Overcoats and hats

"The brute covers himself, the rich man and the fop adorn themselves, the elegant man dresses!"

-Honore de Balzac

alden
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Sun Aug 14, 2005 8:54 am

Hats and overcoats are intrinsically related. They are accessories, and as accessories they follow the lead of the dress they are intended to compliment, the suit.

Formal (Morning coat and white tie) or semi-formal (black tie) dress is best worn in tandem with a formal overcoat. And formal overcoats do exist or at least they did exist. Take a look at films from the 1930s and you will see the black SB coats often assorted with capes. The cape is probably the last remaining vestige of formal outerwear that exists today.

Emily Post's 1922 advice is still applicable and up to date:

"When you go out on the street, wear an English silk hat, not one of the taper crowned variety popular in the “movies.” And wear it on your head, not on the back of your neck. Have your overcoat of plain black or dark blue material, for you must wear an overcoat with full dress even in summer. Use a plain white or black and white muffler. Colored ones are impossible. Wear white buckskin gloves if you can afford them; otherwise gray or khaki doeskin, and leave them in your overcoat pocket. Your stick should be of plain Malacca or other wood, with either a crooked or straight handle. The only ornamentation allowable is a plain silver or gold band, or top; but perfectly plain is best form." (http://www.bartleby.com/95/34.html)

Formal overcoats, worn rarely, and crafted from heavy black cloth tended to last generations. So look in your grandfather’s collection and see if one is there for you. If your granddad wasn’t much of a dandy, you might try vintage clothes stores. It used to be you could find lovely examples in London and Paris flea markets. But that was 35 years ago.

As far as matching overcoats and semi-formal wear there is a bit more latitude. But wearing covert coats and Barbour jackets with DJs is a real shame.

Black silk top hats are de rigeur for formal wear and would be wonderful to see again. The black Homburg should be used with semi-formal dress and city suits. The rules used to be that a Homburg can only be worn in Black. As a matter of fact, the hat merchant Bates in London, only sells black Homburgs for this reason. There are some notable exceptions thanks to some notorious rule breakers:

Image

The “Coke”, aka Bowler or Derby, was invented in 1850 at the request of a gentleman farmer Mr. Billy Coke who wanted a hat that would protect the heads of his game-keepers from low hanging branches. James Lock and Co. made the first model and the story goes that Mr. Coke jumped from a chair onto the hat and when it did not budge under his weight he accepted it. The hat, designed for country wear, made its way into the city worn by a true mish-mash of clients from bankers to Irish Protestant loyalists to military officers. It was never considered a hat for Formalwear in England, at least. Hardy Amies once wrote about the dreadful thing “It should never be worn on foreign soil, never worn by foreigners and Americans who wear one should be sued!”

The discussions in this thread highlight the importance of building a consistent sartorial lexicon. By using terms that have been clearly defined we do better service to those who visit these pages to learn or gain new insights.

In Europe one tends to break down dress by city clothes and country clothes; and eveningwear versus daywear. So one might refer to “Formal, City and Country” as categories of dress; and “Evening and Daywear” as subs of each.

The concept of “dressy” or “formal” or gradients of “dressiness” seems a bit vague since one is supposed to be well dressed at all times. And the use of the word “formal” as a synonym to “dressy” does create confusion with Formal with a capital “F” (see Manton’s distinction above.)

“Formal” describes a specific category of dress. Semi-formal, as pointed out above, is a sub of Formal.

City eveningwear describes the kinds of city suits most appropriate for wear after nightfall, to restaurants, clubs, for a walk in the park. City daywear indicates the kind of suits best worn in the city for work purposes, or for living a life of leisure (God willing!)

It is hard to breakdown Country wear into Evening and Day use. So that leaves us with the following:

Formal
Evening and Daywear

City
Evening and Daywear

Country

This subject will be developed in its own thread, upcoming.

Cheers
Last edited by alden on Sun Aug 14, 2005 10:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
exigent
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Sun Aug 14, 2005 10:25 am

Well explained, Mr Alden. And logical categories, as well. Inevitably, when discussing both rules and ideas, any of us is likely to grow relaxed with the use of terminology...good to insist on basic terms that set points on the compass.

