A little evidence of how almost-21st-c. writers lay it on kind of thick:
"Jerry accepted the glass of armagnac and sat quietly while Sir Jacke went through the swirling and snuffling, the gum-rinse and the ecstatic eyes. Jerry wore a dark suit, spotted tie and black loafers. The uniform was easily amended to murmur youth, age, fashionability or gravitas; cashmere polo-necks, Missoni socks and designer specs with plain-glass lenses all offered nuance. But with Sir Jack he displayed no professional accessories, human or mechanical. He sat there smiling a nominal subservience, almost as if waiting for his client to define the terms of employment." (35)
Barnes, Julian. England, England. London: Julian Cape, 1998.
This book is fantastic, really, especially for one thinking about living history museums as I am doing right now. But...sometimes he does spell things out for us unnecessarily. Or maybe necessarily: which is which, does a polo-neck infer age or gravitas? Certainly not youth in 1998. Missoni socks: fashionability? youth? What a funny reference!
Do love the idea of this as a "uniform".
What do you think?
"Jerry accepted the glass of armagnac and sat quietly while Sir Jacke went through the swirling and snuffling, the gum-rinse and the ecstatic eyes. Jerry wore a dark suit, spotted tie and black loafers. The uniform was easily amended to murmur youth, age, fashionability or gravitas; cashmere polo-necks, Missoni socks and designer specs with plain-glass lenses all offered nuance. But with Sir Jack he displayed no professional accessories, human or mechanical. He sat there smiling a nominal subservience, almost as if waiting for his client to define the terms of employment." (35)
Barnes, Julian. England, England. London: Julian Cape, 1998.
This book is fantastic, really, especially for one thinking about living history museums as I am doing right now. But...sometimes he does spell things out for us unnecessarily. Or maybe necessarily: which is which, does a polo-neck infer age or gravitas? Certainly not youth in 1998. Missoni socks: fashionability? youth? What a funny reference!
Do love the idea of this as a "uniform".
What do you think?