Stitch In Time
When it comes to clothes, Tom and Joyce Tucker of Laguna Beach have seen--and worn--it all during their three decades together. Between them, they’ve donned bell-bottoms, wide lapels, polyester suits, miniskirts and even a frizzy perm, which Tom now regards as a personal low in his style evolution.
Looking through photo albums at pictures of themselves from the 1970s, when they were first married, the Tuckers laugh at the sight of Tom in a three-piece, powder-blue leisure suit and Joyce in polka-dot culottes.
“That ‘70s stuff was really, really ugly,” Tom says with a grimace.
He lingers over a 1976 picture of himself heading for a black-tie affair in the latest formal wear: a tuxedo with a pink shirt.
“Look at the size of that bow tie,” he marvels.
Joyce, meanwhile, shakes her head over her parade of miniskirts.
“Did I really have a pair of white boots?” she asks Tom in disbelief.
“You did,” he assures her.
Despite their remorse over past fashion statements, the Tuckers have always been right in style for the times. They have weathered all kinds of extreme fashion trends to develop, over the years, their own sophisticated look.
Today, the Laguna Beach couple is among the best dressed on the Orange County social circuit. Whenever Tom, 53, a private investor, and Joyce, 50, an active volunteer, appear at a charity gala or luncheon, they are always among the more tastefully dressed. Their clothes never scream “look at me,” but they do get noticed for their understated elegance.
By peeking inside the Tuckers’ wardrobe and looking at their old photos, one can get a lesson in style, an inside view of how one stylish couple pick and choose carefully from fluctuating fashion trends to cultivate a classic look.
Although he has always been fashion-conscious, Tom says he didn’t really develop a smart wardrobe until the late 1980s. Before that, he glommed onto every trend that came down the runway, with little regard to whether those plaid bell-bottoms would be in style the following season.
“I was buying very trendy clothes in the ‘70s,” he says.
He points to a picture of himself playing tennis--permed hair piled on his head--as the pinnacle of his fashion folly. Like most stylish guys of the era, he was not immune to wide-collar shirts, jackets with huge lapels, tight sweaters with narrow horizontal stripes and polyester suits.
His approach to fashion changed when he began consulting with custom tailors, notably David Rickey and Co. in Costa Mesa, who steered him toward timeless styles.
“I had no clue how to build a wardrobe that would be lasting,” Tom says.
Today his look is classic but not dull. He likes clothes with clean, simple lines. On this day, he’s sporting a taupe and black Armani sweater vest with black slacks and a taupe-colored turtleneck.
“My style is a cross between classic American and European,” Tom says. “It’s not very pronounced. It can go anywhere, any time. I don’t feel I stand out in a negative way, but [my clothes] make an elegant statement.”
Inside the Tuckers’ immaculate walk-in closet, the racks are neatly stocked with his sport coats and suits, most chosen for their subtle patterns and traditional styling.
There’s a black double-breasted suit that will probably stay in vogue for years, a black wool suit with a fine blue pindot weave and a sport coat with a small black and tan checkered pattern.
“I have suits from 1989 that I still wear,” Tom says.
Even his shoes, tidily stacked in built-in cubbyholes, are chosen for their longevity. While Tom occasionally indulges in a trendy pair, such as the short black boots he bought at Avventura, most of his shoes are virtually timeless. He pulls out a pair of burgundy alligator tassel loafers he bought more than five years ago at Gary’s in Fashion Island Newport Beach.
“I paid $400 or $500 for them, but I’ve re-soled them five or six times, and they now sell for about $1,000,” he says. “I don’t have to throw shoes out.”
While his tastes lean to the traditional, Tom’s no boring conservative. A well-chosen Versace piece will see to that. At a 1995 black-tie gala, he substituted a bold black-and-white checkered Versace vest for the standard cummerbund.
“I’ve learned to make the statement with the shirt or tie,” Tom says. “If I go too far with the coat or suit, they don’t have staying power.”
Thus, he’s updated his wardrobe over the past few seasons by switching from ties with loud florals to textured ties with smaller prints.
“Ties--that’s where you should invest money,” he says. “It’s one of the first things people notice.”
Joyce also loves the classics--but she has a more conservative streak that she attributes to her East Coast upbringing.
True, in the ‘70s she sported miniskirts (who didn’t?), but her conservative style always won out. Back then she was buying clothes at Judy’s and working as a teacher, which didn’t lend itself to a flashy, body-conscious wardrobe. She wore lots of sweaters and skirts.
In the ‘80s, she discovered St. John. Her photo albums are filled with pictures of her sporting St. John’s classic, belted, knit dresses.
Joyce also indulged in some of the decade’s glitz and glamour but avoided much of the gaudy excess. She wore blazers embellished with embroidered gold crests and dresses and jackets that sparkled with crystals or metal studs. Still, she avoided body-hugging Spandex.
“I went through a period in the ‘80s when I wore a lot of gold and brocade,” she says. “But my outfits always tended to be conservative.”
In the ‘90s, Joyce began wearing a lot of Chanel, favoring more traditional Coco-inspired pieces such as the elegant turquoise Chanel jacket she’s wearing this day with simple black pants. From a rack of tailored suits, she pulls out one of her latest Chanel finds: a spring suit made of soft baby-blue wool with a mandarin collar.
Joyce shops at Mi Place in Laguna Niguel for evening wear, choosing gowns that are pared down and simple. She unveils a long white column gown by Lane Davis with only a few crystals embedded on the front straps for decoration.
“I hate to stand out,” she says. “The look I want is elegant. I like things with simple lines--clean, classic, not real busy.”
Over the years Joyce has learned what styles look best on her. Because she’s petite--5 feet 1--and usually wears a size 2, she knows she’ll be dwarfed by loud prints or big details.
“I can’t buy anything overpowering,” she says. “I have limited choices. No big puffs or big ruffles.
“I don’t want people to see the clothes and not me, so they can’t be too low, too short or too tight. I don’t feel comfortable in clingy.”
Anyone who has seen Joyce at a luncheon or dinner, clad in a simple black Claude Montana suit, knows she’s not a fashion peacock. But like Tom, she does not dress dull, as illustrated by her little cocktail ensemble with the strapless dress and lace-embellished jacket by Sylvia Standig.
“I want to make a statement, but I don’t want to stand out,” says Joyce, sounding a lot like Tom.
Tom explains the couple’s style evolution this way:
“Clothes are a big investment. We began to look at them and decided that with this kind of expense, you’ve got to build on your wardrobe. You don’t want to be casting things away.”