About the Bowler: the true style only looks right on a City gent, somehow; and the Derby, which is shaped differently (higher, straighter walls, less taper at the top of them towards the uppermost surface of the crown), really is an American thing, and ugly as hell besides. The Bowler ought not be worn by anyone but Britons--it is a native right. Though I did see it elegantly presented by an Indian fellow at the Prix de Diane in Chantilly, some years ago.

I own black, mid-grey and pearl grey Homburgs, and each has its many uses. Astaire occasionally wore porkpies with dinner clothes.... I firmly believe that a gentleman can do almost anything he wants as long as the chosen ensemble makes sense. However, there is a simple codicil to this statement: one's environment is the final determinant. Top-flight firms and official functions to include weddings and funerals have their own codes that one is wise to honor. I wear what I please, by and large, but when the occasion demands, I show in the appropriate uniform. Basic respect for oneself, and, above all, for others, makes explicit demands of a gent.
manton
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Sun Aug 14, 2005 12:13 pm

A caped overcoat -- now that would be formal simply. The only ones I can remember seeing in real life are one's being made in Mr. Nicolosi's shop for eccentric clients. I don't think I've ever seen one in London, either worn or for sale or being made. I had taken it for grated that this garment was "dead", like spats or the frock coat.
manton
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Sun Aug 14, 2005 12:17 pm

BTW, is it possible to buy silk hats new any more? I had thought that only felt top hats were made any more, and slik had to be tracked down second-hand. Certainly, that is the way it is over here. I had a chance to buy a silk hat once at (of all places) the original Nordstrom in Seattle. They have, or had, a small "vintange accessories" booth, mostly cufflinks, cigarette cases and the like. But there was an old London-made silk hat in my size. Not cheap by any means. I figured, When would I ever wear it? and passed. I sort of regret that now. Not that it would have gotten much if any wear, but at least I could have given it a good home.
TVD
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Sun Aug 14, 2005 12:31 pm

As far as I know the silk fabric (I do not think it was technically a felt) used for the traditional silk top hat has not been produced for decades. Only second hand hats can be obtained even from the most famous hatters in London, such as Lock or the now sadly declined Herbert Johnson at Swaine Adeney. They are horrendously expensive, and larger sizes near unabtainable.

There was a newspaper article about this a little while back and I shall attempt to find it.
TVD
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Sun Aug 14, 2005 12:49 pm

Here we go, appeared in the Spectator at the beginning of this year's season . In an FT article another company was mentioned that can restore your old silk top hat: Patey Ltd, London SE15, 020 7635 0030. The Spectator piece appears more informative:

Titfers for toffs

Damien McCrystal
14 May 2005
The Spectator
(c) The Spectator (1828) Limited 2005

LUXURY GOODS - TOP HATS

In the next month or so, several thousand people will be retrieving dusty top-hat boxes from attics and above wardrobes. The hats are to be given their only annual excursions (barring daughters' weddings which, one hopes, are not yearly events) at Derby Day and then Royal Ascot.

The Queen's Stand at Epsom and its bigger, grander sister, the Royal Enclosure at Ascot both require visitors to wear full morning dress, including a topper. Some ill-schooled corporate types trot along to Moss Bros and rent the lot, including a feltand-cardboard hat, but they stand out a mile and usually leave vowing either never to return or to purchase the real thing by next year.

From the hat's point of view, the bigger of the two events is Royal Ascot. Every year there are at least 500 new entrants sponsored into the Royal Enclosure for each of the festival's five days (first-timers are allowed in on only one day in their first year). So that's a minimum each year of 2,500 new Enclosurites, half of them men, most of whom must set about finding the correct headgear. The days are almost gone when you can rely on a relative having a spare (especially with that many needing a loaner) because decent top hats — the silk plush ones — have not been made for half a century and probably never will be again.

The booting machines, which construct the shape, are easy to find but it is the hatters' plush — a sort of velvety silk which can be brushed and caressed to a shiny smoothness which used to be the envy of the world — that is no longer made.

Top hats were essentially British and only ever worn by Britons, apart from a few old-schoolers in New York and Boston and the odd Australian. But funnily enough, the last manufacturer of the silk plush was based in Lille. It was apparently a rather small business run by two fiery-tempered French brothers. One weekend, about 50 years ago, they had a terrible row and one of them wreaked his rage on the plushmaking machine, smashing it to tiny pieces, beyond repair.

