‘Guy’s Dripped Out’: How Four Grandfathers Shaped Their Grandsons’ Style
Short portraits showing how comfort, handed-down pieces, and a sense of occasion moved from one generation of men to the next.
Useful takeaways from this story.
Grandfathers influence taste through practical items and repeat use—lab jackets, sweat suits, and everyday tees become inherited style cues.
Two contrasting source styles appear: utilitarian comfort (Carhartt, work shirts, loafers) and conspicuous dress (Coogi sweaters, velour sweats, sport jackets), both passed down and adapted.
Gifts and shared clothes act as direct vectors of style: grandfathers give items they no longer wear, and grandsons reinterpret them for their lives.
The useful part
Alex Katz and Other Grandpas Talk Style With Their Grandsons Things you buy through our links may earn Vox Media a commission On Oliver Katz: BRUNELLO CUCINELLI Knit Polo, at shop.brunellocucinelli.com. Andreas Laszlo Konrath Oliver Katz, 26, studio coordinator at Alex Katz Studio Alex Katz, 99, painter Isacc Katz, 26, studio coordinator at Alex Katz Studio Alex: I was wearing zoot suits all the time in high school. There was a place called Nemsen Brothers on University, and you'd go there and pick your material and you come back and get a suit.
How it works
- Ada, my wife, was a scientist, and she worked in the laboratory and brought home these jackets she wore.
- In the '60s — that's right, I'm going back — we used to wear bell-bottoms and used to wear what they called "blahs." A blah was a knit sweater similar to Coogi sweaters.
- He wears a tan bush jacket a lot, so maybe I'm wearing a dark-brown leather jacket and the pockets are in similar places, but instead of hanging down to mid-thigh, they would go to my waistline.
- New York and Canada Goose Toast the 'Men's Style' Issue See All Tags: the men's style issue style fashion men's style the men's style issue 2026 new york magazine grandparents alex katz miles caton culture...
- I went in the Navy as the war ended, and when I got out and started at Cooper Union, I was in Levi's.
What to take from it
I'm kind of fashion conscious, and so I try to put my best foot forward when I dress because you never know who's coming to church. It's pretty much my personal prerogative because at this age in my life, I have developed a style, and I try to be true to it for the most part because there are people who have an expectation of me to come in, quote-unquote, right. I would always wear a tie because if you go casual, you can't dress up.
Example or evidence
- Isaac: I remember he gave me this yellow sweater that I'd seen him in my entire childhood, so it's kind of amazing that he gifted it to me.
- On Miles Caton: LOUIS VUITTON MEN'S Jacket, T-shirt, Shirt, and Tie, at louisvuitton.com.
- Figueroa Sr., 72, archbishop, founder, and senior pastor of New Life Tabernacle in Brooklyn Miles Caton, 21, actor and breakout star of Sinners Eric:
- That sweater was very expensive, but it was, for lack of a better phrase, up there.
Details worth keeping
On Alex Katz: PS PAUL SMITH Polo, at paulsmith.com. On Isaac Katz: BRUNELLO CUCINELLI Knit Polo and Shirt. They would go into the belt and you always looked proper.
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