British Style Is the Milk to Fashion's Current Coffee Order. Make That Tea, Actually
With Daniel Lee having finally cracked the code on Burberry, an Oasis reunion's onslaught of fitting apparel, as well as the rise of vintage navy officer jackets and Harris Tweed in sneakers, there is something distinctly British in the air of fashion, high and low brow, novel and nostalgic.
With their harsh and wet weather, one thing all of the vastly different sets of Islanders have in common is their sense of seasonally sensible style. Sturdily wind-defiant jackets, densely woven sweaters, and an inimitable knack for loafers are amongst the pillars that uphold the UK's dress codes. Moreover, these are some of the maxims that seem to govern present day's hottest products.
Merging a sense of regal sophistication with condition-proof utility is a key discipline in how the English, the Scots, the Northern Irish, and the Welsh both make and wear their clothes.
Whom better to consult on the matter though, if not our quintessentially stylish, and quintessentially British friends over at MR PORTER. With them, we sought to delineate a traditionally British taste in clothes through the prism of modern menswear.
Knitwear is an integral, quite literal part of the fabric that constitutes a Brit's sartorial identity. Of course, anything cable-stitched falls under here, as do even simpler v-necks or coarser styles. Heavy or light, over a button-up or under the Barbour, atop worn-out jeans or pants with pleats — the UK knows good knitwear and shies not away from showing it at any given opportunity.
Where would men's fashion even be if it wasn't for the influence of the trench coat? Omnipresent and reiterated through countless lenses, the long, belted, and double-breasted coat is a custom, almost, and one you ought to adapt. Like beans on toast — and anything herringbone, too, actually.
No checked scarf, no elegant shearling gloves, nor the perfect loafer can really make a non-Brit or their style truly British. It's like that whole French Cool Girl thing. But ya can't blame an American for trying. And this one's trying pretty darn hard. E for effort?
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