morningwood

Consider the Gorge

Trends are a funny thing. Someone takes a good design and exaggerates it a bit, and then someone else exaggerates it further still. This occurs until we have a caricature of the original, thus causing people to denounce the design entirely and swing the other way. This happened in the mid-20^th century with drape cut suits. A Dutch tailor named Frederick Scholte found that men could be made to look more robust and athletic if he cut the chest a bit fuller, suppress the waist a little more, and extend the shoulders just a tad. This was eventually copied and exaggerated, and men ignored the need for balance and proportion. Eventually, the drape cut became a gimmick, and after a while, we wound up with the odd thing called the zoot suit.

We have our own trends today. One of them is the height of the gorge. The gorge is the point on a jacket where the collar is attached to lapel, but in common parlance, it’s the lapel’s notch. A slightly higher gorge can make a suit look more rakish and modern. Italians in general, and Neapolitans in particular, tend to make suits with a higher gorge than their American and British counterparts. With the trend favoring modern silhouettes and Italian style, it’s no wonder why high gorges are en vogue.

These days, however, we’re starting to see gorges so high that they almost sit on top of the shoulder. I wonder how long it will be before they disappear behind a man’s neck. When choosing a suit or sport coat for yourself, keep an eye on how high the gorge is. The black and white photograph of Elliot Richardson above shows him in a suit with an average gorge height. Something slightly higher or lower than this is fine, but anything too extreme, such as the one in the last photo, should be avoided.

You should also consider how the gorge sits in proportion to the jacket’s button stance and your physical build.  A higher gorge is typically balanced with a higher buttoning stance, but if you’re a shorter man, you can wear one with a lower buttoning point. This will elongate the lapels, thus making you look slightly taller (all things being equal). Luca Rubinacci, pictured above, is wearing such a jacket. Notice, however, that you’ll need enough material below the buttoning point so that the bottom doesn’t look abnormally truncated. It’s about balance.

On the other hand, if you’re a very tall, thin man, a lower gorge and slightly higher buttoning point will make the lapels look short and the area below the buttoning point long. This will add weight to you frame and widen the look of the coat. Not a flattering look for most men, but potentially advantageous for some.

Of course, body proportions aside, it can also be enjoyable to dabble in trends. Just be careful not to veer into the extremes. I pity men who bought jackets last year with razor thin lapels, only to find that they can no longer wear them today. As always, balance and moderation are key, so beware of the overly high gorge. 

~ Posted by Robert Butler, May 21st 2012

Among the performances from witnesses at the Leveson Inquiry—and Hugh Grant, Steve Coogan, Rupert Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks have given compelling ones—the appearance of Jeremy Paxman on Wednesday afternoon could be the most dramatically perfect. The session threatens to take on a symbolic significance.

One of the visible signs of the shift in power between politicians and the media over the last 30 years has been the rise of the abrasive interviewer, and the most disdainful interrogator on British television is Paxman ("a kind of folk hero", in the words of the poet Tom Paulin). "Newsnight", the programme he presents, starts at 10.30pm and this late slot gives Paxman the leeway to roll his eyes, snort with disbelief and once famously ask the same question 12 times. In recent years, disdain has sometimes shaded into torpor: he can look as if doesn't know how he has found himself, this late in the day, at the same gathering as his studio guests. 

The tone of the inquiry is the opposite: on Wednesday afternoon, Paxman will face questions that are patient, courteous and bordering on the bland. He won't be able, a few minutes in, to swivel away on his chair, saying "We'll have to leave it there". Papers will be shuffled, water sipped, pauses taken. Minutes will slip by while the witness is given time to find the right tab in the right bundle. He will be allowed to finish his sentences and asked if he has anything to add. Instead of the underlying tone of the questions being "Why is this lying bastard lying to me?", he will be calmly asked, "Is it fair to summarise your position in this way?" or "I wonder, Mr Paxman, if you could help us out with this at all." A strange sight, seeing Paxman in daylight.  read more »

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This elegant shoehorn by Swedish brand ESSEM DESIGN is so incredibly minimalist that it borders on monastic. Yet it still manages, as its designer PERNICLAS BEDOW states, to “maintain pure function” – i.e. help one properly put on one’s shoes.