The Thread | ArticleTimeless Style: A Definition

Timeless Style: A Definition

Time can be really annoying, can’t it? Being late for work, just missing out on that special offer, burning a pizza, forgetting to pay that parking fine, and wrinkles can all be blamed on the annoyingly inflexible demands of time, which is why at British Attire, when it comes to style, we prefer to focus on the things that can’t be ruined by the ticking of the clock or the flipping of a calendar. Timeless style is what we’re all about, and it's the uniting factor that brings together all of the things we love. We’re fine with throwing a pair of jeans away once they’ve been worn to death, but God forbid we put them in the bin because they’re no longer ‘in’.

1979: THE LAUNCH OF POLO WESTERN

So what defines timeless style? Allow us to explain. Despite our name, we’re just as obsessed with non-clothing-related stuff from around the world as we are about waxed Barbour jackets and suede Clarks shoes. Britain has always been a cultural melting pot with a reputation for being able to take different aspects from all around the world to create something undeniably British and immune to the forces of time. The Romans may have invented pubs, pyjamas definitely originated in India, and the Chinese were making cups of tea way before us, but regardless, these were all ideas that we took, ran with, and turned into classic rituals of daily life. It’s the same with music; in the 1950s, a group of lads get hold of some American rock & roll records from the Liverpool docks and decide to put their own spin on it and become the world’s greatest band (The Beatles). The same thing happened with punk and acid house too. We’re really good at deconstructing stuff, then making it miles better and truly timeless. Go and have a listen to Let It Be, Ever Fallen In Love, or Voodoo Ray if you don’t believe us.

A GUY CALLED GERALD - VOODOO RAY

Which brings us (in a black London taxicab) rather neatly back to the timelessness of British style. From Thomas Burberry to Martine Rose, Britain’s rich legacy of fashion designers have all made their mark and gained success by putting a unique spin on timeless classics. Whether that be Vivienne Westwood’s Celtic kilts or Stella McCartney’s take on the tracksuit, their genius is always discovered by drawing on perennial pieces, albeit with their own inimitable twist. This, for us, is the key to timeless style; feel free to experiment, but don’t mess too much with the original formula. If it looked great ten, twenty, or even fifty years ago, then there’s a good chance that it’s still going to look amazing that far into the future too. We all love a look around the Tate Modern, but we know that the real gems exist in the Tate Britain. The pieces that have stood the test of time are the ones that you’ll find us standing in front of for the longest, eyes wide and mouths agape.

Ophelia – Sir John Everett Millais

So there you have it, like a lot of the best things in life, ‘Timeless Style’ is a tricky one to nail down and slightly paradoxical, but you instantly know it when you see it. It’s Mrs Merton destroying Bernard Manning by being funnier than him, it’s Luke Littler winning the WDF at 14, it’s wearing suede shoes with Gore-Tex jackets, it’s Evidently Chickentown, it’s eating beans on toast, it’s going to the match with Lowry, and it’s welling up over a line in an Amy Winehouse song. And it’s what we do best here at British Attire.