“Oxfords, Not Brogues?” Men's Style Review of "Kingsman: The Secret Service"

About this video

The Gazette team analyzes the costume design and menswear styling of the first Kingsman film, examining how closely the characters’ formal and casual attire align with classic menswear principles. They review the signature styles of major characters like Harry Hart and Eggsy, identify several styling choices that deviate from traditional menswear rules, and discuss how the film serves as an aspirational introduction to classic men’s style despite some inaccuracies.

Key takeaways

• The Gazette team notes that while Kingsman’s costume designer Ariane Phillips created many interesting and well-executed outfits, several details reveal careless departures from proper menswear conventions
• The Gazette team explains that the film’s famous line ‘Oxfords, not brogues’ contains technical inaccuracies—oxfords have closed lacing while derbies have open lacing, and brogueing is a decorative detail that can appear on multiple shoe styles
• The Gazette team appreciates the film’s thematic messages about gentlemanship, such as ‘manners maketh man’ and ’the suit is the armor of the modern gentleman,’ viewing it as a positive entry point for younger audiences into classic menswear culture

Episode details: published September 18, 2020 · 112K views · 17:47 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. The style guidance summarized here is the Gentleman’s Gazette team’s own teaching and opinion, presented for education; product recommendations are theirs, not ours. Summaries are written by Self Growth Videos from each video itself.

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