Thursday 26 April 2007

The Old School Tie, a style creation


It’s well documented that in 1880, the rowing club at Oxford University's Exeter College, invented the first school tie. After an emotional win over their rivals, they celebrated by removing their ribbon hat bands from their boater hats and tying them, four-in-hand around their necks. When they ordered a set of ties, with the colours from their hatbands, they had accidentally created the modern school tie. School, club, and athletic ties appeared in abundance. Some schools had different ties for various grades, levels of achievement, and for graduates. Thanks to historians and their method of accurate documentation all the original college colours are still available from archived samples and replicate ties can be made to order.

The four in hand knot used to tie their hat ribbons, which later became one of the most popular ways to tie a tie has its own unique origin. Coachman who lead a team of two horses en route would take the four reins, two for each horse, and tie them in particular fashion across their hand , thus four reins in hand, or, four in hand. Later the knot and the phrase the coachman used were adapted to neckwear. Two unrelated occurrences made contribution to a style that survives in tact to this day. And interestingly both working class and upper class made equal contribution, the coachman’s phrase and the university student boating hat band.

Let’s not leave Cambridge University out of the race; they also played a part in establishing an everlasting style, albeit forty five years after the first Oxford school tie. A Cricket Club, founded by a group of Cambridge University students in 1845 is believed to have created the first sporting colours. They designed a flag of black, bright, orange-red, and gold, symbolizing "out of darkness, through fire, into light." Blazers, caps, and ties were eventually created in these colours.

Didn’t some one once say “style is constant, fashion comes and goes”?

Tuesday 24 April 2007

SAVILE ROW PAST AND PRESENT EPISODE ONE

It wasn’t so long ago when Savile Row cabled information back and forth; one example can be evidenced way back in 1921, when, Crown Prince Hirohito of Japan commissioned Henry Poole & Co to create Westernized suits for his state tour of Britain. One of Poole's representatives sailed to Gibraltar with pattern templates where he met The Crown Prince aboard his destroyer. The final measurements were cabled to London so the order would be accomplished three weeks later when the Prince reaches the UK. Cabling as with email and online shopping has helped flatten and shrink the world.

So no matter where you are in the world you can go to Savile Row by going online and purchasing some fine English made products. Shirts, suits, silk ties, hats and gloves are available for your pleasure and convenience. And just like in 1921 when Savile Row went to Crown Prince Hirohito in Gibraltar, online shopping comes to you no matter where you are. Have things changed all that much? Or just got, “more, quicker, faster”?

This is just one small chapter in a long history of fine tailoring found only on Savile Row.

Wednesday 18 April 2007

LONDON SQUARE MILE AND ITS MOVEABLE STYLE

London’s square mile is the most affluent square mile in the world. Out of a total city

Workforce of 336,000 there are 80,000 millionaires. Every year, city bonuses amount to around £20billion. The city of London is one of the most competitive, successful and vibrant places on earth. ‘London swings like a pendulum do, Bobbies on bicycles two by two’ It’s the third most popular destination for young travellers, the first being San Francisco USA and the third Sydney Australia. Style has billowed out of this city like smoke did from its factories during the industrial revolution, now it’s the style revolution.

All roads lead to London, forcing cultures foreign and native to mingle. From this melting pot styles emerge representing all classes. The cockney cabbie occupy the same square mile as the millionaire, the cockney shares little in it’s takings but much in its fame and glory. His stereotype has been characterised in many famous West End and Broadway plays, and Hollywood screen adaptations, on Television and on the streets. The accent, slang, clothing mannerisms and song create a style embryonic of London.

Any old iron, any old iron, any, any, any old iron
you look sweet
talk about a treat,
you look dapper from you head to your feet
well you’re dressed in style,
with a brand new smile,
your father’s old green tie on
well wouldn’t give you tupence for old watch chain, old iron, old iron

My old man’s a dustman; he wears a dustman’s hat
He wears cor- blimey trousers and he lives in a council flat
He looks a proper nana in his great big hobnail boots,
He's got such a job to pull them up, that he calls em daisy roots.

