Style Icon Extra: Bertie Wooster

Well that's the last time I make any promises about when my next post will be, or joke about hospital visits.  You can probably guess from that where I found myself last week, much to my annoyance and discomfort.  Still all's well again now, so while I settle back in to the daily routine of life here's a post that's been sitting in my Drafts folder for months just waiting to be finished - and now seems to be the perfect time.  Yes, it's an extra Style Icon to finish off a series I began last year and another special "fictional character" edition.  Perhaps the ultimate gentleman's style ideal, it is none other than the great and good Bertram Wilberforce Wooster.

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Although primarily a literary character, such is the beauty of P.G. Wodehouse's writing - not least the attention to detail lavished on Bertie's clothing (ably directed by Jeeves's discerning eye) and the humorous events that can sometimes result - that the suits, ties, hats and whatnot jump off the page just as well as the incidents and accidents, the fun and games and the people and places poor old Bertie encounters throughout the stories.

Played on film and TV, first by previous Style Icon David Niven in 1935's Thank You, Jeeves, then with Ian Carmichael in B.B.C.'s 1965-67 series The World Of Wooster, Bertie (and Jeeves) received by far their best portrayal - and the one most people know and which will form the basis of this post - by Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry in the 1990s series Jeeves & Wooster.

The '90s Granada TV Jeeves & Wooster series is rightly regarded as the definitive essaying of these two perfect gentlemanly characters and the sheer high level displayed by the wardrobe department is but one reason the whole programme worked so well.  Bertie's suits, ties, waistcoats and other accessories (not to mention his few fashion faux pas!) are all there just as you would imagine them from the books - the ultimate style of an English gentleman.  Stumbling across the costume warehouse storing all these drool-worthy items of clothing ranks high on my list of sartorial dreams!

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So where does one begin?  Whether in a brown 3-piece and tweeds for the country, or greys and pinstripes in Town, Bertie Wooster cuts an impeccable dash as he stumbles from one misfortune to another.

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Not only are the suits wonderfully cut and perfectly fitted but the are accessorised brilliantly, be it with a natty tie, a well-placed pocket square, a splash of colour in the buttonhole (how overlooked is a flower in the lapel these days?!) or topped off with a complementing hat, gloves and cane.  In the books and in the series this is of course thanks in part to the guiding hand of every chap's ideal gentleman's gentleman - Jeeves.  Without him you get the feeling that Bertie might stray from the path of sartorial rightness more often and even I have found occasion to ask myself "What would Jeeves say?" when contemplating some item of clothing or other.

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A fine proponent of Spearpoint and pin collars, Bertie Wooster has long inspired me to try both types of shirt collar.  I already own two or three pins and collar bars, now it is just a matter of saving up for the shirts themselves - from either Darcy Clothing or The Savile Row Co. for preference.

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Bertie also proves that the pinstripe is not the preserve of bankers or gangsters, pulling it off nicely in several episodes.  He also illustrates perfectly the correct way to wear gloves with a suit and I often used to use the picture below to try and educate my otherwise ill-informed work colleagues who would take great delight in making nonsense remarks likening them to "serial killer" or "Fascist Nazi" gloves(!).  Honestly, the ignorance I had to put up with sometimes!

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The double-breasted suit - even occasionally the rarer double-breasted waistcoat - is well represented also and further proof that it can work well on the thinner frame.

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Even though he constantly finds himself in the most embarrassing and unfortunate scenarios Bertie Wooster always manages by and large to remain well-dressed and debonair.  One often gets the feeling from reading the stories that he is simply a victim of circumstance and actually not at all too dumb.  I find myself more and more often empathising with his predicaments, how he does his best in the face of difficult situations - much as we might try to in the daily cut-and-thrust of the world and with those who inhabit it, seemingly making our lives that little bit tougher when we just want to toddle along minding our own business.  Not to mention trying to deal with certain female relatives and their strange ideas and expectations about us!  Of course having someone like Jeeves in our corner, were he to exist, would certainly make life a whole lot easier.  We can at least try to aspire to Bertie's sartorial splendour, as the epitome of the well-dressed gentleman about town.

