney Bechet - Weary Blues

Count Basie - One O'Clock Jump

1940s
Style Icon: Frank Sinatra
Puttin' on the hits:

Sinatra - I Got You Under My Skin

Ellington - Take the A Train

Sarah Vaughan - It's Magic

Dizzy Gillespie - Salt Peanuts

Hot House - Charlie Parker

1950s
Style Icon: James Dean
Puttin' on the hits:

Mack the Knife - Bobby Darin

The Isley Brothers - Shout

Don't Be Cruel - Elvis Presley

Nat King Cole - Unforgettable

Bill Haley and His Comets - Rock Around The Clock

1960s
Style Icon: Sean Connery
Puttin' on the hits:

Tony Bennett - I Left My Heart In San Francisco

Marvin Gaye - How Sweet It Is

Aretha Franklin - Respect

The Beatles - She Loves You

Sly and the Family Stone - Stand!

1970s
Style Icon: Richard Roundtree
Puttin' on the hits:

Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On

Eric Clapton - Layla

Curtis Mayfield - Superfly

Isaac Hayes - Shaft

Stevie Wonder - Superstition

Sugarloaf - Green Eyed Lady

1980s
Style Icons: Pat Riley, Michael Douglas
Puttin' on the hits:

Thriller (the entire album) - Michael Jackson

S.O.S. Band - Just Be Good To Me

Nu Shooz - I Can't Wait

Guy - Teddy's Jam

Whodini - One Love