The Principle of Appropriateness

[Frederic Leighton]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Pur_Sang. You reminded me of the big change in the consumer culture that occurred at the end of the 19th century. According to some ("The cut of his coat" by Brent Shannon is illuminating) this change is also responsible for present trends and the shift from formal to casual wear.

That's when the middle class stopped to emulate the upper class, whose stylistic 'trademark' was an endless variety of outfits each appropriate for one specific occasion (one for the morning at home, one for strolling in the morning, one for lunch at home, one for lunch at home with friends, one for lunch out, one for watching the races, one for watching tennis..). Middle-class men, including those in some position of financial power, chose their own 'uniform'--lounge suit for business and informal sportswear for leisure time. All this is also closely connected to a new idea of masculinity: "[...] not the sober, reserved, dour style of earlier nineteenth-century middle-class masculinity or the stiff, overly elegant, fastidiously correct mode of upper-class masculinity, but rather a masculinity that was "correct" as well as practical, relaxed, sporty, and athletic." (Shannon, p.190)

Two more (and minor) factors come to my mind--the higher social mobility that has been the characteristic of the last century and the promotion of freedom (and freethought) to the position of supreme good. Thanks to the first, you don't need to have studied at Eaton to run a successful company or obtain global visibility, hence people with different cultural backgrounds achieving position of power and offering alternative models of style. Thanks to the second, you are actually considered smart and 'creative' if you brake some rules every now and then, hence girls in hotpants and bra at London Bridge Station and topless men on the Central Line.

...but, of course, ultimately nothing is really changing.

[Costi]

The whole operation also reminds me a bit of last night when I was trying to explain to my girlfriend the unusual, breathtaking colours of the sky above London (here) by text message.

The disciples were absorbed in a discussion of Lao-tzu's dictum: Those who know do not say; Those who say do not know.
When the master entered, they asked him what the words meant.
Said the master, "Which of you knows the fragrance of a rose?"
All of them indicated that they knew.
Then he said, "put it into words."
All of them were silent.

[Frederic Leighton]

OVERCOATS - [...] A very pleasant [over]coat for summer wear is one cut on the double-breasted Chesterfield lines, but made to wear singly, without the underneath. [...] This coat is solely adapted for walking, and obviously will not answer for prandial purposes. It might prove awkward if, clad in it, you dropped in to dinner with familiar friends, where lovely woman graced the board, and were asked to remove your overcoat as a preliminary. Even at bachelors' party it could scarcely be considered en régle. But then it only professes to be adopted for one end, and aims not at being all things to all men. In fact, it is impossible to design a garment which will meet the requirements of all circumstances: to lounge in during morning--look fit for the Park in the afternoon--dressy at five-o'clock tea in Belgravia--suitable on emergency for a fashionable dinner party--and not out of place in the stalls of Covent Garden in the height of the operatic season. If you can point out to me the tailor who has invented such a coat, I shall patronize him at all hazards.

[hectorm]

In fact, it is impossible to design a garment which will meet the requirements of all circumstances: to lounge in during morning--look fit for the Park in the afternoon--dressy at five-o'clock tea in Belgravia--suitable on emergency for a fashionable dinner party--and not out of place in the stalls of Covent Garden in the height of the operatic season.

This dilemma was posed in 1876 within a different set of much higher standards.
I wonder if we can find an answer to that problem in today´s world.
I would like to think that my brown/black velvet jacket -with different complements, of course- is appropriate for all those occasions (morning lounging, afternoon park stroll, tea party, impromptu dinner gathering, and night at the opera).
Am I fooling myself?

[Frederic Leighton]

In fact, it is impossible to design a garment which will meet the requirements of all circumstances: to lounge in during morning--look fit for the Park in the afternoon--dressy at five-o'clock tea in Belgravia--suitable on emergency for a fashionable dinner party--and not out of place in the stalls of Covent Garden in the height of the operatic season.

This dilemma was posed in 1876 within a different set of much higher standards.
I wonder if we can find an answer to that problem in today´s world.
I would like to think that my brown/black velvet jacket -with different complements, of course- is appropriate for all those occasions (morning lounging, afternoon park stroll, tea party, impromptu dinner gathering, and night at the opera).
Am I fooling myself?

Dear Hectorm,

The original dilemma was about a summer overcoat; a garment that we probably struggle to even conceive. True that in the last paragraph the author speaks more in general of a [summer] garment for all those occasions. I think velvet risks to look inappropriate for the season, and Summer makes the choice of a passe-partout colour a bit difficult: ideally, you would like something in a light-ish shade for a stroll in the park during the daytime and something dark at least for the night at the opera.

I remember David telling of a day that unexpectedly ended with a night at the opera and of his corduroy suit not looking out of place there - would this work well from Fall to Spring? I think so. When I was a student, my piano teacher, a very elegant man, was often wearing a dark navy corduroy suit: good for teaching in the conservatoire in the morning, the school meetings in the afternoon and the evening concerts (as part of the audience, of course).

[davidhuh]

I remember David telling of a day that unexpectedly ended with a night at the opera and of his corduroy suit not looking out of place there - would this work well from Fall to Spring? I think so. When I was a student, my piano teacher, a very elegant man, was often wearing a dark navy corduroy suit: good for teaching in the conservatoire in the morning, the school meetings in the afternoon and the evening concerts (as part of the audience, of course).

