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Isabelle Cecchini
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 3:14 am
Post subject: Bowler hats until after Goodwood Week? White Shoes after Lab |
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In /Put Out More Flags/ Evelyn Waugh wrote the following sentence:
"... he observed certain immature taboos of dress, such as wearing a
bowler hat in London until after Goodwood Week; ..."
As I had no idea about Goodwood Week --me being French, and a woman, and
all that-- I googled and learnt that Goodwood is connected with
horse-racing, and that Goodwood Week takes place at the end of July,
beginning of August.
Were gentlemen at the time that Waugh is writing about --just before
WWII-- subject to that "taboo[s] of dress"? Why does Waugh call it
"immature"? What did gentlemen wear after Goodwood Week was over? One
daren't imagine they might have gone bare-headed. And when did they
start wearing their bowler hats again?
Connected question, for American women: do you wear white shoes after
Labor Day? That's a serious question, by the way: how many of you were
aware of that sartorial taboo before "Serial Mom" appeared?
--
Isabelle Cecchini
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irwell
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 4:11 am
Post subject: Re: Bowler hats until after Goodwood Week? White Shoes after |
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On Wed, 02 Nov 2005 21:14:47 +0100, Isabelle Cecchini
<isabelle.cecchini@wanaNOSPAM.invalid> wrote:
| Quote: | In /Put Out More Flags/ Evelyn Waugh wrote the following sentence:
"... he observed certain immature taboos of dress, such as wearing a
bowler hat in London until after Goodwood Week; ..."
As I had no idea about Goodwood Week --me being French, and a woman, and
all that-- I googled and learnt that Goodwood is connected with
horse-racing, and that Goodwood Week takes place at the end of July,
beginning of August.
Were gentlemen at the time that Waugh is writing about --just before
WWII-- subject to that "taboo[s] of dress"? Why does Waugh call it
"immature"? What did gentlemen wear after Goodwood Week was over? One
daren't imagine they might have gone bare-headed. And when did they
start wearing their bowler hats again?
Connected question, for American women: do you wear white shoes after
Labor Day? That's a serious question, by the way: how many of you were
aware of that sartorial taboo before "Serial Mom" appeared?
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Never wear brown shoes with a blue suit. |
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Isabelle Cecchini
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 4:20 am
Post subject: Re: Bowler hats until after Goodwood Week? White Shoes after |
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irwell a écrit :
[...]
| Quote: |
Never wear brown shoes with a blue suit.
|
That's a no-no as well in France, where brown shoes are scornfully
called --or used to be, since the times, they are a-changing, and the
standards, they are a-diminishing-- "yellow shoes", "des chaussures
jaunes"! The Horror! The Horror!
--
Isabelle Cecchini
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the Omrud
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 4:30 am
Post subject: Re: Bowler hats until after Goodwood Week? White Shoes after |
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irwell <hook@yahoo.com> spake thusly:
| Quote: | Never wear brown shoes with a blue suit.
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I don't think I possess either, so I should be safe.
--
David
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Tony Cooper
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 5:50 am
Post subject: Re: Bowler hats until after Goodwood Week? White Shoes after |
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On Wed, 02 Nov 2005 13:11:48 -0800, irwell <hook@yahoo.com> wrote:
| Quote: | Never wear brown shoes with a blue suit.
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Cordovan shoes, though, are quite acceptable with a dark blue suit. I
have no idea what might wear with an electric blue suit.
--
Tony Cooper
Orlando, FL |
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nancy13g
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 6:26 am
Post subject: Re: Bowler hats until after Goodwood Week? White Shoes after |
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Isabelle Cecchini wrote:
| Quote: | Connected question, for American women:
do you wear white shoes after
Labor Day? That's a serious question,
by the way: how many of you were
aware of that sartorial taboo before
"Serial Mom" appeared?
|
I don't know what "Serial Mom" is -- a movie, I assume? In any event, I
don't need a movie to explain fashion rules to me -- and wearing white
shoes after Labor Day is one of the hardest and fastest such rules I
know. I was brought up on that taboo, as were most of the women I know.
