Book Review: The Provocative Pen of Lucius Beebe

A reader suggested that I might enjoy the writings of Lucius Beebe, one of the twentieth century's great newspaper columnists. The man knows what I'll like.

The Provocative Pen of Lucius Beebe is an edited collection of Beebe's columns for the San Francisco Chronicle in the 1960's. Beebe was a gourmand, boulevardier and dandy of note whose tastes are reflected in his writing. He loved London and was a regular customer of John Lobb. His clothes were by Henry Poole, "tailored of sixteen- and eighteen-ounce hard worsteds and sharkskins."

Writing of his first trip across the Atlantic, he relates some of the facts of life that he learned on the voyage: "gentlemen wear shawl collar dinner jackets, peaked lapels are for musicians; only show-offs drink more than one bottle of champagne for breakfast." On land, he travelled by train (he wrote a dozen or more books on railroading), in a private railcar.

Highly recommended. I was able to find two other books of Beebe's columns on Alibris and they are both on order.

George MacDonald Fraser Takes His Leave

His most famous character, Harry Paget Flashman, will live on but author George MacDonald Fraser, best known for resurrecting his literary anti-hero from a Victorian novel and chronicling his years of cowardice and vice, passed away January 2 of this new year at age 82. Fraser never sold movie rights and the dozen existing Flashman books may well be all we'll ever know.

Fraser's stories of Flashman's service in the British army are a politically incorrect survey of the late 19th century's hot spots. Based on "The Flashman Papers," the series was done so well that literally dozens of scholars have reviewed one book or another as factual - to the subsequent detriment of their reputations. It's one of the few times that a fictional liar, cheat and womanizer has been the center of so much attention, and Flashman's completely undeserved reputation for heroism means that his penchant for dereliction of duty is usually misinterpreted in his favor.

If you think you might enjoy a dose of tongue in cheek historical fiction and are unfamiliar with old Flashy, pick up a copy of Flashman at the Charge (1973), put on some music and sit down in your favorite chair with a glass of single malt. You'll be a while.

Twenty Great Clothing Books

Here is my list of the twenty great books on classic men's clothing and style of the past fifty years. Most of them are out of print but I've found copies and you can too. In no particular order:

• Scottish Estate Tweeds, E.P. Harrison. A history of tweed with photos of the great estate patterns.
• Esquire's Encyclopedia of 20th Century Men's Fashions, O. E. Schoeffler & William Gale. Esquire was once a style leader and the Encyclopedia covers what it thought about every category of men's clothing from the turn of the century through the 1970's. On the required reading list for every budding menswear designer and ferociously expensive.
• Men in Style, Woody Hochswender & Kim Johnson Gross. Learn how men dressed during the Golden Age from these Apparel Arts & Esquire illustrations.
• The 85 Ways to Tie a Tie, Thomas Fink & Yong Mao. Tired of your four-in hand? Here are all the options.
• The Englishman's Suit, Hardy Amies. How the western world came to dress like the English aristocracy, and how it still can. Expensive, if you can find a copy.
• Handmade Shoes for Men, Laszlo Vass. All about shoes made as they should be made.
• The Boutonniere: Style in One's Lapel, Umberto Angeloni. How to wear a flower in your lapel.
• The Elegant Man: How to Construct the Ideal Wardrobe, Ricardo Villarosa & Giuliano Angeli. Interesting overview with perhaps the best section on cloth that's been in print.
• Hatless Jack, Neil Steinberg. What you'll care to know about the hat.
• Eminently Suitable: The Elements of Style in Business Attire, G. Bruce Boyer. Well written and comprehensive look at the suit.
• Dressing the Man: Mastering the Art of Permanent Fashion, Alan J. Flusser. Big and beautiful review of how to dress.
• Clothes and the Man: The Principles of Fine Men's Dress, Alan J. Flusser. The visuals aren't as good as the ones in Dressing the Man but the text is better.
• The Book of Ties, Francois Chaille. Just about all you need to know about neckwear.
• Gentleman: A Timeless Fashion, Berhard Roetzel. Well illustrated. Less on suits and more on a variety of accessories for the gentleman's lifestyle.

Book Review: ABC of Men's Fashion

The English designer Hardy Amies, who passed away in 2003, was so far as I know the first important menswear designer. His book, ABC of Men's Fashion, was originally published in 1964, just as top down men's fashion was to disappear for twenty years in favor of street fashions.

Re-issued this month, ABC should be of interest to any man that appreciates classic dressing. Organized as a series of alphabetized definitions, it's a combination of forecasts that didn't happen - Amies believed that the next step for men would be high closing four button jackets and that boots would replace shoes - and useful thoughts on color, contrast, late day dress and other things you may not have thought about before.

For example, Amies points out that a 13 ounce mohair makes a great travel suit for all but the hottest destinations as it doesn't wrinkle and holds a crease as if it was made of metal. To that he adds that being relaxed on holiday should not mean that we walk around other people's cities dressed as if we were at a sea side resort. "Correct dressing is only another form of good manners, and good manners are only another form of mental comfort."

Amen.

Book Review: The London Cut

London's Savile Row has been the home of some of the world’s best, or at least best known, tailors for more than 200 years. And for most of the first 199 of those years, anything that smacked of marketing was frowned upon. Times change, and an association of Savile Row firms has sponsored the first book to cover the Row in more than two decades.

The London Cut, edited by James Sherwood, borrows its title from the name given to Frederick Scholte's drape cut in the 1930's. It uses conversations with the tailors and an excellent selection of images past and present to paint a picture of today's Savile Row in a series of essays about individual firms.

Since more than a few of those firms have websites, some readers are likely to be familiar with the histories of established names such as Poole, H. Huntsman and Anderson & Sheppard. The book's value added is that it extends coverage to two dozen less known tailoring houses ranging from the well established Welsh & Jeffries to moderns like Spencer Hart and Ozwald Boateng, and gives space to half a dozen accessory firms and several of the cloth houses and mills as well.

That said, I was probably happiest with the 59 page section of photos, many in color, of famous clients.

The London Cut is currently available from Amazon UK and is scheduled be released in the United States on January 29, 2008.