A reader question:
Hi Muffy,
May I ask a question please.
How influenced were readers by their parents style of dress and behaviour bearing in mind the changes that the world has seen in recent decades?
From my own standpoint having lived through many different fashion fads in my early years I have realised in later life just how much of an influence my parents were. My father was military so smartness was imperative as were manners and both are (and always have been) very important to me. He was also a countryman and I inherited his love of country sports (and clothing) although strangely my brother didn't. My father knew how to dress for all occasions and he passed that knowledge on to me for which I am grateful.
Readers thoughts?
Kind regards
Profoundly influenced by my forebears: architecture, gardens, Southern furniture and all manner of style elements. My grandmother's impact upon my own style choices practically became a neurosis. She gave me my first Chanel No.5, my first Claire Burke potpourri, my Stieff Rose flatware, my first pearls and gold charm .... Collars up !!!
ReplyDeleteI have always respected their traditions, and simple elegance!
ReplyDeleteThe major influences from my grandparents and parents regarding material goods: buy quality, buy fewer but better, take care of your things, be clean, tidy, and well-groomed, and dress appropriately for the occasion. Those guidelines kept me from being too trendy or garish, even during my most bohemian days in the '70s.
ReplyDeleteMy forbears were all Scottish and Navy and eventually came to a small corner of San Francisco that never really moved into the modern world. Although the Navy took us far and wide, we never lost a sense of comfort with formality coupled with proudly growing old with the same things. These traits persist in me. They were reinforced growing up along the eastern seaboard in the era of single sex schools and their ritualistic ways, the same for my generation as for my parents. That world has now largely vanished, and although some of these ways are passed on to my children, most have ended. We live in radically changing times, times of cultural upheaval.
ReplyDeleteAnd that has been human history since the beginning.
DeleteIt has indeed been human history since the beginning, but the waves of change have been more compressed in some periods and stretched out in others. Although they span a handful of generations, the eras of my great grandparents, grandparents, parents, and myself had great commonality in dress and social convention until my own generation entered the late sixties. Now the changes wrought by technology have really accelerated things.
DeleteYes, and the older I get the more they have.
ReplyDeleteYep. My own approach of dress and something approaching pleasant manners/personal habits come from parents, maternal grandparents and extended family along the eastern seaboard from New England to the Carolinas but centered around DC, Manhattan, and Philadelphia.
ReplyDeleteKind Snowy Saturday Regards,
Heinz-Ulrich
My father left behind several J Press Harris Tweed sport jackets. They must be at least 30 years old. They fit perfect.
ReplyDeleteI think I was mostly influenced by how my parents dressed me.
ReplyDeleteOne of the earliest pieces of clothing I remember was a wool plaid LL Bean jacket that was a hand-me-down from my cousin. My older brother and I both had one, his was blue check, and mine was red check. They were probably made by Johnson Woolen Mills at that point.
Fast forward 25 years: I had started my first adult job, and I needed some new shirts. I was still wearing shirts my mom had bought me in high school from LL Bean and Brooks, and all I knew was I liked ones with buttons on the collars. Something about a loose point collar always bugged me. We had Google by then, and I located the Brooks store right by Grand Central. I took the train into the city, and as I walked out of the station I spotted a neat looking shop with the kind of clothes I liked in the window. It was J. Press.
Influenced by my cousin who was 5 years older and who went to boarding school. I always tried to copy his chinos, button down oxford and Shetland sweaters look.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful article in Dec. 14 NY Times about the remote Scottish island (Lewis and Harris) where the mill that produces Harris Tweed is located.
ReplyDeleteMy parents were WWII generation, so they were VERY "preppy". Back then it was called "Ivy". I was a hippy doofus and therefore rejected the preppy style.At about 50 years of age I came across a copy of "The Official Preppy Handbook". The clothing style it talked about were the clothes I found in my closet as a little boy. After overcoming youthful rebellion I returned to my preppy roots. Never thought I would care so much about "style", but the preppy or Ivy league look is so classy I cant get enough of it. God bless.
ReplyDelete