London businesswear uniform

[avedwards]

Last week I was in London on a work experience in parliament (those loungers who are my FB friends will know) and I made some observations about the businessmen on the trains and the underground, other than their appalling manners (not applying to all but a lot of them).

-Firstly, a good portion had suits which looked like they were either made to measure or bespoke, since they fitted very well.

-Secondly, almost only grey or blue suits were worn. Stripes or plain. Very rarely chequed. 90% were narrow high notched lapels, like 60s suits. Pocket squares were rarely worn.

-Ties were usuall striped.

-Shirts were either blue, pink or white with either cheques or stripes (rarely plain white).

-Shoes were always black and black briefcases or rucksacks were carried.

I found that it came across almost like a uniform rather than a dress code. I personally hate conformity and would make use of being able to have a dress code to vary more.

However, the monotinousness did help as I was completely inconspicuous due to being hatless (only because I was forbidden from wearing my hat) and wearing relatively quiet suits (unfortunately I could only take two suits for four days due to wanting to travel light ) with only a white hankerchief to accessorise.

Did anyone who visited London or lives there make similar or contradictory observations?

 

[Cigarband]

I remember reading years ago that Brown Boots were NEVER worn in The City.

 

[Tomasso]

-Firstly, a good portion had suits which looked like they were either made to measure or bespoke, since they fitted very well.

-Ties were usually striped.

I'm lukewarm to these observations.

 

[Edward]

The combination I see most commonly in London, particularly round the area in which my office is based (Lincoln's Inn Fields, just North of the Royal Courts on The Strand), is as follows:

- Deep Navy pinstripe suit - the louder the stripe, the better, it seems

- No hat (though sometimes a wool beanie in Winter), no coat (though in Winter often a nylon ski jacket, which may or may not stop above the bottom of the suit coat.

- Shoes can be any of: black, brown or tan, though in recent years I have seen a trend towards a very bright, almost orangey tan worn with blues, blacks and greys in the suit department. Not a good look, IMO - especially when they are a nasty, slip-on moccassin type of shoe!

- shirts tend to be white, pale blue, cream, or pale pink Unfortunately for those of us who prefer the alternatives, the spread collar still dominates. Whether this is down to availability, or the stores simply supply what is demanded I do not know, but I cannot recall the last time I saw a shirt for sale off the rack with double cuffs and anything other than the wide-splayed city boy type of collar. It is rare in the last few years even to find a convertible cuff on another collar style - presumably those have, in the eyes of many manufacturers, now been relegate to "casual wear"? M2M for me from hereon, it seems....

- Ties are often very loud (I supposed one place in which many feel able to place their own tamp of individuality on the uniform). Fortunately, trends for novelty ties and soccer-player style knots the size of a fist seem to have died out for the most part.

- It seems rare to me to see a leather briefcase nowadays. Younger persons (those much under, say, 45) by and large appear to be carrying nylon rucksacks instead.

- It is indeed rare to see a pocket square being sported by anyone under 60.... In my experience, this affectation has been largely usurped by pens, mobile telephones, etc, though many simply don't seem to have any use whatever for that pocket.

Your comment that the general trends represent something of a "uniform" are indeed fair. This is, of course, a charge that could be levelled at many tribal groupings in modern society, but it is certainly a pronouned one here. I imagine much of it is rooted in the safety and security of having a bland uniform that one can be sure will 'fit' with the spoken or unspoken dress code imposed or implied by the employer.

Intrigued: who forbade you from wearing a hat?

 

[Creeping Past]

Interesting as the general observations are, I'm curious about what you noticed in Parliament in the way of clothing and what you thought of the standard of dress there.

 

[habberdasher]

The combination I see most commonly in London, particularly round the area in which my office is based (Lincoln's Inn Fields, just North of the Royal Courts on The Strand), is as follows:

- No hat (though sometimes a wool beanie in Winter), no coat (though in Winter often a nylon ski jacket, which may or may not stop above the bottom of the suit coat.

- It seems rare to me to see a leather briefcase nowadays. Younger persons (those much under, say, 45) by and large appear to be carrying nylon rucksacks instead.

Intrigued: who forbade you from wearing a hat?

This is really sad. The English politicians seem to dress much worse than American senators and representatives. A ski jacket and nylon rucksack? It's pathetic that you have to be over 60 now to dress decently. Also NO hat, and in winter a BEANIE?! Wear a gentleman's hat for god sake! At least the Americans wear dress navy overcoats or trench coats, not SKI JACKETS! As you can see, I can't get over that. I will say however tailored suits and the patterned shirts impress me, and I admire that individuality. Plain white dress shirts get way too old and mundane. But the jackets, hats, and bags are too expressive and just plain tasteless.

 

[avedwards]

This is really sad. The English politicians seem to dress much worse than American senators and representatives. A ski jacket and nylon rucksack? It's pathetic that you have to be over 60 now to dress decently.

The politians dressed slightly differently to the businessmen on the tube. While many dressed the same there were a fair amount of DB suits (the traditional 6 on 4 style, not the 80s style) and pocket squares weren't too uncommon. If only they ruled the country as well as they dressed....

 

[habberdasher]

The politians dressed slightly differently to the businessmen on the tube. While many dressed the same there were a fair amount of DB suits (the traditional 6 on 4 style, not the 80s style) and pocket squares weren't too uncommon. If only they ruled the country as well as they dressed....

Well, that's a bit relieving. Sorry I didn't decode the businessmen from the politicians! Any information on what coats and hats they wore (politicians)?

 

[avedwards]

Intrigued: who forbade you from wearing a hat?

I was staying with my half-brother for the week as he lives in London. He is a modern London businessman although his dress sense is better than that of those I described (he wears a proper overcoat in winter). However, he thinks hats are a thing of the past and it is a continuous argument between us. He asked me not to wear my hat, and since he was letting me stay I had to do so. I survived by convincing myself that there are some well dressed people who don't wear hats like James Bond.

