Clothing
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cciaffone
Dedicated Member
Hmm ... thought Clegg's gray suit was buried on Compo??
Wesley wears black, when in a suit.
Doesn't Barry wear blue??
Not sure about Eli.
Marianna
Dedicated Member
If I recall correctly, their every day sport coats and trousers were what I think of as neutral English country fabrics - greeny, browny, grayish to blend with the outdoors. Their suits, on the other hand, were sober black, usually worn with a bowler hat (except for Seymour), and we saw them for funerals.
Peter Sallis wore his demob suit to the audition, thinking that it would work for Clegg's costume, and it was used for that. He was familiar with the vagaries of the Pennines' weather, so he added a cardigan under his waistcoat. His suit looks much less formal than other demob suits I've seen. They've all been suitable for an office in London. Peter Sallis has far too much taste to set foot in London wearing that suit.
Marianna
Peter Sallis wore his demob suit to the audition, thinking that it would work for Clegg's costume, and it was used for that. He was familiar with the vagaries of the Pennines' weather, so he added a cardigan under his waistcoat. His suit looks much less formal than other demob suits I've seen. They've all been suitable for an office in London. Peter Sallis has far too much taste to set foot in London wearing that suit.
Marianna
barmpot
LOTSW Fanatic
My first career was in menswear (well I would not have looked good in ladies clothing ;D;D) and in the 1960s most mens clothes were, in deed, grey to lovat for every day and charcoal or black for best (i e funerals and weddings). Thus when dressed up hey are shown in grey (clerical) mainly - wearing a brown suit for example was considered to be rather spiv like. I had a medium grey houndstooth, navy blue houndstooth and a dark grey houndstooth in the mid 1960s. All of which could be teamed with a plain grey waistcoat (USA vest) and my black bowler and shiny oxford pattern shoes; stiff collars and silk foulard ties mainly in reds. A uniform worn by most. I remember Nigel who had check suits in brown and green shades and he was thought to be very daring.
So SW really reflected the standards of the 1960s: you have to also remember that Yorkshire was some way behind London and the south in terms of dress. When I arrived to work in Leeds in the 1970s (in a different career by then) I noticed that the style of clothing was probably ten years behind that of London and the south east where I had come from.
Thus they still wore separate collars - even Compo when he was dressed up in the earlier episodes because that was the standard. I still have some separate collars!
So SW really reflected the standards of the 1960s: you have to also remember that Yorkshire was some way behind London and the south in terms of dress. When I arrived to work in Leeds in the 1970s (in a different career by then) I noticed that the style of clothing was probably ten years behind that of London and the south east where I had come from.
Thus they still wore separate collars - even Compo when he was dressed up in the earlier episodes because that was the standard. I still have some separate collars!
Marina'sTwin
Dedicated Member
Just a quick question. I know I'm probably gonna sound like a stupid young American chick, but does everybody really wear suits and stuff like that every day in the UK, or is it just the older generation? It just seems like in every British TV show I see, they're always wearing suits and the women are always wearing dresses. Are jeans not as popular over there as they are here? I guess I'm wondering about British fashion overall. LOL Sorry if that sounds a little rude.
amos hames
Dedicated Member
Commuters wear suits every day because most work in offices. I myself own one Suit that I bought in Marks and Spencer years ago.Cant think when I last wore it.
Has said office workers and business people wear suits also anyone looking for a job and such.
I think we wear pretty much the same as you do, I wear jeans everyday except in hot weather. Most people I know wear jeans a lot. I own maybe 2 dresses and 3 skirts. Another forum member in the US remarked to me that most bad guys in America film/adverts and TV shows had English accents so I'll like to assure you we don't all go round in formal wear whilst plotting the annihilation of the free world, some of us do boring stuff like ....... Work,eat,sleep,read and housework.
I'm getting the feeling that despite the fact that we are 2 countries from the same roots we don't really know much about each other apart from what we see on television, which is quite scary really. Holly if you want to know anything please feel free to ask we do translation and society module's on here all the time and its fun getting to know one another.
Marina'sTwin
Dedicated Member
Has said office workers and business people wear suits also anyone looking for a job and such.
I think we wear pretty much the same as you do, I wear jeans everyday except in hot weather. Most people I know wear jeans a lot. I own maybe 2 dresses and 3 skirts. Another forum member in the US remarked to me that most bad guys in America film/adverts and TV shows had English accents so I'll like to assure you we don't all go round in formal wear whilst plotting the annihilation of the free world, some of us do boring stuff like ....... Work,eat,sleep,read and housework.
I'm getting the feeling that despite the fact that we are 2 countries from the same roots we don't really know much about each other apart from what we see on television, which is quite scary really. Holly if you want to know anything please feel free to ask we do translation and society module's on here all the time and its fun getting to know one another.
