The King's Speech

[rodes]

I am struck by the very marked difference in cloth weight between the original photos and those from the film. The earlier suits and overcoats look so much more substantial and hardy while the later seem nearly disposable. Moreover,the present difference in cost between the two is negligable. What is modern man missing? Seems like a no-brainer to me.

[Costi]

Better is often the enemy of good. Some of the cloth woven today would have been impossible to make 80 years ago, true. However, the weavers' dream has become the tailors' nightmare and dressers' disappointment. Finer cloth (and yarn) is the fruit of undoubted technical advancement, but it doesn't tailor and doesn't wear better than the old stuff.
What about the argument that we live in overheated buildings, cars and homes, that the climate is hotter, that we don't walk as much anymore as much as we drive and we need lighter cloth lest we might cook alive? Modern cloth doesn't perform any better, it is airtight and actually wears hotter in summer, while it is too thin for the cold season.
All-season suits? Sounds reasonable until you have them made. Then you realize they are in fact no-season suits.
Old pictures remind us that progress doesn't always bring improvements. But re-creating an age on film and missing the point is regrettable while there are still craftsmen (weavers, tailors, cordwainers - as we see on the LL every day) quite capable of delivering that kind of quality that would be historically true, pleasing to the eye and inspiring to contemporary audiences.

[carl browne]

Funny thing about the Windsors--as Winston Churchill once said of Americans--they always do the right thing, but only after they've tried everything else.

But what is the verdict? Were Colin Firth's coats made intentionally to stand away from his neck?

C

[Gruto]

I watched the movie yesterday and was disappointed. The movie is a joke, really. It contains a few touching scenes but the script and the acting are bad in general. Too much telling, too little showing. It is amazing that a movie like that can win an Oscar - or maybe not

Like others have mentioned, the dressing isn't any better

Just a warning