Tory Chic: The return of poshness

Tory Chic: The return of poshness
From The Guardian:

'Over the last few years, in trendy parts of London, at music festivals, and among clothes-horse celebrities, Barbours have become so ubiquitous that there is even a half-mocking nickname for the look, referencing the London borough where it is commonest: "Hackney farmer". The boom is even affecting sensible old John Lewis: this year, national sales of Barbours there are up more than 80%.

And the Barbour craze is only part of a much broader new appetite for products with posh associations. Brogues and Oxfords, the more clumpy and traditional-looking the better, have become the shoes of choice for many cool young men. Hunter wellies, once something for squelchy point-to-points, are now what Kate Moss and her fashion disciples wear to Glastonbury, and are currently on sale at Jigsaw. Tweed has become hip. So have faintly caddish moustaches and even – according to the high-street chain Vision Express – monocles. "There was recently a trend for waistcoats, a very young man's trend," says the fashion journalist Charlie Porter. "There is a thing for bow ties right now. There's no way a bow tie can be anything but posh." The Official Sloane Ranger Handbook – published more than a quarter of a century ago, the last time there was a vogue for upper-class style – lists the key items in the male Sloane wardrobe: "the thick, woolly Action Man sweater . . . the blazer . . . trousers worn a bit short . . . the cardigan." Over the last few years, British men's fashion magazines have featured little else.'

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We also like this article on Barbour from the Times Online.

'...what’s happening with Barbour gives me a little fillip of excitement. What is happening, by the way, is that for the past three or four years, its wildly practical but, not exactly sexy, blingy or, let’s be honest, aesthetically lovely, waxed coats — the kind you can imagine William Hague, or for that matter General Haig, and sundry little William-and-Katettes scampering across grouse moors in — have become increasingly fashionable. And they’ve become fashionable not so much because of anything Barbour itself has done to relaunch, rebrand or restructure, but despite it.

I say this lovingly. Barbour is not a foolish, crass brand. It didn’t wake up one morning, spot someone from Dalston wearing one of its jackets and think, ooh yes, let’s hire an Italian designer to sex this up with some mink collars and lilac beading. Instead it has been quietly getting on with streamlining its silhouettes and ramping up its technical credentials so that you now find slinky Barbour jackets that weigh even less than Cheryl Cole and come in colours you might actually want to wear, ie black.'

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Emma Watson brings her special magic to the Burberry brand.