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#1 2008-03-09 06:23:54
- Taylor McIntyre
- Son of Ivy...
- Posts: 342
The Great Sartorial Divide -
Ahhhhh - The Atlantic Ocean!
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ac/Atlantic.png
We're picking up quite a few entertaining sartorial divides between the UK & the US these days on the forum so it might be fun to collect them all together and add a few more to the growing list.
The impact of a Bow Tie in America is very different to that of a Bow Tie in England we have learned.
Ditto the Classic Brooks Bros. Camel Polo coat - Is it really just a coat for flashy, old-skool Gangsters?
(Depends on who you ask & where!)
The English style loafer is nowhere near the American style loafer either, both in terms of styling and meaning.
And then there's the button-down collar... "Trad" or "Mod"?
This is a thread to collect all those things with secret double-lives on either side of the Atlantic.
When Mr. Baracuta catches his flight from Logan to Heathrow at what point does he stop being a Preppy golfer and start being a Cabby from the Mile End Road who'll have your guts for garters if you spill his pint?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3gVGztvTvk
Join in, do.
Jim
#2 2008-03-09 06:43:01
- Cheeky Monkey
- Member
- Posts: 1273
Re: The Great Sartorial Divide -
Horse bit loafer: prep/trad or sloane
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#3 2008-03-10 10:55:21
- AQG
- Member
- From: The Sticks
- Posts: 1306
Re: The Great Sartorial Divide -
The Barbour jacket or similar. Just smelly and green in the US. Loaded with class connotations on your side.
Bold check shirts. Good to go with a suit in the City. For the weekend in the US.
The white shirt. Top executive here. For juniors there.
Striped ties, about which so many debates have raged on AAAT.
#4 2008-03-10 11:09:45
- mike
- Member
- From: Covington, KY
- Posts: 1397
Re: The Great Sartorial Divide -
You love him? He is hephaistion.
#6 2008-03-10 12:45:53
- AQG
- Member
- From: The Sticks
- Posts: 1306
Re: The Great Sartorial Divide -
Last edited by AQG (2008-03-10 12:47:08)
#7 2008-03-10 13:00:35
- Taylor McIntyre
- Son of Ivy...
- Posts: 342
Re: The Great Sartorial Divide -
They go from strength to strength now that they are a solidly middle-class jacket/coat.
Pre-Sloane (which was a magazine thing first in Harpers & Queen in the 70's) they were either 'posh' or worn by hard working farmers. Nobody in between really bothered with them. Post-Sloane sales boomed, only different people were now buying.
I've spoken to Cheeky Monkey and others about this (Cheeky I think was born in a Barbour!) and they should be able to tell you similar stories. What was once niche was suddenly common property & was associated with some very odd ideas about its totemic significance.
I'd wager rather like Reds, Bean Boots & Norwegian sweaters after the OPH.
What did real US Preppies do once Prep wear became middle-class clueless fashion? Did they try to distance themselves like the real Sloanes did in the UK?
God forbid a real Preppy should be mistaken for some 'aspirational' cove from Lord-knows-where!
Surely the code of the real Preps altered?
J.
#8 2008-03-10 13:07:25
- Admiral Cod
- Member
- Posts: 412
Re: The Great Sartorial Divide -
"You will find that men of style and their adherents are considered either political enemies of the people or reckless, gluttoness consumers while most live in squalor" - FNB
#11 2008-03-10 14:27:36
- Cheeky Monkey
- Member
- Posts: 1273
Re: The Great Sartorial Divide -
Last edited by Cheeky Monkey (2008-03-10 14:28:19)
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#12 2008-03-10 15:26:27
- AQG
- Member
- From: The Sticks
- Posts: 1306
Re: The Great Sartorial Divide -
Sorry if I've taken this thread off course. To get back to Russell's original proposition, the blue blazer complete with metal buttons strikes me as having rather different uses and associations in the US and UK. I'm not sure I can put my finger on just what they are, though.
#13 2008-03-11 02:41:17
- Taylor McIntyre
- Son of Ivy...
- Posts: 342
Re: The Great Sartorial Divide -
^ Good example.
In the US the Blazer still seems very wearable while in the UK it has become debased. A real shame that as it is such a good jacket.
Proper hat wearing still seems OK in the US too while in England it has become unusual unless you are wearing a cap or some other low-key head gear. Hat wearers tend to stand out now in England.