The observation that “comfort and freedom were the two principles that underlay the change in male fashion” could describe the state of menswear in the current climate. In fact, the comment was passed by the Duke of Windsor when speaking about the change in sartorial mores that took place in the 1920s and ’30s, a century ago.
Venerated as a sartorial arbiter in some quarters, the Duke of Windsor was a rebel. With his “dress soft” maxim, he did as much to liberate gentlemen from the tyranny of the tailcoat and starched collar as Gabrielle Chanel did to empower women with her use of jersey. He scandalised society by wearing ear-splittingly loud Argyle socks that clashed magnificently with his Fair Isle sweater, and admitted to the sin of preferring a belt to braces, whereas any gentleman knows that trousers should be worn from the shoulder.
By the standards of his time and class, the Duke did not dress like a gentleman; he dressed how people of my grandparents’ generation used to call a “cad”. I like him all the more for it.
Leon Dame photographed by Robin Galiegue for HTSI © Robin Galiegue
When I was in my late teens and early 20s, dressing like a gentleman was in the details. No white socks, except perhaps when playing tennis. Cufflinks were mandatory, but only the link-backed ones. Ties sent a message to fellow initiates of boarding school and landed antecedents, and usually came from Hermès (in the 1980s, Hermès-ish ties were as ubiquitous as Loro Piana Open Walk suede ankle boots are today). It was infra dig to wear brown shoes in town, unless they happened to be brown suede and you were wearing a flannel suit on your way to the races (do keep up). A little bit of a fray on the shirt collar or patched tweed was regarded as a sign of gentility, thrift and what we now know as sprezzatura. Wearing jewellery was, at best, considered dangerously Mediterranean, unless it was an old signet ring (gentlemen did not buy signet rings – like their furniture, they inherited them). And you were allowed two watches: a Rolex Oyster Perpetual and a Cartier Tank.