Well, "tinkerty-tonk!", as our hero would say, and I hope to be back with more typical Eclectic Ephemera fare before ere long.  Enjoy what remains of the weekend and cheero for now!

Basil Rathbone, Style Icon

While I wait for vintage news to pick up, and plan one or two other posts for the meantime, now seems ideal for another of my Style Icons from the Golden Era of Hollywood.

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For many, myself included, Basil Rathbone was the best actor to play the great detective Sherlock Holmes (on the big screen at least) and it is that role for which he remains most known.  Prior to the Holmes series, however, he had already appeared in dozens of silents and talkies and was frequently the go-to actor for villainous parts (most memorably Sir Guy of Gisborne to Errol Flynn's Robin Hood and Captain Esteban Pasquale to Tyrone Power's Zorro).  As he tended to appear in period films he is often pictured in costume but this post will of course feature him in contemporary clothes (helped in no small part by twelve of the fourteen Sherlock Holmes films being set in the then-present 1940s).

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That's not to say a deerstalker and an Inverness cape is
something to be sniffed at!

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Although he carries off the heavy overcoat and trilby well too!

Along with his friends and later colleagues, including Claude Rains and Ronald Colman, Basil Rathbone served first as a private in the British Army during the First World War (where his theatrical training - he had first been on stage as early as 1911 - shone through not least when he successfully camouflaged himself and scouted enemy positions in broad daylight) before rising through the ranks to Captain.  At war's end he returned the the theatre (his first love) and continued to perform on stage into the '30s and beyond in tandem with his film work.

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Off stage (and screen) Basil Rathbone was no doubt a typical British gentleman actor of his time and if you watch interviews with him just as himself he comes across as a delightfully affable and good-humoured chap.  His on-screen personas, even the aloof Sherlock Holmes and the evil characters, are imbued with a certain charm - and that voice!  I could happily listen to Basil Rathbone reading the telephone directory.

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Like most men of his generation Basil Rathbone of course dressed in the way that we like-minded chaps would wish to emulate, with well-cut suits and proper accessories very much in evidence.  He was after all one of Hollywood British!

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In private life an inveterate party-thrower (allegedly at the request of his second wife Ouida Bergère) Basil Rathbone was also very forward-thinking in many respects.  As early as 1926 he was involved in a censorship debate about the play The Captive.  Rathbone and every other member of the cast were arrested (but later released without charge) because the production dealt with homosexuality - the wife of Rathbone's character leaves him for another woman.  Rathbone was convinced that the subject should be discussed more openly and was incensed by the whole thing.

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"Now where's Errol Flynn?!"
Ed: I want that pullover.

Whether you want to channel a bit of the sharp mind Sherlock Holmes, the sharp wit of Basil Rathbone (or even the sharp blade of Captain Esteban!) you'll get no argument from me about your choice.  Basil Rathbone, like so many of my Icons, embodies the traditional British characteristics of intelligence, charm and gentlemanliness while looking damned stylish as well.  The traditional suits, slacks, pullovers and hats are all there to be emulated, a fairly elementary (ha! d'you see what I did there?) look to achieve but the man, Basil Rathbone, will always stand alone.



The Basil Rathbone-Nigel Bruce films are easily found on Youtube (as well as being readily available on DVD) and the radio series, which ran concurrently, is also available to listen to here.

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Leslie Howard, Style Icon

Back to reality for the next in my series of stage and screen Style Icons, this time focussing on the great Leslie Howard.

All images courtesy of Doctor Macro.

A consumate theatrical and film actor, producer and director Howard was at home in his typical character of the intellectual, stiff upper-lipped Englishman with more than a hint of absent-mindedness - the latter often little more than an affectation used to deceive (although his friend - and previous Style Icon - David Niven once said of the off-screen Howard, "He was not what he seemed.  He had the kind of distraught air that would make people want to mother him.  Actually, he was about as naïve as General Motors. Busy little brain, always going."  Perhaps that was why he was so good at rôles that required such a performance). 

