Welcome back. I checked the PoW thread and was surprised to see it had been locked.

You know that writing/promoting a book on clothes may make you a target for some. You also know posting styles may be more abrasive than AAAC or LL.

I still like your hat. It is hot enough in London to wear something like that at the moment.

Ah! -

So, we'll go no more a snarking
So late into the night,
Though the mouths be still a-barking,
And old Grayson's still a blight.

There is a body spinning in Hucknall-Torkard....

*originally I put 'Big Tony' but the biggest current agitator, is, I see old Grayson.

Last edited by NJS (2010-07-10 07:32:02)

Please post pics of Brazil... such a beautiful place.

It's great to have Nicholas back.

Hello you two! A friend got married at this church and I know The Mitre of old. We'' all meet up there one fine day!.

I want to go into the Italian church on the Clerkenwell Road one day. Whenever the door is open it is usually for a funeral. The Italian deli next door is now closed but the driving school up near Grays Inn Road still has 'Scuola' across the shop front.

Saffron Hill was home to the Italian race course gangs of pre war fame and various Dickens characters before that.
^ Not sure of some of the terminology above. Do you mean facing the congregation and with his back to the congregation ? The Latin Mass Society used to be tucked down a side street when I worked in the Princess Louise end of Holborn.

Last edited by Kingstonian (2010-07-13 15:00:29)

^ There is a German school in Richmond on the border with Ham near the polo ground.

Italian procession is very soon indeed. Maybe next weekend. I saw posters but do not remember the dates.

''The Procession of Our Lady of Mount Carmel takes place in Clerkenwell on July 18th in 2010 and has its roots in the Victorian era. Today, it's a great chance to soak up some Italian atmosphere - and enjoy delicious Italian food. The procession, one of few held outside Italy, dates back to the 1880s and was started by devout Italian immigrants. When it originally took place it was the first outdoor Roman Catholic event that had been allowed in London since the time of Henry V111 and the Reformation. Apparently Queen Victoria gave special permission for it to be held.

Little Italy in London
The Procession of Our Lady of Mount Carmel takes place each year in Clerkenwell, an historic area that’s popularly known as London’s Little Italy. Clerkenwell long had a reputation for radicalism and as a refuge for proscribed religious groups.

In later years the area also established a reputation as a home for traders and artisans – particularly for skilled watch-makers and clock-makers. By the 1850s, around 2000 Italian had settled there – some working in the horological trades, others making plaster models of saints or making a living as street musicians – most famously as organ-grinders.


St Peter's Italian Church
This lively Italian community needed its own church and in the mid 19th-century work started on a grand building that was modelled on the Basilica of San Crisogono in Trastevere, Rome. It was consecrated in 1863 and is generally known as St Peter’s Italian Church. It soon established a reputation for fine music.

The Procession of Our Lady of Mount Carmel became an important annual event, and eventually became something of a street festival – with decorated floats and people in colourful costumes. It still draws members of London’s Italian community, as well as many visitors. It’s a great chance to taste Italian food, as there are stalls selling all sorts of traditional treats.''

I think Gunmakers pub in Eyre Street Hill stays open for the procession day. Usually closed at the weekend.

Last edited by Sator (2010-07-13 18:41:27)

Heavy cloth, heavy canvas. Light cloth, light canvas. It's a very basic tailoring principle.

Now, let me put it this way. Soft tailoring was born of a drive for lightness. Canvasses remained quite heavy until later in the twentieth century. This is why old fashioned soft tailoring was born in the 20th century. This involved gutting the inside of the coat. I have dissected one 1950s A&S coats made of 16-18 Oz cloths made up with a linen canvas not much heavier than a shirting. This would be considered a bizarre mismatch today. These days if you want lightness you can have your feather light cloth and match it with a light wool-hair tropical weight canvas so you can have your cake and eat it: lightness while minimising any compromise to structure.

What is really bizarre is this LL business of pushing for a return to a redundant old fashioned soft tailoring where you grossly mismatch heavy cloth with light inner construction. That's just an anachronism. It's unnecessary to stick to this sort of old fashioned stuff unless you are trying to preserve some sort of historical "house style" come hell or high water. Heavy cloth needs a proper heavy canvas. In fact this is precisely what makes garments of heavy cloth look good: structure!!!!