Frock coat vs. Lounge suit - The American factor

[HappyStroller]

One or two of the good guys who confronted Billy the Kid in OK Coral used rifles while wearing the longer frock coats. That was in the late Nineteenth Century.

However, in more modern detective novels of the early Twentieth Century, the shorter lounge coat was worn while the hand pistol became the favourite weapon.

Also, before the Second World War, personal security seemed to have been quite a probem. It is possible quite a few well-to-do gentlemen carried in their inner jacket pocket or in one of their jacket side pocket a pistol to guard against gangsters and kidnappers.

P'erhaps the use and/or change of weapon affected the choice of clothing.

And nowadays no one carries a gun of any kind.

[Costi]

So we could just as well go around naked?

[NCW]

'Correlation does not imply causality'. Fashions were changing concurrently with bore machining improvements that made a pistol as accurate as a rifle used to be.

[marcelo]

...P'erhaps the use and/or change of weapon affected the choice of clothing.

By all means, if we use the word “clothing” to refer to such sartorial accessories as umbrellas and walking sticks. Louis Philippe, future king of France, is reported to have declared, some months before his coronation, the following:

“The crown of France is too cold in the winter, too warm in summer; the sceptre is too blunt as a weapon of defence or attack, it is too short as a stick to lean upon: a good felt hat and a strong umbrella are at all times more useful.” (Cf. An Englishman in Paris: volume 1: Reign of Louis Philippe, by Dresten Vandam, p. 276).

Thus, the use of an umbrella - which a gentleman does not have the faintest intention of ever having to open – became a sort of symbolic substitute for a weapon, an item allusive to the idea of power. Yet, just as riffles turned into pistols, most umbrellas, Briggs, Smithes, and Foxes notwithstanding, turned nowadays into disposable objects devoid any elegance or symbolic power.

[storeynicholas]

One or two of the good guys who confronted Billy the Kid in OK Coral

I thought that wiliam Bonney was the good guy!

NJS

[storeynicholas]

...P'erhaps the use and/or change of weapon affected the choice of clothing.

By all means, if we use the word “clothing” to refer to such sartorial accessories as umbrellas and walking sticks. Louis Philippe, future king of France, is reported to have declared, some months before his coronation, the following:

“The crown of France is too cold in the winter, too warm in summer; the sceptre is too blunt as a weapon of defence or attack, it is too short as a stick to lean upon: a good felt hat and a strong umbrella are at all times more useful.” (Cf. An Englishman in Paris: volume 1: Reign of Louis Philippe, by Dresten Vandam, p. 276).

Thus, the use of an umbrella - which a gentleman does not have the faintest intention of ever having to open – became a sort of symbolic substitute for a weapon, an item allusive to the idea of power. Yet, just as riffles turned into pistols, most umbrellas, Briggs, Smithes, and Foxes notwithstanding, turned nowadays into disposable objects devoid any elegance or symbolic power.

Great picture Marcelo - as for Louis Philippe - look what happened to him!
NJS

[Costi]

Admirable post and picture, Marcelo! En garde!
We lost the culture of the walking stick, and almost lost that of the hat, gloves and umbrella. We prefer to spend hours behind the wheels of our personal vehicles trying to move around in the great cities. The truth is that in many of these cities, because of the cars and their fumes, it is no longer a pleasure to walk around.
But we also no longer have the exercise of how to WEAR an umbrella: many prefer the strictly utilitarian foldable models with terribly coloured and patterned cloth, others use promotional stick umbrellas with commercial insignia that can be read from a mile away and have no idea how to hold them, walk with them or hang them from the arm when they need to use their hands. And women lost the culture of the parasol, too - now they bake in the sun wearing thick layers of anti-UV lotions instead

[marcelo]

Thanks for your kind words, Costi and NJS. Credits must be granted: the picture stems from J. Hackett’ book Mr Classic, photos by G. Tang.
One can give another person a lift in one’s car in a rainy day, but this act can in my opinion hardly be compared to the far more elegant, kinder gesture of sheltering a disarmed gentleman or lady beneath one’s own brolly. And if the culture of carrying an umbrella has disappeared, what to say of the culture of properly carrying it? It seems – I cannot claim to be fully acquainted with this culture – the umbrella is supposed to be grasped in the middle with the handle pointing backwards. In his blog, Wil has some interesting considerations on this topic:
http://asuitablewardrobe.dynend.com/search?q=umbrella

[storeynicholas]

Thanks for your kind words, Costi and NJS. Credits must be granted: the picture stems from J. Hackett’ book Mr Classic, photos by G. Tang.
One can give another person a lift in one’s car in a rainy day, but this act can in my opinion hardly be compared to the far more elegant, kinder gesture of sheltering a disarmed gentleman or lady beneath one’s own brolly. And if the culture of carrying an umbrella has disappeared, what to say of the culture of properly carrying it? It seems – I cannot claim to be fully acquainted with this culture – the umbrella is supposed to be grasped in the middle with the handle pointing backwards. In his blog, Wil has some interesting considerations on this topic:
http://asuitablewardrobe.dynend.com/search?q=umbrella

I think that the old brolly needs to be taken for a proper stroll - it's all in the wrist action...
NJS

[Frog in Suit]

For proper balance, i.e., in order not to hit other people's shins, an umbrella should be carried hanging on one's forearm, with the shaft side on the outer side of the arm, so as to let the ferrule point inward.

I cannot remember the source, but it makes eminent sense.

Frog in Suit

[storeynicholas]

For proper balance, i.e., in order not to hit other people's shins, an umbrella should be carried hanging on one's forearm, with the shaft side on the outer side of the arm, so as to let the ferrule point inward.

I cannot remember the source, but it makes eminent sense.

Frog in Suit

Yes, remind me to ask Georgi Markov about that one, FiS!
NJS

[marcelo]

For proper balance, i.e., in order not to hit other people's shins, an umbrella should be carried hanging on one's forearm, with the shaft side on the outer side of the arm, so as to let the ferrule point inward.

I cannot remember the source, but it makes eminent sense.

Frog in Suit

Yes, remind me to ask Georgi Markov about that one, FiS!
NJS

It sounds like the closing of a cycle: from swords to umbrellas, and from umbrellas back to rifles.

[storeynicholas]

For proper balance, i.e., in order not to hit other people's shins, an umbrella should be carried hanging on one's forearm, with the shaft side on the outer side of the arm, so as to let the ferrule point inward.

I cannot remember the source, but it makes eminent sense.

Frog in Suit

Yes, remind me to ask Georgi Markov about that one, FiS!
NJS

It sounds like the closing of a cycle: from swords to umbrellas, and from umbrellas back to rifles.

And then to ricin-tipped brollies.
NJS

[Costi]

For proper balance, i.e., in order not to hit other people's shins, an umbrella should be carried hanging on one's forearm, with the shaft side on the outer side of the arm, so as to let the ferrule point inward.

I cannot remember the source, but it makes eminent sense.

Frog in Suit

I knew that, on the contrary, the umbrella was supposed to hang on the arm with the shaft on the inner side, pointing outwards, so as not to hinder the movement of the legs. It makes just as much sense to me - just a different one

[marcelo]

Both Frog in Suit’s and Costi’s point are quite reasonable. The latter, however, proves to reveal a further similarity between the culture of umbrellas and the culture of fencing. What Costi affirms with regard to the transportation of an umbrella is quite similar to what Lord Chesterfield argues, in one his letters to his son, in relation to the possible troubles ensuing from one's carrying a sword:

“When an awkward fellow first comes into a room, it is highly probable that his swords gets between his legs, and throws him down, or makes him stumble, at least...” (July 25, 1741)