This was a pity, because by then the top hat had been overtaken first by the bowler and homburg, then the trilby, and there was little demand for them. It was quite a socialist period of our history, you may recall, and the top hat was frowned upon as a tool of upper-class oppression, specifically designed to intimidate the flat cloth headwear of the peasantry.

Apart from Royal Ascot, Derby Day and some weddings, the only other place it was essential was the City, where money brokers and visitors to the Bank of England were required to wear one.

Until about 20 years ago, even the City editors of newspapers had to put one on before visiting the Bank's governor. I have long suspected that this rule was enforced purely because Bank of England staff enjoyed laughing at the juxtaposition of the grand hat and the shiny brown Burton suits of the journalists. The hacks retaliated by battering their hats mercilessly so that they looked rather like Victorian tramps meeting the governor, and eventually the custom was dropped.

But the upshot of all of this was that demand had fallen so drastically that it was not worth anyone investing in a new plushmaking machine, so the only silk top hats you can buy now are second-hand and increasing in rarity with every passing year.

This can make them very expensive.

It was reported in the newspapers that Prince Charles paid £12,000 for Prince William's, and that, although at the top end of the range, is by no means unusual. One of the biggest stocks is held by The Top Hat Shop, whose men's sizes tend to sell for between £1,000 and £5,000 for the best quality (their felt ones, made by the famous hatter Christie's, go for a by-no-means-negligible £349).

I believe, or like to believe, that the most expert hatter in this market, though, is Martin Ellis Jones, proprietor of Hetherington Hats in Chelsea. He runs his business from a tiny basement flat near Sloane Square and must certainly be more devoted than any other man in the country to the top hat.

Hats line every wall and cover almost every surface in his 10ft by 12ft sitting room, the hub of his business empire. They are stacked on side tables, lamp stands, atop the television and computer, hanging from the corners of antique mirrors and oil paintings — hundreds and hundreds of them, which he assures me he will sell more cheaply than his competitors (though he refuses to be drawn on details).

Ellis Jones is a former advertising man who gave up that business 15 years ago to become an antiques dealer, which led him into the world of silk top hats. It quickly became his obsession, and among his treasures are a steamer for adjusting the hat to the correct headsize, a conformature for measuring customers and even a bolt of unbelievably rare silk plush. His company is named after John Hetherington, a haberdasher who is believed by some to have invented the top hat in 1797 (others believe it was invented in China or France).

When Hetherington first wore his on the streets of London, some people panicked.

Some women even fainted and dogs certainly barked. He was arrested and charged with wearing 'a tall structure having a shining lustre and calculated to frighten timid people'.

A finer advertisement for the new hat could not have been written by Ellis Jones (in his advertising days) and the topper took off.

They were originally made from beaver felt but in 1850 Prince Albert started wearing one made from hatter's plush, and everyone else immediately copied him.

As with The Top Hat Shop, this is a busy time of year for Hetherington Hats, and Ellis Jones is juggling a number of tasks at once when I visit him; but once he starts talking about the objects of his endless desire there is no stopping him. He applies the conformature, examines the result and pronounces my head very peculiar in shape, blunt at the front instead of the conventional taper, with a large bump on one side. It is precisely the same shape but smaller, he says, as that of The Spectator's Peter Oborne (aristocrats, incidentally, have the smallest heads). He has only once come across an odder-shaped head than ours. It belonged to a newspaper executive, and had been badly smashed in a car wreck.

If you are prepared to gamble, as most racing folk are, there is a far cheaper source of antique top hats: the internet auction site eBay. Last December, when demand was at its lowest, I bought two — one perfect, the other rather battered, for a total of £140. They both fit perfectly, but others may not be quite so lucky. Still, it is possible to have them steamed into shape (Hetherington Hats can do this for you at a fair price). Clearly, they will be more costly as the races draw nearer. In the first week of this month, £250 looked to be eBay's going rate and I would not be surprised to see this double in the coming weeks.
alden
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Sun Aug 14, 2005 1:21 pm

TVD,

That article pretty much sums things up. Those French did break the machine in Lille, it is disheartening to report.

