“I’m driven by a sense of space and a sense of aesthetics. it’s not so much just the fashion—the Gesamtkunstwerk [a collective work of art]. It’s all of it working together for effect.”

Dickinsonians with a flair for the fun side of fashion are the focus of our cover feature for summer. You’ll encounter designers Sophie Simmons ’94 and Kate Duvall ’04, company co-owner Scott Beaumont ’75, marketing professionals Jeff Funk ’91 and Marisa Jacobs ’78, boutique co-owner Debbie Dickson ’82, and photographer Doug Inglish ’91 and get a peek at how the presidential style of William G. Durden ’71 evolved.

• Sophie Simmons ’94
• Kate Duvall ’04
• Scott Beaumont ’75
• Jeff Funk ’91
• Marisa Jacobs ’78
• Debbie Dickson ’82
• Doug Inglish ’91
• William G. Durden ’71 (below)

Haute Stuff

The “bow tie” president reveals how he became a dedicated follower of fashion

President William G. Durden ’71 is known around campus for his strong personal fashion sense—his penchant for wearing bow ties as well as his different colors of glasses frames (black, blue, brown, butterscotch), all in the same rounded style that 1920s German architect Walter Gropius might have worn. In May, Durden and Sherri Kimmel, senior editor, explored his views on fashion and design.

When you came here in ’99 you quickly became known as “the bow-tie president.”
The bow-tie is nothing new for me. [He holds up a photo of himself wearing a bow tie as a young child.]

How many do you have?
Maybe 50. But you know this is over a lifetime. And people give me bow ties. There are certain fashions [that I avoid]. I won’t wear any logo stuff. I’m not interested in the image. I’m interested in the people behind it.

You’re definitely not preppy.
No, it’s more put together from around the world. When I used to travel in Asia, one of the most fun things was [fashion discussions]. It’s all very network-y and social. For example, I went to Hong Kong or Singapore or Bangkok or wherever, and people would say, “Have you gone to my friend the tailor?” You’d go in. You’d have tea or coffee. You’d talk. Again, it’s not just a style of clothing, it’s a lifestyle.

So you’re engaging the world through fashion.
Well, not just fashion. It’s one part of it. It’s fashion. It’s bookstores. Art galleries.

How did you develop your appreciation for fashion?
It comes partly from when I was a little kid. My family basically made my clothes. And I had a chance, at a very early age, to see clothes as an extension of something larger. I’d go with my mother to the fabric stores, and we’d pick something out. It was always cheaper than buying off the rack. I watched the craftsmanship—how you would set things down, and you cut things out. I saw that it was a very social thing. So I began to see clothes—and a lot of other things—as having a very strong social, humanistic value and [providing] insight into people. [Later in life], when I was traveling, I’d go into a little shop and start talking to people. And I’d say, “Who are these people? Why do they take pride in this? Where is this design coming from?” It’s the same thing with these glasses. I was first attracted to them because of a window display. And then I went inside—this was on Madison Avenue, in New York—and read about the guy who did this, and why he did it. It just was fascinating to me. A kind of retro …

A Bauhaus look.
Yes, a Bauhaus kind of look.

Do you have a favorite fashion era?
Well, yes I do. And it probably reflects a little bit more the way I dress. I really like the ’40s and the ’30s era, which would be more for the rounded glasses and bow ties—the jazz-era kind of dressing. But mixed with the European. My first purchase of what I would call clothing, was when I was in my junior year [abroad] at Dickinson. I went to a little men’s shop—it was a very intimidating experience—in Freiberg [Germany], and I bought a Harris tweed jacket. And I had that thing for years, because it was very symbolic for me. That visit was, for me, a linguistic experience. I had to really get my courage up. “How do I ask for a jacket?” And, I was also very much influenced by a certain look of the French philosophers, of the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s.

Before the Harris tweed jacket were you the typical college student, in jeans and T-shirts?
No, because I just didn’t have it. I grew up in the country, and I probably dressed, when I initially came here, a little more squarely. It’s funny. I sometimes see kids around here who remind me of how [I was when] I came.

Not the hip ones.
They’re not at all the hip ones. I wasn’t the typical [college student]. I sort of evolved into it, obviously. I was very, very profoundly affected by fashion in Europe. I used to wear a beret. That’s why I turned to turtlenecks and the corduroy [suit]. One of my favorite purchases—and it really gave me a good sensibility, a sense of mind, with all the intellectual work I was doing—was when I bought a wide-wale corduroy suit.

What color was it?
It was an interesting lighter olive green. I just remember that that somehow fit into the philosophical work I was doing. It felt all integrated. And I’m driven by a sense of space and a sense of aesthetics. I’ve been able to wander into shops in Singapore. In Kuala Lumpur. In London. In Paris. In Madrid. I had to laugh at a [Dickinson founder Benjamin] Rush letter to a person who was going overseas for the first time to study medicine. Rush said, “Here’s a list of things that I urge you to do.” And among those things he said were, “Seek out the merchants. Seek out the designers. Talk to them. See what makes them click.” Always, when I’ve bought things, I’ve bought into people’s lives and the distinction of their lives and the distinction of their efforts.

Were there certain styles that Rush adopted?
He just wore the typical 18th-century clothes, the clothes of the day. What interests me, intellectually, is whether he got his clothes in America or England. And my guess is he started to get them in America. And that would have been rather interesting.

More the homespun look?
Well, I think they were what an American professional sort would wear. And I know that he was very cautious about any form of dandyism, because it equated with the frivolous and it equated with the British. And so, I think there was that pull back, to a more functional type of clothing.

Any further words on the design/fashion topic?
Design and fashion are an extremely interesting part of life. And there are many people who will say that they don’t pay any attention to it. But I think they’re missing out on another form of creativity. If you look at it, not from the concept of mere acquisition but from the concept of what makes a totally interesting life, and you look at the clothes from the perspective of “Who are these people designing this? For what reason?,” then I think you’re on to something that can inform you even more about how the world functions.