"A Gentleman Does Not Wear a Straw Hat in the Metropolis, sir"

[Dinerman]

Boaters were extremely common, in the city, country and everywhere in between, in the early part of the 20th century. They were not so much the hat of leisure or of frivolity, they were *the* hat. If you walked into a hat shop in the 1920s and asked for a straw hat, you would be handed a boater. Think of them as the straw equivalent of the derby.

1900

1916

1921

1924

1925

Dearborn, 1941

 

[alanfgag]

Where have all the photos gone... [huh]

 

[splintercellsz]

I thought it was just me!

 

[DJH]

I hope that doesn't mean you've worn it indoors.

Only to see if my head touched the top

Rather to my surprise, it didn't.

 

[Cobden]

I think some people are missing an important word, with rather rigid connotations in pre WWII Britain: Gentlemen.

It's not being used in the sense that one uses it on a toilet door, but to mean what would now be described as upper-middle to upper class (depending on ones definition). Plenty of men wore boaters in the city. Plenty of men wore all-black suits in the UK. Plenty of men wore brown shoes outside of the countryside. But the social strata of the time determined that men, like Mr Wooster, of the gentry ought not to. Dress was another element of British "know ones place" mentality of the time. As we no longer live in such an era, it is perfectly ignorable.

 

[Mulceber]

I agree, Cobden - when we say that it was considered bad taste for Berty Wooster to wear a boater in the city, we are not talking about what would have been acceptable in New York, Chicago or pretty much any city in the world. We're talking about what was considered proper for a very particular strata of English society to wear specifically in the heart of London.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Both characters were of course pastiche. The absurdity is that many take Jeeves to be an accurate reflection of the more general "proper" attitudes of the day. Jeeves was a fogey, a fuddy duddy, so far behind the times and so far up his own arse as to be a clinical absurdity. Wooster was a flanneur, a wannabe socialite with the cash but not the brains or grace to really succeed, who thought himself so far ahead of the times as to be a clinical absurdity. It's this juxtaposition of essentially sweet, harmless, absurdities that make the books so enjoyable. But taking them seriously as a matter of etiquette record, that's quite another thing entirely. You might as well cite Saki as a reliable and non-exaggerating chronicler of society parties …

Jeeves in Wodehouse's stories of course is supposed to be the antithesis of Wooster's expressions of dandification. Each of Wodehouse's juxtapositions of Jeeves high sense of appropriateness and Wooster's touch of dandification ultimately leads to situations where Wooster, from Jeeves point of view, is making a complete fool of himself. Consider the case of the mess jacket or the "Alpine Joe" hat in the Laurie/ Fry TV series.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Hey man, so long as the rest of your straw man outfit doesn't get thrown out of whack by the suede, I say go with it!

Can I quote you on this if I decide to wear brown suede monk straps with a tuxedo . . . :eusa_doh:

 

[Rabbit]

Both characters were of course pastiche. The absurdity is that many take Jeeves to be an accurate reflection of the more general "proper" attitudes of the day. Jeeves was a fogey, a fuddy duddy, so far behind the times and so far up his own arse as to be a clinical absurdity. Wooster was a flanneur, a wannabe socialite with the cash but not the brains or grace to really succeed, who thought himself so far ahead of the times as to be a clinical absurdity. It's this juxtaposition of essentially sweet, harmless, absurdities that make the books so enjoyable. But taking them seriously as a matter of etiquette record, that's quite another thing entirely. You might as well cite Saki as a reliable and non-exaggerating chronicler of society parties …

Well put, Baron.

 

[-30-]

"Jeeves was a fogey, a fuddy duddy, so far behind the times and so far up his own arse as to be a clinical absurdity."
QUOTE: Baron Kurtz.

Be careful for what you wish.


Regards,
J T

 

[Edward]

I think some people are missing an important word, with rather rigid connotations in pre WWII Britain: Gentlemen.

It's not being used in the sense that one uses it on a toilet door, but to mean what would now be described as upper-middle to upper class (depending on ones definition). Plenty of men wore boaters in the city. Plenty of men wore all-black suits in the UK. Plenty of men wore brown shoes outside of the countryside. But the social strata of the time determined that men, like Mr Wooster, of the gentry ought not to. Dress was another element of British "know ones place" mentality of the time. As we no longer live in such an era, it is perfectly ignorable.

Quite...

Both characters were of course pastiche. The absurdity is that many take Jeeves to be an accurate reflection of the more general "proper" attitudes of the day. Jeeves was a fogey, a fuddy duddy, so far behind the times and so far up his own arse as to be a clinical absurdity. Wooster was a flanneur, a wannabe socialite with the cash but not the brains or grace to really succeed, who thought himself so far ahead of the times as to be a clinical absurdity. It's this juxtaposition of essentially sweet, harmless, absurdities that make the books so enjoyable. But taking them seriously as a matter of etiquette record, that's quite another thing entirely. You might as well cite Saki as a reliable and non-exaggerating chronicler of society parties …

That's a bingo.

 

[John Galt]

In different ways, both Jeeves and Wooster are representatives of what is socially acceptable and fashionable. That is to say, Bertie, the gentleman, is at least as capable a spokesperson for "what a gentleman wears in the metropolis" as Jeeves, the gentleman's gentleman. The very fact that Bertie wears a straw hat in the city means that gentlemen wear straw hats in the city. There is no reason to privilege Jeeves's judgment.

Part of the point of the stories is that the servant is much smarter than the master. But a point in Bertie's favor is that Jeeves always hates Bertie's hat when it is at the height of fashion. Jeeves's tastes in clothing are conservative; his sense of what is done and what is not done may be twenty years out of date.

I think the real lesson of this episode is that there are disagreements about etiquette. There isn't just one set of rules for what a gentleman wears and how he behaves. Jeeves has a set of rules, and Bertie (who famously follows a code) has another set of rules. The two men have different social positions and different aesthetic ideals, but both can claim expertise on the subject of gentlemanlike behavior.

Etiquette is a mysterious thing, both in the golden era and today.

A great analysis. concise, thoughtful, and well written. In short, a real pleasure to read. I'm guessing author, Lit major, or Lit student?


"Faint hat never won fair lady."

 

[Denton]

Thank you, John Galt! And, yeah, you got me. My student days are in the past, but I am a writer.

 

[Mr.Astor]

New Orleans in July- nothing but Boaters and seersucker suits!

 

[cchgn]

Also would there not be a difference between what Americans and English would wear in a city?

yes, I think so, Americans have done things quite the opposite as the British. ON purpose, I think.

 

[jhe888]

I recall a similar passage over a white Tuxedo.

That was Bertie's white mess jacket with brass buttons, which Jeeves thought appropriate for a waiter, or, perhaps, a naval officer.

There were similar contretemps between them over the length of Bertie's short trousers, fedoras (again, not thought to be appropriate for the city) and once, when finding monogrammed handkerchiefs in Bertie's dresser, Jeeves reported; "Sir, there are objects in your armoire."

And indeed, the joke is set up between Bertie's fecklessness which is accented by his adventurous sense of fashion, and Jeeves' super-competence which is signalled by his old-fashioned ideas of propriety in dress and manners. Jeeves, of course, always got his way.

Wodehouse was also satirizing both segments of society.

 

[MisterCairo]

That was Bertie's white mess jacket with brass buttons, which Jeeves thought appropriate for a waiter, or, perhaps, a naval officer.

 

[MisterCairo]