I have been helping a friend prepare his Morning Dress as he has been sponsored to the Royal Enclosure at Ascot. Luckily, we found a brilliant silk hat for him for a mere 600 sterling. Much care has to be taken when entering the Royal Enclosure. You get one chance. If you are invited back three years in a row, you are able to apply for membership. Particular attention is paid to your dress, of course. Moss Brothers is out, bespoke is...a decided advantage as long as the cut and fabric color and pattern is correct. The trousers choice is particularly important. There are twenty in the books and only one or two will help get you invited back. The tension mounts as the process of natural, bespoke selection takes place.

Cheers
alden
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Sun Aug 14, 2005 2:01 pm

Dear Manton

It’s almost as bad as you say, even here on the Old Continent. The level of formalwear has reached abysmal levels. You will see capes and caped overcoats from time to time at certain Gala events, but they are all but gone. I am not sure I would put them in the same league as spats though. People, with the decline of interest in Formal events, choose to invest in other things. If many people today don’t even own a Dinner Jacket, why would we expect them to own and wear capes and caped coats? Even if a caped coat is a real advantage in a downpour. Why invest in something you will wear so rarely? If someone has one in the family, they may wear it. Though, most people will wear a simple, formal overcoat the kind described by Emily Post.

That being said, I saw a picture, in a French magazine last year, of Philippe Noiret, wearing the most beautiful caped overcoat ever sewn or seen. It was undoubtedly made by the bespoke tailor at Charvet. Now you raise an interesting point, as many would consider Noiret an “eccentric” dresser. I am not sure I agree but he is anything but conventional.

Given our modern elegance deficit, I would rather see men who challenge the boundaries just a bit. But it is for the “advanced” only and should not be attempted by readers of this site who are just starting out. Sticking close to the established canons of dress is the way to go until a solid wardrobe is built and functional. And until, one’s personal sense of taste develops and can guide down the fine line that separates elegance from its many contrary states.

I will try and get a picture of the Noiret coat and post it. It could very well be a design option for the LL overcoat.
exigent
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Sun Aug 14, 2005 11:18 pm

I was quite wrong about this place, somewhat depressingly.... (Mr Alden is a decent, civilized fellow: he was kind enough to welcome me to the site, and I am most grateful for the gentleman's good wishes.)

As a new member, it is essential to show proper respect for the rules which bind a community. Of course, one needs to be assertive or risk boring the readership to distraction. But it is nonetheless key to observe proper decorum, while adding at least something of value to the discussion. I humbly state that I have done that. And been roundly ignored, despite the plain fact that my contributions are invariably written in English.

This "club" is a clique. There is little hospitality extended to new fellows, and that is a bloody shame, since the site is bereft of the nastiness one sees in other places. Instead, glacial disregard is the norm. A few insiders post to great and fawning acclaim, while new boys are ignored. And the posts in question, while mostly rewarding, contain the occasional inanity which goes unchallenged, because the creator is an accepted component.

I am half American and half Scottish; I suffer from egalitarian tendencies; I am solidly middle-aged; I have met the Queen of England--and Philippe Noiret, too. My family is an odd, hybrid product, which combines respect for the old continent, with understanding of a sometimes dismally changing world. I should think that etiquette would have required at least nodding acceptance for a new person in your midst, who never once showed lack of consideration or respect for any among you, whether he agreed with your point of view or not. I am disappointed by your marked indifference, but not surprised, human nature being what it is....

Good luck to you all. And please remember that it is vital to be the person you appear: a gentleman at his best looks impressive, but he must behave like a decent sort, as well.

Respectfully,

J. MacMaster
T4phage
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Mon Aug 15, 2005 12:49 pm

manton wrote:A caped overcoat -- now that would be formal simply. The only ones I can remember seeing in real life are one's being made in Mr. Nicolosi's shop for eccentric clients. I don't think I've ever seen one in London, either worn or for sale or being made. I had taken it for grated that this garment was "dead", like spats or the frock coat.
Actually, it isn't quite dead yet! In Men's Vogue Italia "Look Book" fall 2002 and 2003, Brioni and/or Kiton had caped overcoats.
alden
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Mon Aug 15, 2005 2:34 pm

Yes, it was Kiton who came out with a formal black Inverness a few years ago. It's funny because if you visit Pitti Uomo in Florence you will see all kinds of styles of coats and clothes from the golder eras of masculine elegance displayed.

