VI. Fashion
Not fashion, whatever the magazines say — just the clothes a man keeps for a particular kind of day: the wax jacket for the lane, the good coat for church, the workshop apron for everything else.
First Cold Evening
Green waxed cotton jacket · Tattersall shirt · leather belt · brown cord trousers · hobnailed boots · tweed cap · ash stick
“The waxed jacket was new in 1949 and has been Charlie's towel since 1950. The stick I cut from the ash by the top gate. He regards it as half his, and carries his half whenever I put it down.”
Fetching the Cake
Brown leather flying jacket · check shirt · leather gauntlets · brown cord trousers · boots · tweed cap with ex-RAF goggles
“Oldham and back with Mother's cake on the carrier at a steady twenty-five. The goggles came out of the war with me. The cake came through without a crumb lost, which is more than can be said for the jacket.”
Painting the Robin
Brown work jacket with cord collar · Tattersall shirt · brown cord trousers · hobnailed boots · Uncle Ned's tin paint box
“This is the jacket I paint in, which is why the cuffs have more colours on them than the sitter. He stayed on the gatepost forty minutes and left the moment I got to his eye.”
The Blackpool Costume
Striped knitted wool bathing costume · a towel
“Last swim of the year. The costume was bought for Wakes Week at Blackpool in 1934 and has outlived the fashion by some distance. The Water Board has not been consulted.”
Posting Mother's Letter
Belted fawn gabardine raincoat · cream knitted shirt · brown tweed trousers with turn-ups · brown boots · brown trilby
“The gabardine is ten years old and the belt has never once been buckled, which Penny says is the only rakish thing about me. She means it as a criticism.”
The Good Chair, Briefly
Striped flannel pyjamas · wool dressing gown · leather slippers · a cup of tea
“The dressing gown was Father's until Mother decided it was mine. I had the good chair for eleven minutes tonight. Charlie was out.”
St Luke's Little Summer
Collarless flannel shirt · braces · old tweed trousers, rolled to the knee · nothing on the feet
“Mother calls it St Luke's little summer: three warm days in October that nobody has earned. The trousers were my Sunday best in 1937. The brook was colder than it looked, which is the whole principle of brooks.”
Sunday in Oldham
Charcoal three-piece · cream striped shirt · maroon knitted tie · the greatcoat, dyed navy · trilby · black Oxfords
“Mother says a trilby for Sunday dinner, so a trilby it is. I went by bus. The Thunderbird and the trilby have never been introduced, and Mother would like it kept that way.”
Bonfire Night
Ex-RAF greatcoat, dyed navy · rust plaid scarf · cream cable-knit roll-neck · grey knitted gloves · tweed cap · dark grey wool trousers · hobnailed boots · an enamel mug of black peas
“The greatcoat has seen more bonfires than it ever saw aeroplanes. The peas are Mother's. I only warmed them.”
Remembrance Sunday
Ex-RAF greatcoat, dyed navy · poppy · RAF tie
“The greatcoat went to the dyer's in 1946. The tie did not.”
Write Rufus a letter · Prints · The notice board · The picture house · The wireless · The Sunday post