These songs are cockney anthems and captured the essence of the working class hero. Two of them popularised by Davy Jones, once a member of the Monkees, renowned teeny bopper band of the 60’s (manufactured) to challenge the Beatles. Davy Jones starred in the musical rendition of Oliver Twist, a Broadway Smash hit of the same Era; he played the Artful Dodger in youthful glamour and appeared on the same Ed Sullivan show as did the Beatles in 1964.

The cockney and Scouser (the latter a person from Liverpool) became instantly recognisable by style of clothes, hair, accent and song. In front of a record television audience they performed their style of music which was in such stark contrast to the Vaudevillian style of entertainment being aired at that time. Even the ‘die-hards’ like Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, originally critical of this radical move in music style eventually recorded Beatle songs.

The Beatles made ideal ambassadors; they were young, fresh faced and very talented; unknowingly playing a major role in style migration through their music, hair style and clothing. Fifty years on, there is still faint evidence of those styles and they keep emerging, the tight fit suiting, skinny silk ties and, hair styles, are back in vogue. The Beatles lead the way other bands followed.

It was an explosive decade for London styles in all things material and artistic. The convergence of different cultures from other cities like Liverpool, Birmingham and Newcastle helped create new styles without intent. Other cultures attached their variations, but never true to original form, this was London’s own shouting to the world.

The London square mile continues to grow in wealth and remains the fashion capitol. Its influence on style both radical and conservative continues.

Wednesday 11 April 2007

Cufflinks for collectors

If Simon Carter is proclaimed “King of Cufflinks” then Ian Flaherty must certainly a contender for “Universal Monarch of Cufflinks” Visit Ian at his studio in Lavender Hill Clapham and you’ll find him working at the coal face with his subordinates, unafraid to get his hands dirty. A Scouser by birth and the son of a builder he chose a different career path that lead him out of working class Liverpool and into London, the fashion capitol of the world.

After designing for many prestigious brand names Ian thought it was time to harness his energies and direct them toward developing his own brand. It’s been a long road from Liverpool, now his delightful cufflinks are displayed in some of the most famous department stores around the world, including Selfridges and John Lewis (UK), Nordstroms (USA) David Jones (Australia) plus stores in Japan with un-pronounceable names.

The cufflink market is becoming more crowded as designer brands try to cash in on the growing popularity of men’s jewellery. There is also the lure of manufacturing in Asia as a way to increase profits, but not without risk of negative effect on your reputation. Increasing profits at your customer’s expense does not make good long term business sense. Ian’s a big fan of traditional British craftsmanship and prefers the workmanship he gets from his own Battersea studio.

Ian’s designs are hand cast in pure English pewter, because it gives the most accurate result. Each item is double plated in rhodium, a precious metal derived from platinum, and polished before being hand-enamelled or inset with Swarovski crystal. Then polished and inspected again to make sure it’s flawless. Rhodium prevents tarnishing and adds functionality to form making them extremely hard wearing, less likely to be scarred thus adding value. His cufflinks don’t tarnish and neither will his reputation. His customers keep coming back for more precisely because he does not cut corners.

Yet another story of how the bespoke market survives amidst a mass manufacturing revolution, proof that customer’s demand for high quality handmade fashion accessories is being recognised. In response to demand, other reputable designers are gaining recognition for their sincerity and talent, including Jo Downs. Her small range of designs is definitely for the collector.

Ian literally draws his design inspiration from the world around him. He’s always looking at patterns and reflections, sketching things that catch his eye as he walks down the street. His designs have been copied, often blatantly by many big names.

He continues his work happily labelled the quiet achiever, carving out a name for himself in the fashion rock face. The only thing that overshadows Ian’s immense talent is his sincerity; his working class principles remain intact. Having a pair of his cufflinks in your collection is a must; you’ll reveal their story each time you bind your links to cuff.

