The clothes men wear at Meadowbrook
Esquire, September 1935: “It is in the horsey set that many of the country’s major trends of general fashion see their first presentation. The outfit at the left consists of a bold Glen plaid jacket of black and rust-brown, with a deep blue overplaid in an easy fitting natural-shouldered model with an outside ticket pocket and deep side vents, grey flannel slacks and an adaptation in brown suede of the postboy model waistcoat, a grey oxford shirt with a widespread collar attached, a brown and white shepherd’s check tie and a pork pie hat.
The other outfit includes a Saxony gun club checked double-breasted suit in a long rolled lapel model with unflapped pockets and deep side vents, a tab collar shirt with small grey checks, a black cashmere wool tie with yellow polka dots, a silk handkerchief of hunting yellow, monk-front reverse calf shoes with leather soles and heels, yellow chamois gloves and a rough felt Homburg hat.”
Wow. Quite a description. My item of desire from all that: a gun club double-breasted suit; That’d just be lovely. Without the waistcoat though.
I love DB suits with waistcoats, especially if the waistcoat is cut so that a couple of inches of it can be seen over the fastened suit jacket. I suppose a lot of chaps don’t like the look as it is rather a lot of fabric, but it looks so classic to me!
I’m more than a little surprised by the pairing of a Homberg with sports clothes. (Literally a sporting suit.)
It’s my understanding that Hombergs are the most formal of hats– second only to the top hat.
Curious that your illustration is from Esquire — same publication that did a two-page spread defining degrees of hat formality/informality: See Esquire October 1939, (and Stetson ad in the same number.)
Bernhard Roetzel; “Gentleman. A Timeless Guide to Fashion” is of the same opinion.
Did 1935 Esquire commit a faux pas, or intentionally break “the rules”, a la Simon Crompton? What do you think, SC?
Cheers,
–John