The Old Favourite: The Duffel Coat

When I was at university I had already begun to grow into the sort of clothing my parents approved of; wearing shoes instead of trainers, sensible overcoats instead of paper thin fashion jackets. It was an instinctive switch. My life had changed course. I felt that I was suddenly more responsible for my own maturation. I decided to grow up. However, I grew up unilaterally. A girl who had been interested in attaining my affections remarked that I had matured too soon. She said that I would eventually suit the clothing style that I had begun to adopt, but when I was a good deal older. “It’s just not sexy” she once commented, rather inanely. Others conformed to the student wardrobe with greater ease than I. I was never happy in a hoodie. As a result I developed, alone, a confidence in wearing clothing that was seen by many as ‘too old’ for my age.

When I recently expressed an interest in purchasing a duffel coat, a friend of mine remarked that I was probably now a little too old for one. A little maturation, a few years and suddenly no longer am I too young for clothing but, in actual fact, too old. The window for wearing such an item must be remarkably small according to this wisdom. A couple of years at the most? Bizarre.

It’s for certain that the duffel coat is a classic, collegiate item of clothing that seems to belong on wooden pews in dusty libraries beneath dreaming spires rather than draped over an Eames chair in an air-conditioned office boardroom. It has a childlike simplicity. It makes no attempt to conceal its origins as a practical garment for Naval officers; the fastenings and toggles often look like reef knots and it is certainly not an item of refinement.

However, although it is not an item to wear with your pinstripe suits it can surely be a perfect friend on chilly, winter days. The duffel material is a heavy wool and, designed to keep sailors warm in freezing Atlantic winds, provides more than adequate protection for cold, metropolitan Sundays. The toggles themselves, ideally horn, were designed to be fastened and unfastened whilst wearing cumbersome gloves and the hood, perhaps the most ‘juvenile’ feature of the entire garment, provides protection against icy winds. Beyond these practical points, the duffel coat has an undeniably youthful aesthetic. It manages to dress down even the dressiest of accessories – bow ties, silk scarves and waistcoats – and yet does not alienate them. It draws from these items a dishevelled elegance that is interesting and distinctly ‘weekend.’

It actually does make gentlemen look younger. Unlike trainers, hoodies, printed t-shirts and other remainders of a varsity wardrobe - which merely make gentlemen look desperate. Wear it with slim trousers or jeans in blue or khaki. Gloverall, the original military surplus suppliers, are the best producers of quality duffel coats.

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This Season I Shall Mostly Be Wearing…

One of the great differences between men and women when it comes to clothing selections is that whilst women remain keen to keep ‘up to date’; reading fashion bibles, flicking through blogs, gazing at the ensembles of celebrities, fewer and fewer men are at all interested with what the fashion houses are pushing out and more and more seem to be taken with what works; something that has impact. When the seasons change, it is extraordinarily rare for any males of my acquaintance to ask me what is ‘in fashion’ for the coming months. They talk rather of things they’ve ‘always wanted to own’; a particular style of coat or shoe perhaps. Most acquisitions are not in pursuit of a fashionable aesthetic but part of a slow maturation that lifts them from being mere boys into manhood.

Knitted waistcoats

Knitted waistcoats did feature in a few collections for the coming season but they’re hardly a recent invention. Less formal than some other styles of waistcoat, the knitted waistcoat is warm and comfortable to wear – essentially it is a sleeveless cardigan – and offers a textural difference in suit ensembles. It is also smarter than the V-neck jumper which can look rather bulky underneath suit jackets and blazers and due to it being available in a number of colours, offers good colour matching/contrasting opportunities. This is an ideal garment of comfort and elegance for the colder seasons.

Burgundy

Although a colour associated with autumn, burgundy is not considered ‘the’ colour of the season. Nevertheless, it is a perfect time of the year to experiment with this attractive tone. It is certainly masculine but has a refined, quietly aristocratic quality that softens greys and blues which can often look harsh in autumns golden light. Burgundy cords look particularly fine with brown brogues and a burgundy waistcoat with a grey flannel suit sounds daring but is actually rather a classic combination. Smaller additions such as a burgundy paisley pocket square or a clubby tie add that touch of the regal. Burgundy is also a wonderful partner for other autumnal colours like forest green, tan and chocolate brown.

Patterned trousers

Showing flair is easy in autumn; until winter overcoats cover the resplendent ensembles, there is ample opportunity to enjoy, and experiment with, combinations and accessories. I personally think that autumn is the perfect time of the year to wear odd patterned trousers; hounds-tooth, checks and stripes. Whereas summertime seems to call for lower leg simplicity – cooler, paler colours - the introduction of autumnal winds and the natural ‘fuss’ that comes with dressing for the season seems to call for some variation on pant pattern. A classic Prince of Wales check trouser with a blue blazer or perhaps a blue chalk stripe with a brown hounds-tooth jacket.

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Rare Moment: Double-Breasted Waistcoat

It is always wise, I find, to revisit and reassess our convictions from time to time. The words ‘never’ and ‘always’ are a little overused and misrepresentative as they are impossible to qualify. Recently, I wandered into Gieves & Hawkes with a friend of mine. The last time I had gone in, the store was intimidatingly empty, the stock overpriced and dull. The glorious window display belied a remarkably uninspiring interior; never again, I thought, will I judge a book by its cover. My recent trip could not have been more different.

To begin with, I was not drawn in by a deceptively grand window display but from a general curiosity and a desire to gather ideas. I had expected the same ‘store in decline’ offerings and was, instead, very pleasantly surprised; jumping from rack to rack I repeated continuously ‘Now, this is a lovely fabric’ to my companion who became rather bored with my monotone and wandered off to the high priced, high end racks of suit ‘sets’ – jackets, waistcoats and trousers. Flicking through a selection of classic blues and greys we chanced upon a peak-lapelled grey window check suit in a soft but substantial English wool. My companion was unmoved and, after I had shown my approval, remarked that he was not a fan of checked suits. Despite this, I pulled the item from the rack and suggested that we have a look at the waistcoat.