 

[avedwards]

Well, that's a bit relieving. Sorry I didn't decode the businessmen from the politicians! Any information on what coats and hats they wore (politicians)?

It was summer so no coats. And I only saw them indoors so no hats either, although I doubt they'd wear them anyway. However, a few of the older ones even wore bow ties which was good to see.

 

[habberdasher]

It was summer so no coats. And I only saw them indoors so no hats either, although I doubt they'd wear them anyway. However, a few of the older ones even wore bow ties which was good to see.

That's good. Update the post in winter!

 

[habberdasher]

I was staying with my half-brother for the week as he lives in London. He is a modern London businessman although his dress sense is better than that of those I described (he wears a proper overcoat in winter). However, he thinks hats are a thing of the past and it is a continuous argument between us. He asked me not to wear my hat, and since he was letting me stay I had to do so. I survived by convincing myself that there are some well dressed people who don't wear hats like James Bond.

Well hats are not only tasteful but practical. Most of your body heat escapes from your head and my ears get VERY cold, so I need a hat!

 

[Ada Veen]

The combination I see most commonly in London, particularly round the area in which my office is based (Lincoln's Inn Fields, just North of the Royal Courts on The Strand)

fftopic: , but where do you work? It sounds extremely close to where I am right now...

 

[Edward]

fftopic: , but where do you work? It sounds extremely close to where I am right now...

The corner of the square where it meets Remnant Street, just reound the block from Holborn tube.

 

[avedwards]

Well hats are not only tasteful but practical. Most of your body heat escapes from your head and my ears get VERY cold, so I need a hat!

I agree. While heat loss wasn't a problem last week due to the warmth, I could have used the rain protection. I had to spend one hour outside in the pouring rain and while my suit coped due to being a wool based fabric I would have liked head protection. I also find that my hat is less conspicuous than some hats as it's grey with a plain black ribbon and it's not too wide brimmed.

 

[Torpedo]

Slightly fftopic: ...

I have seen some suits for sale with a bogus pocket square - the pocket itself is sewn (and, in fact, it consists just of the slit - no pocket bag inside), and a rectangular piece of contrasting cloth protrudes from it, "TV pocket square" style, in imitation of the real thing. Pale imitation - the cloth is not even doubled over, to try to imitate a real square, it has but a single thickness of material.

 

[Nick D]

The combination I see most commonly in London, particularly round the area in which my office is based (Lincoln's Inn Fields, just North of the Royal Courts on The Strand), is as follows:

- Deep Navy pinstripe suit - the louder the stripe, the better, it seems

- No hat (though sometimes a wool beanie in Winter), no coat (though in Winter often a nylon ski jacket, which may or may not stop above the bottom of the suit coat.

- Shoes can be any of: black, brown or tan, though in recent years I have seen a trend towards a very bright, almost orangey tan worn with blues, blacks and greys in the suit department. Not a good look, IMO - especially when they are a nasty, slip-on moccassin type of shoe!

- shirts tend to be white, pale blue, cream, or pale pink Unfortunately for those of us who prefer the alternatives, the spread collar still dominates. Whether this is down to availability, or the stores simply supply what is demanded I do not know, but I cannot recall the last time I saw a shirt for sale off the rack with double cuffs and anything other than the wide-splayed city boy type of collar. It is rare in the last few years even to find a convertible cuff on another collar style - presumably those have, in the eyes of many manufacturers, now been relegate to "casual wear"? M2M for me from hereon, it seems....

- Ties are often very loud (I supposed one place in which many feel able to place their own tamp of individuality on the uniform). Fortunately, trends for novelty ties and soccer-player style knots the size of a fist seem to have died out for the most part.

- It seems rare to me to see a leather briefcase nowadays. Younger persons (those much under, say, 45) by and large appear to be carrying nylon rucksacks instead.

- It is indeed rare to see a pocket square being sported by anyone under 60.... In my experience, this affectation has been largely usurped by pens, mobile telephones, etc, though many simply don't seem to have any use whatever for that pocket.

It's very similar further north, with a couple exceptions. I rarely see very bold pinstripes (in fact, my '46 pinstripe suit is often the boldest suit I'll see when I'm wearing it), and tie knots are still usually about the size of the wearer's head. It may be different elsewhere, these are just my observations of my local area.

The shoes are almost invariably slip-on, too.

 

[habberdasher]

I agree. While heat loss wasn't a problem last week due to the warmth, I could have used the rain protection. I had to spend one hour outside in the pouring rain and while my suit coped due to being a wool based fabric I would have liked head protection. I also find that my hat is less conspicuous than some hats as it's grey with a plain black ribbon and it's not too wide brimmed.

It's in the 90s here in South Carolina.

 

[Edward]

I was staying with my half-brother for the week as he lives in London. He is a modern London businessman although his dress sense is better than that of those I described (he wears a proper overcoat in winter). However, he thinks hats are a thing of the past and it is a continuous argument between us. He asked me not to wear my hat, and since he was letting me stay I had to do so.

Ah, gotcha.... I thought it was some sort of odd Parliamentary thing....

I survived by convincing myself that there are some well dressed people who don't wear hats like James Bond.

lol I never did much rate bond, myself, but there's no accounting for taste, eh?

 

[habberdasher]

Ah, gotcha.... I thought it was some sort of odd Parliamentary thing....





lol I never did much rate bond, myself, but there's no accounting for taste, eh?

Yeah, I don't see where all the hype about Sean Connery and Cary Grant in a suit comes from. Both of them usually just wore drab grey single-breasted 2 piece suits with a boring white shirt and skinny black tie.