The fashion house set up by the late Sir Hardy Amies is to abandon its heritage as the Queen’s dressmaker.
Seven years after Sir Hardy’s death at the age of 93, the fashion house that the clothes designer and war hero set up on Savile Row is to abandon its heritage as the provider of pink silk gowns to the monarch and focus on a different clientele: the gentleman in need of bespoke suits and made-to-measure dinner jackets.
The venerable label, which went bust in 2008 only to be rescued by two Hong Kong-based entrepreneurs, seeks to re-discover its founder’s original purpose as the quintessential English tailor, providing fine tweeds and worsteds to the discerning (and monied – prices start at £3500 for a bespoke suit) male.
The writer goes onto enquire: “Whether the company bearing his name will choose to continue his views on slippers remains to be seen. Sir Hardy wrote: ‘Grandest of all are velvet slippers, with your monogram or crest embroidered in gold thread. These you can dine in, at home of course.’”
The suggestion being that monogrammed velvet slippers might have somehow gone out of style deeply offends the Jet-Set Hobo’s sartorial and aesthetic sensibilities, wearing as he is, a pair of midnight blue velvet slippers while he types this very article.
Memo to the author of the linked article: Velvet slippers aren’t going anywhere, they’re just not clamouring noisily for your attention. Not only are they comfortable to wear, but they are a wearable reminder of an earlier and some might say better day, when dressing like a peacock was not considered in any way to be the preserve of the effeminate.
They are eo ipso the photo negative, the exact opposite of the most inelegant type of footware known to man: The flip flop, known also as thongs in Australia, and jandals where the Jet-Set Hobo reluctantly hails from him. Instead of thrusting the most inelegant part of the male human physique in your face, monogrammed velvet slippers clothe them in a luxurious, but discreet sheath, one that seems to suggest a degree of background, a modicum of cultivation. I can assure you: Once you go monogrammed velvet slipper, you never want to go back.
So gentlemen, why not do your bit for Dandyism today. Send an inquiry to the Hardy Aimes bespoke division, requesting delivery of monogrammed velvet slippers forthwith, and tell them the Jet-Set Hobo suggested it: I’m hoping they might now send me a replacement pair free.
