Archive for May, 2008
James Galdolfini, who starred as Tony Soprano in the cult American gangster series bearing his name, is auctioning off key items from the show for charity. The garments include the button-down blue shirt he wore in the opening credits and the bathrobe he donned to fetch the morning newspaper.
More excitingly, he’s also put up for sale the blood-splattered costume he wore when shot by Uncle Junior – a black and tan coloured polo-shirt and black trousers – together expected to raise around £1,500. Profits from this cult culture auction being organised by Christie’s New York, are going to the Wounded Warrior Project, a charitable organisation that helps severely wounded American soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The auction takes place on 25th June, and the entire sale is expected to net around £19,000.
The costumes for the series were designed by Juliet Polsca, who earned two Emmy nominations and a Costume Designers Guild Award.
Tony poster courtesy of Joxin
May 29th, 2008
The Star in Gillingham, Kent, may be less than busy this Bank Holiday, even with the awful weather, because it is holding fast to its decision to ban sportswear, even though at least one customer has vowed never to visit the pub again. Terry Satterford, 32, of the town, says he was refused entry because his ’sportswear’ did not meet their new ’smart casual’ dress code. He says he was wearing a red polo-shirt, yes, this year’s really hot fashion item! He even posed for photographs wearing it to show that it was ‘smart casual’. But the story doesn’t end there.
A spokesman for TCG Acquisitions Ltd who own the pub said that the pub does not have a ban on polo-shirts, and it will not allow people who dress too casually to drink there, and speculated that Mr Satterford must have been wearing more sportswear than the polo-shirt in order to have been refused custom. The dress code apparently doesn’t ban people from wearing polo-shirts, but does ban sportswear which includes tracksuit bottoms, trainers and baseball caps. The spokesman continued, ‘Mr Satterford would not have been turned away for what he was wearing in the picture shown on Kent Online (a local newspaper), but then you can’t see what he was wearing below the waist.’ Hmmm … a kilt? Trackies? Nothing at all?
Dress code shirt emblem courtesy of Andreas Hagerman
May 26th, 2008
In an embarrassing revelation, eight young firefighters have turned in their polo shirts to the local authorities, after discovering they had taken part in a firefighting competition clad in clothing that bore Hitler’s call to German youth to be ‘fast as greyhounds, tough as leather, hard as Krupp steel’.
In an apology issued after the weekend’s event, the firefighters said, ‘We were not aware of the explosive nature of the slogan!’ The young men were part of a fire brigade from the Gross Gaglow district of Cottbus, in Eastern Germany and it wasn’t the first time they’d worn the shirts – they’d made it all the way to the final before somebody told them who’d said the rousing words they had emblazoned on their backs.
But from now on, all volunteer firemen in Cottbus will be required to take history lessons as part of their training …
Photograph courtesy of Hans Joachim Schiemenz
May 22nd, 2008
There can be few designers who are more American than Ralph Lauren. Now celebrating forty years in the couture business, Lauren, who has built the foundations of his brand on traditional American style, has, unsurprisingly, been chosen as an official outfitter for the 2008 US Olympic team. He will design outfits for the opening ceremony parade in Beijing. The clothing, it is said, will ‘reflect the heritage and sensibility of the 1920s and 1930s, with a tailored and modern silhouette’ which is interesting in itself, as the temperature in China in August is likely to be at a level that would make the briefest, lightest possible formal wear an absolute must.
Norman Bellingham who heads the US Olympic Committee was to say, ‘Polo Ralph Lauren is a quintessential American brand that represents a timeless and classic look’. Which is fascinating too, as the designs, unveiled this week, largely suggest a cross between the nostalgic style of Brideshead Revisited with more than a touch of Chariots of Fire. Timeless and classic, certainly but surely much more reminiscent of the quintessential Britishness portrayed in the tennis parties of John Betjeman and the golf of P G Wodehouse? It’s lovely to see well cut polo-shirts so much to the fore though.
May 19th, 2008
It’s that time of year! Last year’s suit, the old shirts and – dare we say it – the summer jacket, need refreshing. For businessmen this year the news is red, as discussed before, and no, that’s not the bottom line, that’s the tendency for red to make its mark in clothing. For example a modern, trim cut gives the classic navy pinstripe suite renewed style, both two and three button suits are in, but so is a red stripe rather than white. Big changes this year are the sports jacket going beige – madras checks, stripes and even self-colour plaid patterns are turning up in summer jackets, rather than blazer styles, and the boxy cut is out, there’s a definite sharpness to waist and lapels.
Stripy ties are back, if you can’t bear a touch of red in your suit, take your red stripe here. It gives a suit a real finishing touch. The big summer items are form-fitted polo shirts, nothing flapping round the sides this year, another chance to get some red into your summer wear, and it’s teamed with classic, aviator sunglasses.
May 15th, 2008
The Square Mile is a deeply conservative place. Black or navy suits, chalk stripes and oxford knot ties abound – a charcoal grey suit will raise eyebrows here, and sock choice is generally limited to boring black and normal navy (even if they are a silk cashmere mix that costs more than the average person’s mortgage a pair!). Hooray Henrys were considered a monstrous development by the rest of the finance world, and while their manners were technicolour, their dress sense never went wilder then red braces, giving some idea just how tightly reined in the business community can be. But recession can drive some unexpected changes, even in the stuffy City. And this year, the couturiers have the City in their sights.
Yes, it’s raised hemline time – usually a sign of economic boom, while long skirts denote recession, but its not the ladies who are wearing the shorts – nope, it’s the men! In 1961, Hardy Amies produced the first shorts suit for men, after a holiday in Australia. Did it catch on? No, not exactly.
But this year, designers from Balenciaga to Thom Browne are all reviving the idea, and the Hardy Amies house is honouring its deceased founder by putting out a 2008 version.
Shorts suit courtesy Balenciaga
May 12th, 2008
Canadian politicians are fuming – they’ve discovered that Canada’s Olympic uniforms are being made in China! But Tu Ly, one of the designers who created them, is unapologetic about the situation. In an interview he made a robust defence of the decision to manufacture in China, ‘I would like to challenge these politicians to give up their cell phones made in China or their TVs, then maybe they’d really be on an even plane,’ he said. Ly added that his company has a code of vendor conduct to ensure its suppliers operate under fair working law and respect the environment.
But New Democrat MP Paul Dewar isn’t happy. ‘This is our Olympic team. We should be ensuring that all of our Olympic athletes are … wearing Canadian-made textiles and all of their uniforms should be made in Canada.’ The decision has sparked such controversy because the Canadian clothing manufacture market is in something of a decline at present.
The Hudson Bay Company, for whom Ly works, said that Asia is the only readily-available source for the specialist fabrics featured in the eco-friendly designs, which are specifically mandated to help athletes cope with Beijing’s heat and humidity. These innovative fabrics include bamboo, cocona and organic cotton. But the line of Olympic Supporters apparel is being made in China too, and that may be a more difficult case to fight, as souvenir buyers probably won’t be travelling to China!
For the last summer Olympics, Roots Canada made the athletes’ uniforms at home and outfitted Canada’s Olympic teams for every Olympics from 1998 to 2004.
Canadian Olympic team modelling their uniforms courtesy of JP Moculski, The Canadian Press