Dear Federico,

the funny thing about my corduroy suit is that it looks like velvet from only 4-5m distance. Nobody seemed to notice my faux pas But there is the story of Eric Satie, a man who had 7 identical corduroy suits in his closet, one for each day of the week - so he had not to think what to put on in the morning

Cheers, David

[Frederic Leighton]

Dear Federico, the funny thing about my corduroy suit is that it looks like velvet from only 4-5m distance. Nobody seemed to notice my faux pas But there is the story of Eric Satie, a man who had 7 identical corduroy suits in his closet, one for each day of the week - so he had not to think what to put on in the morning

Dear David, I really struggle to imagine you taking a fax pas! On Satie: before commissioning the 7 identical corduroy suits using an unexpected inheritance, he didn't need to think about what to put on anyway: his wardrobe was empty He was lucky the days he had enough money to catch a train and skip the very familiar one-hour walk to work.

Poverty entered my room one day like a miserable little girl with green eyes."

[hectorm]

True that in the last paragraph the author speaks more in general of a [summer] garment for all those occasions.I think velvet risks to look inappropriate for the season, and Summer makes the choice of a passe-partout colour a bit difficult: ideally, you would like something in a light-ish shade for a stroll in the park during the daytime and something dark at least for the night at the opera

Sorry I didn´t pay attention there was a summer restriction. Of course, you are right about the issue of wearing velvet.
Difficult to find a satisfactory solution to the dilemma. What about a white Nehru jacket then?

[Costi]

I wonder if we can find an answer to that problem in today´s world.

But, dear hectorm, it appears to me that today's world is the answer to that problem.

[hectorm]

I wonder if we can find an answer to that problem in today´s world.

But, dear hectorm, it appears to me that today's world is the answer to that problem.

Thank you for calling me back to reality, Costi.
But...are you happy with the way today´s world deals with those (maybe artifitial and self-imposed) dilemmas?.

[Costi]

It makes me happy to be at peace with the world as it is, hectorm.

Today's world makes things easier: there is no social pressure or feeling of obligation to dress one way or another anymore. We are free to stick with old rules, make our own, or dispense with rules altogether. Sixty years ago this was not so easy and certainly not without consequences. Until today, what was proper and adequate never disappeared, it only morphed from one historical period to the next. New rules replaced old rules.

But when rules dissolve (and it is only the dissolution of the rules, not of the world), conscience reigns sovereign.
Where conscience chooses to resign - take the bright side: there is less hypocrisy; you have the chance to see how people dress (/ behave / eat / live ...) when they have hardly any outside constraints.
What I find so positive is to see this free conscience in act in today's world - and not only among those who had the chance to assimilate the rules early on in their lives, while they were still generally in force. Today's young men do not have to dress elegantly, they want to - and their numbers are increasing. They are leading the rebirth of stylish dress from its own ashes. This wave of renewed interest has given sustenance to the current profusion of websites, blogs, stores, web shops, enterprises, style consultants, manufacturing operations - all dedicated to this "Renaissance" of male elegance which could not have been anticipated two decades ago. Old establishments rooted in tradition are changing their business models and attitudes to cater to this young clientele. Only the most short-sighted have failed to grasp that their future depends on a new generation of discerning and affluent customers which they need to start cultivating today, with entry-level offers, affordable options and flexible offers.

To me, a vigorous Phoenix rising from its ashes is worth more than a caged and dying Bird-of-paradise. And that is something that only today's world - such as it is - was able to provide. Of course, elegant male dress will probably never reach again the ubiquity of the Golden Era, but keeping the flame alive is more valuable than venerating the ashes, and makes its light even more precious.

[Luca]

...a vigorous Phoenix rising from its ashes is worth more than a caged and dying Bird-of-paradise. ... Of course, elegant male dress will probably never reach again the ubiquity of the Golden Era, but keeping the flame alive is more valuable than venerating the ashes, and makes its light even more precious.

I think most, perhaps all, here, will agree with Costi's well-expressed sentiment. I know I do.

All the same some nostalgia for a time when elegant dress was the norm and decorum was upheld in earnestness is no bad thing.

[lgcintra]

Costi, you're a master in putting things so well in perspective. Cheers for this enlightened post. Bravo.

[Costi]

Thank you both, it always feels good to be received (back) so warmly

Luca, the risk with nostalgia lies in idealising a past in which one becomes enmeshed sentimentally, while slowly embittering oneself with self-secreted ennui over present circumstances. From spleen to holding the world in contempt there is but a small step. One becomes estranged. Little further down this slope the abyss opens...
Perhaps genuine appreciation for what is valuable from the past is better apt to enrich our lives when it works as inspiration to cultivate beauty in the present. I can't recall a single happy nostalgist...

[Luca]

I take your point. Certainly there is little to be gained by railing against reality; Canute-like trying to hold the waves back.

The alternatives are detatchment (but that also risks slipping into contempt) or acceptance. When it comes to the latter and many modern mores, I think that can also mutate into something unfortunate: Panglossianism.