This is one of the reason why I like Leslie Howard so much - he is not the man of action in the same way as Cary Grant (or even Niven) or many of his other contemporaries; he is a thinker and is great for using brain rather than brawn in many of his parts.  He is proof that the sensitive, scholarly type can be just as effective and as attractive as a tough guy.  Attractive to the ladies both on and off screen - the latter a trifle too much, by all accounts (including Howard himself who once claimed "I didn't chase women but… I couldn't always be bothered to run away").

Like so many of his generation Leslie Howard served in the Army during the First World War but was invalided out in 1916 after suffering from shell shock.  Acting was suggested as a way of recovery.  Despite his success in Hollywood (and on Broadway) and an affinity with the United States Howard remained ever patriotic, always speaking highly of his home country.  When the Second World War began he returned to Britain and became heavily involved in the war effort (an action that would eventually lead to his demise), creating two of his most famous films "Pimpernel" Smith and The First of the Few as well as giving lectures, writing articles and delivering radio broadcasts.  While several of his expatriate co-stars also returned to do their bit, Leslie Howard's brand of loyalty to me always seemed something different, something more - a kind of thoughtful patriotism perhaps best illustrated in this quote:

Britain's destiny ... has been to uphold tolerance in religion, thought, speech, and race--the mainspring of democracy. We have still far to travel on the road to true democracy, but ... Britain, with her great gifts and strange inconsistencies had helped populate five continents and shown that the white man and the coloured man can live in peace together. We have also taken the Roman ideal of just administration, the Greek ideal of democracy and freedom of art, and the French tradition of the family unit, along with the Norse courage and loyalty and the Christian faith. Like all people, we have made some mistakes and have committed some crimes during our history, but we can say that we have built something worthy of our defence. We can look at our record without shame.

To return to Howard's general appearance and demeanour (both on and off camera) - has anyone ever looked better wearing round-rimmed spectacles, stout tweeds or standing on a foggy railway platform wearing an overcoat with turned-up collar and a carelessly-donned trilby?  Even better is that this is a look that can be more easily achieved than any that has come before, as it revels in the fact that fastidiousness and exactitude are not necessarily required.  The slightly wild spearpoint collar doing battle with the v-neck of a sleeveless pullover topped off with a heavy tweed jacket, the aforementioned trilby sitting atop one's head.  If you can cultivate a slightly detached dreaminess (or just be blessed with it) even the smartness of evening wear (or period costume should you want to emulate Howard's Sir Percy Blakeney or Ashley Wilkes!) should not pose a difficulty.  Maybe that is another reason why I admire Leslie Howard - for being a natural Englishman who one can not only look up to but also come close to imitating.  Only close, mind you, for as with all my Style Icons Leslie Howard is ultimately the embodiment of gentlemanliness.

David Niven, Style Icon

Egad, it's gone all quiet again!  Time to roll out another style icon, methinks.

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David Niven is not only an icon in the style stakes, but is also the quintessential Englishman.  Cary Grant may have been born in England, Fred Astaire as near as dammit successfully carried off the English fashions (and both men shopped at Savile Row) but David Niven neatly encapsulates the stylish British gentleman.

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As with all my style icons thus far David Niven can manage a multitude of looks yet still retain his air of grace and sophistication.  He also possesses a type of gentlemanliness that is all his own; simultaneously the ladies-man, chevalier and all-round wit.  He was as much the raconteur, merrymaker and gentleman away the camera as he was in front of it.  I admire him all the more for this considering the many hardships he had to endure during his life - at 5 losing his father to the Great War, then a step-father who made no secret of his dislike for him; a difficult school life; an unhappy Army career (during one particularly boring lecture, when he was due to go out on a date, Niven was put under arrest for responding to the request for "any questions" with "Could you tell me the time, sir? I have to catch a train"!); the struggle to make it in 1930s Hollywood; the tragic loss of his first wife and his less-than-happy second marriage; an active role in the Second World War and finally his painful (and much publicised at the time) illness and death.  To accomplish so much and be so dashed... debonair despite all that is just marvellous.

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Like his contemporaries Niven was at home in the styles of his period(s), be they the casual off-set look (above) or the formal evening wear in which he would sometimes appear both in front of the cameras or at awards ceremonies and all of which he wore with effortless aplomb.  Who better to play Raffles, the gentleman thief?  (Well, OK, Ronald Colman, yes...).

