It would be easy to brand Patrick Bateman, the titular protagonist in Bret Easton Ellis’ 1991 novel “American Psycho,” as a less-than-admirable guy. The coke-sniffing Wall Street banker is narcissistic, misogynistic and — yes — sadistically murderous.
And yet for the image-conscious, Bateman — played by Christian Bale in the 2000 film and, starting this week, by Benjamin Walker in a new Broadway musical of the same name — has become a kind of icon. And not just on Halloween.
Google it. The Internet is awash in prescriptive guides: “How To Dress Like American Psycho,” proposed Complex in 2010; “Beauty Secrets From 5 Real-Life Patrick Batemans,” offered New York magazine’s The Cut in 2014. Men’s shopping giant Mr. Porter has even teamed up with “American Psycho: The Musical” to outfit Walker and other male cast members in pieces that will also be available for purchase online.
“I think that Patrick Bateman in ‘American Psycho’ epitomized the growing permissiveness for men to be more attentive to their appearance,” says Bruce Pask, men’s fashion director at Bergdorf Goodman, a mecca for modern-day masters of the universe. “[In the late ’80s] there was a rapid expansion of the availability of men’s high fashion, a heightened awareness of designer labels and a vast array of grooming and beauty products entering the market for the first time that were targeted specifically to men.”
Although Pask recognizes “American Psycho” as social satire in the extreme, he concedes that, for the style-minded, there are unassailable lessons to be learned.
“I certainly admire [Patrick Bateman’s] commitment to how he presents himself and that he recognizes the importance of the impression that he creates through his visual presentation,” he says.
And never mind that the story takes place at the tail end of the Reagan era — the tenets of power-suiting haven’t changed much since then.
Even the pleated pants and double-breasted blazers popular three decades ago have re-entered the menswear conversation, with both showing up on the spring 2016 runways of Bateman-favored labels Giorgio Armani and Ermenegildo Zegna.
“I think the longevity of Bateman’s style is owed to the classic nature of his attire,” says Chris Beastall, editor of men’s style blog Ape to Gentleman, on why the character remains a contemporary fashion plate. “He opted for timeless staples apt for any period of fashion. A well-fitting pinstripe suit would look as good now as it did [in the ’80s].”
And let’s not overlook the virtues of the narrator’s famously exacting grooming ritual, which Beastall finds most inspiring.
“It wasn’t just a case of throwing on some cologne,” he says. “[Bateman] went into such micro-detail with each aspect of his skincare routine.”
Don’t, however, take a penchant for face masks and exfoliants as proof Patrick Bateman was a harbinger of — gulp — the metrosexual.
“That was a rather weak notion,” says Nick Sullivan, fashion director at Esquire, of the term, noting that the vain, fashion-fluent sophisticate figure existed well before Bateman.
What Ellis’ novel does predate, Sullivan says, is a cultural obsession with personal branding. “ ‘American Psycho’ was set at the height of yuppiedom, when young men on the make no longer had to come from the right tony East Coast schools,” he says. “They could fake it, but they needed badges of belonging.”
For Bateman, those badges — from meticulously moussed hair to A. Testoni crocodile loafers — formed a perfect exterior masking a hollowness inside.
Still, for generations of male fans, the takeaway was simply that it’s OK to care about what you look like.
“Bateman struggled internally with his demons,” says Carl Barnett, editor-in-chief of style site thefashionisto.com. “But he always made sure his outside appearance was presentable. Style is all about putting the best version of you forward.”
Written By Timothy Mitchell
Source: The New York Post
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