STYLE ICON
and order with authority. These members of the aristocracy or simply women with taste – and of course money – made the seasonal events spectacular by their being there, usually dressed in Amies as a tribute to him, displaying well-turned legs and sporting semi- permanent bouffant hairstyles that no gale would dare disturb. Elnett perfection.
When the house showed the men’s collections, again the youthful models were not the typical fashion type, their faces and forms suggesting sons of country squires. On one occasion I witnessed a galling and disappointing turnout of men’s fashion editors in surely expensive on-trend modes and looking deplorable, despite the obvious expense. I early on observed (how could one not?) that the house carpet had HA HA running throughout the entrance hall and up the stairs in mulberry on cream – a deliberate expression of a silent laugh. Sir Hardy was mischievous, arch and often rude with
the surety of an Exocet. He certainly spared no-one if he felt they were ordinary or simply inferior. He had a definite sense of the naughty boy about him, someone who could shock but with such style. His staff were immaculate – the vendeuses (never saleswomen) who knew their clients as well as the clients did themselves and trust was the lodestone. The two male mainstays for many years were as formal as engravings Edwardian male modes, beautifully aloof.
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nderstanding the importance of how dress can so inform a character, Sir Hardy created the costumes for Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and dressed Albert Finney
in Two for the Road. He also created outfits for Joan Greenwood in The Amorous Prawn, and Deborah Kerr in The Grass is Greener. When Sir Hardy was alive and certainly more now,
there was an insistence on a certain democracy in his designs. Savile Row garments are expensive because they have to be but Sir Hardy’s aim was to address other levels of the male market – not just the upper echelons. This he did when he began designing for the high street Hepworth chain – well priced and intended to be allies in the wardrobe. The inspiration was Savile Row but at a fraction of the price. Even the label included the authority of his name accompanied by a chic suited silhouette in black as part of the image. Often, choice items turn up in vintage markets and command a suitably healthy price. We met several times and I interviewed him on
many occasions on anything from his appointment to HM The Queen as her dressmaker to his passion for collecting choice tiles and apothecary jars. He was once kind enough to attend a Coutts Contemporary Art Awards party which I had helped to organise and certainly he was the centre of attention, sitting majestically on a leather chair which looked more like a throne. He eschewed the grande marque champagne with a purposefully wrinkled nose and conspiratorially said to me, “Dear boy do you think you could find me some whisky?” There wasn’t any. Some was immediately bought. Sir Hardy introduced me to many of his contemporaries including one Bunny Roger who was
IN HIS OWN WORDS What Sir Hardy revealed to Robin Dutt over the years
“I think it’s very depressing that couture in Paris is f****d. Can I use that word?”
“Appropriate at all times.” (On appearance).
“People have been hired for the (fashion) houses who have no idea of gracious living and they are turning things out just because they are sexy or startling. But they are not the clothes of couture customers.”
“Mine is the only couture house left in England.”
“I like to think that I was almost born on the steps of a court dressmaker.” (Recalling his mother who worked in a couture house well into her pregnancy).
“It’s very simple, dear. There are ladies and
gentlemen and then there are the others.”
“Oh God help us! I don’t want to offend a lot of ladies but how can they talk about couture – the Rolls Royce of fashion – when they barely go around in mini cabs.” (On fashion editors).
“She (The Queen) gave me a KCVO which is none of that Downing Street stuff. It’s in her gift. I rank it higher than any political knighthood.”
“Sharp tailoring is a vulgarity.”
“I have a particular dislike of strapless dresses. Men can’t help wondering how they are kept up.”
“Ease, flow, peace.” (On the hallmarks of good tailoring).
“No intelligent woman ignores fashion but she is never obsessed by it either.”
“Running after fashion is for the nouveau riche.”
“I think I’ve been reasonably successful.”
“Next year.” (When asked his favourite time).
The Savile Row shop echoes the clean lines of today’s suits and coats and there is a chic
insouciance when it comes to the casual or weekend items
an impossibly elegant dandy in a coal-black frock coat, white wing collared shirt, ice blue Ascot and a diamond pin as big as a robin’s egg. They understood and liked each other very much. Both were mischievous. Both strategically camp. Sir Hardy’s practical guide, the ABC of men’s fashion, remains relevant today some 50 years on with classic illustrations and is predictably laced with good advice, arch observations and witty put downs. It has ever been the case that the most purposefully
elegant of clothes are not the easiest to construct, let alone convey. While not being exactly anonymous they must be judiciously plain. Irony or humour had no place in the dressing philosophy of the house and, while of course seasons and trends were apparent, there was a detectable line of thought running through from season to season and the house today echoes this. Clothes that shout for attention are simply bad clothes. They must serve their master. Times change but certain facets and facts remain. Keeping things simple is the marque of taste, a visual autobiography to enhance personal character. n
SAVILE ROW STYLE MAGAZINE 49
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