THE COMPLEAT DANDY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19844, 19 May 1927, Page 11

THE COMPLEAT DANDY

THE RIGHT FINISH A WORD FOB SPATS. If collars and ties and cuffs appeal to our sense of the fitness of things, why not spats? They belong to the same sartorial class. I suspect that the fact of the matter is that many men secretly admit their desirability—they have just that taste for completeness in dress —but they are frightened of the crowd. In this attitude a fine example of courage is set them by their sisters, who obviously stick at nothing. And they would, too, have a far stronger utiliarian basis for their taste than that of the average feminine fashion, writes “A. 8.8. in the Melbourne Age. £ asked a friend who always wears them, and kas a logical reason for most things he does, what was the reason behind spats, and he declared that from the point of view of plain utility they are but removable, and hence washable, boot tops. In so far therefore that a boot, and not a shoe, is desired, they pleasingly convert the shoe into a boot, providing a cooler and cleaner footwear. But far bo it from me though to let the matter rest on any utilitarian basis. There is something about spats which is more than mere ending off of clothes. They have a deeper significance, and besides adding quality to a suit of clothes, give to the wearer, like a collar, a certain feeling of finish. Out of Season. Wearing them one is always conscious of the public attitude—a somewhat ironical intolerance—even from those who would never dream of appearing in public without a collar or without the ends of their trousers turned up. It is amusing this intolerance of the majority, and the lengths to which it sometimes goes. .Mr Joad. in his “Thrasymachus—The Future of Morals,” relates that a friend who had been living in the southern States appeared in New York wearing a straw hat before the seasonal change of fashion had reached that city. On getting out of the train he was astonished to find himself followed by a small but hostile crowd. So far one has not seen it reported that anybody has been positively intimidated like that for wearing spats, but that the feeling is there is certain from the notoriety experienced by the Prime Minister by this simple fact. In seeking to find another and more comforting reason than fear for their attitude, the public critics invent all sorts of authorities to support them, and they also quote the tailoring and outfitting journals, as if anybody who wears spats ever reads such journals, which are naturally guided by numbers sold. Spat wearers have never been in the majority, but the fashion has always existed in England with certain well-dressed men, and by all means let us take our fashions from them (if we must take them from somebody), rather than from our partly coloured and distant relatives in America.

In the meantime, let those wear them who wish to, conscious that well-fitting spats add distinction to an otherwise dull suit, and that if needs be they can furnish very sound practical reasons for their taste, besides in the cold weather feeling warm and comfortable about the ankles. Knee Breeches. I If Paris consents to adopt knee breeches for masculine daily wear, will society follow suit? There is some agitation in the capital to get rid of trousers, voted inelegant, ungraceful and monotonous, and wc are promised a display of suggested costumes with male mannequins to stroll about in them. We have already seen the innovation of coloured dress coats. The bridegroom at. a fashionable wedding went to church in a sweet thing of dark-blue broadcloth the other day, and we know the Prince of Wales has some coloured coats in his wardrobe. The short knee breeches are a step further in the same direction, and in the eyes of a public, already accustmed to the singular outlines conferred by “plus fours” the return to a style continually revived for stage plays and fancy dross balls might easily be accepted, if not welcomed. The strongest argument against them is the expense they would entail.