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| Muffy Aldrich wearing her Cordings Wincanton Tweed |
"Heritage checks and tweeds, sharp tailoring and expensive watches – shoppers are increasingly seeking to emulate the old money English upper-class style portrayed in Guy Ritchie’s hit Netflix series The Gentlemen." - The Gentlemen creates surge in sales for upper-class fashion <https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2024/mar/31/netflix-the-gentlemen-sales-english-upper-class-fashion>
"It's discreet, stylish and very, very British - so no wonder hit Netflix show The Gentlemen has reached for the Royal fashion wardrobe..." - <https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13259543/Discreet-stylish-Netflix-Gentlemen-Royal-wardrobe.html>
I have received so many questions about what The Guardian refers to as "Old money English upper-class style," from old readers and new. Guy Ritchie’s series 'The Gentlemen' has prompted questions about where to get such featured items as the Cordings Wincanton Tweed and Cordings Follifoot.
Here are links to those posts:
- Cordings Wincanton Tweed <https://www.saltwaternewengland.com/2020/03/the-wincanton-tweed-jacket-trousers-and.html>
- The Fabulous Follifoot for Men from Cordings of Piccadilly <https://www.saltwaternewengland.com/2020/10/the-fabulous-follifoot-for-men-from.html>
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| The Cordings Wincanton Suite |
- Wincanton Tweed Jacket <https://www.cordings.co.uk/wincanton-tweed-jacket.html>
- Wincanton Tweed Fitted Waistcoat <https://www.cordings.co.uk/wincanton-waistcoat.html>
- Wincanton Tweed Pencil Trousers <https://www.cordings.co.uk/wincantontweed-pencil-trousers.html>
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| Muffy Aldrich Wearing Her Cordings Follifoot Tweed |
- Bark Herringbone Donegal Follifoot Coat <https://www.cordings.co.uk/bark-herringbone-donegal-follifoot-coat.html>
- Grey Herringbone Donegal Follifoot Coat <https://www.cordings.co.uk/grey-herringbone-donegal-follifoot-coat.html>
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| Cordings Follifoot Tweed |
It is interesting the style looks certainly much more like Virginia Hunt country not Fred’s (accurate) description of preppy. A large percentage of the people in my orbit move in and out of all three effortlessly.
ReplyDeleteIt’s an affectation
ReplyDeleteOutside of the old money English upper-class circles it absolutely is. If you're not it you're simply not it, however hard you try.
DeleteYou've got to love the naivety of the English press. You can't simply pop into a shop and "buy the look". The items would look far too new. That "Old money English upper-class style" is usually fraying at the edges, worn through in places, resoled multiple times and is usually passed down through generations. If you're outside those upper-class circles you're merely playing dress-up posh person or broadcasting that you're new money dressing like old money. Frequent some of the old English country pubs and you can spot and tell the two apart every single time.
ReplyDeleteWhat if somebody simply likes a style? Apparently that could be a violation of some nebulous class rule enforced from on high in England, but not in the US. I wear Trad clothes but was publicly educated and spent what little old money I had. Even worse, I often wear cowboy boots and jeans but I'm no cowboy. I live in Texas for chrissakes. In the US, anyone can be whoever he or she wants to be and to Hell with anybody who says they can't.
DeleteWell put Whiskeydent. The same applies in the U.K. otherwise shops like Cordings would be out of business. Old money/new money is nonsense nowadays. Mad dogs and Englishmen has clearly little knowledge of the "Old money English upper class" or how they dress. He's basing his comments on stereotypes from old books (fiction)
Delete@whiskeydent, well said
DeleteWhiskeydent, I like your style. Pretty sure that moneyed aristocrats generally spend their time enjoying all that life has to offer. Pretty sure they do not generally hang out in pubs judging other peoples' clothing.
