A Few Passages – Hardy Amies
Well, it is exam week, and with less than 48 hours to go I am a bit short on time. I thought I would throw up two quotations from Sir Hardy Amies’ entertaining book “The Englishman’s Suit.” The first to me represents the ways in which we can draw upon tradition and reinterpret in interesting ways, and the second serves as a thoughtful reminder of the external impact of dressing ourselves properly.
“It’s all quite simple. When you drop fastenings so low that you can go no further, you move upwards. You look to history to see how far you can go. You think of Edward VII’s Deeside coat. You remember that the single-breasted coat originally fastened up to the neck. You feel that we’ve had enough of the double-breasted coat. You go upwards.”
“The sight of the clothes worn on the streets today provokes fascinating thought. Mercifully, you can say, there is less gentility. No one seems to be attempting to be something grander than they are. Anoraks, trousers and white running shoes abound on both sexes. It is remorsely non-upper class. This does not make for classlessness. It only throws the differences into high relief. It throws up the relation of fashion to manners. It is rude to the citizens of London, Paris and New York to be ill-dressed. It is particularly rude to dress squalidly at the opera, theatre or concert hall. It is rude to your fellow public and rude to the performers.”
Loafing About
Don’t get me wrong, I love a great pair of socks, but there is something liberating about the first days of sockless summer. Yesterday was one of those days, and I have a feeling today will be as well, with the weather here hovering somewhere between 78 and 82 degrees, with a bit of a breeze and tons of sun – perfect for the beginning of summer.
Professor of Style
The “Ivy League Look” is experiencing a huge revival right now, much to my excitement, but ironically enough, it is mostly missing the college campus. As a student at an Ivy-esque school (top fifteen, mid-sized private school with a “We’re as good as Harvard” complex), I am shocked most days when I venture onto campus for class.
Wax and Wick
With all of the rain and general humidity the last few days, St. Louis has a lingering smell of mildew and even the air in my apartment has become stale and rank. I burn candles all of the time in the fall, but this spring it is becoming more of a necessity.
Gin and…It
Today is the last day of classes for the semester, and with a slew of important papers and other-such-nonsense to attend to next week, I shall be taking this weekend as the calm before the storm, and will enjoy a relaxed Friday evening of cards and cocktails with a few friends.
One of the cocktails I find myself a lot lately is the Gin & It. Originally, this mix of gin and sweet vermouth was just called a Martini, the popularization of the Dry Martini eventually dethroned this once king of cocktails by the end of the nineteenth century. By the 1890s, it was already called the Sweet Martini, and by prohibition it had gone through its Gin & Italian phase, finally settling on the short, speakeasy appropriate, Gin & It. Most people don’t realize that “dry” originally meant the martini was to be made with dry (french) vermouth rather than sweet (italian) vermouth, not that the barman should simply glance at the vermouth or add most, dare I say it, add a drop or two. Martinis were originally made in a 2 to 1 ratio of gin to vermouth, now called a 50/50 if made with french vermouth of a Gin & It if made with sweet vermouth.
I like it just that way, 2 to 1, gin to vermouth, while some enjoy 1 to 1 or any other ratio you can imagine. I have even heard tell that a few bartenders are making them 2 to 1 and 3 to 1 the other way, with the vermouth dominating. This makes the drink a bit sweet for my taste, but to each their own. I recommend you experiment and find what works for you.
The real key though is good ingredients. I always advocate using good ingredients in cocktails, but here you will really taste whichever gin and vermouth you choose, so don’t sell yourself short. I find Hendrick’s works wonders (as usual) if I want a softer drink, and Beefeater is my gin of choice when looking for a more crisp, hard edged cocktail. It may technically be sacrilege, but I like just a small dash of Angostura bitters in mine as well….shhh…don’t tell.
