by Nadia Pflaum
Vincent Gauthier is the Executive Director of the Port Authority of Kansas City, Missouri. He is also the only person in Kansas City who could give me the occasion to employ the adjective “natty,” as in, "a natty dresser." I’ve seen him appear at public meetings wearing a bow tie, which is emphatically not something most men can get away with. He wears stylish, modern glasses, and somehow escapes without looking like Nathan Lane.
When he met me at the Bo Ling's in the River Market, he was wearing olive green pants, a striped shirt with a crisp tan blazer and white leather Bucks – he admits he owns three pairs.
Despite my insistence that he has good style, Gauthier thinks being featured in a fashion blog is pretty silly.
“I wear clean clothes,” he jokes when asked about his aesthetic.
Then he answers seriously. “I think I’m influenced a little by living in the south for so many years.” He recalls being called out by a woman in New Orleans for wearing his white Bucks before Memorial Day, even though it was mid-May and already over 90 degrees outside. He lived in New Orleans; Natchez, Mississippi; and Knoxville, Tennessee.
“My biggest accessories are probably a pocket handkerchief or a tie tack,” he says, and today he’s wearing neither. “I do make sure my belt matches my shoes, and I don’t wear brown shoes with black pants. That’s about as far as it gets.”
Gauthier is also influenced by his late father's style. “I inherited a number of my father’s things, like a real nice overcoat and some of his tie tacks and handkerchiefs. He had that classic ‘30s and ‘40s wardrobe, that Frank Sinatra era. I grew up with that. I’m one of the only guys I know with three tuxes, because I inherited his and had them refitted to fit me.”
It was at this point that Gauthier blew my mind – he made me aware of a style faux pas that I’d never even thought to be annoyed by. “I don’t like when guys wear polo shirts unbuttoned so their white t-shirts show underneath,” he said. “That’s why you wear v-necks – so it doesn’t show.” He pulled down the collar of his shirt to show the v-neck artfully hidden underneath.
Gauthier bet me a beer that the guy with his back to us in a neighboring booth was committing the visible-undershirt sin. Sure enough, he was, and after a quick glance around Bo Ling’s we counted half a dozen more men with the same issue. Great. Now I owe Gauthier a beer and I have a new grievance with menswear.
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Ms. Pflaum:
I have been associated with Vincent for over two years as we have worked together on the recent successful completion of the KC Riverfront Ecosystem Restoration project which is located along the MO. River immediately north of the City Market. During this time, I have ALWAYS admired Vincent's wardrobe, his wit and charm, and his marvelous sense of humor. Do you realize how difficult it has been for me to sit across from Vincent and brief him on project status with that boyish smile of his and when he is wearing a bow tie? Difficult at best, especially when looking at Vincent is like looking at a cross between Elvis Costello and Bruce "The Boss" Springsteen. Vincent is a classy guy and thus, a genuine "classic". :-)
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