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What’s This About
Dated photographs show Stavros Niarchos in knitted polo shirts on his yacht, white or black dinner jackets at galas and simple ski clothes in St. Moritz.
This guide covers what the photographs show and how to turn each look into an outfit today, such as:
A knitted polo shirt and dark trousers for a boat or summer weekend
A white dinner jacket for summer black tie
A black dinner jacket for evening galas
Practical ski clothes with one bright accent
How his photographed look compares with Aristotle Onassis’s
and many more!
Each outfit uses plain, well-fitting garments, so you can build it from clothes at any price.
Key Points
01Niarchos was a Greek shipowner (1909 to 1996) photographed often on the Riviera and in St. Moritz.
02We found little reliable writing about his clothes, so this guide relies on dated photographs by Edward Quinn.
03There is no reliable record of his tailors, so claims about his suits are left out.
04Check the invitation before choosing a white dinner jacket for black tie.
Stavros Niarchos (1909 to 1996) was a Greek shipowner whose summers on the Riviera and winters in St. Moritz were recorded by press photographers in the 1950s and 1960s.
We found little reliable writing about his clothes, so this guide sticks to what dated photographs show and turns it into outfits you can wear today.
The photographs show three clear looks: relaxed knitwear on his yacht, white and black dinner jackets for evening galas, and practical mountain clothes for skiing.
Who Stavros Niarchos was
Niarchos was born in Athens on 3 July 1909 and graduated in law from the University of Athens in 1929.
After working in his family’s grain business, he persuaded relatives to buy freighters, and in 1939 he founded his own shipping company.
His fleet grew into one of the largest privately owned tanker fleets in the world.
He kept homes in New York, London, Paris and Athens, often lived aboard his schooner Creole, and in 1957 bought the actor Edward G. Robinson’s collection of French Impressionist paintings.
He died in Zurich on 15 April 1996.
What the photographs show him wearing
The photographer Edward Quinn photographed Niarchos many times on the Riviera and in St. Moritz, and his archive gives each picture a date and place.
On board the Creole, 1955
Quinn’s 1955 photographs of Niarchos on his schooner Le Créole at Villefranche show a short-sleeved knitted polo shirt, dark trousers and light-coloured shoes.
It is practical clothing for a boat: nothing to snag on rigging, and shoes suited to a deck.
Evening galas in Monte Carlo, 1956 and 1959
At a gala in aid of polio victims in Monte Carlo in 1956, Quinn photographed Niarchos in a white dinner jacket with a black bow tie.
At a gala at the Sporting d’Été in Monte Carlo in 1959, he wore a black dinner jacket with a bow tie.
A white or ivory dinner jacket was the usual warm-weather alternative to black at resort events, and both follow standard black tie conventions for the occasion and season.
St. Moritz, 1962
In St. Moritz in 1962 Quinn photographed him on the slopes in a dark ski jacket, a red knitted cap and dark glasses.
Niarchos and Onassis
Niarchos and Aristotle Onassis were business rivals and, for many years, brothers-in-law, as each married a daughter of the shipowner Stavros Livanos.
The two men moved in the same circles: Quinn photographed Niarchos at a 1957 cocktail party aboard Onassis’s yacht Christina, where the men wore dinner jackets.
Niarchos also owned the Château de la Croë at Cap d’Antibes, which Onassis had owned before him in the 1950s.
Photographs of Onassis in the same years show double-breasted suits, dark ties and thick-framed tinted glasses, so his look is more recognisable in photographs than Niarchos’s.
There is no reliable record of the two men’s tailors, so comparisons of their suit cuts are guesswork.
How to borrow the Niarchos look
These outfits take the three photographed looks and adapt them for today.
Yacht or summer weekend: wear a short-sleeved knitted polo shirt in white, navy or pale blue, navy or charcoal cotton trousers, white canvas or leather deck shoes, and add a navy cotton jumper over your shoulders for the evening breeze.
Knitted polo shirts are made by many brands at many prices, from high-street labels to makers such as Loro Piana; the fit at the shoulders and length matters more than the label.
Summer black tie: wear an ivory or white dinner jacket, black dress trousers with a satin or grosgrain stripe, a white dress shirt, a black silk bow tie and black patent or polished calf shoes.
Check the invitation first, because some hosts expect a black or midnight blue jacket whatever the season.
Winter black tie: wear a black or midnight blue dinner suit, a white dress shirt, a black bow tie and black shoes.
A well-cut dinner suit from a ready-to-wear brand or a tailor will serve you just as well as Savile Row bespoke, which is one option among many.
Mountain weekend: wear a dark insulated ski jacket, a merino base layer and roll-neck jumper, dark ski trousers, a bright knitted hat and good sunglasses, then change into a dark wool coat over a roll-neck and flannel trousers for the evening.
The common thread is simplicity: a few well-fitting garments in plain colours, chosen for the setting, with one bright accent such as a red hat.
That ease is close to what the Italians call sprezzatura.
Next steps with The VOU
If you would like help applying these ideas to your own wardrobe, take our three quizzes, then book a consultation if you want personal help.
You can read about dressing for your body shape and your seasonal colour palette, and our guide to styling by occasion, location, season and time of day explains how to combine garments, footwear and accessories.
A label alone does not make an outfit work, as our articles on heritage fashion brands and Old Money style discuss.
1. Check your body shape
To check your body shape, take our body shape quiz for men.
2. Find your seasonal colours
To find your seasonal colours, take our seasonal colour quiz for men.
3. Take the fashion style quiz
Take the fashion style quiz for men to see which personal fashion styles match your taste, with outfit ideas for each.
None of the quizzes is needed to wear the outfits in this guide.
Book a consultation
For personal help, you can book one of our paid consultations with The VOU’s image consultants and fashion stylists.
You can also contact us with any questions.