Style Icon: Dress Like Ian Harvie

*Feature photo by Kevin Neales. For more icons, visit dapperQ’s Icons Section.

Known as the world’s first FTM transgender comic, Ian Harvie is a triple threat: funny, handsome, and stylish!

 

“I’m obsessed with bow ties and don’t near have enough opportunities to wear them. This is one of my favorites because it’s pink and brown.” Photo by Kevin Neales.

His wardrobe ranges from effortlessly casual cool to timeless dapper formal. Ian gave dapperQ a breakdown of some of his outfits to provide our readers (and some of the members of our own team) some style inspiration.

H&M tweed jacket with hunter’s shoulder patch & cropped collar. Photo by Kevin Neales.

“This is my all time favorite outerwear piece. When I’m wearing it, I feel like a gentleman. A lot of people comment to me about it. But, I don’t get to wear it much in Southern California.”

Thomas Pink collared shirt. Photo by Darren Setlow.

“I have a sea of pink in my closet. People who don’t know me would never know that…Solid pink, pink stripes, pink window pane, pink checks, dark pink and light pink plaid, you name it, I’ve got it. And, when I see a pink shirt on a rack in a store, I have to see what it’s like, pull it out, spread it open, and run my hands down the sleeves, and see if it’s too similar to other ones I have. What usually makes my mind up is the collar. I’m really particular about the kind of collars my shirts have; they can’t be too long or pointy. I know them when I see them. It’s really hard for me to resist a pink shirt. It will have to have a really terrible collar for me to say no to it.”

Blue pinstripe Façonnable button-down shirt; vintage gray silk vest; and 7 For All Mankind dark blue jeans. Photo by Michelle Domsky.

“I’ve always been a little obsessed with vests; I love a classic dapper men’s look and a nice vest usually does the trick, especially with a dark denim. A vest can kind of make my jeans not so informal. I’m also a big fan of the tailoring on Façonnable shirts. The collars are generally really well made and that’s one of the things I look for in a nice men’s dress shirt.”

7 For All Mankind mid-tone blue jeans and Fruit of the Loom v-neck t-shirt.
Photo by Darren Setlow.

“This is how I can most often be found: jeans and white v-neck. Ever since I had my chest surgery,  I love to wear things that show off my flat chest. Also, I’m a thrifty shopper; I like a good deal, but when it comes to denim, as my girlfriend says, “Jeans are a staple.” So, I justify buying nice ones that fit the way I want and I wear the shit out them.”

H&M navy blue sport coat with charcoal pipingPhoto by Tif Tappan.

“I love a good sport coat. This one is a light cotton summery jacket in dark blue, which is my favorite color, and it has a charcoal gray piping on the lapel. It’s a fun, casual piece and that piping I think takes it up a notch. And, it’s from H&M, which is probably my favorite casual men’s store; it’s all really affordable and I never feel abused by their prices when I leave there. Love the cut of their shirts, pants, sweaters.. really I could go on about them… Oh, and they’re always on the forefront of style as well, so I always feel like their clothes make me a little younger looking, which I dig.”

Love is Louder extra soft American Apparel graphic t-shirt. Photo by Kevin Neales.

“I almost never wear graphic t-shirts with words on them, unless they truly move me in some way. I would never, ever wear a tee that had the brand name logo on it; I don’t know why, but I’ve always had a major aversion to wearing anything with the brand splashed across it, not even if it was ‘expensive.’ I don’t care what the price tag says, it just bugs me and makes me to think the designer got lazy and couldn’t come up with something original or stylish for the garment. One of the ONLY two graphic tees in my wardrobe that have words on them is this one, which I LOVE –  ‘LOVE IS LOUDER.’ I wear this shirt a lot because it means so much and the little I paid for it went to an awesome anti-bullying cause. The only other t-shirt that I have that has text on it simply reads ‘freak,’ which is a word I used to be afraid of, but now I embrace it as a beautiful word that I identify with.”

Levi’s sheepskin-lined corduroy jacket with stetson hat. Photo by Kevin Neales.

“My alter (comedy) ego is a Southern redneck (not so) gentleman named Travis Wayne, and he’s always talking about how he’s got a new country album that’s about to drop, but it never arrives. This is Travis Wayne and his warm winter brokeback natural colored corduroy jacket. That Stetson hat was bought for me by my friend Margaret [Cho] in Nashville when we discovered Travis Wayne. We were in a cowboy hat and boots store in Nashville and I tried it on and this character came out. Margaret bought the hat for me primarily for her entertainment value. Since then, Travis has made the stage singing songs about equality at benefits for no on Prop 8 in California. But since getting the hat, I realized, for me, it was something that I loved and had inside me lying dormant. I completely have a closet cowboy inside who wants to be a rancher with horses, dogs, and tons of rescue animals, and I eat beans out of a tin pan with a wooden spoon by a fire”

…but, we cannot leave out Mr. Harvie’s ultimate ensemble…

“Favorite thing to wear is nothing at all!” Photo by Ian Harvie

“Honestly, my absolute favorite thing to wear is nothing. I’m a (private) nudist at heart. I took this photo of myself for a chest surgery fundraiser calendar [for which] a trans guy Facebook friend was accepting submissions. This was mine. Technically, I’m wearing my dog, Frank.”

Tags from the story
,
More from Anita Dolce Vita

Alljackedup Limited Edition Trans Awareness Week Bow-Tie

One of our favorite designers, Jack Jackson of Alljackedup, has created a...
Read More

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.