Delete@tjmataa What an astute observation! many of these clothiers and tailors would be out of business if the aristocrats in England were wearing all hand-me-downs. It boggles the English mind that an American could wear posh upper class English clothing, I've been called a cosplayer but I wear my wellies when it rains, a flat cap for when my head needs covering, and tweed when I want, where I want. No one bats an eye at someone wearing a hijab or a yarmulke but when you where tweed and wellies, you're somehow a Nigel Farage cosplayer canvasing for a rural vote.
DeleteAnonymous11.01a.m. you keep wearing what you like wearing and enjoying it. Here in the UK fine country clothing is worn by old money, new money and working class money by people who have style and enjoy being well dressed. It has nothing to do with what you are born in to. In many cases e.g. in the shooting field, where I spend a lot of time it's essential. There are no "upper class" people or "lower class" people, just people with class
DeleteHaving spent a bit of time in English pubs, I can attest that they’re frequented by all classes - who appeared to get along (of not famously, then at least civilly) in those situations. The one thing I didn’t observe was an overt eyeballing of each other’s sartorial choices. That, would have been gauche… for either side of the social spectrum. As for the „authenticity” of their clothes, well - - the monied crowd was inevitably better turned out…
DeleteBanacek
You've made a very shrewd observation there Banacek "the monied crowd" and not "the old monied crowd"
DeleteSo take note all you shoppers at Cordings and the like, you're all a bunch of poseurs according to the man in the orange trousers
ReplyDeleteI think the reason “Old Money Style” appeals to many is because it is simple, fresh, and classic. It’s the antithesis of what fashion is today, over styled and over thought out. As far as the comment “ True Old Money style” is only clothing that has been worn and passed down, didn’t they start new at some point? This style resonates with me because I like to look as put together as I can with the least amount of effort possible. I am not concerned about whether I look as if I was born into, nor am I concerned if someone can spot me.
ReplyDeleteI remember old family and friends all from New England long since gone who would lineup to buy suits from the the person who had passed. Most of them with enough money to buy Brooks Brothers. That’s not the point. The point is they were just frugal. It had absolutely nothing to do with dressing well. Or trying to follow some gentlemanly ideal . They were just cheap. Very sad to say that that generation is long long gone. If they exist, I don’t know of them. I miss them. What a strange world we are in.
DeleteMuffy, please know that only the last shred of restraint in my body has now been expended by not replying to these banal entries on this topic. I refrain from fear of doing lifelong sartorial harm to some.
ReplyDeleteWell, I for one appreciate that there's a resurgence of interest in this classic style of dress. Compared to the flannel pajama bottoms/sweatshirt look or yoga tights/jogging bra look we've been assaulted with (spare me the ageist/sexist pablum) the last 10 years, I'm all for it.
ReplyDeleteNo one needs to own a 5000 acre estate or 18 bathroom mansion in order to dress with some care and with a modicum of effort.
If "The Gentlemen" causes a resurgence in quality and sophistication, I say bring it.
Cheers.
Here hear! Isn't it strange that some people think that being scruffy is a badge of honour
DeleteI've always felt that "scuffed collars and cracked shoes" was just an older version of today's faded tshirts and intentionally ripped jeans. Neither is desirable.
DeleteYEAH! You go, guy! I feel like we don't have enough men telling women what to wear these days. Whatever happened to the good old days? Off to straighten my stocking seams, put on some lipstick and greet my husband at the door with a drink and a smile.......
DeleteI thought the show was good, but I really struggled to get over some of the atrocious shirt and tie combos. It was almost as if someone was taking good tailoring and trying very hard to make it look bad.
ReplyDeleteI find it incongruous that a site purporting to be focused on the thing before preppy generates so much interest in an affected and odd style of dress from another country.
ReplyDeleteI find it incongruous that a commenter who most likely does not follow this site at all, except for possibly today, considers itself qualified to comment on what this site "purports" to be, or what "style of dress" is "affected," and what is not. The clothes featured here are all eminently wearable, especially the ones from Cordings, except, possibly, where you're from. That sounds like a "you" dilemma, not. site dilemma.
DeleteClass will out, once again!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the New England origins of "preppy" are all descended from people who were thrown out of England by the original Old Money set 400 years ago.
ReplyDelete