Biddle's wardrobe

[alden]

Since we have come on the subject of minimalist (aka "reasonable") wardrobes, this excerpt from George Frazier's "The Art of Wearing Clothes" is as instructive as it is entertaining.

"Although it would be altogether too arbitrary to single out Biddle, the sixty-three-year-old Adjutant General of Pennsylvania, as the best-dressed man in the United States, it would, at the same time, be something of a task to find a male more elegant than he, not only in this country, but anywhere else in the world....Even in its entirety, Biddle's wardrobe seems, by contrast, almost monastic. It includes seven so-called business suits—two double- and one single-breasted navy-blue serge; one double- and one single-breasted dark-blue pin-stripe flannel; one single-breasted charcoal-grey flannel. (They were made by either H. Harris of New York, who charges $225 and up for a two-piece suit, or E. Tautz of London who charges, as to do most topnotch British tailors, almost a quarter less. All have skeleton alpaca linings and the sleeves have three buttons and open buttonholes. The single-breasteds have three-button, notched-lapel jackets.) For formal daytime wear, Biddle has a charcoal-grey cheviot cutaway, a single-breasted white waistcoat, and black trousers with broad white stripes. (With these, he wears a black silk ascot and a wide wing collar.) For semiformal daytime occasions, he has a charcoal-grey single-breasted cheviot sack coat and trousers, in either black or Cambridge grey, with broad white stripes. Besides a ready-made Aquascutum raincoat, Biddle owns three outer coats—a double-breasted blue chinchilla ($175 from Tautz), a single-breasted light drab covert cloth ($225, H. Harris), and a double-breasted polo coat with white bone buttons ($325, Harris). He has, in addition to a tweed cap, four hats, all of them purchased at Lock's in London too many years ago for him to recall exactly what they cost. One is a high-silk, one an opera hat, and the other two homburgs—one black and one green. For formal evening wear, Biddle has tails ($175, Tautz), a double-breasted dinner coat with satin shawl lapels ($150, Tautz), and, for warm weather, two single-breasted, shawl-collared white gabardine dinner coats ($98 each, Tautz). His evening shirts, with which he wears a conventionally-shaped bow tie, have pleats, roll collars, and are made for him by Dudley G. Eldridge of New York at $28 each.

Biddle's sports clothes include three tweed jackets ($160 each, Harris), three pairs of charcoal-grey flannel slacks, and a half-dozen button-down shirts made by Eldridge out of silk that he, Biddle, bought in Spain. His shoes, of which he has three pairs of black for daytime wear and one patent leather and one calfskin for evening wear, were made by Paulsen & Stone of London, who also made for him, for sports wear, a pair of black moccasins, a pair of black loafers, and two pairs of white canvas shoes with brown leather toes and rubber soles (which he wears with either prewar white flannels or an ancient double-breasted light-grey sharkskin suit). Biddle's neck-band shirts, which are either starched dickey bosoms (elongated so that the bosoms extend below the middle button of his jacket) or semi-starched pleated bosoms, have white cuffs and bodies of either grey or light blue. They cost $26 each and are made by Eldridge, who also makes his stiff white collars ($3 each) and his ties ($7.50 each), which run to solid black silks and discreet shepherd checks and are shaped so as to make a knot small enough to fit neatly into a hard collar. His underwear is ready-made and comes from Jacob Reed's.

Like all men with innate clothes sense, Biddle eschews such abominations as ankle-length socks, matching tie-and-handkerchief sets, huge cuff links, conspicuous tie clasps, and, most hideous of all, cellophane hat covers. Indeed, well-dressed men, almost without exception, are interested in something novel in clothing, only when it is both as attractive and functional as, say the duffer coat, which proved its value to the Royal Navy in the Second World War.

Naturally, Biddle's coat sleeves are not only uncreased, but also of such length as to permit a fraction-of-an-inch of his shirt cuff to show—as, similarly, the neck of his jacket is cut so that the back of his shirt collar is exposed. As for the width of his trousers and coat lapels, it is determined, not by the extreme narrowness that is something of a rage these days, but by, respectively, the length of his foot and the breadth of his shoulders. He selects, in short, clothes that become him. For anyone who is not as "clean favored and imperially slim . . . and admirably schooled in every grace" as Biddle is, the Biddle style of dress would be preposterous. Few things are more precarious than the indiscriminate aping of another man's wardrobe."

The balance of this classic essay, that should be read monthly by all those who have opted for the stylish life is here:

http://thematerialist.net/artofwearingclothes.html#4

The subtitle tells us all: "The history of this rare masculine art and of the men who practice it supremely well."

If only there was more writing about style in this vein! It has become rare as well.

Cheers

Michael Alden

[rodes]

Michael,
If George Frazier had only given the weight of those suits. You can likely make a fair guess.
A fellow Pennsylvanian, I have often admired the style of AJD Biddle and this essay in particular. It does seem to show that one can be very well dressed with a modest number of carefully choosen suits. Of note is the high proportion of double breasted.

[alden]

Of note is the high proportion of double breasted.

