
A GLOSSORIAL GUIDE TO A SPORTING FALL
The strong sporting influence found in all men's and women's fashions this fall brings with it a whole lexicon of names for sporting attire. The names sound of horses and stables, of guns and fields—names such as surcingle, Newmarket and gillie—which have been handed down by Scottish and English country men through 200 years or more. Many of them, like the articles they describe, have been gathering dust on fashion's shelf for quite a while. But this fall the names have been brought out and polished off again to label new versions of the old accouterments of sport, one more proof that the past is worth preserving. They are presented here in glossary form as a guide to the accessories of the season.
ARGYLE
The tartan of the Argyll family branch of Clan Campbell is made of diamonds instead of check patterns—and this uniqueness probably accounts for all sorts of people, Clan Campbell or no, being attracted to the Argyle design. The tartan readily lends itself to knitted articles, and has been a popular sports sock and sweater design for years. This fall Byford is importing a wide range of men's Argyle-patterned socks from England—$4 for full hose, $3.50 for ankle-length. And Catalina has used a similar pattern in handsome wool-and-mohair cardigans for back-to-school wear. They are $18.
ASCOT
The dandy's cravat got its name at the Ascot Heath races in the 1870s. Since then, while still worn on extra-formal occasions, it has also turned up as a piece of sporting apparel, worn by both men and women with blazers, sweaters or shirts. The Ascot appears in a new role (illustrated left) matching a lady's paisley-silk waistcoat that will show up under this fall's tweed and flannel suits. Ascot and vest combinations are being produced by F. C. Dobbs, Ltd. and cost $17 the set.
CARDIGAN
The Earl of Cardigan, a cavalry commander in the Crimean War—as a relief from the high, stiff collar of his military jackets—wore, off duty, a buttoned, collarless jacket, and that was the birth of the cardigan. The buttoned, collarless sweater has become the golfer's favorite—you do not have to pull it over your head when it gets warm. One of this fall's best-looking men's cardigans is made of camel's hair, by David Church. It is $35.
CHUKKA
This light, ankle-high boot was worn originally by polo-playing British Army regulars in India. The boot got its nickname from the word for a playing period, "chukker." Today chukka boots are found in all sorts of leathers, are popular for campus and country wear. Clarks of England calls its chukka, of suede, the desert boot. It costs $14.
DEERSTALKER
This close-fitting cap with visor front and back for keeping out the Highland rain is worn for stalking deer, funnily enough, or by Sherlock Holmes while stalking crime. Thomas Begg, a New York hatter, makes one this season for men and women who need not stalk anything to wear it. It comes in checked wool and costs $6.50.
FEDORA
This soft, easily shaped hat took its name from a similar hat worn by the heroine of an 1882 French drama by Sardou. Today, tweed fedoras with rakish brims, as illustrated on page M4, by Herbert Johnson (Bond Street) Ltd. for Brooks Brothers, $14.50, are replacing the Tyrolean velours for wear with country clothes.
GILLIE
In fashion language, a gillie is a tongueless shoe with laces that crisscross over the instep. It takes its name from the "gillie" or huntsman of Scotland, who wears the shoe on the moors. The Duke of Windsor popularized the design by wearing it in the '20s. As accompaniment to the warm stockings and tweeds of this fall's fashions, Golo has brought back the gillie for ladies in a warm shearling-lined, oiled-leather version. It costs $16.
HACKING
The hacking horse is a pleasure horse, and hacking is a word used to describe clothes one wears for pleasure riding. It also describes many of today's sports clothes inspired by riding tack. The hacking jacket is more fitted, wider-skirted, deeper-vented (for comfortable seat in the saddle) than the traditional sports jacket. It is the newest popular cut in fall sports jackets for men. The one in the illustration on page M2, in a bold district-check Shetland, is from a wide selection made by Saint Laurie, Ltd. The jackets cost $65. In suits, they are $100.
INVERNESS
In the 19th century a caped coat was developed for shooting on Scottish moors. It had no sleeves—to give freedom for shooting—but it had double protection from the cape over the shoulders in that rainy climate. Today an Inverness is most often a sleeved coat with cape attached, such as the one illustrated. This coat has many virtues: both coat and removable cape reverse from a Glen plaid to gray flannel. It is $80 at Peck & Peck.
KILTIE
The fringed tongue, which flaps like a skirt over the instep of a shoe and covers the lacings, gives this shoe its name. It was devised by a canny Scot to keep the sand and wet grass out of his golf shoes. This year the kiltie appears for country wear as well as golf in a slip-on version by Johnston & Murphy (see page M3). The cost: $35 a pair.
LOVAT
This is a color—a heathery mixture of colors, actually, mostly blue-green-rust. It was devised by an early Lord Lovat, who had tweeds made to match the color of the autumn landscape around his estate to serve as hunting clothes. This was one of the first uses of human camouflage. And it influenced the uniforms of the world's military. Lovat is one of this fall's most popular colors for men's and women's country tweeds.
NEWMARKET
Cording and Co. Ltd., a London firm, made up the first Newmarket boots in the 1890s as waterproof protection for racehorse trainers and farmers and named them after the famous Newmarket training grounds. The outside shell is canvas, the inside leather, with rubber sandwiched between. Miller's, a New York harness shop, has the original Newmarkets ($72 for men, $68 for women). A new version made of rubber and canvas costs $20 for men, $18 for women. The one illustrated above has a black-patent mudguard. It is by Golo and costs $23. It is perfect for sloshing through wet country anywhere or for comfortable wear at frosty football games.
NORFOLK
In the 1880s the Duke of Norfolk devised a belted hunting suit that had box pleats of the same fabric over each shoulder. These served as extra support for bellows pockets full of shells. There was also a central inverted box pleat in the back for shooting freedom. The design of the Norfolk has had its moments of popularity with American men, particularly in the early 1900s. This fall, once more, it is back as the most sporting of sport jackets (see Sporting Look).
RAGLAN
Lord Raglan, British commander during the Crimean War, converted a service blanket into a capelike coat as a shield against icy weather. He had lost an arm at Waterloo, and the garment, for him, was much more comfortable than stiffly tailored military overcoats. The design was further perfected and developed into a coat in which the seaming of the sleeves, instead of being set in at the shoulder, extended to the collar line (above). The design has been used ever since, particularly for rainwear and sporting topcoats, which are often reversible. One of the best of this fall's raglans is in sand-colored whipcord, lined in a bright tartan. It is made in England by Driway Weathercoats, Ltd., and it costs about $95.
SURCINGLE
This is the name for the girth of a racing saddle, often made of strong webbing, striped in the colors of a stable. The webbing, the leathers and the brasses have been adapted for belts worn with riding breeches. And now the surcingle is one of this fall's best-selling sports belts—for pedestrians as well as equestrians. The one illustrated (above) is from Canterbury, an American firm that has its surcingle belts made for them in England. They are $4.
ILLUSTRATION
PAISLEY ASCOT, MATCHING VEST
ILLUSTRATION
HACKING JACKET, BOLDLY CHECKED
ILLUSTRATION
INVERNESS COAT—IT REVERSES
ILLUSTRATION
SLIP-ON KILTIE
ILLUSTRATION
NEWMARKET BOOT
ILLUSTRATION
FEDORA, RAGLAN
ILLUSTRATION
SURCINGLE—NOW A BELT