SARTORIAL LOCKDOWN

S artorial lockd wn

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What are chaps whose natural propensity is to peacock about, aggravating the constabulary and receiving compliments (and having the occasional over-ripe apple hurled at them), supposed to do when they are confined to barracks, due to some ghastly influenza pandemic?

Unable to be restrained, what they do is continue peacocking about within the confines of their habitations, taking endless pictures of themselves, some of which we present here.

Anita Stratton anticipated our feature on Anna May Wong (see page 32) by donning her bespoke dinner jacket by Mark Powell and raising a glass of fizz to the late actress. Frank Annable, with only a teddy bear for company, takes to his favourite chair with some stirring reading matter, and reflects on the erstwhile sartorial glories he and his wife enjoyed, in this case, the Burgh Island Boxing Day Ball of 2019 (below).

In Hector Jimenez’s (right) mind, and indeed his knickerbockers, it has always been and will always be 1927. The sunny weather is becasue Mr. Jimenez hails from a region of California that makes him, literally, ‘straight out of Compton’.

Once a dandy, always a dandy. Jonny Haart has used the hours of lockdown to shift his clothing collection from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. Steady on Jonny; at this rate you might reach the early 1940s by the early 2040s.

Robin Shrubshole carefully removed all the books by Dan Brown and Jilly Cooper from his bookshelves, and replaced them with books about concrete and Russian politics, so that he appeared intellectual. He needn’t have bothered, as his clothing and pipe do the job perfectly.

The sort of occasional British winter sunshine that Russ Nash and chum Tim Baggaley are enjoying requires a few more layers than in Compton, California. Their dress code also implies that ‘town’ and ‘country’ attire is now meaningless, since there is nobody about in either.

Mark Dyer refused to stay at home. Spotting a loophole in the government diktats, stating that chaps who own Rolls Royce Phantoms can do what they like, he took “the old bus” for a spin and threatened to drive it off a cliff if the nearest tearoom wasn’t opened instanter.

Gustav Temple went west during lockdown. Coat: Wah Maker Waistcoat: Bobby & Dandy Vintage Hat: Cotswold Country Hats

Photo: Xavier Buendia

Dandy Breton simply said (in French): “Sod the 2020s, I’m going back to the 1920s, when there was no influenza pandemic and everything was tickety-boo.”