The Italians have always had a fascination for the Inverness coat and capes in general.

Image

The "tabarro" is a product of the province of Venice; and a there are specialist producers that make them today. And they are sold at Neiman Marcus in New York:

http://www.tabarro.it/Il_Tabarro_nel_Mondo.aspx

We will start a thread dedicated to the cape and caped coats as they are fascinating products.
manton
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Mon Aug 15, 2005 3:10 pm

One small correction. There is no Neiman Marcus in New York; not in the city, at any rate. But I believe that the corporate parent also owns Bergdorf.
majestatis626
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Mon Aug 15, 2005 3:21 pm

That is a great looking caped coat, but I cannot see myself (or anyone, for that matter) wearing it. To pull it off without appearing "costumey" would be an incredible feat, and it would more likely draw attention to oneself conspicuously. It would defy rather than engender elegance.
alden
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Mon Aug 15, 2005 3:50 pm

I was quite wrong about this place, somewhat depressingly.... (Mr Alden is a decent, civilized fellow: he was kind enough to welcome me to the site, and I am most grateful for the gentleman's good wishes.)

As a new member, it is essential to show proper respect for the rules which bind a community. Of course, one needs to be assertive or risk boring the readership to distraction. But it is nonetheless key to observe proper decorum, while adding at least something of value to the discussion. I humbly state that I have done that. And been roundly ignored, despite the plain fact that my contributions are invariably written in English.

This "club" is a clique. There is little hospitality extended to new fellows, and that is a bloody shame, since the site is bereft of the nastiness one sees in other places. Instead, glacial disregard is the norm. A few insiders post to great and fawning acclaim, while new boys are ignored. And the posts in question, while mostly rewarding, contain the occasional inanity which goes unchallenged, because the creator is an accepted component.

I am half American and half Scottish; I suffer from egalitarian tendencies; I am solidly middle-aged; I have met the Queen of England--and Philippe Noiret, too. My family is an odd, hybrid product, which combines respect for the old continent, with understanding of a sometimes dismally changing world. I should think that etiquette would have required at least nodding acceptance for a new person in your midst, who never once showed lack of consideration or respect for any among you, whether he agreed with your point of view or not. I am disappointed by your marked indifference, but not surprised, human nature being what it is....

Good luck to you all. And please remember that it is vital to be the person you appear: a gentleman at his best looks impressive, but he must behave like a decent sort, as well.

Respectfully,

J. MacMaster
Dear Sir,

The members of this club contribute their time and share their knowledge with the Gentleman’s concept of “service” in mind. There are no personal agendas here, no searching for renown, only the desire to be of use in communicating a “savoir vivre” , and of forwarding a cause: the celebration and perpetuation of Masculine Elegance.

To date, your posts have been appreciated as they have been communicated and taken by the membership in the spirit described above. Our hope is that they continue to arrive on these pages. But that is a choice you alone must make.

If you disagree with something that has been written, your responsibility is to make your point known. We would expect nothing less from you.

If you have had the chance to meet Noiret, you will know what self effacing and generous elegance of spirit is all about. He is one of the last icons of Masculine Elegance from the last century still with us. Hopefully he will be with us for a long time to come. Remember generosity for it is a fundamental element of all Gentlemanly and elegant action.

I personally welcomed you to the club as I do all newcomers. Had you decided to see the course, the other members surely would have gotten to know you. Maybe we are a bit old school, no back slapping until we get to know one another a bit better. And that requires time.

Kind regards

M Alden
Last edited by alden on Mon Aug 15, 2005 8:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.
alden
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Mon Aug 15, 2005 3:59 pm

That is a great looking caped coat, but I cannot see myself (or anyone, for that matter) wearing it. To pull it off without appearing "costumey" would be an incredible feat, and it would more likely draw attention to oneself conspicuously. It would defy rather than engender elegance.
I would have to agree that wearing a cape with a business suit is maladroit. I suspect the gents in the picture are using the capes for some sort of celebration or club meeting.

If you were to see the same cape matched with full dress and top hat, you might think otherwise.

Cheers
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