In Biddle’s age the DB was the mainstay of suits. Some, including yours truly, still believe it is. What made wearing the DB easier was the fact that unlike Balzac’s “rich man and fop” who always want to decorate themselves, and ”like all men with innate clothes sense, Biddle eschews such abominations as ankle-length socks, matching tie-and-handkerchief sets, huge cuff links, conspicuous tie clasps, and, most hideous of all, cellophane hat covers.”

One of the many lines that stand out summarizes Frazier’s own searching for a word that describes extraordinary men. “Almost without exception, the best-dressed men have, very simply and very vernacularly, colossal class.” Balzac called it elegance, we in the LL have experimented with the word "Style", but Frazier clearly identifies one of the key elements of masculine allure with the word “class”, not a little class or classy…colossal class! Bravo.

Cheers
M Alden

[Frog in Suit]

Is it or, rather, was it not Poulsen & Skone, not "Paulsen and Stone", later incorporated into New & Lingwood?
Frog in Suit

[andreyb]

Is it or, rather, was it not Poulsen & Skone, not "Paulsen and Stone", later incorporated into New & Lingwood?

It is (or was), indeed.

For some reason, there are many funny errors in the whole article.

Andrey

[Frog in Suit]

Is it or, rather, was it not Poulsen & Skone, not "Paulsen and Stone", later incorporated into New & Lingwood?

It is (or was), indeed.

For some reason, there are many funny errors in the whole article.

Andrey

I even seem to remember that it was "Poulsen Skone", with no "and" in the middle; I know this is nitpicking .
Frog in Suit

[NJS]

Poulsen, Skone & Co Ltd is the way it's put on the plaque on a pair of my shoe trees.
NJS

[Merc]

i find it interesting that british tailors were less expensive then than NY tailors
of course exchange rates vary, but....

[Daedalus]

“One is prepared for most daytime and some evening occasions, if he has a navy-blue serge, and a charcoal-grey—and possibly a light-grey—flannel suit. Their number and weights depend upon one’s means, requirements, and the climate in which one lives—just as the choice between a single- or double-breasted jacket should be guided by one’s judgment as to which would prove the more appropriate to his build."

“Then, too, to meet his basic requirements, one should have a dinner jacket. A navy-blue overcoat will satisfy both his daytime and evening requirements."

“As to cut: I personally prefer a jacket to fit precisely around the neck and the shoulders, and under the arms. For accommodation of these requirements permits the jacket to be perceptibly but not exaggeratedly cut in at the waist, as well as to be draped on the back, and to end in a slight flair—and withal, to render the appearance of hanging loosely from the shoulders.”
— A. J. Drexel Biddle, Jr.

http://www.voxsartoria.com/post/11688116987/basics

[Daedalus]

^
Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Jr., US ambassador and envoy to governments-in-exile incl. Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland & Yugoslavia. At his HQ office, Berkeley Square. London, 1943.









^
1961. The year he died. And the secret to staying in shape? Physical exercise, exercise, exercise:

[Daedalus]

[Daedalus]

Poland, 1938.

[Daedalus]

[castiglione]

^
Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Jr., US ambassador and envoy to governments-in-exile incl. Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland & Yugoslavia. At his HQ office, Berkeley Square. London, 1943.









^
1961. The year he died. And the secret to staying in shape? Physical exercise, exercise, exercise:

To Michael. Recently I was zapping TV and I saw a documentary on the late POW-sorry I do not recall the broadcast. His butler showed the Prince´s wardrobe and I was flabbergasted by the indeed monastic content of his hangers. No more than seven or eight biz suits plus some tweeds and the usual off the beaten path garments, including the kilt and tirolese leather pants and braces (!). As to Mr. Biddle, if the tie knot has to be more or less in line with the lapels- as you so correctly claim- I am afraid Mr. Biddle´s taylor was in dire need of a rule. What a break! As to the slack´s lenght the transatlantic divide is there to stay: I cannot like, let alone approve, such an anklemania. The picture improves a lot in Dedalus´ pictures, some of them majestic indeed. The DB cum vest my favourite.
PS.- The idea that the suit is the person´s frame harks back to many many years ago, centuries, in fact, and it comes as a surprise that somebody still remembers it. In Mr. Biddle´s case probably the photographer has also something to say. The light almost makes you forget the pointed shoulders of the somewhat irregular suit.

[rodes]

Upon further consideration, perhaps "moderate" is a better word to describe the wardrobe of Tony Biddle. During the 40's, 50's, and 60's formal and semi-formal, day and evening wear was employed much more than it is currently (sadly for us). Biddle had five coats and trousers for these modes. True, he had but seven "business suits" however his business was quite unique. For the last 20 years of his life, and at the time the George Frazier article was written, Biddle served as a commissioned officer in the United States Army and then the Pennsylvania National Gaurd. He had five uniforms for his military profession. By this count Biddle had about seventeen suits not including odd trousers and coats for sporting wear. One could expect more from the best dressed man in America but seventeen suits seems more in keeping with the "Not Minimum, but Medium Wardrobe" topic discussed earlier on this board. No matter what, Tony Biddle did indeed have collassal style.