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Of course in uniform he was equally at home and his time in the Army was obviously of great benefit whenever he appeared in military-themed films.  He was, in fact one of the few "Hollywood British" to return to the United Kingdom after the declaration of war in 1939 and saw action with the Commandos from 1940, as well as still appearing in a the films The First Of The Few and The Way Ahead.  During one heated battle Niven was heard to say to his men, "Look, you chaps only have to do this once. But I'll have to do it all over again in Hollywood with Errol Flynn!"

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The pencil-thin moustache is even now known as "the David Niven" and epitomises the well-groomed elegance of the earlier time in which it was so popular.  It is impossible to imagine David Niven without his upper lip adornment, and equally difficult to pull the look off successfully today.  I know - I've tried (and failed!  Spectacularly.).

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As with Fred Astaire and Cary Grant, for the average chap to even approach the look sported by David Niven or the charming and urbane nature he displayed is practically impossible.  Perhaps more so than either of my previous two icons it is the manners - and not just the clothes - that maketh the man.  All we can ever hope to be is...

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Vintage Overstrand road sign becomes Norfolk’s latest Grade II listed building

British road signs c.1904

Vintage Overstrand road sign becomes Norfolk’s latest Grade II listed building

A quaint little story from Overstrand, North Norfolk now which reminds me of the fun that can be had keeping an eye out for old road signs and street furniture.

This particular sign looks to have fully deserved its preservation status as its 1904 date must make it one of the oldest in the country and it joins a further forty-nine such road signs around Britain that have obtained listed status.

Road signs that were designed prior to the 1957 Anderson Committee on traffic signage (which gave us the designs we see today) are getting rarer by the day, although some still remain dotted throughout the UK and hopefully like the one in this article will be preserved in future.  Many local authorities often already take care of any such signs in their area, as can be seen in the traditional "finger post" signs that still exist in rural areas.  I don't know about you, but I love seeing these old signposts when I'm in the countryside and the older-style signs from the '20s through to the '50s look positively delightful (although perhaps not easy to read at speed, hence the 1957 redesign).  Some of them look unfamiliar to us today - how many people would understand the "Flame of Knowledge" symbol used in the "School" sign? - but many of them remain largely recognisable, a testament to the original designs that were drawn up between 1904 and 1933.

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Until the Second World War motoring organisations like the AA and the RAC were also allowed to erect signs of their own design to complement the official ones.  They were mainly simple worded warnings with a triangular badge sign above, or circular when giving distances and place names.

It is wonderful to see a small yet important aspect of British motoring history recognised in this manner and I hope it leads to more rare signposts being saved by local councils and interested groups before they disappear altogether.  North Norfolk District Council are to be applauded for taking such a stance on its vintage street furniture and I think their suggestion of looking out for further examples of important historic road signs is an excellent one. I shall continue to keep my eye out for such rarities when travelling through East Anglia, and elsewhere.

Historic footage shows Bermuda at dawn of tourism age

Historic footage shows Bermuda at dawn of tourism age

It is amazing how the Internet can shrink the world to such an extent that a humble little vintage blogger in Great Britain can stumble across a news item from Bermuda, of all places.  That is what has happened, though, with this article from the Bernews website which has somehow managed to come within my purview.

And it's just the kind of thing I like for this blog, containing as it does film shot in the 1920s of Bermuda when the island was beginning to undergo a sea change from a simple British Company colony settlement into a tourism hot spot.  As such it contains not only a myriad of period detail, with well-heeled Americans, Canadians and Britishers holidaying on the island but also the occasional glimpse of an already fast-disappearing colonial way of life.  It's a fascinating snapshot of Twenties travel to a tourist location we now think of as quite "usual" and is thoroughly deserving of a wider audience.

Indeed, the entire Novia Scotia Archives look like a treasure-trove of 1920s and '30s delightfulness, which I shall look forward to viewing in more detail.  And all thanks to a Bermudan website I happened to chance across.  Splendid tool, the Internet, eh?

