Clothes make these men

From Elvis Presley's knit ties to Woody Allen's "nerd chic," GQ magazine picks the 50 most stylish men of the past 50 years. My favorite on the list: Steve McQueen (left).

Why we love the other Clinton -- but hate hats

The Advocate asks why so many gays support Hillary Clinton, considering that "her husband let us down, she won’t support marriage equality" -- and she's not, in answer to the magazine's question -- a lesbian. Plus, men don't men wear hats (and I'm not talking caps) for a host of reasons: from John F. Kennedy to our insistence on shunning conformity in the 1960s. Hat designer Orlando Palacios (above) for Worth & Worth in New York, says that's nuts. "A hat will change your whole look," he tells the New York Times today. "It says you’re daring. It pulls people in." [Photo: Gabriele Stabile, NYT]

Gap realizes what's missing. (Hint: more gays)

San Francisco's troubled Gap chain has hired cute gay designer Todd Oldham (left) as design creative director for its discount Old Navy division. Oldham, who joins the company Oct. 1, also plans to develop a line of merchandise to be sold under the Todd Oldham label, exclusively at Old Navy. "The move is a shift in strategy for the brand, which currently sells all its clothing for adults and children under its own name," the Wall Street Journal says. How does Oldham spend a typical day? "I design and make things,'' he told New York magazine in this Q&A. [Photo: New York]

George Clooney has big honkin' feet

And that's a good thing, assuming fashion blog Jezebel's got it right.

It's a bankers' holiday!

Wall Street investment tycoons have even more big bucks to shower on their naughty boy toys as stocks keep going ga-ga today over the Federal Reserve's surprisingly steep rate cuts; the rally even sucks in shares of fucked-up PlanetOut, corporate parent of Gay.com. Supermodel Twiggy, known for the mod look created by British fashion designer Mary Quant, turns 58 today; more big birthdays here. And it was love at first stick-up: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid committed their first robbery together 107 years ago today. [Photo: Men at Play]

Barneys beckons; Mapplethorpe remembered

Led by Wednesday's opening of the city's first Barneys, San Francisco is about to get a host of new and expanded retailers, including diamond king De Beers; Prada, and Helmut Lang. The Minneapolis airport toilet stall where Sen. Larry "Wide Stance" Craig was busted for soliciting sex has become a tourist attraction. Edward Mapplethorpe tells New York magazine he was drawn to the creative universe of his famous photographer brother Robert (left), "a world of subversive sex and hard drugs, obsession and ambition, darkness and beauty." Sounds like fun! Even though Edward says he isn't gay! Plus, it takes three hours to style Michael Jackson's "freaky coif,'' says the ever-reliable Page Six.

[Photo: Robert Mapplethorpe in a self-portrait, 1980]

A rare glimpse of Tom Ford's boyfriend?

Richard Buckley is in the light-colored suit, to the left of the sunglass-wearing fashion designer, according to Flickr member Luca ROME, who got this photo outside a Valentino show in July. Buckley, 59, Ford's lover for more than two decades, is a fashion and style journalist who's interested in modern architecture. The unbelievably sexy Ford, 45, told New York magazine in this Q&A that he'd like to have kids; Buckley doesn't. This post about Ford is one of the most popular on Castro Confidential.

The one thing better than aussieBum in print

One of my fave summer serials is over

Indeed, we all learned today, "she done."

One more reason to love the Argentine

Darlings: Did I tell you Sparky and I may visit Buenos Aires this winter? And here I thought tango would be the only lure: Ralph Lauren is featuring Argentinian polo player Ignacio Figueras (above, and left) in promotions for his new line of Black Watch fashions. Pictured left: Figueras in a Custom-Fit Black Watch Polo, $125. Lauren's new label comes as the designer has reached a rapprochement of sorts with the polo industry on which he built his fashion empire: He's now sponsoring a professional polo team, Black Watch, which swings in the Hamptons and in Palm Beach, the New York Times says. [Photos: top, Hot Argentine Men; bottom, NYT]

Here's the skinny on short pants

You gay men -- yes! I'm talking about you! -- were crazy-nuts for striped and plaid shorts in Provincetown, Ibiza and London during our recent visit. I shouldn't have been surprised, given what I'd written here. This being August, all the size-30 waists were sold out, which left me in the cold. Sparky couldn't find any in his (slightly) larger size, either. Plus, most shorts are too, well, long, for me -- which is why I'd found this Diesel Raydar swimsuit. It's on sale right now for $95 -- down from $140 -- at International Jock.

G-Star is wallpapering the (gay) world

I first noticed the label about 18 months ago at the Rolo store on Market Street in San Francisco. The word raw caught my eye. Hating shopping as much as I do, it wasn't until a month ago that I bought a pair of Original Navigator Campaign Shorts -- molto pricey at around $120. My only regret now: that I didn't buy a bunch more. They're just the right length. Plus, they've got about a trillion pockets, most with snaps: Perfect for foiling pickpockets in tourist havens. Now, of course, Rolo doesn't have any more, and I can't find them anywhere else. That includes in Europe, where the label was the uniform of the moment among gay boys. (Forgot about G-Star's website, screen cap, top; it's hell to navigate.)

Based in Amsterdam, G-Star was founded in 1989. It's now in a growth spurt. Earlier this year, it planned about 60 more stores worldwide on top of what were 73 shops at the time. G-Star now has nine U.S. stores in eight cities -- including San Francisco, where it's at 76 Geary St., near Grant.

