bgh: Style Icon - Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick)

Edward "Ed" Westwick (born 27 June 1987) is an English actor and musician, best known for his role as Chuck Bass in the main cast on the American television series Gossip Girl.

Westwick was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. He trained at the National Youth Theatre in London. He is a Chelsea FC fan, like his castmate Chace Crawford, who began supporting the club due to Westwick's influence. His early career began with appearances on the British television series Doctors as Holden, Casualty as Johnny Cullin and Afterlife as Darren. His film credits include Breaking and Entering, Children of Men and Son of Rambow. He has also appeared in the sequel to Donnie Darko, which was released straight to DVD on 12 May 2009, and the horror film 100 Feet.

Westwick fronted the British indie rock band The Filthy Youth, composed of himself, Benjamin Lewis Allingham, Jimmy Wright, Mitch Cox, and John Vooght. While he is now inactive in the band, largely because he wants to focus on his acting career and the other band members are still based in the U.K., he has expressed an interest in forming another group in New York.

Westwick became the new face of K-Swiss, making him the second member of the Gossip Girl cast to endorse sportswear (Leighton Meester endorsed Reebok). Westwick also guest starred in the third season of the Showtime original series Californication as a student who was fascinated with vampire literature.

Chuck Bass

Charles Bartholomew Joseph "Chuck" Bass is a fictional character in the Gossip Girl series of teen novels and the television series of the same name. He is portrayed by English actor Ed Westwick. Although he is a secondary, antagonistic character in the original book series, in the television series Chuck is one of the main characters. The television series character is noted for his financial ambition, hedonistic lifestyle and personal style.Since they were children, Chuck has been best friends with Nate Archibald, Serena van der Woodsen, and Blair Waldorf, who were boyfriend and girlfriend in the past. In the TV series, he is the adoptive brother of Serena and Eric van der Woodsen and step-brother of Jenny and Dan Humphrey.

In the novels, Chuck is inlove with Nuca Kvitashvili, and has a series of flings with male and female characters across the course of the series. He got his name, Chuck Bass, from his signature chuckle in a bass tone. Chuck's role is initially that of an antagonist to the main characters. Chuck resides with his family at the Plaza Hotel on the Upper East Side and attends school at the Riverside Preparatory School for Boys on the Upper West Side, along with scholarship student Dan Humphrey. Chuck is largely friendless, but is tolerated by the others because of his family's enormous wealth. He is described as having flamboyant fashion sense, with a penchant for scarves, and has a pet monkey named Sweetie whom he carries around with him everywhere. Lazy and vain, Chuck's only interests are sex and money, and he is frequently chided by his father for lacking ambition and performing poorly in school. Following flings with numerous females and males, his only serious relationship comes near the end of the series, when he begins dating Blair Waldorf, a self-obsessed luxury loving teenager. In the twelfth book in the series, Gossip Girl: It Had To Be You (2007), Chuck is rejected from colleges because of poor grades and is sent to military school by his father. When next mentioned in Gossip Girl spin-off The Carlyles (2008), it is stated that Chuck never showed up to military school, and his whereabouts thereafter are unknown. In the thirteenth Gossip Girl novel, I Will Always Love You (2009), it is revealed that Chuck went off to Deep Springs College in California and returned a changed man, and to have dated main character Blair Waldorf in Oxford, England for a year.

Important Rules

1) Cut of of the suit - Modern, slim, and always on the short side, the cut of a Chuck Bass suit offers a refreshing change to the sea of over sized, too long suits we see on a daily basis. Great sleeve length is also displayed on a regular basis. If you are a slim guy your silhouette should be progressively moving toward this cut.
2) Shoes - Brown leather Italian shoes, boat shoes, and never seen in sneakers. Nothing more needs to be said here.
3) Pocket Square - Chuck bass is often seen displaying a prominent pocket square. This accessory has been making a comeback in recent years. I am all for it, in all environments. Just remember not to match it to your tie.
4) Don't be scared of color - lots of yellows, greens, pinks, and reds. Not only for pocket squares but for socks, sweaters, scarves and even pants. Most of us are far too reserved in our use of color. Experiment, and you too will stand out in the sea of black, blue, and grey men's clothing.
5) Confidence - Finally and most importantly having confidence and feeling comfortable in your clothes is key to looking good. Your posture, presence, speech and most importantly your mind all play a key role in pulling off a Chuck Bass inspired look.