Sixty Joyless De-Britished Uncrowned Commonpoor Years (1949-2009)

Elizabeth II Vice-Regal Saint: Remembering Paul Comtois (1895–1966), Lt.-Governor of Québec
Britannic Inheritance: Britain's proud legacy. What legacy will America leave?
English Debate: Daniel Hannan revels in making mince meat of Gordon Brown
Crazy Canucks: British MP banned from Canada on national security grounds
Happy St. Patrick's: Will Ireland ever return to the Commonwealth?
Voyage Through the Commonwealth: World cruise around the faded bits of pink.
No Queen for the Green: The Green Party of Canada votes to dispense with monarchy.
"Sir Edward Kennedy": The Queen has awarded the senator an honorary Knighthood.
President Obama: Hates Britain, but is keen to meet the Queen?
The Princess Royal: Princess Anne "outstanding" in Australia.
H.M.S. Victory: In 1744, 1000 sailors went down with a cargo of gold.
Queen's Commonwealth: Britain is letting the Commonwealth die.
Justice Kirby: His support for monarchy almost lost him appointment to High Court
Royal Military Academy: Sandhurst abolishes the Apostles' Creed.
Air Marshal Alec Maisner, R.I.P. Half Polish, half German and 100% British.
Cherie Blair: Not a vain, self regarding, shallow thinking viper after all.
Harry Potter: Celebrated rich kid thinks the Royals should not be celebrated
The Royal Jelly: A new king has been coronated, and his subjects are in a merry mood
Victoria Cross: Australian TROOPER MARK DONALDSON awarded the VC
Godless Buses: Royal Navy veteran, Ron Heather, refuses to drive his bus
Labour's Class War: To expunge those with the slightest pretensions to gentility
100 Top English Novels of All Time: The Essential Fictional Library
BIG BEN: Celebrating 150 Years of the Clock Tower

Tuesday 8 January 2008

Old World Elegance

But for the persistence of the most dedicated traditional artisans. The discerning few can be found at the blog dedicated to dandyism. It may be a bit much to hope for the return of the bowlers and canes of the Edwardian gentleman, but it would be nice if we could at least ditch the hoods and limit the use of ski jackets to the ski hills. Would anyone so inclined consider today's shabbily garmented a properly dressed society?

Old World Elegance

6 comments:

David Byers said...

Beaverbrook, you have hit upon one of my pet hates, that is; just how badly people dress these days! Yes here in Australia it gets very hot in summer and makes it hard to dress smartly but in autumn and winter there is no excuse. In the colder months the flannelette shirt, track-suit pants and runners seem to be the standard "uniform" here. I must say I NEVER dress like that myself. It is just another example of how standards have slipped over the years.

Beaverbrook said...

The 50s were the last good decade. Everything went to hell when it became fashionable for men to stop wearing hats. No hat meant no tip of the hat. Now of course, we don't even hold open the doors, or even give up our seats. While there are many factors why this is, I believe there is a correlation between how one dresses and how one acts. The officer is the perfect gentleman, for example, while the hood is the perfect scoundrel.

Lord Best said...

The standard of dress in Australia is truly deplorable. I live in a city which is a good ninety minutes drive from the coast, yet everyone wears beachware. The boys look like brightly coloured thugs, the girls look like prostitutes. In summer everyone wears hoodies and those awful beanie hats.
I cannot say my standard of dres is exceptional, if only because I cannot afford a nice bespoke suit (one day, one day) but I do atleast make the effort to look respectable.

Lord Best said...

I do own a lovely, genuine, Top Hat c1900 in immaculate condition which I wear to special occassions though.

Sorry to double post.

Kipling said...

Ah, Leslie Howard. One of the many indictments I lay before the modern world is that it has failed to produced another even remotely like him, or Fred Astaire. His 1934 Scarlet Pimpernel is truly a classic.

Whenever I see old footage if the Great Depression I'm always impressed by the men standing in line at the soup kitchens, they're better dressed that most millionaires today. As down on their luck as a man can be and yet they still had enough self respect to look like men.

Kipling said...

Lord Best,

The winter in Canada keeps the bad dress to a minimum, but it all goes to the boards come summer. The elder Dominion is not much better off sadly.