Ok, thanks. I was afraid I was gonna offend some people with my lack of knowledge. LOL And I never really thought of the "Bad guys with English accents" thing, but now that you mention it, it's kind of true. That also explains why I typically root for the bad guys in movies. I love the accents! LOL :biggrin:
As far as what I see on TV, most British characters I see tend to put a lot of importance on public image and reputation, but I don't know if that's altogether true. I also don't know what all ya'll see about us on TV, so feel free to ask me about Americans too! Especially Americans from small, poverty stricken towns because that's where I'm from.
Ok, thanks. I was afraid I was gonna offend some people with my lack of knowledge. LOL And I never really thought of the "Bad guys with English accents" thing, but now that you mention it, it's kind of true. That also explains why I typically root for the bad guys in movies. I love the accents! LOL :biggrin:
As far as what I see on TV, most British characters I see tend to put a lot of importance on public image and reputation, but I don't know if that's altogether true. I also don't know what all ya'll see about us on TV, so feel free to ask me about Americans too! Especially Americans from small, poverty stricken towns because that's where I'm from.
You are not the first American that seems to be afraid to offend, most of us Brits have thick skins so you are offending us at all.
We're all very friendly so don't worry about it.
I had a quick look and noted that come "The Secret Birthday of Norman Clegg" the men were generally dressed in grey, but not excessively dark, suits.
I recall my first suit, which I needed for school dance in 1959, was my father's demob suit after a few alterations. I think it was brown. And I wore a double cuff shirt with cuff-links (I still have them) with detachable collar and collar studs. My first made to measure suit was the very standard, for the time, charcoal grey. My wife is still of the mind that charcoal grey is the smartest. It is a generation thing.
Very warm day today and I noted elderly gentleman sitting in the church car park in shirt sleeves. (Why do we use that expression, 'shirt sleeves'? I somehow feel convinced if we wore nothing other than short sleeves the boys in blue might have an observation to make.) However, when he came into church, although inside was stifling, he had put on a jacket (though no tie). When I quizzed him, he said he just could not feel comfortable in church without a jacket.
On the drive to church my wife queried if I were wearing a new tie. I pointed out that it is in fact pretty old (at least seventeen years since I bought it). I just have not worn it for a long time but it suited my shirt (which is nothing like seventeen years old). I added that I wanted to get away from the sombre tie I wore last Sunday. Her response was that sombre last Sunday was quite correct as I was on Communion Duty. There are still some elders in the Church of Scotland who stick to the tradition for Communion Duty of dark suit, white shirt and black tie. I am not one of them. I pointed out that that is my funeral rig.
I recall my first suit, which I needed for school dance in 1959, was my father's demob suit after a few alterations. I think it was brown. And I wore a double cuff shirt with cuff-links (I still have them) with detachable collar and collar studs. My first made to measure suit was the very standard, for the time, charcoal grey. My wife is still of the mind that charcoal grey is the smartest. It is a generation thing.
Very warm day today and I noted elderly gentleman sitting in the church car park in shirt sleeves. (Why do we use that expression, 'shirt sleeves'? I somehow feel convinced if we wore nothing other than short sleeves the boys in blue might have an observation to make.) However, when he came into church, although inside was stifling, he had put on a jacket (though no tie). When I quizzed him, he said he just could not feel comfortable in church without a jacket.
On the drive to church my wife queried if I were wearing a new tie. I pointed out that it is in fact pretty old (at least seventeen years since I bought it). I just have not worn it for a long time but it suited my shirt (which is nothing like seventeen years old). I added that I wanted to get away from the sombre tie I wore last Sunday. Her response was that sombre last Sunday was quite correct as I was on Communion Duty. There are still some elders in the Church of Scotland who stick to the tradition for Communion Duty of dark suit, white shirt and black tie. I am not one of them. I pointed out that that is my funeral rig.
You are not the first American that seems to be afraid to offend, most of us Brits have thick skins so you are offending us at all.
We're all very friendly so don't worry about it.
But watch it! When you offend her she bites your ankles.
;D;D;D;D;D;D
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Marianna
Dedicated Member
As far as I can tell, based on a couple of decades of travel to England, the degree of dressiness is generational, and among adults it depends on the occasion as well.
On my second trip (first time outside London), I was with a walking group lodging in country house hotels. All the guests were American, so we dressed very casually for dinner, but the leaders were British and the men wore crisply pressed trousers, sport shirt and a knitted tie or a brighter or busier silk one than would be worn for work. The female leaders wore nice dresses or skirts and blouses with dress shoes.
Now when I do a group holiday, it's with HF Holidays, full board in one of their country house hotels, and nearly all of the guests, as well as all of the leaders, are British. The elderly guests dress as the leaders did about 20 years ago, the middle-aged guests dress more like American office casual, with slacks for the women, the thirty-somethings and younger, including the younger leaders, wear jeans or chinos and open-collar sports shirts with a jacket if the dining room is chilly.
