(John) Steed's buttonhole

[couch]

In brief diversions from the cares of the day, I've been watching the Rigg/McNee Avengers, which I haven't seen since their original U.S. broadcast. I know there are several members who enjoy them as well.

Of course the clothes for both sexes received considerable emphasis throughout the series (no doubt both to exploit the mid-60s vogue for all things Swinging England and to maximize style in a low-budget production); but I thought I'd note a particularly self-conscious example that might bring a smile to those who haven't seen it.

In the '65 season (vol 4 of the A&E DVD set), there's an episode entitled "Two's a Crowd" which hinges on the presence of a "double" for Steed--a dissolute actor and model who's recruited by Iron Curtain agents to impersonate Steed for nefarious purposes. Fooling Mrs. Peel is his acid test, and he blows it the first time by wearing his carnation with attached florist's fern and stem wrapped in foil paper. The production makes it a bit too obvious due to the size of the buttonhole and having it pinned to the front of the lapel, but it's still a nice play on the "rules," as with the cuffs on Astaire's wedding trousers in "Swing Time."

Throughout the episode there's a lot of amusing business about dressing, cloth, and style, including the opening scenes in which McNee, as the dissolute model on the job in a "fashion show," is hamming about among a bevy of scantily clad females while the announcer drones on about the classic conservative cut of the dinner suit in the latest "Champagne-proof" and "martini-resistant" cloths (which appear to be straight mohair).

Cheers!

[storeynicholas]

Thinking about it, the series must have begun in the 1960s as Honor Blackman preceded Diana Rigg. Members of my generation, even though children at the time, were enthralled by The Avengers. I recall the buttonholes - carnations - although not the specific episode that you mention of the fake Steed and his fatal error. I shall have to watch out for the DVDs - even here we find such things as the hilarious 1960 Make Mine Mink, starring Terry-Thomas, Athene Seyler, Hattie Jacques, Billie Whitelaw and Elspeth Duxbury.
NJS

[rjman]

The series began as a vehicle for Ian Hendry as a doctor intent on "avenging" the murder of his fiancee and Macnee as his shadowy contact in the intelligence services. To make his character more interesting, Macnee took to wearing fancy outfits with Edwardian touches. When Hendry left the show the producers decided to pair him up with a woman -- Honor Blackman -- and to have her do judo and wear leather. A winning combination was born.