‘And I think we’ll find that it is…double-breasted!’ I exclaimed euphorically. My friend had not even allowed me to finish before he had interjected; ‘Wow’ he said ‘you really…didn’t expect that. It’s…really nice.’ It was indeed. A shawl collared double-breasted waistcoat, it was completely unexpected but entirely fitting; it was a rare moment of unforeseen perfection. There was something in the way the jolly checked wool contrasted with the formality of the double breasted option; I immediately imagined it with a cornflower blue shirt, a paisley tie and a gold-chained pocket watch. It was merely an attractive suit before the jacket was opened and the waistcoat revealed; now it was the suit.

Other suits caught my eye; a pleasant grey on blue chalk stripe with brown buttons and a Prince of Wales checked double-breasted, again with brown buttons but not even the classic beauty of these items could divert from the distracting and charming incident that had affected us both. On leaving the shop my friend remarked that the double breasted waistcoat was, from now on, the choice for him as I considered the suit in its entirety; the lapels had to be peaked, otherwise it would not have worked and it was not merely the ‘double-breasting’ that was ‘arresting’ but the humour of the check and the waistcoat together. As rare as this style of waistcoat is, it was the combination that made it rarer still.

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GAP Losing The Battle With Inditex

It was fitting that the new Pull and Bear and Massimo Dutti stores, both part of the gigantic Zara-powered Inditex group, should have moved into the same relatively pretty, white-façade building on London’s Oxford Street that GAP used to occupy. Although GAP now occupy, and have done for some time, a rather glassy flagship a little way down the road, the polishing of this West London gem of a building – a rarity on mostly modern Oxford Street – by the company that overtook the GAP group as the world’s largest clothing retailer is so suitable that it reminded me of those stories of conquest and colony; when triumphant soldiers marched through the palaces of the conquered.

When I had last entered the building, the GAP store had occupied two rather dingy levels. Light wooden floors, hopelessly outdated, rarely creaked with the tread of constant custom – the newer, larger and lighter GAP store on the street was attracting more business. I only really ventured in for the sale stock, which was usually plentiful; racks and carousels of shirts in my rather unpopular XS size and the odd jumper and jacket. Aside from that it was a rather depressing affair; hoodies, masses of socks and jersey gym wear. It was only a matter of time, I thought, before this GAP is sacrificed. The irony of the sacrifice is that in giving up their lease, GAP handed the prime property, and therefore greater presence in the English capital, to their fiercest rivals.

Inditex have splashed on this retail space in characteristic fashion; Pull and Bear, a trashy, unappealing-but-bound-to-be-successful retailer of denim, printed t-shirts and other flotsam, occupy one half of the building. Inside there is a dark, industrial atmosphere – something between a factory and a theme park ride. It’s well laid out, spacious, offers seating (shock, horror) and, from my time lurking around the entrance, was drawing a good deal of interest from passing shoppers.

The same was true of the gleaming Massimo Dutti store; staff were conspicuously obsequious, racks were not unattractively loaded with stock and overall there was the sense you were entering a store of grander pretensions. In addition to the improved interior, the white façade has been well maintained and the promotional stickers and signage have been kept to a tasteful minimum.

Inditex, far from playing catch up with the older and more established GAP group, are consistently one step ahead. Although as behemoth retailers they are constantly compared, aesthetically, there is little comparison. GAP offers rather simple, functional clothing; chinos, jeans, knitwear, functional shirts, gym wear and the occasional belt. Inditex, through all of their outlets, do their damndest to offer ‘design’ at a lower price; they take more risks with their stock.

Why has Inditex come out on top? Analysts often point to their quick and aggressive expansion (which contrasts to GAP’s absurdly ponderous methods), their strategy for locating stores on the best streets in town and, in Zara, their rapid stock turnaround. Others also cite the improved store experience, the appeal of a European brand and the successful, internal manufacture-to-distribution process.

The thing that doesn’t get mentioned as often in reference to this retailer war is that Inditex has managed to capture the imagination of the GAP-weary shopper. We’ll always need chinos but once we have them, is there anything else in the store that draws us in? The lifestyle sold in GAP is, and has been for a long time, far too ‘young’ for the way we live now. I have a friend who told me he shopped once at GAP last year for ‘bumming around clothes’ – Zara he looks in almost every other week. The reason? ‘Bumming around clothes’ hardly require constant replenishment. Another friend, who boasts he hasn’t crossed the threshold for five years, quipped ‘Don’t mind the GAP.’ The shopping public have fallen out of love. And it shows.

GAP menswear, now relegated to the top floor of the Oxford Street flagship, is very often rather empty on a Saturday afternoon. It looks tired, worn and, like an old heavyweight title holder, rather slow and deliberate. GAP fans of my acquaintance champion the fact that their clothes last. Inditex, by comparison, have said, rather unblinkingly, that Zara clothes are really meant to be worn ‘a few times.’ Both of these assertions are somewhat inaccurate as I have Zara clothes that are well-used and in excellent condition and some GAP clothing that has, in my opinion, had to be placed prematurely on the scrap heap.

There is no doubt that as Inditex’s tentacles have spread far and wide, and its grip on the high street clothing market has strengthened, it has moved into the Primark/H&M realm of increasing supply, reducing price and declining quality but GAP has lost the laurels it once rested on. It needs to rethink its flagship brand. While it still has the muscle, and the greatness of its name, it should try to recapture the great portion of the market it has lost.

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