Nowadays, I might possibly wear white shoes after Labor Day, but I
don't think I could do it without feeling slightly guilty, and I
definitely wouldn't do it if I were going to a social event where there
would be mostly older, nicely dressed women. |
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dimestore
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 6:29 am
Post subject: Re: Bowler hats until after Goodwood Week? White Shoes after |
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What did gentlemen wear after Goodwood Week was over? One
| Quote: | daren't imagine they might have gone bare-headed. And when did they start
wearing their bowler hats again?
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From the late 1800's to the 1930's it was customary for men to wear straw
hats in the summer. Straw boaters
were especially popular up to the '30's, but were quickly surpassed by the
Panama. |
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Mike Lyle
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 6:52 am
Post subject: Re: Bowler hats until after Goodwood Week? White Shoes after |
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Isabelle Cecchini wrote:
[...]
| Quote: | Were gentlemen at the time that Waugh is writing about --just
before
WWII-- subject to that "taboo[s] of dress"?
|
Yes, they were. But I think it had peaked under Ed VII, who was a
stickler for that kind of thing, having during his formative years
had little else to occupy his mind. He did once try to start a
fashion for trousers pressed sideways instead of fore-and-aft, but
didn't pursue it.
| Quote: | Why does Waugh call it
"immature"?
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Because it's, well...ben, heu...a bit immature. I mean, who cares? I
think a lot of the dress-code stuff was predicated on an assumption
that one wanted to look as though one might be about to meet the
King.
| Quote: | What did gentlemen wear after Goodwood Week was > over? One
daren't imagine they might have gone bare-headed. And when did they
start wearing their bowler hats again?
|
I don't know, but I suspect that a Panama was permissible until
September, even in Town.
The wisest attitude was that of the late Duke of Norfolk, who said
that it didn't matter how he dressed at home, because everybody knew
he was the Duke, and it didn't matter how he dressed in Town, because
nobody knew he was the Duke. The British upper classes and clothes is
a mildly interesting mini-subject: being smartly dressed has never
been smart, but one had to get it right without effort.
Me, I'm frightfully smart: I'm scruffy nearly all the time. You've
got to have balls to wear a tattered old Barbour in London or
Melbourne (forget bloody Adelaide: they'd throw me out).
--
Mike. |
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John Dean
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 7:04 am
Post subject: Re: Bowler hats until after Goodwood Week? White Shoes after |
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irwell wrote:
| Quote: | On Wed, 02 Nov 2005 21:14:47 +0100, Isabelle Cecchini
isabelle.cecchini@wanaNOSPAM.invalid> wrote:
In /Put Out More Flags/ Evelyn Waugh wrote the following sentence:
"... he observed certain immature taboos of dress, such as wearing a
bowler hat in London until after Goodwood Week; ..."
As I had no idea about Goodwood Week --me being French, and a woman,
and all that-- I googled and learnt that Goodwood is connected with
horse-racing, and that Goodwood Week takes place at the end of July,
beginning of August.
Were gentlemen at the time that Waugh is writing about --just before
WWII-- subject to that "taboo[s] of dress"? Why does Waugh call it
"immature"? What did gentlemen wear after Goodwood Week was over? One
daren't imagine they might have gone bare-headed. And when did they
start wearing their bowler hats again?
Connected question, for American women: do you wear white shoes after
Labor Day? That's a serious question, by the way: how many of you
were aware of that sartorial taboo before "Serial Mom" appeared?
Never wear brown shoes with a blue suit.
|
'Why, 'e looks more like a bookmaker's clerk - in brahn boots!'
That's why we 'ad to be so rude to 'im,
That's why we never said 'Ow do!' to 'im.
We didn't know - he didn't say
He'd give 'is other boots away.
