Barely a day goes by when I don't think of Jeff. Sunny, but sometimes a blunt bugger, especially if somebody was wasting his time over the 'phone.
His look was effortless. And I can well imagine our Gibson mistaking him for The Guv'nor.
He only once got (very slightly) ratty with me and that was when I was asking about cashmere scarves in mid-summer.
Looking at a long rail of Ralph Lauren shirts today I remembered how well Jeff wore his.
RIP.
I have many Jeff Garet stories but I fear they will cause Yuca and Sammy to have strokes. I went to his funeral in Golders Green cemetery. Uncle Ian was there, and Ken, and JS, and a few other old faces. Tried to join in with the Hebrew parts of the ceremony but was never very good at miming. Lots of reminiscences about his days going to watch Tottenham. He hated Scousers, but seemed to make an exception for me. We bonded over our hatred for Liverpool FC. He couldn't care less about clothes, but always looked great. There are salacious tales but I'll keep in clean. Loved Jeff, a great character, the heart of 2 Russell Street.
'I have many Jeff Garet stories but I fear they will cause Yuca and Sammy to have strokes.'
As they'll all be on one thread it could well be beneficial to the forum. It's when the majority of the threads are about 1980s London ivy that I think the focus is askew. Plus the fact that they're actually stories suggests they may make interesting reading.
I like Uncle Ian. His advice on chinos (Silvermans) has proved entirely sound.
I also like the idea, the irony, of Jeff not much caring about clothes. I guess - sensibly - he wore what he owned. Even a born thrifter/miser/bargain-hunter like myself (cue Sammy) has a few items that lie buried, if not entirely forgotten.
Just picked up (Sammy, where are you?) a couple of lambswool v-necks, two lambswool scarves and a quilted jacket for the staggering sum of £25. That means I can afford a bit of meat on Sunday and there'll be something left over for the whippets.
Jimbo was a five hundred shirt man. Others on here light candles to trudge up staircases concealed behind sliding panels only to find, in the attic, that old Haspel seersucker and four or five boxes of USA-made Sebago they'd clean forgotten about.
Everything I bought today claims to have been Made In England.
Up early and posting. A sick, possibly dying, cat on my hands. Morphine now.
Doing this helps. Makes me a bit sad, though, thinking of Jeff and Jimbo. Also Liam. Who's next?
Yet my daughter, now twenty four, still remembers Jeff giving her coins for that fairground ride near Russell Street. I'm glad we managed to go there as a family.
I remember driving up to JS on a Sunday in the summer, parking at Lincolns Inn Fields for free (this was a long time ago way before congestion charges etc.). Crossing the Kingsway, up Kemble St to Russell St. Got to JS and JG was outside having a break, he was in OCBD with rolled up sleeves, shorts off white cotton Burlington's (had a couple of pairs myself) and Beef Roll Loafers, and I thought only JG could carry it off & look good.
I've seen old photo's of Weller & Rowland trying to carry it off but they're way off the mark.
I think the reason he did it so well, R, was that he barely knew that he was doing it at all. Quite the opposite from my still slightly self-conscious checking in the mirror before leaving the house.
I might be wrong but I seem to remember him having quite an East End drawl.
Shorts, yes, once, when I was overdressed for a London summer, and possibly a grey sweatshirt. Never pushed it, a mistake both JFM and I admitted to. We learned from these chaps to 'take a step or two backward'.
Same here, I couldn't carry it off. You're right about them not having to bother, where as if I'm planning to go out I'm pulling stuff out of the wardrobe. I even got dressed and then gone back and changed again.
I would lay odd that most on here, even our Gibson, who is a complete unreconstructed Ivy nut, checks himself in the mirror before venturing into the wilds of Hackney. It might only be a navy polo and 501s but I just bet he has a look. As for the former Mods among us...
It’s Jeff’s birthday
Nice youmentioned it. I hope those still here are well. Time ticks on but we still enjoy the style.
Hello to anyone who sees this.
Last edited by An Unseen Scene (2023-08-09 01:54:48)