Exceptions should be made for bubble butts

Starting in Louisiana, the New York Times says, a growing number of communities are trying to ban saggy pants -- a hip-hop fashion trend that began in prisons, where too-big uniforms came without belts to prevent suicide. [Photo: Mei-Chun Jau/Dallas Morning News, via NYT]

Answer: Yes (but only in Chelsea or WeHo)

Question: Does having a designer logo tattooed on yourself make you more fuckable? That was the spot-on comment I found posted with this photo of some twit branded with a Chanel logo. Said dope was on his way to Saturday's Pines Party, according to the latest installment of Gawker's hilarious summer series, And The Brand Played On. (Bonus! It's a teachable moment: Don't turn your back on queens wielding camera-equipped cellphones!) [Photo: Gawker]

Your sugar daddy guide to San Francisco

Urban guide Gridskipper is highlighting San Francisco spots where sugar daddies can treat trophy ladies to glittering baubles, 700-count Egyptian cotton sheets and other goodies designed to get them laid tonight.

But! What about sugar daddies who like their trophies manly? Here are some of Gridskipper's picks, and my counter recommendations -- all just in time for daddies visiting The City for Up Your Alley this weekend.

Undies
Gridskipper: Alla Prima Fine Lingerie, 539 Hayes St. A chic spot for La Perla Black Label panties. (The fave brand of hookers!)
Castro Confidential: Injeanious, 432 Castro St. Tons of 2(x)ist briefs that'll only enhance your man's bubble butt.

No-tell hotels
Gridskipper: St. Regis, 125 3rd St. Features 24-hour butler service and in-room wax jobs.
Castro Confidential: Parker Guest House, 520 Church St. No one bats an eye when you bring your traveling sling.

Baubles
Gridskipper: Tiffany & Co., 350 Post St. Diamonds are a girl's best friend -- especially when they come in little acquamarine boxes.
Castro Confidential: Mr. S Leather, 385 8th St. Where else can you get a lovely stainless steel chastity cock cage for only $395!

Live sex shows
Gridskipper: Mitchell Brothers, 895 O'Farrell St. Where daddy picks up a few glamour girls.
Castro Confidential: Nob Hill Theatre, 729 Bush St. Where daddy sucks off a few manly men.

[Photo: Jake Cruise Media]

Gap gets new CEO; chain now totally fucked

The struggling San Francisco-based corporate fashion disaster employing many a gay man in The City just ended its desperate, six-month search for a new CEO. Bearing in mind the last CEO was so totally wrong for the job (he'd been chief of Disney's parks!), we score druggist Glenn Murphy (above) thusly:

• Little experience turning around troubled retailers: -15
• Most recent job: CEO of Shoppers Drug Mart: -10
• Looks straight: -32
• Canadian: +5
• Unfortunate resemblance to Porky Pig: -113
  Total: -165 points

[Photo: Gap]

Don't miss their lovely new undies, too!

My favorite not-for-the-faint-of-heart men's haberdashery, NastyPig, tells me in an e-mail that the summer '07 line is available for your discerning review. I'm featuring (left) one of the New York City-based clothing company's models in a rubber apron. So practical! Meanwhile, urban travel guide Gridskipper offers a new map to NastyPig's historically significant neighbors over in the city's East Village. Do go!

Six degrees of Andrew Cunanan

Fashion designer Gianni Versace's Miami mansion surrounded by yellow police tape (above) and Time magazine's cover (left) as cops hunted for his killer. Andrew Cunanan, 28, had already murdered four men and was on his way to killing a fifth, the police said, when I arrived in Provincetown that July. There were "wanted" posters in shop windows along Commercial Street -- and in San Francisco, New York and other places with lots of gay men. It would be a little while before I knew Cunanan had visited the West Side Club in Chelsea within a week of my being there. That was the game we played: six degrees of Andrew Cunanan. It ended when Cunanan, holed up in a Miami houseboat, killed himself as police apparently drew closer. But not before he murdered his fifth victim, Versace, 10 years ago today, on the front steps of the designer's South Beach palazzo.

Out magazine tackles very tough questions!

Like! Are cargo shorts really over?

Valentino's decades in the fashion saddle

Models strike a Brokeback pose from Valentino's fall collection. The force behind the company, Valentino Garavani, celebrated 45 years at fashion's pinnacle with a $10 million bash last night in Rome, with fireworks and a dinner for 500 of the globe's glitterati. "The guest list felt like a condensed version of 30 years of W magazine, the chronicle of the international jet set Valentino has dressed for the Oscars, for lunches in Capri and for their first, second and sometimes third weddings,'' the New York Times says today.

Valentino Garavani's longtime companion and business partner, Giancarlo Giammetti (far left, with Garavani), orchestrated three days of festivities. "Mr. Giammetti's attention to detail has helped drive the Valentino label from the start," the Wall Street Journal said Friday. "Mr. Garavani actually founded the fashion house 48, not 45, years ago in 1959. But the brand did not begin to flourish until the designer met Mr. Giammetti, then in his early 20s, in a Rome café on the glamorous Via Veneto in 1960. At the time, Mr. Giammetti was pursuing a degree in architecture and had no ambitions to plunge into fashion. A romance between the two men, which Mr. Giammetti acknowledged but declined to discuss, blossomed."

[Photos: top, Valentino; Giammetti and Garavani, Corbis via WSJ]