HF's published dress code states "smart casual" for dinner, but I've never seen management or staff flinch at a guest in clean jeans and shirt. The code seems to be generally interpreted as better and cleaner than the clothes we walked in all day. The only hard and fast rule is "no boots in the house", but that's to reduce housework and prevent damage to the floors. They make it easier to observe the rule than not to by providing a boot and drying room with an outside entrance and an exit into the house.
The jeans uniform seems to be pretty universal for the young, but most people grow out of it. In my case it was because I stopped looking good in the standard Levis boot cuts and I'm darned if I'll wear jeans cut for the middle-aged figure. That feels too much like mutton dressed up as lamb.
Marianna
On my second trip (first time outside London), I was with a walking group lodging in country house hotels. All the guests were American, so we dressed very casually for dinner, but the leaders were British and the men wore crisply pressed trousers, sport shirt and a knitted tie or a brighter or busier silk one than would be worn for work. The female leaders wore nice dresses or skirts and blouses with dress shoes.
Now when I do a group holiday, it's with HF Holidays, full board in one of their country house hotels, and nearly all of the guests, as well as all of the leaders, are British. The elderly guests dress as the leaders did about 20 years ago, the middle-aged guests dress more like American office casual, with slacks for the women, the thirty-somethings and younger, including the younger leaders, wear jeans or chinos and open-collar sports shirts with a jacket if the dining room is chilly.
HF's published dress code states "smart casual" for dinner, but I've never seen management or staff flinch at a guest in clean jeans and shirt. The code seems to be generally interpreted as better and cleaner than the clothes we walked in all day. The only hard and fast rule is "no boots in the house", but that's to reduce housework and prevent damage to the floors. They make it easier to observe the rule than not to by providing a boot and drying room with an outside entrance and an exit into the house.
The jeans uniform seems to be pretty universal for the young, but most people grow out of it. In my case it was because I stopped looking good in the standard Levis boot cuts and I'm darned if I'll wear jeans cut for the middle-aged figure. That feels too much like mutton dressed up as lamb.
Marianna
cciaffone
Dedicated Member
Aw come onnn!!! Fashion??? We talkin Truly Truelove in a 3-piece
suit, tie, belted coat, hat, and leather gloves --- on top of a
rocky, grassy, sheep-dipped hillside. He walked there. In all this
stuff. And you do know Yorkshire weather. Had to be some rain,
some sleet, and some mud.
This is fashion? I do not think so.
This is humour -- British Humour!!
dick
LOTSW Fanatic
Bit harsh on the girl there Chuck! If you want to talk about fashion, what about Norman Clegg in his plastic mac come rain or shine and Compo in the same jacket and trousers day in day out. Except for the odd waterproof coat he seemed to appear in!! Foggy's jacket and hat seemed ubiquitous too.
cciaffone
Dedicated Member
That IS my very point, Dick.
Much of SW captures Yorkshire folk as they might have
been quite some time ago, raggedy but comfortable.
Definitely NOT fashionable. I mean really, look at
Wesley and Edie for goodness sake. Barry wears a suit
only because he is a business man.
But then you get Truly (as an example) who points out
the other extreme of dressiness.
I really do not think that the SW characters are as
dressy as Marianna states. These are not very-well-off
Yorkshire folk living as best they can on what they have,
which ain't much. Mostly they wear what they have.
Much of SW captures Yorkshire folk as they might have
been quite some time ago, raggedy but comfortable.
Definitely NOT fashionable. I mean really, look at
Wesley and Edie for goodness sake. Barry wears a suit
only because he is a business man.
But then you get Truly (as an example) who points out
the other extreme of dressiness.
I really do not think that the SW characters are as
dressy as Marianna states. These are not very-well-off
Yorkshire folk living as best they can on what they have,
which ain't much. Mostly they wear what they have.
Marianna
Dedicated Member
I was responding to Holly's post, which was mostly about contemporary ways of dressing (I won't call it fashion). I described the broad range of ordinary people that I spend up to a week at a time with when I'm in England, many of whom come from West Yorkshire.
Marianna
Marina'sTwin
Dedicated Member
Oh wow. LOL didn't mean to start anything. It was just more of a question about what people wear every day over there. LOL Maybe fashion was the wrong word choice. LOL My bad.
brendalovescompo
Dedicated Member
Don't worry Holly, its all good. I PM Pearl from time to time and ask questions. I have also asked out loud, and everyone is very helpful and understand that some of us haven't make a trip abroad yet. :wink:
cciaffone
Dedicated Member
Every day, like when??
You do realize that this show started a few years ago, as
in 1973. And many of the characters started back then and
wore in the show what they might have worn in 1973 -- not
in 2014.
I remember Brits, who came over to consult at IBM
in the 60's and 70's, who were eager to snap up our denims
as they were not all that common over there then. I used
to help Brits (and Frenchies as well) to find and take back
good-quality jeans they could not easily get at home.