It's not Labor Day yet but rainy season is not too terribly far in the future. And that makes it timely to write about umbrellas, so that there's ample opportunity to break oneself of bad habits before the season begins.
We can assume that there are bad habits aplenty out there, because some men imagine that carrying an umbrella is intuitive. After all, they put crooked handles on the end, right? But that's not how an umbrella is to be carried.
The correct way, illustrated by our man with the lord's hat, is to grasp it by the middle with the handle pointing to the rear. And there you have it.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
How to Carry an Umbrella
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31 comments:
Why? You make this statement but give absolutely no support. Is it somehow bad for the umbrella? Is it 'poor form' for some unknown reason? Or is it just 'correct' because you saw it in this picture?
It seems to me that carrying it as you suggest would require gripping a wet piece of nylon rather than a dry handle. Unless there is a good reason, I prefer to keep my hands dry.
Dear Will,
that's an interesting way to carry the umbrella. It looks a bit aggressive with the tip pointing forward.
May I ask where you get the Esquire/AA pictures from?
yours truly
Degendorff
Umbrella covers should be silk, and if you think about it they are no wetter or drier than the handle when the canopy is furled.
The pictured brolly doesn't seem to have a cover. Also, I should think it is against good manners to hold it with the end pointing in the air, like a weapon about to be used.
hans,
Speaking as a resident of the City of New York, if more people carried their umbrella this way, the streets would be less violent. When the point is in front of you as it is here, you can see it and therefore avoid hitting someone. When the point is behind you, you cannot see who it may strike and therfore you are in less control.
Thanks for the post Will.
Meaning no disrespect, but on this side of the pond it is customary to carry your brolly with the handle forward, as demonstrated by our young Prince William and Harry (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-454526/Bradford--Kingly-Wills-Harry-bowler-hat-parade.html).
Cheers.
Looks like the man in your own logo image to the immediate right is carrying his umbrella backwards--with the handle pointing towards the front.
Seems arbitrary to me. Still no specific reason for this method. As I live in sunny So. Cal. I rarely carry and umbrella and when I do it is of a small compact size with a very large canopy. I can carry it in a Raincoat pocket or in my brief case.
I seem to remember an old quote - and I can't seem to find the reference for it at the moment - that roughly stated that a gentleman (I believe it was actually "Bostonian") needn't be concerned with the proper way to carry an umbrella. His driver carries it.
:-)
I have to agree with Michael handle forward, even if holding the handle.
William
Ah, but Will, in your illustration there is clearly an English soldier in the background (wearing a Busby), and so the gentleman in the picture should be carrying the umbrella in the British manner (i.e. handle forwards). Could it be that maybe you have got it wrong that there is an "American" method of carrying umbrellas? After all, you offer very little other evidence as to why a brolly should be carried in this manner.
My father once foiled an attempt to pick his pocket while we were in Naples, Italy in the '70's. He jabbed the fellow in back of him with the point and cracked the accomplice in front of him in the jaw when the accomplice turned to help his man. They both fled. Even as a former sabre man, I've been a handle forward guy ever since. But I keep my tip slightly below "low ready" in order to avoid collateral damage to the population at large.
Regarding the picture of the Princes. It's obviously raining (their clothes are wet). They are carrying umbrellas. Why aren't they using them?
Here's the answer.
Will, the interesting picture You have shown represents the typical "British manner " of carrying an umbrella.For this purpose I am enclosing a link for a picture from the"Hulton Archive" showing (the gentleman on the left) the Young Prince of Wales Edward, future king Edward VIII-future Duke of windsor ,carrying his umbrella in that way.
http://www.noveporte.it/taccuino/
tau/grande.php3?idfoto=4006
Was the POW an initiator also of this style, like for other masculine fashion trends?
Thanks for the post.
Angelo
Who would have thought how one carries an umbrella would be such an emotionally charged debate. Personally, I carry the umbrella handle forward at a slight upward angle. This way the flask in the handle of my umbrella is closer to my mouth. One must really have their priorities.