Jungle wreck MG car found in Borneo sold for £20,000

Jungle wreck MG car found in Borneo sold for £20,000

Another story of a classic [British] car being restored to its former glory now, only with the added twist of it originally being discovered in a Borneo jungle 40 years ago!  The question has fairly been asked, "how the hell did it get there?!"; alas, we may never know the answer for certain.  Perhaps some British diplomat stationed out there in the '50s had his favourite sports car shipped over for him to use?  Just one of many possibilities, I suppose.  (Incidentally, for some fine pictures of "forgotten" cars, or "sleeping beauties" as they would have it, I heartily recommend this site and book.  Although, as I will reiterate, it is wonderful when an old wreck is restored sometimes machines left to the ravages of Nature hold an almost artistic fascination.)

Restored and repatriated since then this example has made good money for an MG of the period (such as the one above), a testament to the patience and mechanical skills of the seller.  It is always a great thing when someone is able to look at something most people would consider beyond salvaging and see the potential to bring it back to its original condition; it's a viewpoint that is sadly somewhat rare these days, I think.

Although I can understand why a lesser man might have baulked at the thought of taking on a project such as this, considering the state the car was in to begin with(!), I admire and am grateful to Mr Standen for recognising the opportunity to give a new lease of life to what is, as he quite rightly calls it, "a piece of British automotive history".  It is clear that the new owner feels as much and I'm certain that this particular MG has many more miles of motoring left in it!

And now... the weather

Britain's obsession with the weather: 60 per cent admit it's a 'social prop'  

As interesting and amusing vintage-inspired news items seem rather thin on the ground at the moment (I've said before that they can be like buses - none for ages then two or three come along at once) I thought I would post a link to an article about the next best thing - amusing and interesting British cultural traditions.

"It is commonly observed, that when two Englishmen meet, their first talk is of the weather; they are in haste to tell each other, what each must already know, that it is hot or cold, bright or cloudy, windy or calm."

So wrote Samuel Johnson, the great author and lexicographer, in issue 11 of The Idler on Saturday 24th June 1758. Two hundred and fifty-two years later and it is funny, yet somehow reassuring, to see that nothing has changed. Many observers, both British and foreign, have since noted that we as a nation seem strangely obsessed with what the weather is doing. It has become something of an international joke that all we seem to talk about is the climate. Now thanks to the survey mentioned in the article, we can see that not only is it actually true, but also why we do it. Yes, we do it to be polite! What's the one safe topic of conversation that you can introduce at any level and with anyone you meet? Why, what the weather's like, of course! I do so love how these findings have sought to explain this curious little characteristic of British life and I hope it has given anyone from abroad reading this some insight into one of the many peculiar traits of the British people. So, what's the weather like where you are?

Land-speed record hope for lawnmower at Pendine sands

Land-speed record hope for lawnmower at Pendine sands

Some video footage here, courtesy of the B.B.C., of the preparations for the attempt on the lawnmower land-speed record that I first posted about a couple of months previously. The two chaps in the film seem particularly personable and just the kind of stout fellows one would expect to try for such an attempt. Were it not for the fact that the current record is held by an American one could say that it is a peculiarly British endeavour. Nevertheless it can be see as appealing to our sporting nature and sense of humour, so it would be nice to see us take the record. Good luck to Team Runningblade come the 23rd of May!

Remains of historic British monoplane discovered in Antarctica - Times Online

Remains of historic British monoplane discovered in Antarctica - Times Online

Well, here we are again after the Christmas and New Year holidays. Items of interest usually fizzle out over this period, plus of course I like to have a break now and again, you know! Three days in to 2010, though, and here we have an incredible story, an amazing example of good fortune. It is always fascinating to me to read about how explorers and men of determination looked upon the then-new technologies of aeroplanes and the like as a means to further challenges, not to mention how fast-advancing the machinery was in itself. Only eight years after its invention and someone decides to take an aeroplane to one of the most inhospitable places on the planet. Amazing and inspiring. The story of this particular aircraft's rediscovery is equally astounding and I am so glad that it has been found so that the story has again come to light and, what is more, reached a successful conclusion.