Aristocratic moment: Long-sleeve shirt, $269, striped linen trousers, $279, cardigan, $199.95, brown bag, $349, and lace-up brogues, $499, from Ted Baker. 1300 786 896.
Menswear is having an aristocratic moment, writes Rachel Wells.
Menswear designers are turning to the English aristocracy for inspiration this season. It’s true. Many of the clothes that turned up at the spring menswear shows in Paris and Milan looked as if they had been plucked from the wardrobe of some floppy-haired squire in middle England.
Foppish waistcoats, cardigans and blazers, mostly in navy and cream and complete with contrast piping; slouchy Oxford bags; hand-knitted sweaters; tweed riding jackets; three-piece suits; and fedoras were all popular looks on the international catwalks.
In an uncanny aligning of the planets, the release of the film adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s 1945 novel, Brideshead Revisited, has coincided with a bleak economic climate, inspiring a return to classic looks and investment dressing.
Some even argue the return of the English fop is also being driven by the current popularity of the Tories in England.
“Boris Johnson is Sebastian Flyte grown dumpy and dufferish, and David Cameron, a fellow member of Oxford’s exclusive Bullingdon Club, probably keeps a fedora in his closet, hidden under his cycling helmet,” writes The Scotsman’s Peter Ross.
Of course, it’s not the first time Waugh’s novel, set mostly in a decadent, rural, aristocratic setting, pre-World War II, has had such an impact on fashion trends. When the novel was brought to the small screen in the ITV drama serialisation produced by Granada Television in 1981, it inspired a wave of young fogeys: youths who dress in vintage garb – tweed jackets, matching waistcoats, Oxford bags and fedoras – and typically ride around on bikes complete with wicker baskets.
Since then, classic menswear looks inspired by the English upper classes have flitted in and out of fashion. Of course, there are some sub-cultures – think of England’s Sloane Rangers and America’s preppy set – who have always looked to the aristocracy for fashion cues. And designers such as Ralph Lauren, Burberry and Paul Smith have built multibillion-dollar businesses on these classic looks.
But it’s been quite some time since Planet Fashion has looked to the posh people – or at least their wardrobes – in such a big way. At home, Farage is doing three piece suits; Clemente Talarico offers blazers and white Oxford bags; and Arthur Galan AG works beige-coloured suits. All are channelling Brideshead chic.
After several seasons of skinny silhouettes, the return to aristocratic looks – complete with structured blazers, chunky knits, textured tweeds and wide-legged trousers that add bulk to the frame – comes as a somewhat seismic, not to mention, surprising, shift. Aristocratic style for the threadbare?
But perhaps it does make sense: after all, as Glenn Waldron wrote in The Independent: “The suit is perceived as a commercially safe bet … the ideal ‘recession wear’. White-collar Man will always need suits.”
by Rachel Wells
October 19, 2008
nice article, keep the posts coming