Shirts & Ties, Belts & Braces, Cufflinks & Pens
Posted: Saturday, January 31, 2009
by Patrick
Patrick McMurray
Prince or proper; a gentleman as defined by principles. So we take a look at finely crafted shirts with perfectly formed collars that will hold your tie in position all the days long, befitting a gentleman.
And a closer look at ways of decorating your shirt, plus a few facts and figures from the archives.
An engineered collar the fit is conveyed through structural integrity.
Selecting becomes a multi functional task as the fit reflects your characteristics, the time and effort invested is representative to attention to detail; Thus in conclusion an extension of your personality.
Think about decorating shirts, their stark backdrop can be complimented by many forms of decoration, commonly used silk ties and suitable companions further down the line, cufflinks .
Collar stiffeners are also worthy of collection, more functional less decorative. A smart looking pen in pocket will also attract comment.
One more consideration, a mix of form and function, a pair of colourful braces will frame your tie and pen, pretty as a picture. To close off the upper body, a smart looking belt, not too tight not too loose and the tail end only 2 to 3 holes to spare.
More on the functional aspects: A direct covering for the body, the shirt constituted a second skin, whose prime function was to protect the precious upper garments against perspiration and body odours, and soft skin against coarse textiles, rather than protecting the body against the cold. This latter function has been fulfilled by the undershirt from the 19th century onwards.
Almost all cultures know the shirt. Very often, it is a simple, straight cut garment resembling a tunic, made of wool or, later, of cotton or silk with drawstrings at the sleeves and neck. The collar and the cuffs were originally designed as a protection against the rough edges of the fabrics worn over the shirt. Both collar and cuffs have been subject to constant variations by the tastes of fashion.
Now here are a range of patterns to consider when selecting, cultural diversity best descried the variants.
Self Coloured
Of course there have always been coloured shirts throughout the ages. However, classic white remains the dominant colour for the gentleman. With the advent of industrialization, the white collar distinguished the clerk from the manual worker, who wore a blue collar. Today discreet self-coloured tones in every possible colour are used for business shirt. The colour of sports shirts can be a shade richer.
Nowadays dyes that are less harmful to the environment are increasingly used, such as indigo conchylie (the shell of a ladybird) or vegetable dyes. Chemical substances that do damage to the environment are in retreat.
Stripes
Around 1870 striped sports shirts, so-called regatta shirts were fashionable. With white collar and white cuffs they belong to the classic set of shirts.
Bengal Stripes
This is the name for the richly coloured, regular and broad parallel stripes.
Millraye
Millraye are fine parallel stripes arranged lengthwise (the direction of the warp)
End on end (cotton fil-a-fil)
A cotton fabric with small patterns in the form of stairs, in which the warp thread changes from dark to bright colours (twill weave).
Tattersall
Pattern for sport shirts. In general, there are two coloured yarn checks against a light background with 2cm long repeat patterns.
Madras
Multi coloured, large and slightly broken check pattern on light cotton fabrics.
Vichy Check
This checked cotton fabric was popular as early as the 1960s. Vichy checks are two coloured with small regular checks. It is advisable to wear a scarf with an open collar rather than a tie with this pattern.
Fancies
Nowadays there are all kinds of striking designs on sports and leisure shirts, e.g. the classic Scottish tartan. The Hawaiian shirts with floral designs, or paisley patterns.
This information should be helpful, or least educational, perhaps more than you need to know about shirts, but at least you can comment more on the subject at parties.
Finally, some brands worthy of mention: Ted Baker, Paul Smith, Ben Sherman, Rembrandt, Trent Nathan, Timothy Everest's Autograph Series, Duchamp, Thomas Pink and that's it.
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