The London Lounge

alden wrote:These two men are also outfitted nicely with silk scarves.

If these gentlemen would swap their silk scarves or overcoats, one of them would resemble Charles Ryder on his transatlantic journey back to England.





Images from the 1981 television serial “Brideshead Revisited” , based on Evelyn Waugh’s novel.

As a minor detour on this thread, I have been looking for a herringbone coating like the one that Charles Ryder is wearing in the photo. All of the books I have seen have much more refined versions with smaller, tighter patterns. My old boss had a raglan in an olive green / brown herringbone. Like heavy Donegals, these seem to have passed on to history.

Joel

As a minor detour on this thread, I have been looking for a herringbone coating like the one that Charles Ryder is wearing in the photo. All of the books I have seen have much more refined versions with smaller, tighter patterns. My old boss had a raglan in an olive green / brown herringbone. Like heavy Donegals, these seem to have passed on to history.

The herringbone overcoating you refer to is a heavy Donegal.

I wholeheartedly suggest you stay tuned.

Michael Alden

PS Is that a raglan peak lapel he is wearing?

alden wrote:PS Is that a raglan peak lapel he is wearing?

Yes, it is a Raglan with peak lapel, assuming it is the same OC he wears later safe and sound at Brideshead’s.




The thickness of the pattern, also noticed by JB, was the first thing which captured my attention in the scene on the ship, more than the scarf itself.



Incidentally, this film contains a vast collection of beautiful images, as though the story board behind the takes were directly extracted from Esquire. I am sure further images from this film might be used to illustrate a lot of interesting discussions in other threads.

Assuming that a second “minor detour on this thread” will not be amiss, and in the attempt to make a point for the sartorial significance of the television serial “Brideshead Revisited”, I have selected two further images. Which film would show in close-up an old oxford full-brogue, magnifically laced, even before its septuagenarian owner, Lord Marchmain (Laurence Olivier) gets off his car?

I have long wondered why Brideshead Revisited (the television series, not the recent large-screen cinema version) has not been used as a point of discussion in the LL. As Marcelo points out, the series is filled with attention to detail (witness Lord Marchmain's shoes). I confess that although I have considered many times starting such a thread, sloth (as Sebastian has noted, in a different context) has undone me...

We may agree to disagree, but, page-for-page, I consider Brideshead Revisited to be one of the finest novels in English literature.

"Love, or what you will..."
garu

PS: Michael, I eagerly await news on the heavy Donegal...

Ta,
garu

Michael,

You definitely have my attention if you have a source for a heavy overcoating like that! I was recently looking at a nice Harris tweed, but it is not what I really want for the coat that I have in mind.

I (anxiously) await your further word,
Joel

Hmm, rather an interesting look, a raglan-shouldered overcoat in a heavy
Donegal tweed with peak lapels. The color and scale of the herringbone work quite well, though the gorge of the lapels could be higher and the length of the coat a bit longer. Where the costume designer went wrong in "Brideshead Revisited" was the choice of the hat. It should have been a beautiful 1930s style fedora, not an Irish tweed rumpled thing. Tweed on tweed fights with each other, while a Donegal tweed surmounted by rich beaver felt and grosgrain ribbon works because of the juxtoposition of different materials. Further, look at the different colors and textures of the sweater and muffler worn under the coat to get a sense of how different fabrics comingle amicably.

JMB

Raglan + DB lapels = intriguing combination. I might actually end up liking Raglan sleeve coats given the change in lapel...

It is a classic combination, you see it in many AA illustrations. Mine is very similar to the pictures above, except the large scale herringbone is in dark grey and dark green, the lapels are somewhat wider and the 3 buttons show through. Very practical and it gets a lot of wear.

Costi wrote:It is a classic combination, you see it in many AA illustrations. Mine is very similar to the pictures above, except the large scale herringbone is in dark grey and dark green, the lapels are somewhat wider and the 3 buttons show through. Very practical and it gets a lot of wear.

This illustration appeared in the Esquire in 1935, and the OC is unmistakeably described as a raglan with peaked lapels. Charles Ryder, we may presume, may well have had a subscription of the Esquire, for, if I correctly remember, the scene where he is wearing this OC is supposed to have taken place around 1938. The muffler with paisley design captures the mood of the thread from which the present one originated…

A few more AA peak lapel Raglans:





The overcoat can even be cut a little shorter, if the sleeve is not too low cut:


This is a model that I would like very much in a large scale herringbone tweed.

garu wrote:I have long wondered why Brideshead Revisited (the television series, not the recent large-screen cinema version) has not been used as a point of discussion in the LL. As Marcelo points out, the series is filled with attention to detail (witness Lord Marchmain's shoes). I confess that although I have considered many times starting such a thread, sloth (as Sebastian has noted, in a different context) has undone me...

We may agree to disagree, but, page-for-page, I consider Brideshead Revisited to be one of the finest novels in English literature.

"Love, or what you will..."
garu

Brideshead is a great reference point for mens clothes in the thirties but surely the best ref point is that TV series Edward and Mrs Simpson with Edward Fox as the POW. The clothes are fantastic. He wears some great looking raglan sleeved topcoats in that as I remember.

ottovbvs wrote:

garu wrote:I have long wondered why Brideshead Revisited (the television series, not the recent large-screen cinema version) has not been used as a point of discussion in the LL. As Marcelo points out, the series is filled with attention to detail (witness Lord Marchmain's shoes). I confess that although I have considered many times starting such a thread, sloth (as Sebastian has noted, in a different context) has undone me...

We may agree to disagree, but, page-for-page, I consider Brideshead Revisited to be one of the finest novels in English literature.

"Love, or what you will..."
garu

Brideshead is a great reference point for mens clothes in the thirties but surely the best ref point is that TV series Edward and Mrs Simpson with Edward Fox as the POW. The clothes are fantastic. He wears some great looking raglan sleeved topcoats in that as I remember.

I do agree with you. I once posted some images of Edward Fox as POW wearing a smoking jacket, - in a thread on cigars. The OC and tweeds he wears at the Fort are also quite impressive.