Monday 9 April 2007

The price we pay for silk

In Lao villages obscurely remote from the world we know an age old process continues with Loa women at the helm of wooden looms. Producing sublimely raw silk fabrics, they live and work in harmony with their environment supported by sustainable industry. In stark contrast to China where the silk industry is booming like never before, it’s bursting and the seams, spilling into the Yangtze River and polluting the moon and stars. China’s production of silk products has outgrown their ability to produce enough fabric, forcing them to source supply from international markets. It mirrors the nursery rhyme about the hare and the tortoise. Can China sustain its growth? Can Lao villages sustain their industry? We rely on our environment to support us, so protecting and nurturing our environment is essential to sustain life.

Mr Robert Hawke Australian Prime Minister 1983 to 1995 once quoted “The way to global economic stability is through protecting your environment” he was immediately labelled a “greenie” You might ask what has politics got to do with style and fashion? Well politics, war, science, economics, environment and many other factors directly or indirectly impact on shaping style and producing fashion. Just a glance back in time will reveal the facts. Politics; Moa Tse Tung’s socialist system of government imposed dress codes on its subjects, the style is immediately recognisable. German officers wore uniforms styled by Hugo Boss in the Second World War. Scientific intervention has been playing a silent role shaping style for many centuries. Environmental conditions impose limitations on silk weaving in Laos. The prime motivation here is survival, making enough to last until the next season, protecting the environment is core to this end and governs quantity.

Mr Hawke’s profound statement continues to echo around the world as the cost of repairing the damaged environment escalates, the damage continues, “It’s a vicious cycle”

Meanwhile back in tranquil Laos intervention of modern communication has brought remote villages ever closer to our shores. Through agents in the capitol city traditionally woven silks can be bought and shipped any where in the world. Agents travel hundreds of miles visiting hundreds of villages delivering and collecting orders. An order can take six months to fill. Vegetable dyes are seasonal and ground by hand, silk worms are bread each season and new mulberry saplings planted. The yarn has to be spun, dyed and finally woven on wooden looms into sublimely raw silk scarves. The texture and colour produced using vegetable dyes are impossible to describe, you have to see it and feel it for yourself.

‘The price we pay for silk’, ‘well done village people’

Monday 2 April 2007

From Genoa to Jeans and from Nimes to Denim

I was going through my evening rituals, which amongst other things includes laying out a carefully planned set of clothes for the next work day. This saves me the hassle of clumsily fumbling through my mind in the early morning while the engine is still cold. The final selection accords to pre-planned activities for the day ahead. With this in mind I chose a denim shirt by King Gee (Australia), silk tie by Timothy Everest (Savile Row London), a pair of grey flannel trousers by Jaeger (England), for the feet, a pair of blue and white Converse All Stars (America), dark lightweight Harris Tweed jacket (England) and a leather belt by RM Williams (Australia) this is the gear you need for working at the coalface, functionality rules the way. I call it the lean-clean style, it’s casual by framework, loose and comfortable, but formalised enough with the introduction of neckwear. So I can get into action, throw off the jacket, roll the sleeves up, loosen the tie and get it done.

Each item of the collection I laid out brought together a little cultural heritage from three continents, captured in the clothing they invented, commercialised, stylised, or popularised. We can easily relate Denim to Levis and its American Wild West culture. But this fabric was adopted from another continent by early Americans who created functional hard wearing work gear. At the same time they introduced a style without the aid of catwalks and drop dead handsome models. This is how it happened, Mr Jacob Davis a tailor from Reno Nevada decided to put copper rivets on the corners of his denim trouser pockets to prevent them from ripping. Unable to cover the cost of patenting the idea he sought help from prosperous clothing distributor Mr Levi Strauss. Mr Strauss added his own style by putting the garment label on the outside rather than on the inside. Thus a new style was born. By the time this all happened, denim (originally from Nimes in France) had already been styled into bell bottom trousers and worn by Italian sailors from Genoa. These trousers had very practical applications. If a sailor went overboard he could easily slip off his trousers without his feet getting caught and thus stand a better chance of staying afloat.

The style has gone from Nimes, to Denim, from Genoa to Jeans, from France to America and travelled the world. So after you’ve read this article go and slip on your favourite jeans and experience the history.

Now we haven’t even touched on the belt, flannel trousers, jacket or shoes, well perhaps another time. How are the jeans?