Will, I am in possesion of a photograph, circa 1958, of the Officers of the Guard, in Mufti
(civilian dress) marching to a cerimony in London. All are carrying umbrellas gripped in middle of cover, level, and handles
to rear, open end down.
Regards,
Robert Harris
I believe a gentleman carries his umbrella in the manner depicted. I carry mine by the handle pointing down. (Ah-hah!) In my decrepit state it serves, with its wood shaft, as a proxy for my stick.
Mr. Harris, if I remember correctly, that is also the way one would carry sheathed sword. If I am correct, it would seem that the Guard, in Mufti, simply trades the officer's sabre for the umbrella as they are not really out of uniform.
Just a thought.
Oh good lord! Is there nothing more important to discuss that the proper way to carry an umbrella? And in all of this, no mention of Ms. Poppins and her most elegant method of holding hers firmly as she drifted in on a new breeze?
I love this blog, but if Fink and Mao can come up with 85 ways to tie a tie, we can surely accept that there are many ways to properly carry something.
I was originally going to weight in on the debate, but I think I agree with the commenter above. When I carry my umbrella in between the handles of my briefcase (a la Sean Connery in Indiana Jones), just walking around requires me to switch hands occasionally, and with that, either the umbrella hand or point is in front. I do generally prefer handle in front.
E. M. Forester:
"All men are equal. All men, that is, who possess umbrellas."
The gentleman in the AA/Esky picture is wearing beige leather gloves and smoking a cigarette. Has anybody else noticed in most of the AA/Esky illustrations gentlemen wear this color of gloves almost exclusively?
Temperate climates are great for clothes fanatics...we actually think deeply about an umbrella, why should beige gloves be more elegant than say black or brown...and secretly yearn for the return of hats as standard fashion for gentlemen.
I can't wait for fall/winter to arrive...I may actually be able to use one of my hats for a day out of the season.
I also disagree that this is either the only or the proper way to carry an umbrella, but I hesitate to specify why exactly I dissent because there is no defense provided for the initial post. That said, in any crowded city, no umbrella should approach the horizontal plane - doing so is asking for violence, whether the sharp end is forward or aft. I carry mine, spear tip down, grasped in the middle. Maybe I carried that habit over from the Boy Scouts, who propose a similar direction with rifles and knives. Though the Indiana Jones manner is quite dashing as well. very.. adventurey. So.. is there a defense for your preferred manner of umbrella-carrying, Will?
This post aroused a bit of controversy didn't it?
The historically correct way to carry an umbrella comes, like so much of men's dress, from military history.
"When dismounted, an officer should carry the sheathed sword in his left hand with the hilt facing to the rear."
Since this method suffices for men in close order drill it should be no surprise that it also works just fine on city streets.
Will
I don't disagree, but it would be useful to know the source from which you quote.
Thanks!
Will,
If you look at the two officers in the background you'll see they carry their swords nearly vertical. points aimed to the ground. Not at all like our gent in the forground.
The hat in the picture reminds me of the hats worn by Daniel Day-Lewis and other men in The Age of Innocence. Do you know anything about such hats?
Miles, it's a Lords hat. That's a homburg with an unbound brim and a couple of dents in the front.
Thanks! I did a Google search on "lord's hat" and (among the "Lord's hat trick" sports pages) came up with your earlier essay on the lord's hat and the cavalier. It's a pleasure to read your blog, and was nice, having already seen a picture of your cavalier, to find that you'd been wanting one.
Will,
My father taught me to 'walk' an umbrella in much the same way as one would use a walking stick, this is a much more natural way of comporting oneself and also more elegant.
You might like to look up an old British television series called The Avengers where the character John Steed gives a regular master class in umbrella deportment.
I own a Swaine Adeney Brigg (known as a 'Brigg's brolly') with an Ash handle and a silver collar - less predicable than the more standard handles and a touch more stylish I think.
kind regards
Nick
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