But brahn boots! I ask yer - brahn boots!
While all the rest
Wore decent black, and mourning suits!
--
John Dean
Oxford |
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Sara Lorimer
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 7:21 am
Post subject: Re: Bowler hats until after Goodwood Week? White Shoes after |
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Isabelle Cecchini wrote:
| Quote: | Connected question, for American women: do you wear white shoes after
Labor Day?
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No. Nor do I wear them before Labor Day, nor on Labor Day itself.
| Quote: | That's a serious question, by the way: how many of you were
aware of that sartorial taboo before "Serial Mom" appeared?
|
I don't know what "Serial Mom" is, but the fashion of not wearing white
shoes between Memorial Day and Labor Day (or at least saying that other
peoplee shouldn't) is nothing new.
--
SML |
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Charles Riggs
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 8:08 am
Post subject: Re: Bowler hats until after Goodwood Week? White Shoes after |
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On Wed, 2 Nov 2005 23:52:33 -0000, "Mike Lyle"
<mike_lyle_uk@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk> wrote:
| Quote: | The British upper classes and clothes is
a mildly interesting mini-subject: being smartly dressed has never
been smart, but one had to get it right without effort.
|
The same holds for the upper class in America. One sees well-polished
black shoes on the feet and spiffy blue suits on the backs of the
lower class, not the elite. The well-to-do have no need to impress.
--
Charles Riggs |
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Charles Riggs
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 8:08 am
Post subject: Re: Bowler hats until after Goodwood Week? White Shoes after |
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On Wed, 02 Nov 2005 13:11:48 -0800, irwell <hook@yahoo.com> wrote:
| Quote: | Connected question, for American women: do you wear white shoes after
Labor Day? That's a serious question, by the way: how many of you were
aware of that sartorial taboo before "Serial Mom" appeared?
Never wear brown shoes with a blue suit.
|
Not a law of dress, even if it is often said.
What you can't do is wear a stripped tie with a checkered shirt, a
green tie with a blue jacket, or white socks with long trousers.
--
Charles Riggs |
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Skitt
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 8:09 am
Post subject: Re: Bowler hats until after Goodwood Week? White Shoes after |
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Tony Cooper wrote:
| Quote: | irwell wrote:
Never wear brown shoes with a blue suit.
Cordovan shoes, though, are quite acceptable with a dark blue suit. I
have no idea what might wear with an electric blue suit.
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You could have asked Johnny Cochran, but now it's too late.
--
Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus731/ |
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the Omrud
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 4:02 pm
Post subject: Re: Bowler hats until after Goodwood Week? White Shoes after |
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dimestore <dimefudge@sbcglobal.net> spake thusly:
| Quote: |
What did gentlemen wear after Goodwood Week was over? One
daren't imagine they might have gone bare-headed. And when did they start
wearing their bowler hats again?
From the late 1800's to the 1930's it was customary for men to wear straw
hats in the summer. Straw boaters
were especially popular up to the '30's, but were quickly surpassed by the
Panama.
|
For what values of "men"? Like, was it customary in Coventry? I
doubt either of my grandfathers ever owned any straw hats.
--
David
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Frances Kemmish
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 7:50 pm
Post subject: Re: Bowler hats until after Goodwood Week? White Shoes after |
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Sara Lorimer wrote:
| Quote: | Isabelle Cecchini wrote:
Connected question, for American women: do you wear white shoes after
Labor Day?
No. Nor do I wear them before Labor Day, nor on Labor Day itself.
|
My mother advised me never to white shoes, as they make your feet look
bigger.
| Quote: | That's a serious question, by the way: how many of you were
aware of that sartorial taboo before "Serial Mom" appeared?
I don't know what "Serial Mom" is, but the fashion of not wearing white
shoes between Memorial Day and Labor Day (or at least saying that other
peoplee shouldn't) is nothing new.
|
"Serial Mom" was a Kathleen Turner movie.
Fran |
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